WINDHAM — School Board Chairman Ed Gallagher, just completing his first term, will not seek re-election in March. Incumbent Jeff Bostic has made the same decision.
Bostic and Gallagher cited time commitments of family and business, competing with their School Board responsibilities. Both men are completing their first three-year terms on the board.
"I'm contacting folks, encouraging them to run," Gallagher said Wednesday.
Two three-year terms will be open on the board.
Both men expressed satisfaction with the direction of the board, the administration and the faculty, as well as facility plans.
The time felt right for both.
"It's good for new blood to come in," Bostic said.
The filing deadline is Feb. 3. Only one candidate has filed for School Board: Richard Forde, who was defeated in last year's election.
On the town side, incumbent Selectmen Ross McLeod and Roger Hohenberger have filed for re-election to three-year terms.
Nicole Merrill is seeking re-election as town clerk. Corey Lewandowski, state leader of the Americans for Prosperity group, is running for town treasurer.
The election is March 13.
Gallagher, meanwhile, said he does not expect the School Board to take a position on whether Windham should split from Pelham in SAU 28. The question goes before voters in March.
The School Board this week decided to request only $714,000, rather than the $750,000 it had been considering, for engineering and architectural fees for a new middle school.
The money would come under the town's capital improvement plan, instead of a separate request.
"We're just putting forward the $714,000," Gallagher said. "We've told the administration to get out their pencil and make it work."
The School Board also is backing a warrant article that would provide $1.4 million for modular classrooms at the middle school next year.
"This would be a good first phase and help improve things today," Gallagher said. "This would be a good Band-Aid step."
The school deliberative session is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at Windham High.
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