School Board Candidate Focuses On New Rundlett School Project

CONCORD, NH — As she hopes to obtain a second term in the District C seat on the Concord Board of Education, Pam Wicks knows it has been a frustrating time for the Concord community as well as the board. There have been some serious issues officials have been grappling with from a teacher-student rape case, the lack of credentialing with some administrators, and what seems to be a steady flow of issues, sometimes daily.

With that struggle though has also come enlightenment, especially around issues concerning municipal finance, open records law, and other issues members have had to deal with, tackling the tough issues. The steady stream of mostly bad news has also caught some members off guard because not everyone attends subcommittee meetings or is privy to everything going on in the district. Wicks admitted some structural changes for the board might be needed in the future.

"We are certainly in a place where things have to change, we all have to change, we have to figure things out, I've had to make decisions I didn't want to make; it was hard. I've made decisions and it hasn't gone my way. And that's hard."

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The board, however, moves forward with the decisions made, she said.

Wicks and her family moved to the city from Revere, Massachusetts, after checking out all of the communities around Concord Hospital, where her husband works. Originally, she grew up in Sandown. When considering where to move, Wicks was surprised that none of the communities in the capital region had full-day kindergarten even though they had it in Revere. They settled into Concord and Wicks volunteered in the schools and then, decided she would run for the board.

She had always wanted to be a teacher but it just wasn't in the cards for her. Instead, Wicks sought a role on the board as a way to support public education.

"I didn't do it to be a politician," she said, "I did it because I believe in the school district and I love the schools."

Three years ago, in the only contested school board race for the 2016 election, Wicks ousted incumbent Rusty Cofrin, a former Concord math teacher, by more than 500 votes to win the District C seat, mostly buoyed by her support for full-day K (Cofrin attempted to run again in 2017 but lost by 98 votes to Chuck Crush). The district represents Wards 8, 9, and 10, nearly all of the neighborhoods and wards east of the Merrimack River (with the exception of a handful homes in Ward 1 that are west of I-93).

But once she was elected to the board, full-day K didn't happen right away. In fact, the Concord Steam bankruptcy put a wrench into the plans, with the board having to raise property taxes to finance natural gas lines to the schools that were formerly heated by steam. Tackling the budget each year has been tough, she said.

"It was really eye-opening to really to see that there's a lot that goes into (the budget)," she said. "I would go to the budget hearings, even when I wasn't on the board, and ask, 'Why is my kid's class (size) going up? What are you cutting another teacher?' … It's not just about people who have kids in the school that you have to think about."

Wicks serves on the instructional committee and said she really enjoyed the work and hearing about all of the programs that teachers were offering students. She finds it fascinating, as well, the relationships teachers have with their students, and how they are able to balance all that needs to be taught. Wicks praised the district for all of the courses that were being offered to students, especially at the high school.

Construction of a new middle school is also a project that Wicks is supporting.

"That building is junk and we need a new building," she said. "There's no piece of that school that should be saved, in my opinion."

Rundlett Middle School, Wicks said, was not conducive to modern learning; the sizes of the classes are not proper, there was no opportunity for collaborative or small space learning, and the theater isn't as good as it should be, since there isn't a lot of space, and her children are involved in performances at the school – especially when compared to the high school, which has its own performance center.

"My kids are never going to be in that (new) building," she said. "And I still believe it in. I want to see what it can be for our community."

Wicks added her children went to Mill Brook, a new primary school, for their first years and then, went to Broken Ground, a much older building with lesser air quality and classrooms that are not designed properly. The differences between the schools, right next door to each other, are drastic.

"We have kids at Broken Ground who don't have windows in their classrooms," she said. "It is what it is."

Wicks wasn't in Concord during the elementary school consolidation process but she has been shocked that they were built without enough room for full-day K. She also understands that her "dream list" of things for all students is expensive. At the same time, the board has to do what's best for the city's children, Wicks said.

After the last six months on the board, Wicks contemplated and struggled with whether or not she would or should run again. She tries to ignore the comments online from people who don't know her who want her to go. And while Wicks agrees the Concord community had a right to be angry, she also believes some of their anger was misdirected.

"Howie Leung did this," she said. "I didn't do this. That is what is hard. But I believe in the school district. I wouldn't send my kids here if I didn't believe in the school district (and) I want to move our district forward."

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