Newmarket School District Fraud and Deception Up Close

Newmarket School District Fraudulent Actions Continue

On January 9, 2020, I made a Right to Know request with the Newmarket School District to inspect former NMJSHS Principal Chris Mazzone’s new employment contract with the school as well as the settlement agreement between Mazzone and the district.

My requests to inspect these records were refused by the school district through their Attorney Barbara Loughman, claiming, the documents were exempt from disclosure under RSA 91-A as being personnel records.

This response by the district to my request was of course a lie. The truth is that on January 9, 2020, none of the documents I requested existed. The district, under the supervision of Superintendent Susan Givens, was once again caught acting badly.

In response to the school district's denial of my request to inspect the records, I sent Superintendent Givens and Attorney Loughman an email on February 17, 2020, notifying them that I was preparing a letter to Newmarket Police Chief Kyle True and the NH Attorney General requesting an investigation into both Givens and Loughman’s actions for what I believed were numerous violations of RSA 641:7 (Falsifying Public Records) relating to the districts refusal to provide me with a copy of Mr. Mazzone’s new contract and settlement agreement.

On February 18, 2020, I sent my letter to Newmarket Police Chief Kyle True and the Attorney General requesting an official investigation into what I believed were crimes having been committed by Givens and Loughman. Chief True forwarded my complaint to the Rockingham County Prosecutors Office who subsequently forwarded the complaint to the Strafford County Prosecutor’s Office where the complaint remains today.

Just two days after notifying Givens and Loughman I would be requesting a criminal investigation into the withholding of Mazzone’s contract, School District Attorney Barbara Loughman provided me with a copy of Mazzone’s new contract on February 19, 2020.

This new employment contract was signed by Mr. Mazzone on January 9th, 2020, the same day of my original Right to Know request, however, the contract was not signed by School Board Chairman, Mike Kenison, until February 19, 2020, the same day Attorney Loughman finally provided me with a copy.

In providing me a copy of Mazzone’s new contract, Attorney Loughman made what I considered a bit of a queer statement. Attorney Loughman informed me that a new employment contract for Mr. Mazzone was “being circulated” in the district. This did not make any sense to me so I requested a copy of this new contract which was being circulated as soon as possible.

Today, April 6th, 2020, some 90 days after Mr. Mazzone first signed his new contract on January 9th, 2020, I received a copy of what is now his new contract, the contract which had been being circulating since February 19th, 2020.

I immediately began reading every word of Mazzone’s new contract, searching what I supposed would be some great changes from the first contract he and Kenison had signed, justifying the first contract becoming null and void and a new one needing to be “circulated for nearly two months. What I discovered, however, was more of the same fraudulent deception and covering of one’s own backsides by Attorney Loughman, Superintendent Givens, and School Board Chairman Mike Kenison.

This second employment contract of Chris Mazzone had just one change: the date School Board Chairman Mike Kenison signed the first contract (February 19, 2020) had been removed. That’s it. No other changes were made. The first Mazzone contract had to be null and void and a new contract circulated for months just to remove the February 19, 2020 date Kenison signed the original contract. Now, why would this have been necessary? If your thinking fraud and deception you may be right.

The above article represents just one example of the fraud and deception that has been taking place in the Newmarket School District for years. All of the lies and unethical behaviors being committed by the district are being paid for by the good people of Newmarket, all of whom are also the ones suffering all of the bad publicity as a result of these reprehensible actions.

Newmarket School District Officials continue to send the wrong message to every student in the district: It’s OK to lie and violate laws so long as you are willing to continue to lie and violate laws in order to cover your previous lies and law violations.