Concord School Board Members SAU 8 Issue Diversity, Individualism, Inclusion Statement

CONCORD, NH — An elementary art schoolteacher has reportedly been placed on leave and complaints filed with the New Hampshire Department of Education — while the city's school board issued a statement reaffirming diversity, individualism, and inclusion in the district on Thursday.

Silas Allard, a teacher at the Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, has come underfire for comments he made on Twitter that appear to be joking about targeting boys for sex as well as remarks about being stoned, marijuana sales, using sex toys as costume supplies, anti-Christian bigotry, and other comments. The posts came to light after Michael Guglielmo, whose daughter attended the school up until a few days ago, began filing complaints in early November 2022 about Allard, who he said should not be allowed to teach young children while wearing a dress. Guglielmo and others found the Twitter comments while researching Allard. The Tweets were from five years ago when he was a young adult.

Guglielmo went before the school board earlier this month to complain about Allard’s attire. After the meeting, he took pictures of the teacher and, during the interaction, reportedly suggested he pose for him. Later, Allard said he felt threatened by Guglielmo’s general demeanor.

During the next few days, when he dropped off his daughter for school, Guglielmo accused Allard of prancing around his vehicle and attempting to trigger him to act violently.

Allard filed a restraining order, noting Guglielmo's felonious past — he attempted to shoot and kill a drug dealer in Manchester in the 1980s, which led to him shooting at police officers. Guglielmo was brought up on attempted murder charges and served nearly 20 years in prison.

A court date was scheduled for Feb. 17, to deal with the restraining order.

When Guglielmo and his witnesses went to Concord District Court, they discovered the restraining order had been pulled. They then headed to the school district office to meet with Superintendent Kathleen Murphy to complain about the teacher again, prompting staff to activate a panic alarm at the central office on Liberty Street. Concord police showed up, but there were no issues during the meeting.

Earlier this week, protesters began showing up at the school, reportedly including members of rightwing organizations. We the People, another organization formed by Terese Grinnell, has also been actively assisting Guglielmo.

Murphy told parents while issues at the school had been worrisome and concerning, there were safety protocols in place, and district employees were communicating with police about any possible future problems.

Guglielmo has since pulled his daughter from the school and filed complaints with the New Hampshire Department of Education against Allard, Murphy, and Kris Gallo, the school's principal.

School Board Issues Statement

On Wednesday night, the board met in a nonpublic session and voted to issue a statement reaffirming its commitment to valuing diversity, individualism, and inclusion in the district.

“The Concord School Board reaffirms our commitment to our district’s families, mission, and strategic plan priorities, which includes our vision to improve inclusiveness, uplift the voices of historically marginalized people in the Concord school community, and create an environment that encourages personal exploration and growth,” the statement said. “The Concord School District is successful because of the amazing and talented children and adults that make up this community. Each board member is here as a representative of that community, working always with the district’s mission and policies as our directive and with the success and safety of our children, teachers, and staff in mind.”

Murphy refused to comment on the teacher last week because it was a personnel issue.

NH DOE Refuses To Confirm Investigation

In an email, the New Hampshire Department of Education refused to confirm any investigations.

“Pursuant to our policy,” an email stated, “the New Hampshire Department of Education is unable to confirm whether an active investigation is ongoing with regard to a particular educator. The Department is following this situation and will take action if it is believed there is a violation of the Educator Code of Conduct.”

Patch, however, has independently verified, via other emails, that an education department investigator requested documents, including copies of the Tweets and additional information, on Thursday while confirming a complaint had been filed.

The state board of education approved both codes of conduct and ethics for educators in the state in 2018, two years after the Legislature passed laws requiring new standards after a sharp jump in educator misconduct cases — including teacher-student rape cases, assaults, and other criminal incidents.

Both codes focus on four core principles — a responsibility to students, a responsibility to the education profession and educational professionals, a responsibility to the school community, and ethical use of technology. The codes require certified educators to report inappropriate activities and they must agree to adhere to the principles as part of the credentialing process.

Support For Allard

Community members, including school district employees, have rallied around the teacher, creating a Facebook group.

Members of the Facebook group, which is private, stated Allard was pulled from the school earlier this week and placed on leave. It is unknown if the leave was paid or unpaid.

The district also requested the group remove the Concord School District logo from its logo, not because they weren’t supporting the message, as one group member put it, but because there were accusations the district had created it themselves, which was false.

At the same time, several people have called Guglielmo a danger to the community due to his past criminal history and intolerant for calling Allard a “pervert.” He was criticized for publishing Allard’s address on a Facebook post — it was the entire posting of the restraining order, which contained both men’s addresses, and for wearing an “F--- Biden” hat. When dropping off his daughter, Guglielmo was requested not to wear it on the elementary school property.

One complainant, former school board member Kate West, who was recently removed from the board due to being unable to prove she lived in the ward she was elected to represent, called Guglielmo “a literal child predator trying to distract from his own depravity by pointing the finger at (someone) else.”

West linked a story from WMUR-TV from 2015 when he was arrested on a misdemeanor sexual assault charge, accused of pinching the butt of a 16-year-old girl at a restaurant.

Guglielmo called the comment libelous.

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