MANCHESTER Irish playwright and political activist George Bernard Shaw is credited with saying, Those who cant change their minds cant change anything.

City school board members are hoping the Board of Mayor and Aldermen takes that quote to heart tonight when it hears a request to reconsider a vote taken late last year on bonding to help fund redistricting efforts in Manchester schools.

Tuesdays meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

In December, city aldermen rejected a request to redirect $2.1 million in bonding approved for preschools and instead use the money for renovations associated with middle school redistricting efforts.

The vote was 6-6, with Aldermen Tim Baines, Elizabeth Moreau, Bill Shea, John Cataldo, Barbara Shaw and Keith Hirschmann voting in favor of the request. Opposed were Kevin Cavanaugh, Tony Sapienza, Bill Barry, Normand Gamache, Joe Kelly Levasseur and Dan ONeil. Absent were Will Stewart and Chris Herbert.

Ten votes were needed to approve the request.

Baines, Shea, and Cataldo are no longer on the board.

Earlier this fall, school officials determined available space at both Manchester Memorial High School and Manchester School of Technology was less than needed for a preschool program, so Superintendent of Schools John Goldhardt went before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to ask that bond funding be reallocated for renovation work at the citys middle schools to prepare for redistricting in 2021.

School board members supported Goldhardts request on a 14-1 vote in November.

The new request from the school board seeks $1.8 million in bonding, after committee members voted to ask aldermen to fund fifth-grade redistricting efforts using bonds instead of reallocating funds from other line items in the budget.

We have nothing to lose by trying, said Ward 4 member and board vice chair Leslie Want told members.

A motion to send the new request to the aldermen passed 14-1, with only at-large member Jim OConnell opposed.

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City school board hopes second time's the charm for redistricting bond request - The Union Leader