Susannah Colt lives in Whitefield and can be reached at susannahbcolt@gmail.com.
A very long 24 hours elapsed from the time the polls closed at the five towns of the White Mountain Regional School District (WMRSD) until the results of the school board election were announced.
What is normally a pretty routine election in the North Country, turned into a contentious battle for the hearts and souls of the community. The result was a record turnout of voters and the status quo won the day.
As a tax-paying resident of Whitefield for four years now, where schools are the biggest expense for a property tax owner, I decided it was time to pay attention to how my money was being spent. I was also motivated by how the Republican-dominated 2020 legislature began its assault on the New Hampshire public school system when it passed the Freedom Education Accounts and censored teachers with its unconstitutional “divisive/banned concepts” bill, at the same time as the schools were dealing with mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
I began watching the board meetings, which were broadcast via Zoom, paying close attention to the public comments section to see what my neighbors were saying to the board members. There were only a couple of times community members complained about the mask mandates that were put into place by the district, which indicated to me that the way the school district was handling the pandemic was accepted by the vast majority of the community.
I also began inquiring as to whether there had been any complaints from parents against teachers that may have been violating the “divisive concepts” law. What I learned is that it was not a problem at all in the district.
The general sense I got from talking with community members is that there was a lot of pride in the school system, acknowledging that the fluctuation in population and resources was always an issue. It seemed the school board was respected and appreciated for all its hard work. The attitude generally was that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (except maybe the plow truck that was on its last legs and the potholes on the road to the high school).
There were two board seats that were expiring, one in Whitefield and one in Jefferson. Both members decided to seek reelection. As the filing period for local elections was coming to an end, the question was whether the two seats would be contested. Indeed, both seats were contested.
Since elections on the local level are non-partisan, there are no preconceived notions at the outset. The purpose of that seems to be to eliminate the divisiveness party politics inspires because of the small-town nature of these elections. I was going to have to interview both candidates to determine their position regarding issues important to me and to find out what was motivating them to run.
I focused on the Whitefield seat. Since I’d been watching the board meetings for the past six months, I was leaning toward the incumbent who seemed to be doing an excellent job. Digging deeper I learned that she was a lifetime resident, had been a student, parent and coach in the WMRSD, and had a vested interest in the schools.
Her opponent was born in the North Country but had left for 31 years while he was on active duty in the Army, returning in 2019 to live in Whitefield. His children were adults now but he did have a granddaughter who went to school in Coos County, but not WMRSD. His catalyst for running was when his 10-year-old granddaughter came home from school telling her parents about a questionnaire that asked “inappropriate” questions.
He was concerned about how they were “talking in terms of LGBTQ stuff,” which he didn’t think “has a place in school.” He also opposed the teaching of “divisive concepts.” At the time of the interview, mask mandates were still in place at the schools and he was not in favor of them or vaccine mandates because those decisions should be left to the individual. All of the red flags went up for me during the interview.
While I’ve been active in campaigns in other parts of the state, I’ve never really campaigned since the advent of Facebook and social media and I’ve never been politically active in the North Country. I discovered the Whitefield, NH Community Forum Facebook page and found that many people used that to express their opinions. It seemed they were emboldened to speak their minds because of the lack of face-to-face interactions. The good thing about it was, without the normal human interaction filters, the true agendas of both of the parties were revealed, for better or for worse. My initial concerns about the challenger were confirmed in spades and I had no doubt who I was going to vote for.
I’ve learned that in the last five years about half of the campaigns for school boards have been uncontested. I’ve noticed that tends to be the norm in small towns. So, the fact that both board seats were contested this year is a bit unprecedented, along with the fact that there was a record turnout at the polls. Even in Whitefield, there was a larger than normal turnout of voters, and 30 people registered on the day of the election.
I can only speculate as to the enlarged interest in the school board election, but I suspect it was fueled by the nationwide call by the right wing to promote individual rights over what is right for the health of the masses, push to censor the teaching of so-called critical race theory, deny the existence of systemic racism, and return to the dark ages where openly hating gays and lesbians was the norm.
It was gratifying that 63% of the residents in the WMRSD successfully repelled the challenger, and, for the next year at least, we can rely on the status quo. Next up, mid-term elections this fall. Get ready!