Metalious Resigns from Concord School Board

A mislabeled news broadcast has caused a Concord School Board member to decide to resign his position.

Nick Metalious, who was up for re-election this November, resigned his position on March 19, saying he decided to leave after some in the community began questioning his residency after a news broadcast labeled him a resident of Manchester.

According to Metalious, on March 13, while driving his son and a friend home on Route 4 in Northwood where his ex-wife lives, a sheet of ice flew off a tractor-trailer truck and struck the windshield of his car, injuring his son slightly and causing major damage to the vehicle.

“It was pretty scary,” he said, adding that the incident could have been much worse.

WMUR-TV later interviewed him about the accident and during the interview, stated that he lived in Manchester. Metalious was interviewed at his girlfriend’s house, he said, so it was assumed he lived there.

Some, however, began questioning whether he was living in Manchester or Concord after seeing the report on television. When asked, Metalious said that his girlfriend lives there, that he spent a lot of time there, and the two were thinking about having him move in, but he hadn’t made a final decision to.

“I still have a Concord address but I’m in Manchester all the time,” he said, adding, “It’s not my home … I haven’t changed my address … this will make a decision faster now.”

The questioning surprised him at first but when he thought about the tenor of the board in recent months, he came to the conclusion that it was best to leave. He handed in his iPad and materials two days ago with a note resigning, he said.

“I’m pretty disdained with the whole school board,” he said. “There are really only four people who run that board. The rest of us might talk and give our opinions, but they don’t go anywhere. There are underlying issues and hidden agendas … you can’t work on a board that’s already made up most of their decisions and that’s how it has been.”

Metalious said he was surprised during recent budget hearings to learn that the district planned to layoff more than 12 teaching full-time equivalents at the high school and elementary school level. A drop in enrollment, he said, was causing a dip in the adequacy state aid formula. The district, he said, would be losing $677,000 in funding.

Money woes for the district shouldn’t come as a surprise despite recent employment changes and property tax increases because a good chunk of the district's financials are tied up in paying for the $90.8 million elementary school consolidation project. The financials have not been closed on one of the schools, McAuliffe Elementary School, due to water leakage, architectural, engineering, or possible structural problems that may have been remedied by changes on the grounds last year.

According to the district newsletter on March 17, a budget freeze has been implemented in the supplies, books, new furniture and fixtures, and other equipment line items, in an effort to save $150,000 to put toward next year’s budget. Business Administrator Jack Dunn said the freeze was needed because the district’s utility, snow removal and salt expenses had been “higher than we had projected.”

Metalious said his proudest moment during his tenure on the board was forcing the district to fix the bathrooms at Rundlett Middle School, which were in disrepair. His colleagues said there was no money to repair them even though the issue was raised right after the sale of the Walker Elementary School to Binnie Media, which netted the district around $900,000.

“Officials are putting their own agendas above the children’s agenda,” he said. “The board should be thinking of the kids instead of their agendas."

It is unknown at post time who will fill the vacancy. In the past, the school board president has appointed vacancies until the next election. 

Filing for school board candidates is expected to start in early September. Three new members will be elected for district seats.