6 Vie For 3 Citywide Concord Board Of Education Seats On Nov. 5: Watch

CONCORD, NH — On Nov. 5, along with presidential and congressional elections, governor and state offices, too, voters in Concord have competitive board of education races.

Three citywide school board seats, including one open seat, since an incumbent chose not to run this year, are up for grabs in the SAU 8 Concord School District. Six city residents are vying for the seats: Clint Cogswell, Barbara Higgins, Sarah Sadowski, Joseph Scroggins, Pamela Walsh, and Andrew Winters.

All six candidates participated in a one-hour forum hosted by Concord NH Patch and Concord TV in their studio at Concord High School.

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The candidates answered several questions, including how they would tackle healing the city's divide over a controversial decision to build a new, nearly quarter-billion-dollar middle school on the city’s east side. They also gave opinions about two charter amendment ballot questions seeking to reestablish some voting rights for residents over land sales and school location decisions.

(Click here to watch the forum if you don't see the embed).

The candidates were also asked about budgeting, the decline in school quality in the Concord school district based on recent data rankings, what traits and characteristics they would like to see in a new school superintendent if one is needed in the next three years, and the controversial hire of a new elementary school principal who was a superintendent in another district and involved in a since-settled wrongful termination lawsuit. That lawsuit concerned a request by the new hire to spy on the emails of the city’s school board members, his employers, and teachers, at the behest of another school board member.

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