Rachel Maidment, who has challenged two incumbent representatives for a seat on the ConVal School Board, was accused of being a pro-school choice free-stater who wants to dismantle the school district by ConVal Education Association chairman Patrick Cogan in a Feb. 10 Facebook post on the Friends of the CVEA (ConVal Education Association) page
Maidment, who is vying for one of two seats to represent Peterborough on the board, denies the accusations.
“It really took me by surprise,” Maidment said last week.
She is running against incumbents Richard Dunning and Jerome Wilson.
Cogan said in the Feb. 10 Facebook post that Maidment supports school choice and equated her campaign to the Free State Project, saying “we sometimes see people run for office with the intent of destroying our public institutions from the inside.”
“Rachel Maidment is running to represent Peterborough on the ConVal School Board with expressed intent to defund and dismantle our public schools. Her advocacy for “school choice” (using taxpayer money to provide a privileged minority with funds to help them pay for private/religious school tuition) is antithetical to our mission of providing excellent public schools for every child,” Cogan wrote. “Like candidates associated with the Free State Project, we sometimes see people run for office with the intent of destroying our public institutions from the inside. We need to guard against candidates like this, and instead support candidates who promise to strengthen and support our public schools.”
Cogan did not respond to an additional request for comment by press time Monday.
Maidment disputes Cogan’s claims, saying last week that she is not part of the Free State Project and that her only advocacy for school choice thus far has been specifically for the state’s education tax credit program, which provides a tax credit for businesses that contribute to scholarship organizations that help to defray educational expenses for students.
“For some students, it’s more beneficial to be in a system that’s focused on specific needs. I think some of the things said, like wanting to push for tax credits for the rich, seem to be a bit of a stretch,” Maidment said.
Maidment works as an editor for Gex, Inc. an educational publishing company out of Atkinson. She lives in Peterborough with her husband and 18-month-old son.
“As a young parent, and someone who works in curriculum, I think I have a lot of relevant knowledge,” Maidment said. “I think it’s a critically important time for me to become involved.”
She graduated with an English and Education degree from Roanoke College in Virginia in 2017, where she had the opportunity to work as a tutor and intern in what the state deemed as failing public schools. She moved from Virginia to Peterborough after graduation.
“I became really passionate about schools being run with the right priorities, and I want to make that happen here,” Maidment said. “The district is being run well now, and I want to continue to make that happen.”
Maidment’s immediate interest on the school board would be to examine and work with the district’s curriculum, a major passion of hers.
“I have a son coming up into the school system,” Maidment said. “I think I can offer a change in perspective from a lot of the returning members who have been on the board a while.”
Dunning and Wilson said in separate interviews that they do not have any opinion on Maidment’s candidacy.
Dunning is no stranger to the district, having already served four years on the board after spending 41 years in the district as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal.
“I decided being on the board is good for me personally, I feel I can bring something that is helpful,” said Dunning, who is currently retired.
Dunning said the number one priority in the district right now is to have voters pass the district’s proposed operating budget and collective bargaining agreement with the district’s teacher’s union in March.
“I’m very concerned if we have to go to a default budget… I know how tragic that will be,” Dunning said. “From my own experience, we had a $600,000 cut years ago and it took a long time to recover.”
Looking at state funding for schools and allocation of adequacy will also be important issues for the district moving forward, Dunning said.
“We have an extremely competent staff, and a board that cares about the children,” Dunning said. “We may differ in our opinions from time to time, but it’s always about doing what’s right for the children.”
Wilson has had two stints on the school board so far, both finishing out terms for a departing board member.
“My reason for running for re-election is to help provide a sense of continuity for the board as we work to develop policies and initiatives which provide our students with quality programs of instruction in a safe and supportive learning environment,” Wilson said.
Wilson, a retired educator with over four decades of teaching and administrative experience in New York and New Jersey, said some of the most pressing issues facing the district will be the ramifications of votes made in March.
“When you look at it, should the budget go down, there will be some serious cuts that will need to be made,” Wilson said.
Wilson said he also sees a need to balance the mission of educating children with the current economic realities facing the community, notably a continual downshifting of costs from the state to the local school districts.
“While the legislature has started to address education-related funding concerns, our challenge throughout each budget cycle is to find an appropriate level that addresses our educational costs with our taxpayer’s abilities to fund these expenses,” Wilson said.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.