NASHUA – Board of Education President Heather Raymond and Superintendent Jahmal Mosley hope for more productive meetings in the new school year.

Still, new board members, who convened for the first time on Tuesday, face several challenges:

• Reports of violent bullying at middle schools;

• Allegations the district is not adequately serving students whose primary languages are not English;

• The fact that nearly half of students who are now juniors admitted to vaping last year; and

• That in the year 2020, some students and educators are still forced to have class in trailers.

Tuesday, new BOE members Jennifer Bishop, Jessica Brown, Sharon Giglio, Sandra Ziehm and Paula Johnson joined Raymond and other returning members for the first meeting of the new year.

An organizational meeting was called to order prior to the regularly scheduled BOE meeting at Nashua High School North. During this time, members nominated and voted to fill positions for both a board president and clerk, established committee assignments and also established a roll call order for 2020.

Last year, Raymond was voted to fulfill the role of board president, and will continue serving in this capacity. Board member Ray Guarino was also elected board clerk last year and will continue serving the board in this capacity as well. He and Raymond were nominated and voted into these positions by votes of 9-0.

“Once again, I am humbled to be the only person nominated for – or possibly a target, I’m not sure which way – but I tried my best last year,” Raymond said. “There’s definitely a learning curve. I will continue to try my best and continue to learn. So, if people want me, I’ll do it.”

“I want to thank you all for nominating me again,” Guarino added. “I really appreciate the support that you all have given me tonight and I will do my best this year, and I think we’re going to have a good year.”

Roll call order was established by having board members choose a number from a small white box that Guarino carried around the horseshoe for each member to select.

Committee appointments were also accepted during the organizational meeting with a 9-0 vote. Guarino will chair the Budget Committee.

Brown will chair the Curriculum and Evaluation Committee, with Johnson and member Gloria Timmons appointed as committee members. Bishop is appointed as an alternate.

Dotty Oden will chair the Finance and Operations Committee, with Guarino and Johnson appointed as committee members. Ziehm is appointed as an alternate.

Timmons will chair the Human Resources Committee, with Oden and Giglio appointed as committee members. Brown is appointed as an alternate.

Bishop will chair the Policy Committee, with Guarino and Ziehm appointed as committee members. Johnson is appointed as an alternate.

Theses five board members will serve as members on the Joint Special School Building Committee: Guarino, Giglio, Bishop, Brown and Raymond. The Construction Committee will consist of Guarino, Giglio and Raymond.

In addition to Hohensee and Coffman, former board members no longer serving include William Mosher, Susan Porter and Elizabeth Van Twuyver.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

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