Meet Claremont’s School Board hopefuls

By TIMOTHY LAROCHE
CLAREMONT — With a few days remaining until Tuesday’s election, the clock is ticking down for Claremont School Board hopefuls.

More than half of the seven-member school board’s seats will go up for grabs next week, marking the end of a budget process fraught with tensions between board members, administrators and the community.

Eight candidates are vying for four open seats on the board – including those occupied by members Brian Rapp, Chris Irish and Vice Chair Rebecca Zullo.

A single vacant seat is up for grabs after former-board member Alex Herzog resigned last month after he was appointed director of the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center. Herzog’s term would have lapsed regardless of his resignation.

Both Rapp and Zullo are running for reelection, having filled leadership roles on the board. Last month, then-Vice Chair Irish motioned for he and then-Chair Rapp to step down from their board official roles, being replaced by Zullo and current-Chair Frank Sprague, respectively.

The two incumbents are joined by newcomers Kelly Mulloy, Carolyn Towle, Richard Seaman, Jason Benware, David Pacetti and Steven Horsky. Seaman previously acted as school board chair until his term ended in March 2016.

Last week, candidates met with community members to learn about some of the challenges and opportunities that the school district will grapple with in upcoming years. Following the discussion, candidates outlined their platforms.

Carolyn Towle

For many Claremonters, Carolyn Towle’s claim to fame in recent years has been her work with the

Towle

City Council, where she served for four years. She also held seats on the Amtrak Ad Hoc Committee and Zoning Board of Adjustment.

She opted not to run for council reelection in November 2017 after her term lapsed, but instead looks to re-enter local politics through the school board. Her platform emphasized her past civic engagement and desire to increase engagement between government bodies.

“I am well committed to seeing the gap between the city and the school board close,” Towle said.

Towle, a 1965 Stevens High School graduate, is a longtime Claremont resident, having. Both of her grandchildren currently attend the high school currently as well.

“I’ve always loved Claremont,” Towle said. “I love the school system… it was a whole different area for us when we grew up. It’s totally different now. There are so many challenges, but we have one of the nicest cities in New Hampshire.”

Jason Benware

Growing up in nearby Cornish, Jason Benware said he lived much of his life in the suburbs of Claremont before moving

Benware

to the city 19 years ago.

He touts a track record of frequent attendance at school board meetings, as well as having children in the school system. He entered the race for the school board seat ultimately won by former-board member Alex Herzog in October through current board appointment.

In his current run for the school board, he emphasizes balancing taxpayer concerns with educational concerns and increasing outreach between the board and the community.

“I think that for our schools to be more successful and for our town to be more successful we need to invest in our tech center,” Benware said. “I think that we’re on the right track… I think that as it stand right now, we are letting it languish. We need to invest more in that.”

After living outside of the area for a short period of time, he says he has a new appreciation for the sense of community in Claremont.

“Whenever I go into the store I usually find someone to talk to,” Benware said. “I really feel that sense of community here.”

Richard Seaman

With a history of serving on the school board in past years, Richard Seamon said his go

Seaman

al is to improve the sense of unity between board, administration and community.

Seaman has lived in Claremont for 16 years after he moved to the area from Boston.

“The school board has to be an advocate to the kids,” Seaman said. “The kids don’t get to vote every year. They just have to respond to whatever we bring from a budget point of view and from a strategic plan forward.”

He emphasizes that the board should further develop and implement their district strategic plan, shifting away from “reactive” decision-making.

“The tie between the strategic plan and the budget is just lacking,” he said.

He said the if board to develops a more articulated vision, it can make strides for improving the schools.

“What’s very exciting here in Claremont is the potential,” Seaman said. “Every little bit of effort that we put in is going to move us forward.”

Steven Horsky

A lack of communication between stakeholders and the district is the main issue driving Steven Hors

Horsky

ky in his school board push, he said. The first-time school board candidate has lived in Claremont since 2001.

“One of the challenges we are having is communication,” Horsky said. “One of my goals if elected would be to go engage [district principals] and engage at the school level, engage at the public level and then engage at the administration level.”

Horsky’s platform emphasizes increasing transparency and pushing the board to publicly acknowledge challenges in the district – something he said has not been seen in the past.

“There’s a lot of hope for Claremont to grow,” Horsky said. “The advantages that we have as a community are our strengths but also our weaknesses at times. We can continue on the path that we’ve been going on, and it’s going to need everybody to see Claremont to excel and be what it was when I was here in the 1980s. I’m looking forward to seeing the community start to see that growth.”

Brian Rapp

With his own children enrolled at Maple Avenue Elementary School, Brian Rapp said he tries to spend time in the schools. As the board member runs for reelection, he said that such engagement with the schools will be his push for the future.

Rapp moved to Claremont 12 years ago to take a job with the Claremont Fire Department where h

Rapp

e currently serves as a Lieutenant. His acted as chair of the school board until a motion made at the Jan. 31 meeting saw him and then-Vice Chair Chris Irish step down from their board leadership roles.

In his current candidacy, he discussed the idea of having school board members “adopt” a school, becoming highly-involved in its activities and learning the opportunities and challenges presented in-depth.

“I think that’s one way to get people more in tune with what’s actually happening in the schools rather than hearing about it second-hand or third-hand,” Rapp said.

He also said he wants to look into expanding the districts kindergarten and preschool offerings.

Kelly Mulloy

As a relative newcomer to Claremont – Kelly Mulloy moved to Claremont with her family less than a year ago – she said she was spurred to run for a school board seat after seeing the “struggle” for the board to discuss important issues.

As a matter of full-disclosure, Mulloy

Mulloy

said is married to the technology director for SAU 6 and would abstain from voting on any technology-related issue on the board.

In recent months, talks between the school board and community have been marked with tension after the board weighed a proposed budget that would eliminate teaching positions against proposed budget from district administration that would increase the tax burden on residents.

“There’s a lot of good people in Claremont and in the school, they’re not two different teams. It’s the community’s school,” Mulloy said. “I would love to see people come together and work on solving these problems… It’s the biggest goal of mine to get people working together.”

She said that projects like the One-4-All space are examples of the create problem-solving that the district should encourage.

Rebecca Zullo

Currently serving as the school board vice chair since Jan. 31, Rebecca Zullo began her tenure

Zullo

with the board in March 2017. She said her goal throughout her first year on the board was to “learn as much as possible.”

“I chose to run again so I could be more effective,” Zullo said. “I have seen what we need and can change… I have so much more to learn on the school board, and I’m not ready to be done yet.”

As a Springfield, Vt., native, Zullo said she grew up in the area, moving to Claremont 20 years ago. After working in the district for almost 15 years, Zullo said she has also learned about many of the problems facing the schools and the assets that the district has.

“With all of the disagreements, this community is actually very close-knit,” Zullo said. “I like that I know most people and most people know me and are friendly. I like that I believe in Claremont.”

David Pacetti

As a lifelong Claremont resident, David Pacetti said he is running for the school board to open dialogue with the community. He emphasizes that a strength of the city is that its residents can disagree with each other and retain a sense of unity, and he said he w

Pacetti

ants to apply similar thinking to the board.

“My objectives are to get more people talking about the problems they have with the district and the school board,” Pacetti said. “I know a lot of teachers who would like to express themselves but they can’t, and I know a lot of parents would like to express themselves but they can’t.”

Pacetti said that he wants to make the school board more approachable for the public.

“I’d like to change that dynamic,” Pacetti said. “I’d like to be a part of that solution. Everybody who feels like they have a question or a problem or concern should be able to come to me… and voice that concern.”