2 Concord School Board Members Not Told About Dunn Job Interview

CONCORD, NH — During the process of the interviewing and hiring earlier this year of a former school board member to become the business administrator for the Concord School District, two board members were kept out of the loop on the interview process and were caught completely off-guard by the hire.

According to interviews and emails gathered as part of a follow-up story into the hiring of Jack Dunn as the business administrator for the district, School Board President Kass Ardinger appeared to have not informed Barbara Higgins and Nick Metalious that their former colleague was being interviewed for the job even though she had contacted every other member of the board.

After Dunn had expressed interest in the job and other candidates were interviewed, School Superintendent Chris Rath decided to line up a process where Dunn could be interviewed.

In an email on May 14, obtained in a records request by Concord NH Patch to the school district, Rath asked Ardinger if she “had a chance to talk with Jack and Board members about our desire to interview Jack?” Ardinger wrote back that she had talked to Jack about the job and his background. She also indicated that she had spoken to board members Jennifer Patterson and Tara Reardon.

“I also spoke with Tara, who said she’s ‘a big Jack fan,’ and would be supportive of his taking on the job of B.A,” Ardinger wrote. “I will contact Jenny tonight.”

The next morning, Ardinger emailed Rath again and indicated that another school board member who was also on the hiring committee, was “OK with whatever we decide.” She said Dunn would be calling Rath to “meet with you to get it all straight.” Ardinger added, “I also called (another board member). He’s happy about this development, but I had to convince him that Jack should resign before he applies for the job.”

There were no indications in the records request of any interaction with board member Chris Casko, Higgins, or Metalious.

When asked why some members were privy to the Dunn business administrator hire and some members were not, Ardinger said, “The decision to hire Jack was announced to everyone at the same time, after the hiring committee made the decision, of course.”

When shown the text of the email from Rath, requesting that she contact the board members, and asking for clarification, Ardinger stated that the decision to interview Dunn was “distinct from the hiring process decision” and “was handled by the hiring committee in the same manner that all such information is handled.”

Ardinger said the email “referenced communications involved preliminary inquiries between me, as President of the Board, and two board members who have unique experience regarding government employment practices.” She added that Reardon and Patterson “have such unique expertise whether the prospect of having a former Board member apply for a position with the District raised any considerations that should be taken into account as the hiring process might unfold” around the position.

“To be exceptionally clear, each of these communications and processes were proper, and consistent with normal and customary practice for hiring significant positions for the District,” she said. “There was no intent of any kind to exclude any member of the Board from any information regarding Jack’s hiring or his decision to resign from his previous employment and commence the interview process. Any statement to the contrary would be inaccurate.”

During an interview about his decision to step down from the board after two terms, Casko confirmed that Ardinger had called him to let him know about Dunn applying for the job. While he didn’t recall the exact date, he said it was sometime between the time period when Dunn resigned from the board but before he had an interview and before he was hired.

“I was told ahead of time,” he said. “Kass told me about it … the conversation was that he was up for the job. I felt like I was well informed.”

Metalious said he never knew and had no idea about Dunn being involved in the business administrator’s position and said he found out from reading the school board packet before the June 4, meeting.

“As a board member, I should be privy to all the information that comes before the board,” he said, “realizing that I can’t act on behalf of the board but being a member I should have known of the hiring or the intent to hire before it was in the board packet and not to be told two months down the road or read it wherever I read it.”

Metalious said Dunn did call him about the resignation but didn’t elaborate on the interview at the time.

Higgins said she was “embarrassed about being left out of the loop” and was surprised when she read about the hire in the .

“When Jack let us know he had resigned I was at first very concerned,” she said. “He was such an enthusiastic and hard working board member I assumed something must terribly wrong. He let me know via email which I didn't read so he then called me. I asked him numerous times if he was OK and then told him I would miss him.”

After she saw the headline, Higgins went to her board packet she had received the day before to get the details.

“When I got the real story I felt embarrassed,” she said. “Clearly, I was not ‘in the know.’”