Hooksett School Board Member John Lyscars has penned this editorial offering his thoughts on the coming school board election in Hooksett.
Thank you candidates for running for the open school board positions. In arguably one of the most contentious times in Hooksett’s educational history, where we are considering long term restrictive contracts, working on existing relationships with other communities, consideration of our membership within the SAU, whether common core is right for our children and even bold thoughts of building our own high school on 80 acres of land that has been donated to our town in order to give us a good start. All of these are large educational items, that require focused attention from those willing to put on their Hooksett School Board member hats when they enter into school board session, and forget whether they are friends with other board members or not, whether they are conservatives or liberals in their political views, whether they have 100 years of experience or zero years of experience, because in the end, a representative government should contain a little of all of these characteristics, because that is what makes America beautiful. So just a few thoughts to the candidates and I wish you all the best of luck during your campaigns:
Todd Lizotte – you have proven yourself as a committed member of Hooksett’s society, giving back to this community as a thoughtful representative at the Town Council but in so many more ways as well, and I have seen your umpiring for Hooksett Little League which means you are ready to step in and perform a task that most people shy away from!
Amy Boillard – Amy provides a refreshing perspective on the school issues, and is so intelligent and thoughtful and is truly refreshing to engage with in healthy debate. Amy has proven that she is committed to the children of Hooksett and I believe would be an asset to this community as a representative to allow her to gain Hooksett School Board experience.
Joanne McHugh – I have personally witnessed Joanne work tirelessly for this town to earn the respect of every citizen, and I will be honored to work with her if that is what the community decides, because it is the worldly experience of people like Joanne who keep a watchful eye out for the tax payer, children and administration that make Hooksett a beautiful place to live.
Becky Berk – I have had the pleasure of working with Becky on a few small items however this is another one of those people in our community always giving back in so many ways. Becky and I may disagree politically on subjects, however we will engage in healthy debate which is necessary to flush out good ideas no matter which perspective they come from.
Jason Hyde – This is another one of those tireless servants of Hooksett who has served on the budget committee, donated countless hours of time to the scout program for Hooksett and has impacted children’s lives in Hooksett in so many wonderful and positive ways. We are blessed to have people like Jason in our community who are knowledgeable about procedure and policy (which this current board lacks). I have been disgusted how a minority few in this Town have made Jason’s life miserable the past 3 months.
Mike Berry – I like Mike personally. Mike’s wife has been a vocal opponent of mine out here in Facebook land, with some fairly vile attacks and at public input, however I do not hold that against Mike. Mike is a soft spoken and thoughtful person and I truly believe Mike would serve Hooksett well as a school board member. I would suggest that voters not allow Mike’s wife’s comments to impact their votes, and consider Mike as a candidate as I believe he would be able to serve Hooksett well.
That’s all I have to say as a tax payer of Hooksett, father of two boys who have been served well by the educational system in Hooksett and who are thriving now. My wife is a Hooksett School District employee however our jobs (teacher – school board) do not cross paths in public or privately, and I have to admit, it is difficult but it is doable.
March 11 is only 15 days away.
I will be voting NO on #3 because I believe we can do better with Pinkerton as a partner.
I will be voting YES on #9 because I believe we need to look at SAU withdrawal and if it makes sense, we need to do this as a step towards investigating our own high school…….
John Lyscars
Founder – H.E.L.P. – Higher Education Lifts People
https://www.facebook.com/groups/helphooksettkids/
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
~Martin Luther King Jr.
