Nicholas PigeonMunicipal Primary Election 2021 Winner
Running forWard 10 Board of School Committee
in 2021
Running as
This is my first time running for a political office or engaging in a political campaign, but I have previously served on the board for the NASW, The Westside Little League, and The Manchester Little League.
Current jobI have 8+ years of professional experience in the Mental Health and Social Services fields.
Master's Degree in Social Work from The University of New Hampshire
Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University
Associate's Degree in Justice Studies from Southern New Hampshire University
Best way to contact candidatePhone: 603-440-9013
E-Mail: NickPigeonNH@gmail.com
Why are you running?
I am running for BOSC because of my experiences and values as a father, as a social worker, and as a Manchester citizen.
What uniquely qualifies you for the Board of School Committee?
I believe that I am uniquely qualified to serve on the Board of School committee for a few reasons. My personal and professional experience, as well as my proven volunteerism to the community speaks for itself. Personally, I have had at least one child in the school district consistently since 2013 and I was a student myself in this school district from 1997 to 2006. I have attended IEP meetings, parent teacher conferences, and navigated the speech and language services for many years. Professionally, I am a social worker. I do my best to live my life by my profession’s code of ethics. I have been in the fields of mental health and social services for 8+ years and have been employed by non profits since 2008. While I am not technically an educator, I am educated in evaluating the needs of communities and individuals and the education system is a major point in every aspect of individual and community well-being. Through volunteerism and a dedicated to give back, I have been involved in the community and actively working towards improving it for everybody. I am currently the co-coordinator of the Parkside Community Garden, which expands access to gardening to the people of Manchester. I have been on the Westside Little League and Manchester Little League boards in the past, as well as serving as a T-ball and farm coach. I have been involved in outreach efforts at Central Little League. I have coached for Manchester Flag Football. I have served of the board of Social work for the NASW. I believe my volunteerism demonstrates that I have a true altruistic value system and truly want to support the Manchester community.
How would you rate the school district's current curriculum and why?
It would be difficult to paint the entire school district’s current curriculum with the same brush. Each school, each grade, and each student is completely different. As a parent, I can tell you I had no issue with the school curriculum until my son’s 4th grade year. During that year, they spent exactly ZERO days on science. If my son and his peers left the 4th grade excelling in both Math and Language Arts, I would maybe be able to justify this, however, this was not the case. I’d like to share a person scenario, as well as some specific numbers. During this 4th grade year, my son was struggling with spelling words. The school had stopped sending homework home, so I was not aware of what his spelling words were or that he was struggling. Upon speaking with the teacher at a parent-teacher conference, I was horrified to learn that instead of supporting my son with any extra help or letting my family know that he could use some help, he was excused from taking spelling tests all together and sent to the “zen den”. Although I am well educated in phycology and human behavior, it really only requires very basic common sense to realize that this approach was going to do two things. It would reinforce in my son that he wouldn’t need to work harder to do better, but rather he would be rewarded for experiencing discomfort, which is a broken reward system that can lead to bigger issues down-the-road. It also would ensure that my son didn’t make any progress in spelling and would essentially move onto the 5th grade with the spelling skills of a 3rd grader. Thankfully, we were able to homeschool him for his 5th grade year and he will re-enter public school for 6th grade at grade level. This leads me to the numbers published by the school district earlier this year. Based on standardized testing, the numbers point to a math proficiency is the 20-30% range and a ELA proficiency in the 30-35% range. I am uncomfortable with those numbers. While I cannot point to direct examples within the curriculum, these numbers should alarm people and it is the duty of the school committee to work together to make a change to benefit these students.
What are your thoughts on the Manchester School District’s facilities? How many schools should the district have and what grades should each school have?
I have had children at Parker Varney, Northwest, and Green Acres. These facilities have always seemed fine to me and my family. I cannot comment on other facilities, as I have not entered them since I was in high school myself. I do have an opinion on which grades should go where. I believe that 5th graders are too young to be in the buildings with 8th graders. I understand that there is an effort to separate these age groups within the walls of the school, but nothing is fool-proof. This has been one of the biggest areas of interest to people as I have knocked on doors throughout Ward 10.
Do all students in the city have the access to a quality education regardless of where they live? Please elaborate on your answer.
Should the Manchester School District be autonomous from the city government, a department of the city government or something else entirely?
I believe the Manchester School District should be part of the city government.
What are your thoughts on the Manchester School District’s financial decisions in recent years?
Being a parent over the past few years, I am less polished on the specifics of financial decisions that have been made in recent years than if I were to have been sitting on the school board. Based on the statistics I have read, it seems that (even when adjusted for inflation) the budget goes up every single year, while the enrollment AND the test scores go down. I think that all candidates can agree that this is concerning and that we need to find an alternative solution than putting more money into something that doesn’t seem to be working. Education is essential, so if money helps, then wonderful. This does not appear to be the case with the status quo. We are cutting funding for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, for art programs, for sports, and for many other programs that can help students be more “whole”. If the parts of school that children enjoy aren’t being invested in and the math and literacy skills are going the opposite way of the budget, then it is time to reevaluate. In the very recent past, I was happy to see that students are no longer required to pay to be bussed to school. Transportation is an essential service that our taxes should have always been going to.
What is your perception of Manchester Proud's recent Community Partnership proposal?
In my research, the key points of Manchester Proud are something I could greatly support. The organization markets itself as an apolitical agency with buy-in from public and private partners. I perceive this as positive. Politics should not be in our schools. One of the roles that they play, per their website, is to increase transparency to the community, which is a strong value of mine. It also notes that it prioritizes ensuring that the school district creates “Competent Students” and “Critical Thinking Students”, both of which are essential. I have heard from individuals who have first-hand knowledge of this group’s meetings that their record keeping tactics are less than desirable (i.e. sticky notes), so my concern would be about the group’s internal transparency. This is a private group that is not accountable to the voters, which does concern me. This is a group that has rendered me split. I feel that their work with the school district has been limited due to a few awkward years of COVID. I think that the eyes of Manchester should be on this group, for better or worse, and if they do not serve the students, families, and the greater community, then this will be another group that will need to be held accountable.
Manchester School District's governing body (currently known as the Board of School Committee) is proposed to be renamed as the Manchester School Board). Do you support this? If so, why (or why not?)
I think many are indifferent to this, but school board is what rolls off the tongue for most people.