By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — While attendance was sparse with only about a dozen people in attendance, NH Listens held a candidate forum and group brainstorming exercise with the three candidates vying for two open seats.
Incumbents Bonnie Miles and Whitney Skillen decided not to seek another term for the Claremont School Board, and now Loren Howard, Bill Madden and Emily Sandblade are duking it out for a three-year term.
The event started off with each of them seated at a table with a small group, where they were able to chat with voters about what they feel are the most pressing needs in the district.
Some notable topic points that came up in the work sessions included the implementation and usage of mental health counselors and social workers, as well as utilizing local businesses for shadowing. Residents also pointed toward the geography of the area, saying that the outdoors should also come into play in education. Residents also spoke about the costs for education, with some saying that Claremont is paying above average to get inferior results.
Moderators gathered the information and then the candidates went to the front of the room, where they were drilled with questions based on information from the previous exercise.
The first question was to describe what role they would take if they were elected to the seat. Howard, a 25-year-old filmmaker, Stevens High School alum and father of an 18-month-old baby, answered first, saying that in his current job, he tends to fill a lot of gaps, and he tries to help everyone in their roles. He does a lot of archival footage, which requires him to chase people down and tie loose ends.
“I am a helper but sometimes need to be a leader,” Howard said.
Madden, who is a parent of a child who struggled with behavioral issues and is highly critical of the school system, said he would be “the junkyard dog,” snapping at everyone and making them stick to deadlines.
“I’d be looking for results and looking for a little less talk,” Madden said. “And goals. I want to see goals set. I want to see everyone — parents, teachers, administrators — everyone held accountable. Team player is not my strongest suit.”
Sandblade, a former state representative who is a retired college professor and physicist, said she will fill in wherever she can. This could be a support position or leadership, as she has experience in both.
“Whatever keeps the momentum going and advances us toward our goal,” she said.
The next question was what each candidate would do to improve academic achievement, and Madden took the reins to start things off.
“Accountability and discipline,” Madden said. “The discipline in the school system is ridiculous. Teachers and students. We had four arrests recently. That type of stuff shouldn’t be going on. Decorum in the school is terrible. The way people talk to each other, everybody is blaming COVID, everybody is blaming the parents, everybody is blaming the teacher. Everybody is blaming everybody else, but the entire system is dysfunctional.”
Madden said the school’s schedule didn’t even come out until Oct. 6 this year, and he said the entire website is outdated. He said this is insulting to the parents and said if the taxpayers knew what they were getting they “would be on Broad Street with pitchforks and torches.”
Sandblade wants to see much more parental involvement, and said she would like schools to be “much more aggressive” on including them in decision making. She said parents need to observe what is going on in the schools, and this means if they are being bullied or doing well in class.
“With every student, I’d like to see frequent communication between the teachers and the parents,” Sandblade said. “I’d like to see administrators have conferences with parents. I really, really want to see the parents be much more involved than they are now. The parents need to be supervising the system. We need to have real local control, and real local control comes from the people who are responsible for those kids, which is parents.”
Howard said he heard that Advanced Placement classes are on the outs, and he was sad to hear this and said it was huge for him as a student. He knows that these classes and testing come with a price tag, which can be tough for low-income students. He said they need to figure out a way to either fund the tests costs or find a way to do away with fees associated.
“I think that alone will help students who are overachieving, but hitting these paywalls,” Howard said.
He added, “I think having these classes available in high school is super important for academic achievement.”
The candidates were asked to speak about special education, and Howard said that this is a huge cost and anyone who has looked at the budget is aware of this. He said it is an ongoing problem with no clear answer yet, and a lot of it depends on who the district is sending out or to bring educators into the community to lower the cost in-district.
Sandblade said with the current political climate, everything is going to be changing in the near future. She said resources need to be maximized and they need to determine how to be most effective.
“We really need to look at this problem from the ground up,” Sandblade said.
The candidates were asked about the hard choices school board members make with cuts and reductions, and Sandblade said there “are a large number of things but no magic bullets.”
“We can get a of little improvements in a lot of different areas,” Sandblade said.
Sandblade said teachers have said they spent half their time doing paperwork, and this means it is time they aren’t with students. They need to look at processes in the schools, how to streamline and get the most out of a position. Sandblade said the goal is to maximize what each person specializes in.
Howard said it is a hard question because in certain ways investments are needed now for the future. He said this might even mean looking into PFAS and lead removal in aging piping, saying these are investments where it could mean savings for the future.
“It might be a way to look at the budget instead of just striking things,” Howard said.
The candidates were asked about bringing students to 90% literacy in classes, and Sandblade said she would find a way to light a spark with the students.
“I would give them stuff they’d be really interested in and stuff that excites them,” said Sandblade.
Howard said a dollar amount is never going to make someone smarter. It is about passion and education to get to 90%.
Madden said, “It’s the parent’s responsibility first, and then the teachers. But it right now there is complete dysfunction across the board.”
Voting will take place on Tuesday, March 11 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wards 1 and 2 will vote at Claremont Middle School, and Ward 3 will vote at Disnard Elementary.
