Newmarket School District Lies Have Huge Price Tag

On January 27, 2020, Newmarket School District (NMSD) Attorney Barbara Loughman was finally interviewed by the Rockingham County Prosecutors Office (RCPO) concerning allegations I had filed against her and the NMSD back 2016 where I alleged that Attorney Loughman and the NMSD had committed perjury concerning the school district’s 2015 search for a new superintendent.

Lie number one: the superintendent search committee established by the Newmarket School Board in the summer of 2015 never met.

Fact: The committee did meet on November 5th through the 8th of 2015. All of the relevant public meeting minutes of the NMSD confirm this, however, there is even more proof: The Chairman of the Search Committee, Al Zink, confirms the Search Committee met in the audiovisual recording of School Board meeting of December 17, 2015.

Despite the audio recording of Zink admitting to the world that the Search Committee did meet, Attorney Loughman informed the investigators that it was Al Zink who had informed her that the Search Committee did not meet.

While it may be true that Al Zink lied to Loughman, shifting the blame to Al Zink alone is unconscionable for an attorney who had access to all of the meeting minutes and audiovisual recording which clearly shows the search committee did meet.

Lie number 2: The minutes of the Superintendent Screening Committee were sealed from public inspection.

Fact: Both Al Zink and Newmarket Town Administrator Steve Fournier have both said the nonpublic meeting minutes were not sealed.

Who did Loughman blame for this lie? She blamed School District Clerk and Superintendent Executive Secretary Penney Botterman. Yup...it was Penney Botterman who informed Loughman these nonpublic meeting minutes were sealed. The problem, beyond the fact that the minutes were not sealed, the meetings of the screening committee took place in November 2015... by email dated late December 2015, Botterman revealed there were no minutes of the screening committee taken. at all.

Lie number 3: There was confusion. The terms Search and Screening Committee were misused.

No, they weren’t. Its almost always impossible to keep a story straight when you lie.

The perjury and subsequent cover-up entered into by Loughman and the district has now traveled from the original Court hearing at the RCPO, to the Attorney Disciple Office, to the NH Supreme Court, back to the RCPO, and back again to the NH Supreme Court where it is today. The lies and cover-up have also made it’s way to the Newmarket Police Dept, Brentwood Police Dept., and to the NH Attorney Generals’ Office on more than one occasion.

The amount of time, money and resources wasted by Loughman and the NMSD in order to cover-up the NMSD violations of Right-to-Know is unknown, however, there must be accountability. They are not above the law.