Raise for administrators passes by only 2 votes
By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — William Madden and Loren Howard are the two newest school board members, as the two defeated Emily Sandblade in a three-person race for two open three-year seats in the Claremont School District election.
The three other warrant articles passed, but an estimated increase of $78,000 in the collective bargaining agreement between the Claremont School Board and the Claremont Administrators Association passed by only two votes in this year’s Claremont School District election.
Article 3 passed 511-509, and Ward 3 had 165 “no” votes and only 129 votes in the affirmative, which made it a close overall decision. Wards 1 and 2 voted to pass the article 145-132 and 237-212 respectively.
Article 2, which was the main budget, passed by a vote of 566-447. Wards 1 through 3 had respective votes of 163-112; 264-182 and 139-153. The vote locked in a budget of $42,933,564, which was an increase of $2,971,297 (7.44%) before additional revenues, and $331,116 after the revenues. It includes a tax impact of 1.9% or $0.27 cents on the tax rate, according to information provided by the school board at the deliberative session.
A presentation at the deliberative session also showed that Article 2 included a first-year teacher’s contract of $514,836, and thus a tax impact of 2.96% or $0.42 cents on the tax rate.
After revenues, which increased by $2,125,297, the total increase is $845,952 (2.12%) before other warrant articles, which is for the teacher contracts.
Article 3 was for a three-year paraprofessional contract, starting at $168,000 for FY 2025-2026, and then $139,718 and $137,791 respectively over the next two years. The tax impact of the first year of the contract would be 0.97% or $0.14 on the tax rate. The article passed 614-408, with respective Ward 1 through 3 votes of 174-102; 289-163 and 151-143.
The voters also voted in a pair of new school board members, with Madden receiving 629 votes and Loren Howard coming away with 586 votes. Emily Sandblade received 501 votes.
Ward 3 was the deciding factor here, as Madden dominated with 195 votes compared to Sandblade’s 171 votes and Howard’s 138 votes.
Madden, who is a parent of a child who struggled with behavioral issues and is highly critical of the school system, said at a recent candidate forum that he would be “the junkyard dog.” On Tuesday night he said it is all about making the school system the best that it can possibly be.
“I am looking forward to working collaboratively with everyone on the board, but I will not compromise on my goal: I want the Claremont School District to be number one in the state,” Madden said. “I am going to work like a madman to make that happen.”
He said there weren’t any issues in particular of focus, but he wants to make improvements “straight across the board.”
Howard, 25, said he was tired, as he spent the day at the polls walking around with his sign tied to his back with his wife and 18-month-old son. He is excited for the orientation coming up and becoming more acquainted with the process.
The Stevens High School alum is a filmmaker, and he said he has filmed plenty of the school board meetings, so in a way he will feel right at home. However, he knows that there is plenty of “knowledge to consume,” about how to best make in impact on the school district.
Being a father of a young child, Howard said at a personal level he wants to help build a solid future for the Claremont School District. He said a lot of the questions brought to him will be answered in a lens of what is best for his son and children of the district over the years ahead.
“That’s how I plan to approach policy,” he said.
He also said that a focus will be on the budget, and how the community will not feel unfairly burdened with property tax.
“We can still educate our children better than the competency levels we are currently at,” Howard said.
The rest of the races were unopposed with Tracy Pope receiving 821 votes for moderator, Noelle Kronberg with 809 votes for school board clerk; and Jane Hunter receiving 838 votes for treasurer.
While the turnout was low in Claremont, Howard looked at the bright side to point the uptick over 2024 by about 60%. There were 1,035 total ballots cast and six same day registrations, making it a 15% turnout compared to last year’s 9% turnout.
