Occupation: Operations Director
Education Background: BA Business Administration
How long have you lived in Manchester: My whole life.
Fun Fact: My wife (Heidi) and I were in the same kindergarten class. Married 45 years.
Why should someone vote for you?
I am committed to serve Ward 10 on the Manchester Board of School Committee. I want to be Ward 10’s voice on the board as well as to be available to help all constituents in Ward 10 with any issues they are facing regarding the Manchester School District.
How many public high schools should there be in Manchester, where should they be and should any of them be magnet schools?
This issue is still to be discussed and will continue to be discussed over the next couple of years. In order to make the right determination an analysis needs to be completed to determine future demographic changes. Additionally decisions need to be made around future program offerings at the high school level. My only firm belief at this point is that there needs to remain a comprehensive high school on the west side in Manchester.
Should all public high schools in Manchester offer some sort of vocational training or should vocational classes by centralized at the current Manchester School of Technology campus?
Vocational Education is important and needs to remain to offered by the Manchester School district. How and where it is offered will probably change based on the outcome of the study I mention in the above question.
What is your opinion on the first phase of the Manchester School District’s facilities plan? (finishing fifth grade expansions at the middle schools/new Beech Street Elementary)
It needs to continue and be brought to a successful conclusion.
What is your opinion of Education Freedom Accounts?
Public education has been under attack in NH by the legislature in Concord over the past several years. EFA’s are the result of that attack. EFA’s take money from public education and local school districts. EFA’s require no accountability as to how the dollar’s are being spent. In a time where the NH Supreme Court has declared the State of New Hampshire continues to underfund public schools across the state is not the time offer EFA accounts.
How can the Manchester School District attract and retain talented staff?
Develop a recruitment strategy that the includes wages and benefits that are comparable to the other districts in southern New Hampshire.
What are your thoughts on the Manchester School District’s curricula?
The curriculum currently being offered by the Manchester School District overall is very good. Over the past several years there is has been an ongoing dedicated effort to modernize offerings in all required subject areas at all grade levels. A cadence has been established to review all curriculum on a regular schedule to ensure we do not fall behind like we unfortunately did several years ago. The ongoing challenge I see is ensuring opportunities to all who qualify to take advanced level classes at the high school level.
What are your thoughts on school budget deliberations in 2026?
This is the most critical issue facing our schools at this time. The last 2 years has seen under funding from the Board of Mayor and Alderman which has resulted in the school district needing to take approximately $15 million from their trust accounts a/k/a rainy day fund. It took several years of good budget planning to increase monies in these accounts. The question has become how will district be able to maintain services if the under funding continues and how do bring to the trust account back up to the previous levels.