MANCHESTER, N.H. – Days after a new communications employee began working for the Manchester School District (MSD), the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) shot down a request to approve a job description for a second communications employee, that would have effectively allowed the district to hire that person.
Manchester School District Superintendent Jenn Chmiel took the description of the position from the former Executive Director of Communications position, stating someone is needed for the position due to the district’s struggles with communications needs, due to a lack of infrastructure. Additionally, Chmiel said that the person would keep a watch on any legislation at the state level that could potentially impact the MSD, but would not be the lobbyist. Currently, the BOSC has a Special Committee on Education Legislation that tracks education-related legislation as well as advocating on behalf of BOSC members’ constituents in Concord.
The Executive Director of Communications position has been vacant since June, although a position entitled “Creative Director of Communications and Social Media” was established in recent months, with former WMUR employee Anna Sabato beginning in the role last week. According to BOSC Clerk Angela Carey, the Creative Director of Communications and Social Media position is being funded through grant funding. However, Ward 8 BOSC Member Jessica Spillers expressed concern about other uses for the grant funding earmarked for the position.
Spillers also felt that the optics of hiring a second communications employee was poor given MSD’s current financial restraints, with the district leaving numerous positions vacant after its Fiscal Year 2026 budget was approved by the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen with approximately $10 million less than requested by the BOSC.
While funding for the Executive Director of Communications position was part of the approved budget, the position is one of those left vacant, after the departure of former Executive Director of Communications Andrew Toland, due to uncertainty of where that funding might be needed after the lower-than-expected approved budget.
Additionally, legislation approved out of Concord last year is expected to bring $12 million less in state aid for the next fiscal year budget.
Spillers said that the request echoed her personal experiences working as a social worker within school districts, where district leaders received whatever they needed while people working at the ground level were asked to “do more with less.”
“This is a luxury we cannot afford, and it is a disservice to all the hardworking people at the building level when they see this and we tell them (their schools) cannot hire another para(professional educator),” said Spillers.
She added that since Sabato was just hired, she should be given a few months of assessment.
Ward 5 BOSC Member Jason Bonilla and Ward 7 BOSC Member Chris Potter supported the proposal, with Potter stating that the two major concerns he has heard from constituents is communications and transportation. At-Large BOSC Member Jim O’Connell cited the need to spend more on transportation as a reason not to spend money toward the position.
Ward 9 BOSC Member Bob Baines also opposed the request, feeling that position is needed but not tenable given the expected difficulties with the next fiscal year’s school budget.
“Is (this position) needed? Yes. We don’t have the money to do it,” he said. “Some people may say we’re being negative, but that’s the reality.”
A vote to approve the job description failed on a 6-6 roll call vote. The motion was supported by Bonilla, Potter, Ward 1 BOSC Member Julie Turner, Ward 2 BOSC Member Sean Parr, Ward 6 BOSC Member Dan Bergeron and At-Large BOSC Member Peter Argeropoulos. Opposition came from O’Connell, Baines, Spillers, Ward 4 BOSC Member Leslie Want, Ward 11 BOSC Member Liz O’Neil and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais. Ward 3 BOSC Member Karen Soule voted to abstain from the decision.
Turner then made a motion to send the job description back to the BOSC Finance and Facilities Committee. This failed on a 7-6 roll call vote, with each of the members repeating their first vote outside of Soule, who voted in opposition.
Ward 10 BOSC Member Joy Senecal and Ward 12 BOSC Member Carlos Gonzalez were absent for both votes.