Bio
My life and career have been in education. I have taught history, gifted and talented students, oceanography, biology, and then fell into my true passion – special education. As an administrator, I have worked on curriculum and grants at the district, state, and national level. As a Graduate Professor at Plymouth State University for 20 years, I have supported the field by preparing the next generation of teachers for our schools. I have been fortunate enough to receive the honors of NH Special Education Director of the Year and Plymouth State University’s Graduate Professor of the Year.
As a school board member, I will share my knowledge of the education system with the team. I will listen to all constituents about how they see our schools. I will encourage my peers to understand the importance of including all children into our classrooms.
Lastly, I want to put a plug in for New Franklin. The only school left to be remodeled is New Franklin. New Franklin will be added to the CIP for 2026 by the school board. If you visit New Franklin, you will understand why this upgrade is needed.
Please Vote for Esther Kennedy Portsmouth School Board.
Why I’m Running
The top issue Portsmouth’s schools are facing is the reason I’m running. During the past budget season, the City Council and School Board stated that the budget increase was so large due to the special education population being placed in out of district placements.
We must ask ourselves as a community: Why are we spending $5.8 million to have other schools educate our children? Why do we not have educational programs to support ALL our children? We know by age 22 most of these students will be back in our community, and yet they will have very little to no connection with their fellow young adults. We must create programs in our schools that will support and provide a quality education for ALL our students. Good programs can be cost effective and keep students in their home schools.
With 27 years of experience as a director of student services, overseeing and leading special education programs and working directly with special needs students. The district I work in has 1240 students and currently, I have no children placed out of the district. All our students remain included in our school district and community, as it is their home. Portsmouth SAU has 1480 students. The four other districts sending students into Portsmouth pay for their own out of district placements. Imagine what we could do for our schools with an additional $5.8 million if we kept our kids in their home district!
Voters should know that I started in politics as a city councilor for two reasons: the wastewater treatment plant that was polluting our waterways and the fear that a middle school was going to be built on Jones Ave, a polluted site that should be considered a superfund site. As a new councilor I was very happy to vote to renovate the current middle school.
I continued to vote on projects with the mindset that we need to support all children. I tried twice to get the council to vote for a skateboard park in Portsmouth. In my second attempt, we were successful and now we have a skateboard park enjoyed by many of our students. As we know, outside activities help with students’ mental health. Students have shared with me they feel great after skateboarding, and it has provided them with a community and friendships.