NH AG: Amherst Schools Illegally Used Students For Electioneering

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

Amherst is learning the hard way that it is illegal for public school teachers to use their students as campaign operatives in elections.

Superintendent Mike Berry was schooled this week by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office over last year’s failed effort to obtain an additional $52 million in taxpayer money. The SAU 39 leader received a cease-and-desist letter Tuesday from Assistant Attorney General Matthew Broadhead after an investigation uncovered multiple violations.

Broadhead wrote that school employees’ conduct violated RSA 659:44-a and ordered Berry “to cease and desist from engaging in any further similar conduct in the future.”

It started last year before the annual school district meeting, when Berry and Clark-Wilkins School Principal Kathleen Murphy sent parents a letter about an exciting project taking place inside the school: a campaign commercial shoot.

“We’re excited to share some news with you! On Monday, January 6th, a film crew will be in the Wilkins School gathering footage for a new video project. This project aims to highlight areas of our building that could benefit from updates, supporting educational efforts for the upcoming Wilkins building initiative,” Berry and Murphy wrote.

The Wilkins School is an aging building in need of help, but how much help it needs is a sticking point. Berry lent his support to last year’s $52 million warrant article to pay for a massive renovation and expansion. As part of that effort, Berry allowed his staff to make a commercial during the school day.

Broadhead began investigating the commercial and uncovered more. According to Broadhead, teachers and Wilkins staff members used school resources, including photocopiers, to make flyers supporting the $52 million article. Teachers then placed the flyers in students’ backpacks to take home.

The $52 million Wilkins project failed to win enough votes in 2025, after a $49 million version failed in 2024. A $37 million citizen petition this year also tanked.

Rep. Ross Berry (R-Weare), no relation to Superintendent Berry, said school and SAU employees engaged in obvious illegal electioneering. Public employees are prohibited from using their government jobs to participate in political campaigns.

“It’s very frustrating to watch something this obvious,” Ross Berry said.

While many people may not object to teachers advocating for more spending, using school resources or students as part of a voter outreach plan is wrong, no matter the issue, Ross Berry said.

“Imagine if they were telling people to vote against banning boys in girls’ sports,” Ross Berry said.

Previously, people such as Mike Berry and his teachers could have faced misdemeanor charges for illegal electioneering, but that rarely happened. Ross Berry said the perceived severity of the penalty made prosecutors hesitant to pursue cases and is likely why Amherst received only a cease-and-desist letter.

Ross Berry worked to change the law last year to allow civil fines instead. The goal was to establish a penalty more likely to be imposed and, therefore, discourage illegal electioneering by the people most likely to engage in it.

“My hope going forward is that the broader definition and softer enforcement will lead to more accountability,” Ross Berry said.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.