MANCHESTER, N.H. – Last week, the Youth Organizers United initiative of the Granite State Organizing Project hosted a candidate forum at Central High School.
The event began with Board of School Committee candidates Leslie Want, Chris Potter, Liz O’Neil, Gary Hamer, Jason Bonilla, Jim O’Connell and Peter Argeropoulos.
There was consensus around the importance of the school district’s ongoing facilities plan and all the candidates agreed that Manchester should not pursue a “super high school” that was mentioned at times under the tenure of former Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. John Goldhardt. There was also agreement that within the group that there should be three high schools, a key component of the facilities plan, although Hamer said that one of the high schools should be located on the West Side and O’Connell said that one of the high schools should be a magnet school focusing on a subject like arts or technology.
“If you look at the conditions are schools are in, we deserve new buildings,” said Bonilla. “We have failed keeping up the maintenance on our buildings in the past and now it’s time we provide equitable schools for our youth.”
There was also consensus around the need to continue working toward a competency-based learning model and other ideas mentioned by the candidate was seeking more input on policies from the community members, students and teachers, re-entry meetings for students returning from long-term absence, reducing class size and attracting and retaining staff with higher pay.
Aldermanic candidates included incumbents Pat Long and Bill Barry as well as Dr. Nicole Leapley, a current Board of School Committee member running for the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Long and Leapley felt that improving affordable housing would make the city more enticing to prospective residents while Barry sought to lure new residents by increasing the pay for city staff, which he felt in turn would provide residents with better services. Long also sought to incentivize people reporting graffiti by offering a free month’s rent, also stating that dog feces on sidewalks is a large concern he’s heard from residents.
On the matter of homelessness, Long felt that more data is needed to create a more comprehensive approach to the issue while Barry blamed state cuts in funding 12 years ago and Leapley felt more proactive measures were needed.
The event also drew some controversy when Potter stated that only the candidates who attended the forum would listen to students’ needs. Event organizers indicated that Board of School Committee Candidates Mark Flanders, Gordon Haner and Camille Craffey indicated that they would be unable to attend, but would be provided another forum at a future date.
Haner attended the Board of School Committee meeting on Monday to state his understanding that several candidates had been given weeks of advance notice while he was only notified earlier in the day, also criticizing Potter’s comment.
The invitation efforts also drew criticism from Ward 6 Board of School Committee Member Ken Tassey Jr. on Monday, followed by a statement by O’Connell that he had also only learned of the forum hours before it occurred, noting that the event was run by students and they could have done a better job inviting candidates.
Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig indicated that while the event took place in a school building, it was not run by the Manchester School District and was an inappropriate topic of discussion for the meeting.