The Mayor's Commission on Reimagining and Redesigning the Somersworth School System

The public education landscape within Somersworth, the State of New Hampshire, and the nation is dramatically changing. National, state, and local policy decisions and priorities have limited funding for public education, while school privatization efforts, changing demographics, and political polarization have created a fractured and varied approach about how best to serve our students. It has become apparent that we need to identify our very own “Somersworth approach” to enhance our schools and help make ou students as successful as possible.

Our Somersworth schools are full of exceptional educators who offer a quality education. We are also leaders in special education, and we successfully foster strong community connections between our students and our community’s unique and diverse population. These strengths should be preserved and enhanced. However, as student populations shift, funding becomes more limited, and political and educational trends fluctuate, we are faced with immense challenges that threaten the foundation of universal public education in Somersworth. The Somersworth School Board and District Staff have already done a phenomenal job implementing strategic district improvement efforts, which include “The Hilltopper Promise,” “Hilltopper Progress,” and “The Hilltopper Strategic Priorities and Plans,” however a task force dedicated to developing a bolder set of plans, parallel to the strategic work, is needed. We must think outside the box in order to meet these challenges head-on, to preserve our community characteristics, and to promote and advance the educational excellence of our school district.

With all this in mind I am excited to announce the creation of a community design team - spearheaded by efforts of the Somersworth School Board, and conversations with the City Council - that will lead the charge in envisioning the future of our schools. This new mayoral commission, named “The Mayor's Commission on Reimagining and Redesigning the Somersworth School System” will work to…

• Reevaluate, reimagine, and redesign the Somersworth school system for students all the way from pre-K to high school graduation
• Be mindful of fiscal realities and budget constraints
• Think creatively to further enhance our “Somersworth identity”
• Find ways to redesign our public schools by supporting community-rooted solutions and local systems of support
• Recommend a responsive and diverse set of solutions to reimagine what our school system could be while still preserving what makes Somersworth special.
• Operate concurrently/parallel to the Somersworth School District ongoing strategic district improvement efforts; while parallel to this important work, the committee will look at developing more drastic and creative redesign/restructuring efforts as necessary.
• Identifying key changes on an aggressive timeline, with the preliminary stage of work beginning now through the early fall, a second phase of work from the fall of 2026 into the spring of 2027, and with proposals for consideration to the council, community, and school board within the next 15 months.