Newmarket, NH School Superintendent Todd Allen Ignores Court Decision!

On September 1, 2021, the Newmarket School District filed a 12-page Court Petition seeking Declaratory Judgment and Preliminary and Permanent Injunction against Right-to-Know advocate Jeffrey Thomas Clay over Right-to-Know requests made by Clay.

On May 4th, 2022, the Court dismissed the School District’s Petition stating, “Under the existing statutory scheme, the Court does not have the discretion or the authority to limit a particular individual’s ability to seek records under RSA 91-A.”

On March 8, 2023, Superintendent Todd Allen filed a 67-page Counterclaim against Clay in Rockingham Superior Court (at taxpayer expense) asking the Court again to Permanently enjoin Clay’s Right-to-Know requests with reasonable restrictions. Apparently, Superintendent Allen has no regard for Newmarket taxpayer money or the Courts previous decision.

The Newmarket School Board shares in the blame for the waste of taxpayer money paid in legal fees to bring what is clearly a frivolous and embarrassing Counterclaim before the Court. All of this, of course, is a continuation of the unethical, immoral, and illegal acts perpetrated against the state by the district.

Newmarket School District attorneys Barbara Loughman, Timothy Mclaughlin, and Simmone Washington should be ashamed of themselves for filing the Counterclaim on behalf of the district, and for taking taxpayer funds to defend this Counterclaim. These attorneys certainly understood the court's previous decision yet they filed the Counterclaim anyways.

I am calling on Superintendent Allen, every member of the Newmarket School Board, and all three attorneys in this current case to reimburse Newmarket taxpayers for every dollar expended in bringing this Counterclaim and once repaid, for Allen and every school board member to resign.

Jeffrey Thomas Clay, M.Ed.