Concord School Board Rejects Bearcat Proposal

An appeal to the Concord School Board from city officials to respond to a proposal for a new Bearcat armored vehicle was rejected on Aug. 28, with members believing that they really shouldn’t have been asked to sound off on the grant.

In recent weeks, Concord Police Chief John Duval reached out to Concord’s two school districts about potential support for the Bearcat, since both the city and schools were involved in extensive school safety strategy plans. The Merrimack Valley School District supported the proposal but Concord didn’t immediately respond to the request because School Superintendent Chris Rath was on vacation.

After the Concord City Council heard numerous hours of testimony, mostly against the proposal, both Concord Mayor Jim Bouley and City Manager Tom Aspell, asked the school district to respond to Duval’s outreach at a joint meeting of the two boards. The school board then met and directed Rath to write a letter to the council about the issue.

At the meeting Wednesday night, Rath read the letter that stated that the board would give “deference” to the council’s decision-making process on the matter. The letter also commended the police and Duval’s work, adding that the board knew that the police “have the safety of our children and security of our schools and campuses as a top priority.”

About 10 people were in attendance at the meeting and were allowed to speak about the letter before the board took a vote.

Pam Ean of Concord said she appreciated the letter but said the moment was an “educational opportunity for our children about fiscal responsibility” and instead, would have liked the board to reject the grant on economic grounds.

“It’s not sending a good message to the children,” she said, “to our citizens of tomorrow, because we know how much in debt our government is.”

Christopher Booth, a former U.S. Senate candidate, recommended not sending a letter at all. He said focusing on the proposal was not the job of the school board and hoped that future students of the school system would focus on non-violent solutions to problems. Booth said the money that would go for the Bearcat could be used to put 10 students through UNH for a year, including room and board.

Brian Blackden, another Concord resident, called the request from the board by city officials on the proposal as “abnormal” and suggested that it seemed as if officials were working behind the scenes for approval of the grant. He added that some members of the board advocating for the Bearcat gave the impression that the board supported the grant. Blackden said the grant proposal didn’t have the best interests of schoolchildren in mind since there were “multiple lies” in the application.

“I think it’s a poor example for our students,” he said. “I don’t think we should be sending that example out.”

Samantha Clattenburg also spoke out against the proposal calling the grant application “littered with lies” and adding, “it’s unfortunate and it’s embarrassing, actually.” She likened a comparison to the grant application to a student, like her daughter, who attends Concord High School, cheating on a test. Her daughter would get a zero, she said, but in the case of city officials, there’s no punishment.

“What we’re saying is that you can lie, get caught, and you get to re-do it,” she said, “and you can get it anyway.”

Two other people from Northwood and Manchester spoke out against the grant application, raising concerns about the militarization of police forces.

The board discussed the letter and most said they were uncomfortable with the request by city officials.

Jennifer Patterson said the board had “no role” in city council matters since it was autonomous from the council. She added that she didn’t really think she had the knowledge about the proposal and it was outside the purview of the board.

Barbara Higgins said the letter seemed “like a good compromise, it’s kind, and it’s putting it back in their lap,” but she wondered why the board needed to respond at all.

“We probably shouldn’t have been asked in the first place,” she said.

Kass Ardinger, the president of the school board, called the request “odd” and said the board has never been asked to weigh in on a purchase of a police cruiser, as an example, even though the two boards maintained “a healthy relationship.”

Oliver Spencer, another board member, thought the letter was well written but called it “too vanilla” and said he would prefer not to send anything at all. He also expressed support for the Bearcat proposal and explained how the vehicle would be used to rescue people. He said he had used similar vehicles while serving in the Marines for 24 years.

Thomas Croteau agreed with Spencer that the board should vote to support the grant application adding that it took him a long time thinking about it. Duval, he said, had “demonstrated a need” and that if sometime in the future, if the Bearcat could save even a single life of a school student or staffer, “I would be hard pressed not to say I’m in favor of it.”

Patterson said she was supportive of not sending the letter adding that members could express support for the Bearcat on their own. She called the grant’s connection to the school system “very minor.”

Spencer though countered that “you can never wish away a threat,” and said it would be better to support the grant than not.

A motion was made to not send the letter, as written, and that was approved by a 4-2 vote, with Patterson adding that she was voting no because she thought it was better not to send a letter at all.

A motion was then made to send no letter at all and that was accepted by a 4-2 vote.

However Spencer offered a motion sending a letter of support for the grant. He said that he trusted other members of the board when they spoke from experience about things they knew about and hoped they would trust him when it came to the importance of the Bearcat.

Croteau agreed but Ardinger said she wouldn’t vote for a letter of support. 

The motion was then rejected by a 2-4 vote.