Criminal Complaint Filed Against Newmarket School Superintendent Allen

On July 8th, 2022, I filed criminal allegations with the Newmarket Police Chief, Greg Jordan against Newmarket's interim school superintendent, Todd Allen, and school district attorney Barbara Loughman. In my complaint, I alleged that Mr. Allen and Attorney Loughman have violated RSA 641: 6 (falsifying physical evidence) and RSA 641: 7 (Tampering with public records or information. I further alleged these two individuals did so to cover up previous crimes and unethical and immoral acts committed by Loughman and former school superintendent Susan Givens and school board members.

Beginning on May 27, 2022, I have made several requests to Mr. Allen to inspect public records in the possession of the Newmarket school district. My hope was that Mr. Allen would be a standup man and not violate the law to protect past criminal acts committed by school district officials; I was wrong.

Over these past several years, school district attorney Barbara Loughman, on behalf of the Newmarket school district, has lied to New Hampshire courts, claiming the 2015 superintendent screening committee sealed the minutes of their nonpublic meetings. Fact: there never were any such sealed meeting minutes. There is not one single person, except attorney Loughman, who claimed the committee sealed their nonpublic meeting minutes. Loughman made this false claim in order to protect the district from a violation of RSA 91-A because the committee kept no minutes at all. The chairman of that 2015 committee (Al Zink) informed Rockingham County Investigators the committee did not seal any minutes. Newmarket school district principal, Sean Pine, who also served on the committee, also stated committee did not seal any minutes. And Steve Fournier, Newmarkets' town manager, likewise, so informed me. Fact: there are no sealed 2015 superintendent screening committee meeting minutes.

On May 27, 2022, I filed a request under RSA 91-A with Mr. Allen to inspect the alleged sealed nonpublic meeting minutes of the 2015 superintendent screening committee. I also informed Mr. Allen, however, that there are no such sealed nonpublic minutes. In response to my request, Mr. Allen and Attorney Loughman violated 641 by falsely claiming the 2015 minutes remain sealed. It’s important to remember that this lie was used by the school district in order to be awarded nearly six thousand dollars in attorney fees.

On June 1, 2022, I filed a request under RSA 91-A with Mr. Allen to inspect documents concerning the removal of former school district principal Chris Mazzone. This request was also denied claiming no records exist. This was a lie. The Attorney representing Mr. Mazzone informed investigators that documents were signed between Mazzone and the School District regarding his removal.

Mr. Allen and Attorney Loughman are also violating 641 regarding my request to inspect emails sent or received between Susan Givens and school board Chairmen Mike Kenison and Chairman Nathan Lunney. The district is hiding these emails for nefarious reasons.

As soon as Mr. Allen took the reigns at Newmarket, I reached out to him and pleaded with him to be a stand-up guy. I asked him to investigate my allegations and to blow the whistle on Givens, Loughman, Kenison, and others. Allen refused to do so. Instead, Allen chose to violate the law in order to protect Loughman and other school district officials. This is a direct violation of Allen's employment contract and responsibilities to the people of Newmarket who pay his salary of 150K plus benefits.

So, why does all of this matter? It matters for several reasons. The lies told by Newmarket over these past many years have cost Newmarket taxpayers well in excess of 100K paid in legal fees to the attorney who lied on the district's behalf! Calling out public corruption is everyone's responsibility. Lying to the courts, such as Loughman did on behalf of the school district is never OK. And perhaps most of all, it matters because public officials and public employees are supposed to be better than this! They are not supposed to be criminals! They are supposed to be role models and set the example of good citizenship!

The Newmarket school district needs a complete overhaul! The school board, district attorney, and Todd Allen all have to go. Newmarket deserves better. Until these changes take place until Newmarket has public officials with integrity...no teacher or administrator should work in the district and no student should attend classes. Public education deserves better1

Jeffrey Thomas Clay, M.Ed.