Inside Job?

When the meets tonight, members will see a familiar face when the nomination for the new business administrator position is considered.

According to the board’s meeting packet, former School Board member has been nominated for the position.

Current business administrator informed the board earlier this year that she would be stepping at the end of the school year.

, offering a vague letter citing personal and professional reasons that led some to speculate about his future plans. He did not return requests for comment.

According to , the director of human resources for the school district, the job opening was posted on March 15, and again on May 17, which he said was “typically done when the committee would like to see more candidates.”

The interview committee included Superintendent , Assistant Superintendent , School Board President , Board member , Prince, , the director of facilities and planning for the district, and others. The interview committee had been searching for a replacement since April.

Prince said outreach efforts were primarily local, including advertising in the , edjobsnh.com, an online jobs website, and a posting on the school district’s website. There were 17 applications for the position, he said, with 15 coming from New Hampshire, and one each from New Jersey and Vermont.

Not certified for the job

While Dunn has been nominated for the position, he is currently not certified to be a business administrator and has no previous experience as a treasurer or administrator for a school district or municipality.

According to employment information supplied by the school district, Dunn is the vice president of operations and finance at Long Island Pipe Supply in Salem, a supplier of fire sprinkler pipes, valves, and other devices. Between 1999 and 2006, he worked in IT as a network analyst for Distributor Computer Systems in Burlington Township, N.J., a wholesaler of computer equipment. Dunn also worked as a trainer and consultant for two years after graduating from Pennsylvania State University.

However, other candidates who applied for the job had previous experience working for a school district or municipality and were also certified to be business administrators here in New Hampshire, according to Prince. Of the 17 candidates, eight had prior business administration or treasurer experience and five were certified, he said.

Dunn will be paid $105,000 as the new administrator even though the district packet states that only $100,974 has been budgeted for the position. The amount budgeted is what Croteau was paid for the 2011-2012 school year, according to school district documents, after more than six years on the job.

Dunn will also receive a stipend to attend a class to be certified for the job.

An elected treasurer?

A bill that would give Concord a waiver from having an elected treasurer overseeing its finances and check-writing capabilities, not unlike other school districts in New Hampshire, was recently defeated, leaving the district in a bit of a bind.

Previously, Concord had a waiver during the time period when the Legislature also controlled the district's charter. But that waiver was eliminated during the process of the . The recent charter commission proposal due to the lack of an elected treasurer position. It was presumed by Ardinger and others that a simple bill would rectify the problem. Ultimately, state officials gave the proposal the OK, based on the assumption that the Legislature would approve the waiver, as it has done in the past.

The charter commission proposal was sent to the voters for approval in 2011, along with a provision reconfiguring the way school board members were elected, from nine at-large candidates to a mix of district (multiple wards) and at-large representation. .

Dunn opposed the reconfiguration proposal and was investigated and reprimanded by the AG's Office for campaign violations involving the printing of political signs without a disclaimer and posting them on public property. At the time of the investigation, Dunn told the Concord Monitor he purchased the signs and was reimbursed by Ardinger and others. But in the AG's report, their stories changed, with Dunn saying he alone paid for the signs. Ardinger said she collected checks from others who were opposed to the charter changes but returned them.

It is unknown in the wake of the waiver's defeat how the school district or board plans on adhering with state law while at the same time having its own business administrator who has no previous experience dealing with municipal matters. The rejection of the waiver legislation should necessitate the creation of a treasurer position, elected by the citizens of Concord, to have oversight over school finances and Dunn, if he is chosen as the business administrator on Monday. Candidates would file for the position in September for the November ballot, if the board and district follow the law.