Shauni McGowan

Question & Answer¹

Q: "What do you mean by "common sense" decisions?" 

A: So often we see things that don’t actually address the root of the problem, it’s more of a Band-Aid fix. I want to actually look at the root of the problem and think about what the best way to fix it is instead of just slapping on a short term Band-Aid fix. 

I think one of the best ways to try and fix the problem at the root is to get teacher input. When I was in the classroom there were many decisions made that just didn’t make sense and didn’t fix the problem, partly because the people making them weren’t in the classroom and didn’t know what would work best for the students. Getting the opinions of teachers would be beneficial for everyone! 

Q: "How would you want to retain teachers and recruit more?" 

A: I think, right now, we need to start by fixing Rochester’s reputation within the public school system of NH. Many teachers that work in other districts are aware of the issues in Rochester and don’t want to come here or want to leave to go to better districts. The biggest thing is support for the teachers. They need to feel like they have support behind them. It’s really hard to do your job when everyone else is working against you. I think there needs to be better communication within the district. We need to figure out a way to pay teachers more. The salary scale at surrounding districts of similar size is higher. Those are just a few things. 

Q: "Why couldn't (the Rochester School District) retain you? Bear in mind, I'm not knocking you for being a (Stay-at-Home Mother). I'm just curious, since you bring up retention, what, if anything, could've been done in your case?" 

A: This was a really hard decision for me! I love teaching and I loved my students. Childcare was probably one of the biggest factors- we are still on waiting lists for daycare! I was also feeling burnt out and had the opportunity to take some time away. I think had I felt more support from administration I may have considered staying. 

Q: "When you say "better utilize our funding," that implies that schools have money, but are just mismanaging it. Is that your feeling? If so, how would you want to change that? If not, how would you advocate for more resources?"

A: I think that we could be more mindful about how we are using our money. There are programs that we have implemented that haven’t been very impactful that we probably could have gone without. We can’t change the amount of money we are getting from the state without the state changing their funding formula, but we can look at what we do have and reorganize it. 

For example, the budget for science at RMS was a smidge over $1/ student, and $1 is really hard to do science with! I think a big piece would be advocating at the state level for a change of the funding formula (which there has been a big push the last 3 years after a commission was formed to study NH school funding). I have done some data analysis contracting work with an organization to help with pushing for better school funding in the past. 

Q: "What are things that schools in the city do well that you'd like to see kept going?" 

A: I think that our current staff is very dedicated to their students. I want to see those relationships continue. The current staff is really supportive of each other, which I would want to see continued. We have an awesome vocational school! The middle school is starting an advisory period this year, which will hopefully be successful. I think our guidance departments help our homeless students with as many resources as possible. They always seem to be pulling something out of their sleeve to help out a student in need! 

Q: "What other things, besides what was mentioned here, would you want to see changed?"

A: Something I wanted to do at the middle school, but didn’t have the bandwidth while there, was trying to implement a composting system to reduce the amount of trash used. It could be a trial run in 1 school and go from there, or a larger thing, but I think reducing the amount of trash would be beneficial for our community as a whole! I would love to see an evaluation done regarding the HVAC systems to see about updating/modifying.