Concord School District Charter 2024 Ballot Questions Hearing Held Monday: Follow-Up

CONCORD, NH — The Concord School District Board of Education will host a public hearing on Monday night concerning two ballot questions on the November 2024 ballot, which seek to change the charter to allow voting rights when addressing school relocation and property transactions.

Opponents of a plan to build a new middle school in East Concord near the Broken Ground Elementary School and Mill Brook Primary School gathered more than 1,500 signatures toward ballot access for the two questions. If approved, one would add a “mandatory voter approval for school relocation” provision to the charter. The second would require “voter oversight on property transactions” of more than an acre.

The activists, Concord Concerned Citizens, needed 965 confirmed signatures to gain ballot access — 15 percent of the number of ballots cast in the previous district election. SAU 8 represents all of Wards 3 through 10, the western part of Ward 1, and about two-thirds of the southern section of Ward 2.

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The public hearing is slated for 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9, at the Christa McAuliffe Auditorium at Concord High School at 170 Warren St.

The booking of the public hearing, required by state law, was decided on Aug. 29 (watch the hearing below), after the board held a special meeting to decide on a hearing date. The board changed the date of its regular monthly meeting to accommodate the public hearing.

While mostly opponents of the project spoke at the Aug. 29 meeting, several residents spoke out against the ballot questions. Some, too, spoke in favor of building the new middle school on the east side of the city.

Candidate Signups Start Friday

The filing period for candidates begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, and ends at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 16, at the district office at 38 Liberty St. in Concord.

To run, candidates must be registered to vote and domiciled in the Concord School District (a district map is linked here).

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