Incumbent At Large SAU 8 Concord Board Of Education Members On The Fence About Reelection

CONCORD, NH — The three incumbent Concord Board of Education members elected citywide three years ago have yet to confirm they are running for reelection less than three weeks before signups begin.

Bob Cotton, Barbara Higgins, and Pamela Walsh are at various decision-making stages regarding running again for another three-year term. When asked last week, Cotton said he had not decided to run again but would respond when he had. Higgins, the longest-serving member of the board, first elected in 2011, unelected in 2017, and then re-elected again in 2018, was also undecided. She said she thought this would be her last term a couple of years ago. But lately, she has hinted she would like one more term. Walsh, elected in 2020 to serve the remainder of the term of Jennifer Patterson and then reelected a year later, said she hoped to run again but was still figuring out some logistics.

As of Tuesday, no new candidates have approached Patch to inform us of their candidacies. Some activists involved in ballot access for SAU 8 charter amendments to require mandatory voter approval for school relocation and voter oversight of property transactions have suggested their organization may have a candidate or two. City Republicans are actively attempting to find a candidate to support after seeing some of the board's activities and high tax increases at a time of declining enrollments and extra state aid being placed in reserve instead of returned to property taxpayers.

The filing period for candidates begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, and ends at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 16, with Patrick Taylor, clerk of the district, at the SAU 8 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).

In addition to the three at-large school board members, voters will elect the district treasurer and clerk in November.

The terms of all three members end on Dec. 31. The school board members elected on Nov. 5 will begin their terms on Jan. 1, 2025.

For more information, visit this link.

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