Before Betty Hoadley was a regular on the microphone during the public comment periods of Concord school board meetings, she was president of the board itself.
Before that, she was a teacher in four different Concord schools and a parent to three children who attended them. And before that, she was herself a student in Concord schools.
For years since stepping back from public office, Hoadley has remained a vigorous watchdog of the Concord Board of Education, offering counsel and a listening ear to those following in her footsteps, as well as a bottomless well of knowledge about school history.
She has long been what Charlie Russell calls a “spokesperson for the taxpayer,” the result of her years as a Republican state representative with a bent for fiscal conservatism. She’s also been someone eager to serve.
“When you’re 90 years old and you’re still rolling your sleeves up and saying ‘what can I do, how can I help?’ I guess that’s as good a testament to anybody’s life and reputation as you can make,” said Russell, a long-time observer of local politics.
For Cara Meeker, a member of the Concord Board of Education who calls her a mentor, Hoadley’s dedication extends to both sides of the board table.
“She is a walking library for understanding how our town works and how our schools work,” Meeker said. “She is a protector of this community. She’s protective of the taxpayer. She’s protective of our children. She is protective of the institution that is the school board.”
Hoadley doesn’t really see this dedication as all that heroic. She just can’t help it.
“I don’t know why I have this thing, but it’s like, if I see something that’s wrong, I want to right it,” she said.
Hoadley hasn’t shied away from speaking her mind on district issues, regardless of whether she’s praising local leaders’ decisions or raking them over the coals.
“She’ll often say, ‘I’m gonna finally back away and let you guys do what you need to do,'” Meeker said. “But then she comes right back in when she hears something that triggers that protective nature is like, ‘Oh no, you guys are missing something here.'”
Last year, the school board eliminated more teaching positions from the budget than originally planned. Parents, who cherished the close support their students got with a low teacher-student ratio, met the decision with public pushback.
Hoadley reassured the board they’d done the right thing.
“You took on very, very difficult things, and you came out with a number that was most acceptable,” she said last year. “Congratulations, and thank you.”
When board members went against overwhelming public feedback that the middle school should stay where it is — including her own — Hoadley didn’t let them off easy. She carried a sign with her to school board meetings, predicting that outrage over the middle school would upend the board’s autonomy. It read “Autonomy R.I.P. old friend.”
Her criticism persists.
“What’s been missing,” she said of the way the board is doing now, “is adherence to the public who pay the bill.”
Despite the fierceness of her stances, Hoadley has always been one to welcome those who disagree with her to sit down and talk things through. She used to hold court at the old Friendly’s downtown. Today, it’s at the McDonald’s on Fisherville Road.
Russell, someone who’s long ruffled feathers in Concord politics, said that willingness to engage means a lot to residents who are upset about one thing or another. He wishes more local leaders would follow suit.
Meeker met Hoadley just after she was elected. Hoadley reached out first, as she does to most new board members.
“She wanted to tell me everything she knew about her time as an educator, her time as a board member. She had tips and recommendations for process and procedure,” Meeker recalled. “You can come in with great intentions… but it was essential for me, especially in that first year, wanting to learn, wanting to be able to make educated decisions, and she was that bridge.”
Barb Higgins has known Hoadley for most of her own life. Higgins grew up down the street from the Hoadleys, and in the fifth grade, Mrs. Hoadley was her teacher. “She was always the teacher everybody wanted to get,” Higgins recalled.
Higgins also underscored the importance of Hoadley’s advocacy, civic participation and mentorship, but she emphasized that Hoadley’s dedication goes beyond government. She is also a fundraiser for the city auditorium, a steward of a scholarship program sponsored by her class at Concord High and an engaged city resident for most of her life.
“Living a life of civic duty and community engagement is just innate to her,” Higgins said. “If there was ever a family that represented, you know, being dedicated to Concord, it’s them.”
Hoadley has never been afraid to use her voice, she said.
“Even when it pisses people off.”