Disclaimer: Runaway Bulldog does not have a political agenda. We report news that we think students and townspeople should care about. This issue’s main story deals with the elections next week; we are not telling anyone who to support.
The story
Town elections are next Tuesday. We also get the day off from school. You decide which one’s more important.
What’s this about?
There are two town council positions up, other town positions, a few school district positions, and, most importantly, a school board seat. Jen DeAngelis is not running again, so there are three candidates running for the spot: Kamee Leshner, John Schneller, and John Trent.
So Leshner.
She’s an attorney, which, we have to say, might have served the board well last summer. Just a thought. She has been very involved in the Bedford community, being a part of the Taxpayers for Quality Education, the committee that brought the high school forward, and a wide range of other things. So, she’s got some experience and prior knowledge.
And aspirations…
Leshner wants to address school security, and to review policies and curriculum. She wants to make sure kids are prepared for non-college options as well as college, and look out for people on a fixed income when budgeting. Glad someone’s thinking about the grandmas and grandpas.
So Schneller.
He has a background in finance, which is not a bad skill to have when budgeting. You know, math can be hard. He has also sold Mr. Fournier his Christmas tree before, so we already know that they’re very close. That’s one of those unbreakable bonds. In the area of school safety, he supports following the police chief’s recommendations, like a third school resource officer. Schneller hopes that he can facilitate more cooperation between the town council and the school board, especially on budgeting. He favors the AP program because it gives more students college credit, and he too wants to look out for the half of the town without kids in schools.
But his main goal?
Decreasing the budget. He was clear that he would not come in looking to slash everything, but he wants to take a hard look at the budget. One area of focus: clubs. Because there’s a lot of them. And there are, but, joke’s on him — they cost almost nothing. Schneller also wants to improve communication for the budget, and make it easier to look at. Amen. We tried getting through the budget, and it hurt our heads. A lot.
So Trent.
He’s an engineer, which would come in handy…when one of the member’s swivel chairs malfunctions. Though he claims that he knows what companies are looking for, and wants to bring actual real world learning to schools — like internships and job shadowing, not like the real world learning that you get credit for by going to a Taylor Swift concert.
Goalz?
He has four main pillars: excellence, inclusivity, fiscal responsibility, and safety. For the first one, he wants to gather data through surveys and forums to determine the best curriculum. For inclusiveness, Trent wants to solidify anti-bullying policies and make sure every student is and feels valued. For fiscal responsibility…you get the gist. And, as far as safety goes, he worked in counter-terrorism after 9/11. So, we feel like he may know what he’s talking about. Possibly a little too much.
Why should I care?
Well, we care because we watch the videos every other week. So, everyone vote for the best-looking candidate. We’d appreciate it very much. If you don’t care about us, then care because school board members have a lot of control over what happens in our schools.
The Runaway
Vooooooooote! We don’t care who you vote for, just do it. If you can’t vote, tell your parents to.
What to say…
When you come back from February break feeling done with Winter…
Well, we basically are. The last two winter sports teams standing are boys hockey and nordic, who have their state championship meet on Wednesday. Girls hockey and boys basketball didn’t make it to playoffs, and girls basketball was knocked out in the quarterfinals this past Saturday. Hockey will play Concord in semis on Wednesday. We’ve already beaten them once, so we’re pretty confident we can do it again. In the championship round, we’ll play Trinity or Salem. Trinity is higher-seeded, but Salem, who finished in 8th, beat Pinkerton, who finished in first. That’s gotta hurt, @Pinkerton — we suggest applying some ice. But, that means a (possibly) easier road to first place for us. Because we really only care about ourselves. Trinity beat us 5-4 in the regular season, which we assume was just some mistake. We think we have this one. Football took home the W; now, the football of winter should too.
When there’s more news about the Bow Lane Development…
Is this still going on? OMG we know! We’re kind of done with it too. But just when you think it’s going to end…BAM! No one can agree on anything. With the developers’ revised plan, there will be less added traffic and students, no impact on the wetlands, and lower buildings, so the school will be less visible. Which is good — less people peeping in on the LARP castle. However, the developers have yet to disclose what percentage will be workforce housing. And they have to make at least 25 percent of the units workforce housing, because that’s the only reason they get to build apartments there at all. But, the new concern? The construction noise. Some feel like it’ll be too loud with the school right next door. We can tell you, we don’t care. At all. In fact, we welcome all distractions.
When you prolong your decision process to avoid making one…
Sounds like the whole girls basketball coaching saga. Well, it was finally resolved with two days left in the season. Reminder: Sue Thomas appealed her termination in early January. She officially withdrew her appeal on February 28. You do the math.
Things to Know
Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Remember this? It’s happening again! We don’t know when, but it’s coming. We’re quite excited.
Reiteration
Boys hockey: Wednesday.
Nordic: Wednesday.
Elections: Next Tuesday.