MANCHESTER – On Monday night, four new student members of the Board of School Committee took the oath of office, beginning a one-year term. Mayor Joyce Craig led the swearing-in process for the four students: John Alade and Josselyn Ascencio from Manchester School of Technology, and Ashlie Brown and Ushika Thapa of West High School.
Student representatives have already been sworn in from Central and Memorial high schools. Those students include Erika Berberi and Fatuma Muhidin of Central and Mack Tripp and Grey McDonald of Memorial.
This is the third group of student members of the Board of School Committee since a policy was enacted in 2020. That policy implementation came a year after Manchester voters approved of the idea in a ballot question in the 2019 election. Previously, student representatives from high schools were able to provide updates to the board, but they were not able to participate in debates. While student members cannot vote, they can help craft new policies, as was the case with Central graduate Kellan Barbee.
We hope you'll join us in thanking all of these students for stepping up to bring student voice to the Board of School Committee.