The town of Boscawen is currently without representation on the Merrimack Valley School Board after both members from the town resigned in the last three months.
Loren Martin stepped down on Sunday due to what board Chair Tracy Bricchi described as “personal reasons.” Her resignation followed that of Owen Harrington, who stepped down in October after accepting a middle school basketball coaching position.
The board has solicited applications since Harrington resigned for a temporary appointment to his vacated seat, but the effort has so far failed to yield anyone.
Bricchi indicated at a board meeting on Monday that both positions will likely remain vacant until the annual meeting elections on March 6.
“It is troubling not to have any representation,” Boscawen Select Board Chair Lorrie Carey said in an interview Tuesday. Carey previously served on the school board for 18 years.
The Merrimack Valley School District encompasses the towns and villages of Penacook, Boscawen, Loudon, Salisbury, and Webster. The school board is composed of two representatives from each town and one at-large member.
There are no other vacancies on the board besides the two Boscawen seats.
The openings come as the filing period for the next election cycle approaches. Interested candidates may file to run between Jan. 22 and Jan. 31.
One of the openings in Boscawen will be for the remaining year of Martin’s term, while the other will be for the standard three-year term.
In addition to those seats, there will also be elections for representatives from Penacook, Webster, and Salisbury.
Carey said she is concerned about the dearth of interested candidates from Boscawen.
“It’s always difficult,” she said. “I know I have tried to recruit people myself; it’s a challenge.”
The time commitment and growing criticisms of school boards are both obstacles, according to Carey.
“Not everyone wants to expose themselves to the ire of the public,” she said. “Unfortunately, the public buys into all the negative things that happen and the school board representatives bear the brunt of that.”
Carey said she couldn’t recall another time during her decades in Boscawen when the town had no representatives on the school board.
The Select Board is set to discuss the vacancies at its Wednesday meeting.
Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.
