Letter: What’s wrong with Rindge

Published: 03-24-2025 10:07 AM

On March 11, Rindge defeated the CTE and voted for the amended budget article. The Jaffrey votes were in favor of the CTE and against the amended budget, but the numbers did not make up the difference. Our school board is now faced with the difficult task of cutting $3 million from the school budget. This is going to be devastating for our communities.

What I find most embarrassing is when our neighbors in Jaffrey ask, “What is wrong with Rindge?” There is a movement in Rindge called VOGE, Voters of Government Efficiency. This movement is ugly, shameful and manipulative. This was the factor in the Rindge election.

Reuben Duncan, SAU 47 superintendent, is in his 10th year in the district. He has fought an uphill battle to improve our district. In 2023, Duncan was named Superintendent of the Year. Our school board was School Board of the Year in 2023 - 2024.

In 2024, Conant Middle High School renewed NEASC accreditation. The chair of the accreditation team praised the school as an excellent model for all New England schools. This January, Conant was selected as a candidate for the Secondary School of Excellence.

On the state level, we should be concerned with the diminishing of support. On March 13, two days after our local school election, Jim Qualey, John Hunt and Rita Mattson all voted yes on HB 115. This bill eliminates eligibility requirements for vouchers. There were 3,165 Granite Staters who signed their opposition to this bill. This is diverting millions of dollars from our public schools. Do our representatives not understand that their actions have a direct relationship to their towns’ budgets?

What we witnessed in the election was manipulation and misinformation.

That’s what’s wrong with Rindge.

Judy Unger-Clark

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