Interviews with the 2025 Candidates for School Board

Paul Arendarczyk (write in) and Kamee Verdrager Leshner (on the ballot)

In this year’s school election the only contested race is for one seat on the School Board for a three-year term. One candidate is on the ballot; the other is running as a write-in. The candidates are:

• Paul Arendarczyk - write in

• Kamee Verdrager Leshner - on the ballot

We should thank the candidates for stepping forward to volunteer their time and effort in service of Nottingham.

Each candidate was asked to provide a candidate statement and to answer two questions. Kamee Verdrager Leshner declined to respond. See retraction statement and why Kamee Verdrager Leshner did not respond.

Candidate responses here are reprinted verbatim.

Please provide a candidate statement (limited to 400 words).

Paul Arendarczyk

My name is Paul Arendarczyk ("Mr A" to my students) and I am running as a write-in candidate for the Nottingham School Board. I have been a Nottingham resident since 2009. My wife, JoAnna Bascom Arendarczyk was born and raised in Nottingham. I am currently serving in the Naval Reserves and have served my country for almost 24 years. I am also an engineer with a degree from the Maine Maritime Academy. For the past six years I have been an 8th grade math teacher in the Town of Bedford NH school system. I believe I would be a good candidate for the school board because I am the parent of 2 adult children (currently 22 and 20) who have experienced what public school is like these days and I teach in a public school every day. For these reasons, I believe I would be able to speak well to the needs of Nottingham School.

1. Are there any decisions the School Board has made in the past one to three years that you would have decided differently from what the board ended up deciding? If so, what are they, and why would you have decided differently?

Paul Arendarczyk

In all honesty, the decisions the school board has made and the issues they have faced were not a concern to me until I attended the most recent school deliberative session. After that experience I decided that I might be a good fit for the school board and be able to contribute to the welfare of the students in our town, while still keeping in mind the diverse population.

2. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing SAU 107 over the next few years? What do you think the School Board should do to face these challenges?

Paul Arendarczyk

I think the two biggest challenges facing our SAU are the influx of special needs students and the increasing general student population.

From what I heard at the deliberative session, the cost to transport the special needs students from their town to ours is our town's cost, not the students. This is a significant financial responsibility, especially considering the bus driver shortage the entire state faces.

As far as the increasing student population, our town has grown considerably over the years and I don't foresee that changing with the developments that continue to be built. That means the capacity of the main school building will continue to be stressed, especially with the need for spaces for special needs and special education students. The modular classroom spaces before the board currently will help to fix this issue, but I still think it will be a hard sell to the community.

The way the board can face these challenges is to communicate, communicate, communicate. Advertise the board meeting times more than currently so that more of the town will attend. Make sure some of the legal jargon in the minutes is explained. This is how the school board can assist our SAU with what I feel are the biggest upcoming challenges.