Newmarket Taxpayer Be Warned!

Newmarket Taxpayers be Warned!

The Newmarket School Board, Superintendent of Schools, and School District Attorney are spending Newmarket taxpayer dollars in defending their personal illegal and or unethical misconduct. This cannot stand! Newmarket taxpayers should not pay the bills for those who intentionally violate the law and lack the integrity to admit what they did.

In criminal investigations and court proceedings which have now been going on for several years, school district Attorney Barbara Loughman, on behalf of the school district, has repeatedly lied by informing prosecutors and the courts that 2015, superintendent search committee never met and that the screening committee sealed the nonpublic meeting minutes. Neither of these assertions is true.

In November 2015, the Seach Committee, consisting of Al Zink, Kim Shelton, Craig Dionne, Arlen Chaffee, and Clay Mitchell did meet on November 5th through the 8th, 2015. Public meeting minutes of the Newmarket School Board, and audio/visual recordings of the public meetings all confirm the Search Committee did in fact have these meetings. Yet, the school board, superintendent and Attorney Loughman all denied these facts to the prosecutors and courts.

Attorney Loughman and Newmarket school officials also lied to the prosecutors and courts by repeatedly claiming the nonpublic meeting minutes of the screening committee were sealed from public inspection, they were not. Former Newmarket School Board member Al Zink and Newmarket Town Administrator Steve Fournier have already confirmed that the minutes of the Screening Committee were not sealed.

The other members of the Screening Committee, to include Kim Shelton, Pat Ballentine, Penney Botterman, Anna Davenport, Nancy Pagnotta, Abbie Hatfield, Julia Leary, Meg-Louney-Moore, Tom Jennings, Wendy Monroe, and Greg Thayer have all failed to correct the record by remaining silent. Had these individuals had the backbone to come forward, they could have saved the Newmarket taxpayer thousands in legal fees. Shame on you all!

Newmarket School Officials have committed perjury and falsification in official matters in their attempt to cover up violations of our state’s Right to Know Laws concerning the 2015 Newmarket Superintendent Search process undertaken by the district. These lies and falsifications have cost the Newmarket taxpayer many thousands of dollars.

Today, I have a case at the NH Supreme Court against the school district and Attorney Loughman concerning these matters. No matter the final outcome with the court, the truth is Newmarket school district officials are guilty of the crimes identified above and they are spending taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars to perpetrate a fraud upon the courts and in doing so, disgracing the town of Newmarket.