MANCHESTER, N.H. – The rebirth of the Manchester Board of School Committee’s (BOSC) Athletic Committee received a bit of controversy following its announcement at Monday’s board meeting.
Ward 9 BOSC Member Robert Baines expressed frustration with BOSC Vice Chair and At-Large Member Jim O’Connell not reaching out to Manchester School District (MSD) Athletic Director Christine Telge prior to the creation of the committee, a special committee that will conclude when its goal is reached although it was not clear during Monday’s meeting what metrics would indicate that goal has been met.
O’Connell said that bringing back the board after several years of its hiatus was to show support to Telge and provide more resources to the athletic department, stating that much smaller school districts elsewhere in the state provide more resources for their athletic departments.
“I think this board has neglected our athletic department and it needs to be given attention,” said O’Connell.
For Baines, the issue was not supporting the MSD Athletic Department, but not including Telge in the process. In previous meetings, Baines has also expressed concern that this committee would micromanage the department as its previous iteration did, with O’Connell agreeing that micromanagement was unacceptable. Baines also was concerned about the scope of the committee and how often they would be meeting.
In recent years, athletic matters went through the Teaching and Learning Committee, and within the past year, Telge was told by MSD Assistant Superintendent Forrest Ransdell that he would be in frequent contact with her and he had met with her and/or MSD Assistant Athletic Director Jordan D’Onofrio every two weeks. While Telge said that several board members had reached out to her, O’Connell had not talked to her until the day of the meeting.
Telge said that while she does not attend every meeting, she does watch every meeting and took it personally that she was not contacted by O’Connell both for herself and her staff.
“We work hard, we work long hours, and we do it for our kids,” said Telge. “All 12,000 of them.”
Ward 4 BOSC Member Leslie Want said that there could have been more communication, but noted that it was in the purview of O’Connell as vice chair to create the committee since it is a special committee although a rules change would be needed to create a standing committee.
Baines hoped there would be more meat on the bone regarding the committee’s purpose despite the fact that it was a special committee.
No action was taken as the item was brought up in new business as an announcement. BOSC members serving on the committee include O’Connell as well as Ward 1 BOSC Member Julie Turner, Ward 2 BOSC Member Sean Parr, Ward 6 BOSC Member Dan Bergeron and Ward 7 BOSC Member Chris Potter.