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Hooksett School Board Candidates Divided On Where To Send High-Schoolers

The Hooksett School Board is holding an election Tuesday to fill a seat vacated by the former Chair. And the two candidates running are divided on where to send their 680 high school students.

Hooksett parent and School Board candidate John Lyscars wants to create multiple contracts with neighboring high schools, including Manchester.

Lyscars says his plan is “similar to the way you apply for colleges though, you apply to multiple colleges, then you’re either accepted or rejected by a certain date and then you commit by a certain date. So we’d be doing the same thing, except instead of at a college level, we’d be doing it at a high school level.”

Lyscars even plans to work with UNH to create a new database. He says that it will simplify the process by keeping track of where their students are attending and streamlining the application process.

Jen Leger is the other candidate for the School Board seat. She wants to see Hooksett sign an exclusive contract with Pinkerton Academy in Derry, the only school in the area that has the capacity for all their high-school-age kids.

But, she says, Hooksett parents will still have access to the so-called JC-B process that allows parents to send their kids to different public schools provided they pay any difference in tuition. Lyscars hasn’t called for doing away with it but he calls this process discriminatory because of the costs for certain highly-sought after schools. Leger disagrees.

“I feel that the JC-B policy that Hooksett has in place, is a gift to parents,” says Leger

Hooksett and Manchester are embroiled in a legal debate due to what Hooksett calls inadequate education caused by oversized classrooms and insufficient resources.

Hooksett residents will also be voting on whether to add two seats to the School Board next year.

Before becoming a reporter for NHPR, Ryan devoted many months interning with The Exchange team, helping to produce their daily talk show. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in Manchester with a major in Politics and Society and a minor in Communication Arts. While in school, he also interned for a DC-based think tank. His interests include science fiction and international relations. Ryan is a life-long Manchester resident.

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