By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — The Claremont School Board aims to host a candidate forum to help voters familiarize themselves with this year’s candidates and their platforms.
Four city residents are vying to fill two vacant seats on the Claremont School Board. The list includes one incumbent, Nicholas Stone, and three challengers: Bonnie Miles, Penny Gallow, and Whitney Skillen.
One vacant seat is currently being held by board member Rob Lovett, who decided not to run for another term.
Skillen, a new Claremont resident, is running as a write-in candidate. Skillen told the Eagle Times that she had attempted to file prior to the Jan. 28 deadline but had not registered as a Claremont voter until this week.
“I want to serve as a member of the board because I believe that children, who grow into adults with the knowledge, skills, and sufficient community support to self-actualize, are the keystones of a healthy and prosperous society,” Skillen said this week in a candidacy announcement.”I believe in community, inclusion, and fairness and that if we center these values on the school board and in our community, we will make ourselves proud.”
Stone, the lone incumbent, was appointed in June 2021 by the school board to fill the seat formerly held by Carolyn Towle, who passed away last year.
In a campaign announcement this week, Stone said that he wants to see the quality of Claremont’s education system align better to the expectations that await following graduation.
“Being on the board taught me that even if we all don’t agree on something, we continue to work together and make positive progress despite differences,” Stone said. “At the forefront of every decision needs to be having every one of our children’s best interests at heart.”
Bonnie Miles, a local realtor, told the Eagle Times that she decided to run for the school board following the public hearing on the proposed 2022-2023 school budget.
“Every child is entitled to an education that teaches them how to soar into adulthood,” Miles told the Eagle Times. “They need excitement in learning, through a book, and hands on through creative thinking. They should be shown every opportunity available.”
Penny Gallow has not officially released a candidacy statement. The Eagle Times attempted to reach Gallow through social media for a comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The Eagle Times is working on a more comprehensive article about the four candidates, which will be in a question-and answer interview format to allow the candidates to share their background, credentials and positions on educational issues.
On Wednesday the Claremont School Board said it would like to replicate a similar candidate forum to the one in 2019, which was held at the Claremont Community Center and moderated by NH Listens, a civic engagement initiative of the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire.
Board member Steven Horsky spoke positively of his own experience when participating in an organized forum as a candidate.
“I found it to be very valuable,” Horsky said. “I got to hear community feedback in individualized groups, but without getting flooded with a ton of information and concerns. And the media, [in addition to] interviewing us afterward, got to sit in the groups with us and get a sense of what our focus was.”
The board did not indicate what the format of the forum would be yet.
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