Two candidates from Concord’s voting District C are seeking a spot on the Concord School Board this year. One of them is incumbent Gina Cannon who has served on the board since 2020, and the other is challenger Sarah Robinson, an elementary school parent and campaign director for a local political advocacy organization.
The District C candidate will be elected for a three-year term by voters residing in Wards 8, 9 and 10.
Deciding to run for re-election to the Concord School Board wasn’t a choice Gina Cannon took lightly, as she estimates that she dedicates about seven hours every week to Board work. But Cannon said she is seeking another term because she wants to see the vast number of policy and program changes that have been initiated by the School Board and the district over the last few years come to fruition.
“We want a new culture in our schools of of equity and inclusion and belonging, we want to fold in our new Americans, we want to recover from the pandemic, we want every child to feel like they belong, we want every kid to excel, we want an entire revision of our special education program,” Cannon said. “We literally did a 180 direction of the school. It was a lot of work to ask of the administration, it was a lot of work to ask for the School Board.”
Cannon is a retired lawyer and professional guardian and a current stay-at-home parent, who lives in Ward 10 with her husband and daughter.
Cannon is currently finishing up a three year term, during which she held the positions of board secretary, chair of the Communications and Policy Committee and member of the Negotiations Committee. Cannon is proud of the policy work she’s done on the board so far, estimating they have instituted or updated 50 district policies in the last two years.
When Cannon first ran in 2019, it was on a platform of improving trust and transparency with the community in the aftermath of a Concord teacher’s arrest on sexual assault charges earlier that year. Since then, Cannon believes district transparency has improved but community trust still lags, as evidenced by public concern over some Rundlett Middle School building project ideas, such as a potential partnership with the YMCA. Cannon said it’s been difficult to field questions from community members who are eager to know more details that Cannon says she doesn’t have.
“I don’t think the community’s used to that level of being involved and being included in the discussion so early on in the process,” Cannon said. “I think people kind of are having a little bit of a difficult time with that. There aren’t any details because there simply aren’t any details, not because we’re trying to hide the details.”
In Cannon’s view, one of the most important tasks the district currently faces includes hiring a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice coordinator and increasing diversity among employees.
“We have such an amazing time talented, diverse community. We need to see more of that diversity distributed in the adults,” Cannon said.
Another equally important task Cannon cited is the Rundlett Middle School building project. Cannon said she plans to weigh the different land options carefully based on pros and cons and to balance the varying public opinions to make decisions.
“I’m amazingly aware of what tax burden we’re placing on citizens. Nevertheless, you walk through Rundlett during a heavy thunderstorm and you’re going to see why people are saying we need a new building,” Cannon said. “Trying to tread between fiscal austerity and the practicalities and the greater environment of building costs, that’s going to be quite a challenge to balance all of that and come out with what is best for our community.”
Sarah Robinson, a parent and public education advocate, is passionate about community involvement and wants to bring her experience with education policy and community organizing to the Concord School Board.
Robinson is an education campaign director for the political advocacy organization Granite State Progress, where she tries to get progressive candidates elected to local school boards. Before that, she worked for the education advocacy organization Reaching Higher. Robinson is also a community organizer, the founder of Concord’s chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, the co-chair of the Manchester NAACP’s Education Committee and a former board member of Pride Concord. She lives in Ward 10 with her husband and two children, who attend Mill Brook School and Broken Ground School.
Part of the reason Robinson decided to run is because she wants to support public education at a time when she believes it is at risk, citing the state’s controversial “Freedom from Discrimination in Education” law, Education Freedom Account voucher program and the “parental rights” bill which was defeated by the New Hampshire House in May, but has been submitted again as a legislative service request.
“I’ve had several years being steeped in education data and education policy,” Robinson said “I have had the privilege of being able to look at the stuff every single day, and one of my thoughts was, ‘I really should be using this for my own kids’ education and for my own district.’”
If Robinson is elected, her goal is to get involved in policy work, making sure that district policies align with the ever-changing state requirements. She also wants to see the Concord School District complete a “Portrait of a Graduate” project some other school districts have recently undertaken to identify the skills Concord students need to succeed.
“I know we potentially have some hairy stuff coming down from from the State House and I’d really love to help our district remain nimble and do everything that we can to ensure a vibrant and joyful learning experience for our students,” Robinson said.
As a racial justice advocate and organizer, Robinson said she hopes to be a “supportive player,” in Concord’s ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion work, especially for the diversity coordinator the district is planning to hire.
“We’re going to have a person in that position and it’s difficult. The work is a steep climb,” Robinson said. “School should be a place of belonging, it should feel integral to your community. I want to help build spaces of belonging.”
Robinson believes the most important project the Concord School District currently faces is the impending Rundlett Middle School building project and wants to create space for dialogue around that project.
“I think there’s an opportunity for a larger community conversation around the [Rundlett] project. That will be a lot of work,” Robinson said. “Different sections of our community all have different ideas about how that project should move forward and it’s really important that folks feel heard, that they feel understood. When it comes to these big decisions, community buy-in is essential.”