MANCHESTER, N.H. – Near the conclusion of the Dec. 16, 2025 Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) meeting, Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza voiced his frustration with the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC), stating that they need to show more leadership moving forward.
Sapienza has been a frequent critic of the BOSC in regard to transparency surrounding the Manchester School District’s long-term facilities planning project, which seeks to either renovate or rebuild virtually every public school in the city.
During his comments in the new business portion of Tuesday’s meeting, Sapienza sought clarity over how many public high schools Manchester will have in future years, feeling that one of the high schools could have been closed in recent years.
Reports have been given to the BOSC that a major re-alignment of the Manchester School District’s high schools could be included in Phase 2 of the facilities study, leading to requests that BOSC members be careful with what comments they make regarding the future of Manchester’s high schools. Several BMA members also expressed concern about the cost of a new Beech Street Elementary School in Phase 1 of the initiative, leading to the process being paused for a time in January 2024.
Sapienza also expressed frustration with comments by the BOSC that attacked the BMA’s decisions on school budgets, feeling that the BOSC needed to take more accountability during the process of crafting annual school budgets.
BOSC Vice Chair Jim O’Connell told Manchester Ink Link that he supports a two-high school solution. Currently there are three public high schools in Manchester (West, Central and Memorial) or four if the career/technical education-focused Manchester School of Technology is included.
O’Connell added that he preferred that one school, likely Memorial, be renovated and that the other school be built from scratch at a projected cost of $350 to $400 million.
He said he would welcome one-to-one discussion with Sapienza at any time to address the city’s high school needs.
A Manchester School District spokesperson speaking on behalf of Manchester School District Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel released the following statement. However, he said that there is a long-term planning process for the closure of any school.
“As stated in our last two Board of School Committee meetings, we will present our tax cap compliant budget at our Finance and Facilities meeting on February 11, followed by a special meeting of the full board on February 18. Options for our high schools will be shared in January, and community forums are being planned for March to gather public feedback. We look forward to working with the Board of School Committee and Board of Mayor and Aldermen through this process.”