Kassandra Ardinger, a former chair of the Concord School Board, has been a resident of Concord for 35 years, with her three children attending Concord public schools. Currently, she holds a position as a member of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees.
The recent decision made by the Concord School Board to construct a new middle school at the Broken Ground site has sparked discontent among a faction of the Concord community. This dissatisfaction now poses a threat to the longstanding fiscal independence of the school district governance, which has been advantageous to the residents of the Concord School District since 1961.
Despite the unrest instigated by the Concerned Citizens of Concord group, curtailing the fiscal autonomy of the Concord School Board would lead to a governance framework that is less adaptable, more bureaucratic, cumbersome, and susceptible to the turbulent and unpredictable currents of a deeply divided electorate.
As outlined in the charter, last amended and ratified in November 2022 by Concord voters, the responsibility lies with the elected school board members to make decisions regarding the public schools. Consequently, voters wield immediate and direct influence over the operations of Concord schools. With one-third of the board positions subject to election annually, the public has the chance to significantly shape decision-making by electing individuals whose beliefs closely align with their own.
The board is tasked with managing an annual budget exceeding $100 million, supervising nearly 1,100 employees, formulating and revising numerous school policies, negotiating with nine bargaining units, overseeing more than one million square feet of facilities on 177 acres, all while prioritizing the best interests of Concord students and taxpayers.
Fiscal independence empowers the board to efficiently oversee one of the largest school districts in the state. Concord boasts a reputable school system and is a highly sought-after locale for employment, residence, and raising children, largely due to the board being elected specifically to cater to the needs of students while harmonizing those needs with the financial capacity of Concord taxpayers.
In a city with a population of just under 45,000, it is impractical to expect individual voters to possess the necessary time and expertise to effectively evaluate the complexities involved in managing a $100 million school district. It is even less plausible that locally-elected members of the city council, responsible for supervising the city government’s operations and diverse budgetary requirements of various city departments, would be better equipped than the nine elected school board members to assess educational needs. The intricate demands of a sizable school district are best scrutinized, analyzed, and deliberated upon by a collective body wholly dedicated to the principles of the education sector.
A representative government entails electing citizens entrusted with decision-making authority. If the majority of the electorate disagrees with the decisions made by elected officials, they have the opportunity in the subsequent election to replace them. Expressing discontent over the middle school decision by seeking to revoke fiscal autonomy is myopic and jeopardizes the high standard of education in the capital city.
A glance at news headlines detailing significant teacher layoffs and enlarged class sizes in areas like Pembroke and Manchester provides a glimpse of the potential repercussions of such a drastic alteration to our longstanding school governance model. Constructive dialogue between elected officials and the public, rather than threats of charter modification, is pivotal to any successful construction initiative.