Dover School Board At Large
email: robintforschoolboard@gmail.com
phone: 603 312-6352
Responses to Foster’s Questionnaire
I’m honored to be finishing my first term as chair of the Dover school board, having served on the board since winning election in 2021. Serving for the last four years has been inspiring, but at times frustrating given the challenges public education is currently facing at the state and federal levels. I am committed to supporting Dover Public Schools through these challenges so our district can remain focused on our primary objectives: to provide a quality and equitable education to all our students, support our staff in their educational delivery and development, and to oversee a fiscally responsible budget that supports our learning goals.
The biggest challenge facing our schools is lack of adequate funding and increased costs; these are caused by factors bigger than what the School Board can solve for. As a board member, during our budget discussions I can focus on being as creative as possible with the funds we do have and how we allocate our money. The State Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that the state is not providing funding for an adequate education as required by our state constitution. When we do not receive enough funding from the state to cover our costs, we are forced to use local property taxes to make up the difference. This unfairly places the burden of education funding on property owners in Dover and across the state. While the Board cannot change state law, we can work to advocate to our state legislators for the state to continue to pursue options for alternate revenue sources so the state can meet its constitutional requirement to fund education properly.