In Hopkinton, voters face two uncontested races for the select board and school board.
For the select board, Sabrina Dunlap, the current chair, and Steve Lux Jr. are running for two three-year seats. Selectman Jeffrey Donohue did not run for re-election.
Andrea Folsom, the vice chair of the school board, and Jonathan Dunlap are running for two three-year terms on the Hopkinton School Board.
The Monitor sent questionnaires to all select board and school board candidates. Folsom did not submit a form upon request.
What is your occupation or experience?
Jonathan Dunlap: I work in business development leading launch teams for new designs in automotive lighting, with materials science and business education. Over my career, I’ve led local and global teams in product launches, M&A and supported NH-based manufacturing. We also have two children currently enrolled and thriving in Hopkinton Schools.
Sabrina Dunlap: I practiced law for nearly a decade and currently work in government relations in the health policy space in NH.
Lux: Previous Select Board member, local business owner of Riverside Pizza, call firefighter on Hopkinton, Vice-President of Contoocook Riverway Assocation
Why are you running and what do you see as the most-pressing issues in town?
Jonathan Dunlap: I’m running for the office to give back to the community and participate in a small way to what makes Hopkinton a great place to call home. I’m not running with any platform, agenda points or bias in any regard. It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback and second guess why things were done a certain way. It’s harder to volunteer for a 3-year commitment and step up to (hopefully) be a part of the solution.
The most pressing issue(s) I see are finding the balance between the needs of children in Hopkinton with the continuous tax pressures on the community here in the form of local property taxes. This is not unique to Hopkinton whatsoever. The same budget challenges are facing communities throughout New Hampshire with years of downshifting costs from the state level to local towns that ultimately land in property taxes. New Hampshire ranks dead last out of all 50 states in state-level K-12 education funding (Boston Globe: 4/29/25), and every local property owner feels that -myself included.
Combine the school funding challenges with current state and local issues such as open enrollment, safety, parental rights, and there are no shortage of issues for a local school board to navigate through.
Sabrina Dunlap: Hopkinton has experienced quite a bit of change in leadership in the last year, with two new Board members and a new town administrator (our former administrator moved on after 15 years). I decided to run for a fourth term, in part, to help navigate these transitions and be a source of historical knowledge for our Board and town administrator. We are facing a number of challenging issues as a town, but I think the infrastructure projects we need to tackle (including bridge/road work and water/sewer/waste management projects) will be the most pressing in the next couple of years.
Lux: Proudly served our community on local boards, committees, and volunteer organizations. Major infrastructure upgrades to our town sewer system, local parks, roads and other related highway/sidewalk improvements.
What do you hope to accomplish if you are elected?
Jonathan Dunlap: If I have one personal goal that I hope to accomplish is that I’d like to continue on the work of others to build trust in local government with all parts of the community through open dialogue and transparent open communication. Nobody runs for school board here to get rich. Everyone on the board is volunteering their time to meet the needs of the school district and to continuously improve the community as a whole.
The true goal of course is to do right for the children in Hopkinton; balancing the needs, wants, regulations etc. while always keeping in mind what it means to the taxpayers that pay the bills.
There will always be competing goals, but I’m a firm believer that people sitting down and having a healthy, sometimes difficult, debate on subjects is not a bad thing. At the end of the day, compromise is not a four-letter word, it’s necessary and it’s one of the core tenants of what our government is founded on at all levels.
Sabrina Dunlap: My hope is to continue working towards more of a strategic governance model for the Select Board, working with employees and residents to gather input for our collective vision for Hopkinton. The Select Board is working on a framework for both short and long term goals, and plan to build on the great work already done over many years by employees and residents related to our master plan.
Lux: As a familiar face in Hopkinton, I expect to be honest and approachable to every community member. I hope to encourage greater public engagement and involvement with our local boards and committees, as well as explore creative ways to save money within the budget without sacrificing services.