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Gary Hamer

by

Running forWard 10 Board of School Committee
in 2023

Running as Non-Partisan Election

Background info

Lifelong Ward 10 resident of Ward 10. Attended Manchester Public Schools. Graduated from Southern NH University. Have worked in the private sector for the past 35 years. Married for 43 years to State Representative Heidi Hamer. I have one adult son Geoff.

Prior political experience/offices

Previously served as an election official in Ward 10 for several year. Currently I am a Manchester Water Commissioner. I was elected to the Board of School Committe in 2021 where I serve on the Finance & Facilities committee and the Student Conduct committee.

Current jobI have worked in Operations Management for over 35 years .

Previous jobs

I have worked in the private sector all my life in the area of Operations Management for various companies in the area. I have been part of start-ups, developed workflows, implementations and process improvement initiatives.

Time lived in NHLifelong resident of Manchester.

Education

I have a Business degree from SNHU.

Best way to contact candidateI can be reached via telephone: 603-625-4895.

Why are you running?

To continue to make a difference and to give back to my community. As well as to work to continue to strengthen the public education system for all Manchester families. There is additional work to be done and I want to be the voice representing Ward 10 residents.

What are your thoughts on the Manchester School District's relationship to city government?

The recent proposal to make the Manchester School District autonomous was flawed. It lacked checks and balances which I feel are important and should be required at every level of government. Also excluding the Mayor, the CEO of the city, from serving on the Board of Committee is advisable in my opinion. More work needs to be done on this issue and establishing a bi-partisan committee to work on this would be the prudent thing to do at this point.

What are your thoughts and plans for the number of public schools needed in Manchester (with breakdown of elementary/middle/high schools in that number?)

Many of school facilities in the city are not adequately meeting the needs of our students. The average age of our schools in Manchester is 75 years old. The school district has contracted with a firm to develop a master plan to guide the District and the BOSC in making the necessary recommendations required to ensure we create a 21st-century learning environment in our schools. This is essential if we are going to continue to improve achievement scores and improve outcomes for all students across the city.

What are your thoughts on extra-curricular offerings in Manchester public schools?

This is an area that we need to continue to work on. During the two school years impacted by Covid 19, extra-curricular activities ceased. The district as well as individual schools continue to work at re-introducing these after school activities. The district is currently recruiting for a Fine Arts director. This certainly could be an area of focus for this individual. Re- energizing the Athletics program across the city has been the focus of the Administration and the Athletic Director. Extensive time has been spent with community partners and sports leagues across the city to help build better and more sustainable feeder programs for all sports. We are beginning to see results and we need to continue to the effort.

What are your thoughts on per-pupil expenditures/costs per student?

The state of New Hampshire continues to underfund education and has done so for a very long time. The gap that this has caused makes it impossible for our city to make up the difference and add to the tax burden facing Manchester taxpayers. So as a district and as a school board we must continue to be innovative. We must continue to look to create efficiencies and generate ideas that are scalable across the district. We need to spend tax dollars responsibly and we need to look to identify new revenue streams in order to help offset increasing expenditures.

What are your thoughts on attracting and retaining high quality Manchester School District staff?

This is critical to the long-term success of the district. The Administration needs to make this a top priority. A strong internal HR team is needed to execute on these goals. Additionally, the recruitment effort needs to focus on hiring a diverse teaching staff that reflects the cultural diversity of the students in our district. Last year the contract with the MEA resulted in increased starting salaries for new teachers. This is a step forward in attracting new teachers and retaining them. Also last year the minimum hourly salary was raised for our paraprofessionals. Again, this was a step forward, but we continue to have additional work to do in this area.

What are your thoughts on and plans on school safety?

The Manchester School District has developed and has in place a comprehensive Safety Plan in place to protect our students and staff. As a board member I cannot discuss specifics of the plan.

What are your thoughts on or plans for addressing vocational and career-focused educational initiative?

This will be an important component of the master facilities plan being developed. Offering a robust CTE (Career Technical Education) curriculum is critical to meeting the needs of 21st Century learning.