Petition To Remove Officials From Concord Schools Cracks 2,000

CONCORD, NH — Students in the Concord School District started to trickle back into classes Wednesday after educators and staffers spent Monday and Tuesday getting an overview of student safety, which, by all accounts appears to have been a successful endeavor. School Board member Barbara Higgins, a former SAU 8 teacher herself, welcomed educators and shared thoughts – and excitement – of what a new year brings for a teacher. More than 800 staffers attended the two-day trainings, according to the Concord Monitor.

At the same time, an unease hangs over both the school and greater community.

The district is grappling with how to gain the community's confidence back in the wake of the Primo "Howie" Leung rape arrest, a yet-to-be-released internal administrative investigation is being conducted into how he was allowed to stay on as a teacher and the actions of the school's principal, Tom Sica, who was Leung's supervisor both the high school and middle school, and a petition calling for the removal of both School Superintendent Terri Forsten and Sica cracked the 2,000-signature mark Wednesday (as of 5 p.m., the removal petition had 2,098 signatures).

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Board of education members are also holding another nonpublic meeting with its legal counsel Wednesday – the second such meeting in 72-hours.

Concord High School's administrative team also sent out a letter to parents Wednesday, in an apparent attempt to calm their nerves – whether they are concerned about the lack of leadership at the school in the wake of Sica taking a leave of absence or the fear that, because there has been no news of Sica's permanent dismissal, that he will be back at the school, as some school staffers have reportedly been privately suggesting to members of the community.

"We are committed to establishing a safe and productive environment where all of our students grow, find their voice, and are on a robust pathway to college, career, and community success," the letter said. "The events of the recent past do reflect on us, but do not define us(emphasis added in the letter). We are taking what the community is asking of us to heart and in doing so, actively striving to improve CHS on every front."

The letter stated that a support team of assistant principals and others will assist parents who request to speak with a principal and staffers were "committed to providing the safest possible school" for all members of our community.

"We have absorbed a great deal over the summer (and continue to do so), and are working to implement system improvements that will: (1) Support and empower students to feel comfortable speaking up when they, or a peer, have concerns about safety (2) Help employees to better recognize when a student is in a harmful situation and how to respond," the letter stated.

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