Link: PDF file of e-mail chain
DURHAM — A unanimous vote by the Oyster River School Board to waive attorney/client privilege brought about the release of a controversial e-mail chain involving the former chair of the School Board.
The e-mails were released Wednesday following a special board meeting Tuesday night. The special meeting followed a legal consultation between the board and its attorney, Matt Upton.
While the e-mail chain starts with former School Board Chair Mark Townsend seeking a legal opinion about the actions of Board Co-chair Henry Brackett at a May 10 Lee Board of Selectmen's meeting, it later turns into a list of other allegations and comments about the board.
The e-mail chain started in late May when Townsend sent e-mails to Upton and Barrett Christina, staff attorney for the New Hampshire School Boards Association.
According to a May 27 e-mail to Upton, Townsend had four concerns about Brackett's actions which include, Brackett discussing school board business with selectmen without the instruction of the school board and Brackett telling selectmen the school board would be forming an audit committee — nine days before the board voted to do so.
Townsend was also concerned about Brackett challenging board operations to selectmen. According to the minutes of that selectmen's meeting, Brackett spoke as a private citizen and not a member of the School Board.
Townsend also alleges that Brackett provided instruction to other School Board members to conduct discussions of items on the agenda prior to the legal board meetings.
In a May 27 e-mail to Christina, Townsend lays out more allegations against Brackett and other members of the board.
"I would also add that Henry asked to meet just after we were elected Chair and Vice Chair (respectively). We had breakfast at the Route 125 Diner in Lee, NH," Townsend's e-mail reads. "The owner came to the table just as I received coffee and informed Henry Brackett that he needed to stop discussing school board business in her diner (we hadn't begun to talk yet.) She informed Henry that customers were complaining about the impropriety of it and warned Henry that people were also purposely sitting close so they could learn of school district issues."
Neither Brackett nor the owners of Gauthier's 125 Restaurant could be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Townsend goes on to allege in the e-mail to Christina that Brackett and Board Members Jocelyn O'Quinn, Ann Wright and Krista Butts worked together to push a discussion on forming an audit committee during the May 5 meeting, when such an item wasn't on the agenda.
He said the four "derailed" that meeting with a fast motion and second to put the discussion on the agenda.
"It seemed to me and (Board Members) JoAnn (Portalupi) and Jennifer (Rief) that this was a prior discussion amongst a potential quorum of the board that was not in compliance with NH RSA," Townsend wrote in the e-mail. "I will note that Mrs. Wright's husband — Tom Louriero — is a corporate attorney (chief legal officer) of the company in which I am employed. Ann is good at researching a topic that interests her, but lacks experience on a board and does not seek to understand the basics of how a board works."
Wright took exception to Townsend's comment in the e-mail and brought it up during the June 2 board meeting, where she demanded an apology.
Townsend resigned from his post a week later, but said the decision wasn't because of the e-mails.
Townsend told Foster's on Wednesday the only reason he sought a legal opinion is because these issues with Brackett and other board members were recurring. Without giving specific examples, he said there have been multiple times when certain members of the board would talk about an issue and then contact him to either put it on the agenda or call a special meeting about the issue.
Townsend said it isn't against the law for two board members to have a conversation but it becomes a problem when those conversations become consecutive with other board members and an agreement is made with a quorum of the board.
"This isn't a one time pattern with the board — it's a repetitive pattern," he said. "Just because you have the right to do, doesn't mean that ethically you should."
It's unknown what Upton's legal opinion about Townsend's concerns was. The board only waived attorney/client privilege in relation to Townsend's correspondence with Christina. In addition, Upton said he didn't have any e-mail correspondence with Townsend and only spoke with him by phone.
Christina told Townsend via e-mail that it appears Brackett may have violated school board policies but there wasn't enough information to determine if any laws were broken.
Christina indicated in the e-mail that Upton gave a similar opinion.
"Whatever remaining conflicts or disagreements the board has, I again urge the board to seek some common ground as to how it will communicate and operate going forward."
The School Board released the following statement after the e-mails were released.
"In releasing these communication it is our shared commitment to move forward in the spirit of openness, cooperation, and respect."
Thank you Mark for doing your due diligence as a School Board Chair and calling out the potential improprieties of other Board members. I find it ironic that the loudest voices calling for transparency are working behind the scenes to manipulate the Board agenda.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing Mark did was follow Howard's marching orders. Mark pretty much slanders the board in the emails and article. Mark NEVER SOUGHT to talk to these board members to understand their points or actions. He just assumed. So, I think, the entire board is to blame but don't raise up Mark to be a martyr. He's just a coward and a quitter.
ReplyDeleteEvidently Anonymous above, you didn't even take the time to read the emails. "Mark never sought..."? Then what was he doing meeting with Henry in Lee? This is what is problematic with this blog. People seem to be thinking on the surface and only processing those things that align with their point of view. Otherwise shouldn't both Mark and Kim be labeled as you have labeled Mark above? I won't use the names you did, because I don't want to stoop to that level, but this site would have at least some credibility if there was a bit of evidence that people with open minds were posting
ReplyDeleteAnonymous...don't preach to me about not reading everything. When I said, Mark never sought, it was when he alleged the other board members in MAY not March of improprieties.
ReplyDeleteThis is a blog...it isn't CNN. We are allowed to vent and say whatever we want. I am thankful I can do this without public backlash by NOT using a name anonymously. This blog IS credible. The posts on here are factual and to the point. The comments are completely open.
I agree with the first poster. Those who are the loudest calling for transparency are those who doing their best to hinder it. The worst offender is HENRY "the Hatchet" Brackett.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the emails, it is obvoius to me that the one person who should have resigned is HENRY "the Hatchett" Brackett.
Got it HENRY? The time has come for your resignation so that this board can get back on track doing what it is supposed to be doing -- educate the children.
Dear Previous Poster:
ReplyDeleteAlong with blogging comes a responsibility to write things that are truthful and not disparage and discredit others.
While you can vent your opinions, you cannot post whatever you want. There is a limit and many people who post on this blog are guilty of crossing that line.
It is only a matter of time before someone does irreperable harm to someone's integrity and ruin a career.
Mr. Fiermonti -- please stop allowing people to post anonymously. That is what is causing all of this friction in the community. If people want to post a comment on a public venue, they should have to put their name on it!
In response to the poster above: Mark Townsend lied during a Board meeting (pretending he didn't write the e-mails that are at the center of the controversy) nor he has offered one shred of evidence that there is any untoward activity going on behind the scenes. His credibility is nil.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any evidence that Henry Brackett is engaged in some sort of cover-up please share it. Otherwise consider yourself consigned to the same category as Mr. Townsend (unless, of course, you are Mark Townsend, posting more of your lies anonymously).
What fun would that be? Then we might not get some of the inside scoop from our teachers. This forum allows teachers to post without fear of retaliation.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to cleaning up the mess in our district, it is going to take someone like "Hatchet the Bracket," to do just that!
Keep up the good work Henry!
"People only see what they are prepared to see."
ReplyDelete- Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the anonymous posters above said, "The posts on here are factual and to the point." I think not
"Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom."
ReplyDelete- Merry Brown
"Quotations are a crutch for those incapable of original thought."
ReplyDelete- Me
Mr. Fiermonti,
ReplyDeleteI agree with one of the previous posters about requiring names to each posting. Allowing teachers & staff to participate is great, but at what cost? We don't even know if they do, in fact, work in the district. For all we know, it could be some disgruntled parent upset with a teacher or administrator for giving little Sally a bad grade and making stuff up about them. This will smear good reputations and result in the loss of good, hardworking employees.
This is not a forum for teachers and staff to air their greivances against their supervisors and administrators. There are other established means of communications to do just that and there is plenty of precedent to justify these other means.
Other area school districts run their own similar blogs. Every one of them requires a name be attached to each posting. Sadly, this blog only results in negative smearing by people who are mostly uneducated about the jobs that school board members volunteer their time for.
It is interesting that the people writing in to complain about about anonymous bloggers, post their blogs anonymously. How OXYMORONISH is that?
ReplyDeleteAfter fully reading the e-mails, I think the Oyster River School District should file suit against Mark Townsend and Howard Colter for payment the town incurred in legal fees related to their campaign to slander Henry Bracket and Ann Wright. I can't believe that our town would pay for such petty legal advice. Additionally, it seems that Howard and Mark unilaterally decided to seek legal opinion that should have been determined by a majority vote involving the entire school board. How dare they use tax payer money to smear fellow board members to benefit their agenda.
ReplyDeleteRe: last blogger,
ReplyDeleteHenry Brackett should apologize for his role in all this - the board deserves an apology as do the citizens of the school district.
According to state law, cooperative school districts (like all school districts) are completely separate governmental entities. That is why every town in the state of New Hampshire has a town meeting separate from school meetings. Therefore, when Henry "the Hatchett" Brackett goes off galavanting around the countryside, claiming to speak at the Town of Lee selectmen meetings as an individual when in fact he is speaking board business (unauthorized I might add) he is seriously breaching long-standing board policies. This is much more serious than the citizens of the Oyster River District realize. As such, Henry "the Hatchett" Brackett must apologize and should consider resigning his position. That is conduct unbecoming of an elected official in our community.
It would be one thing if he was authorized by the board to speak to town officials. But the breach of protocol was that he was saying things that weren't true (and some people accuse Mark Townsend of lying - Henry was caught with his pants down on this one!) to the Lee Selectmen.
So for all of you coming to Henry "the Hatchett" Brackett's defense, you should be asking for the same fate as Mark Townsend - his resignation and an apology.
You sound angry! A little too angry!! Is something bloggering you?
ReplyDelete"Without giving specific examples, he said there have been multiple times when certain members of the board would talk about an issue and then contact him to either put it on the agenda or call a special meeting about the issue."
ReplyDeleteMy God...the temerity of those other Board members! Thinking that they might have the unmitigated gall to put something on the agenda that hadn't been vetted bu Howard first!
Just think of the chaos that might result if they listened to their constituents and responded to their concerns! Why, we might actually hear discussion of real issues and not have time for the ART SHOW!
Sounds to me like Mark wanted to be dictator, not Board Chair. I'm glad he's gone.
Sounds to me that HOWARD needs to step up and admit his role in all of this.
ReplyDeleteBlaine Cox is resigning. We'll see this blog go off again besmirching him, citing that now we really need a budget committee. What is really happening though is that the dispositions and marrow mindedness...and meanness on this blog is tearing apart the District. It is impacting the confidence for teachers to do their jobs not knowing what shoe will fall next. Please know the vast majority of teachers I work with in the District to not support the agenda of this blog and the agenda of Henry Brackett.
ReplyDeleteTo ORCSD Teacher,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for doing all that you do for our kids. I do not know who you are or what school/grade but I am sure you have made a positive impact on many children.
Please don't blame this blog for tearing apart the school district. What the authors on this blog have done is point out things that don't make sense and to praise when they do. It is also focused on the operations of the district vs. curriculum. I have done my best to reach out to people on the other end of the argument and ask them to write for the blog. They declined. I have also made repeated attempts to ask the board and superintendent to write an article here or there for this blog. I believe they are thinking about this with Megan Turnbull's recent post.
However, please don't blame us on this blog for district wide issues. We didn't cause the Town of Durham to write that Resolution. We weren't even aware of it! There are many in the towns that simply don't understand why our budget is so high when other districts with lower budgets have more/better athletic fields, technology, languages, arts, etc... I am not saying we don't do a great job with what we have. We do! In fact, I am very impressed with the district technology committee and what they are able to accomplish under current budget constraints.
Also, please don't spread rumors about Mr. Cox resigning. The goals of the budget advisory committee (or one of them) was support for Blaine...not blaming him for this or that. He is one person in charge of a huge budget. However, he may feel differently and if/when he comes back to the board with his findings, perhaps we in the community will see this in a different perspective. However, many comparable districts have these types of committees and they don't have the PR issues ORCSD does.
Please feel free to respond here or directly to me. The email is posted on the website/Facebook.
Thanks!
Re: Anonymous Posting
ReplyDeleteI have seen over the past couple of weeks criticism of the anonymous posting on this blog. While I urge everyone to come up with a "nickname" or "handle" for consistency, I want this to be an open forum. Being as it is a blog, we will see negativity and hopefully, just ignore it. We all live in a small community so I understand why people may not want to post their names. Parents I have talked to are afraid that some teachers may not maintain the same relationship once their name is on here. Teachers have said that they are afraid of putting their name on here for backlash from the administration. Whatever the reasons, I can appreciate both sides of this argument.
I will point out that you can create a pseudonym or something similar so that when you post, people can respond to that poster rather than Anonymous #12 for example. If you click on the box below the "Post a Comment" section, you are able to use a variety of methods like AIM screen name, OpenID, or Google account. Each of those methods are free and take minimal time to register. If you already have a gmail account, you have a Google account as well! There are several who have already done this - I TEACH, ORCSD TEACHER, BOHICA, and Pickle Boy.
In the interest of transparency and open communication, I will keep the anonymous posting open. As someone said before, this is not CNN or an official district website.
One last thing...I have been noticing that the level of interest is steadily increasing on this blog. On June 2, the unique visitor count started on March 20, 2010 was around 3500. Today...only 16 days later, it is up to 8457! Almost a 2.5x increase in ~2 weeks vs. ~2 months.
This blog needs a FAQ location so we can look up rules & procedures. Or, better yet, a moderator that can answer specific questions about policy.
ReplyDeleteBlaine Cox did resign; it isn't a rumor and his position is posted
ReplyDeleteFor the reasons Seth stated, there should remain the option of posting anonymously. But while we can praise the good or decry the bad, and be passionate and contentious about which is which, let's try not to be rude or gratuitously hurtful.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, can we please set an example for our kids and act like adults?
The e-mail s between Townsend, Colter and the attorney were dated May 28th, prior to the June 2nd school board meeting. At that the June 2nd school board meeting, Henry Bracket, indicated that the Lee town minutes did not accurately transcribe his comments to the Town. At the June 2nd meeting, one of the board members commented that if what Henry said was, in fact, true, they would trust that Henry did speak for the board. I am questioning why Townsend and Colter, given their concern prior to the June 2nd meeting, why they did not call a special meeting to discuss this issue with Henry and the other board members rather than contact a lawyer without input from Henry or other board members.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it is because Henry Brackett has gone on record, letting the public know his thoughts on a need for greater transparency and budget oversight from the community. It is clear that the agenda of some of the other members on the board is to drag their heels in order to avoid just that. It is also clear that Townsend and Brackett were acting out of a personal rather than public agenda.
Correction: The above post should have read: "It is clear that Townsend and Colter were acting out of personal rather than public agenda" please do not misunderstand my intent.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, Henry Brackett was bullied by the personal agenda of these two men.
RSA 91-A:2 defines a “meeting” as “the convening of a quorum of a public body for
ReplyDeletethe purpose of discussing or acting upon a matter or matters over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.” The statute can include e-mail correspondence.
Mark Townsend and the superintendent Colter violated the state’s open meeting law by convening a quorum of public body for the purpose of proposing to take action against Henry Brackett, over which the public body has supervision over. The e-mail communications sent by Mark Townsend and Howard Colter to school committee members prior to the June 2, 2010 board meeting, involving Henry Brackett’s communication as a private citizen of Lee, violated Henry’s right to privacy. Colter and Townsend sought legal advice on a private action which compromised the school boards authority.
To the above blogger, very astute picking all this apart and providing regulations/guidelines at same time.
ReplyDeleteTownsend resigned.
ReplyDeleteBlaine resigned.
Howard it is now your turn. Please resign.
Mr. Townsend & Mr. Colter, karma is a funny thing. Mr. Colter, I really hope that your resignation will be next.
ReplyDeleteUSMC-ORSD Losers
ReplyDeleteThe ORSD tells the judge we will make changes so they are let go. The Marines’ actions are understandable. Conflict and confusion are what we the ones that go off to fight for the freedom of the USA get as we return. My right to run for elected position in New Hampshire with out interference from the news media and government officials has to be guaranteed. It is like I read today “Piss on the crucifix, and they’ll call you an artist. Piss on the American Flag and they’ll call you a freedom-of-speech Constitutionalist. Piss on the Taliban POS that just tried to kill you and your fellow Marines, and they’ll call you a villain”. I am a natural born US citizen that came back from the Vietnam Conflict 100% disabled. Government retribution is against the law, yet the NH government officials and news media use this to create danger to the public in my personality to stop my getting elected. The positive changes any person serving the people of NH and the USA can make if elected by law has to be the voter’s freedom to choose.
NH and the VA stop my medical care for combat related disabilities to teach me to obey government authority. The newspapers continue to reinforce the danger my life is to the citizens of NH to justify the criminal actions of Judge Peter Fauver and the NH Supreme Court. Communication by the news media and the manipulated truth to control public opinion is highlighted by our government official’s refusal to speak with me. Communication is the civilized manner to solve problems with out violence. The news media makes the father that blew up his two sons a villain and a bad person. The news media refuse to tell the other side, which is a man, accused by the news media and incompetent law enforcement of killing his wife to build public support for illegal acts to justify their actions. The news media and law enforcement right here in NH are trying to do this to me except from my head injury and PTSD I see the USA as a place (no matter what harm) that we must give to make what so many over the history of the USA gave their lives to protect and defend our Constitution not be in Vain.
Judges in the NH SC refused to hear a case where Judge Peter Fauver in a criminal manner used the trusted power of the courts to enable the Madbury NH selectmen for the selectmen’s personal gain take from local residents. Judges just like this gave the ORSB the right to hide facts under the Right to Know Law from the people as long as they promise not to do it again. NH put me in jail as a terrorist under the Patriot act to stop my opinion letters. Law enforcement comes to my home to harass my family and friends to isolate me to make my combat disabilities inflame my desire to commit suicide. It is working!
The ORSD voters and the State of New Hampshire have a Right to Know the back ground of a person running for elected office no matter how bad a select few want to censor the truth. Denied the right to talk can kill.
Some day some of your and the children of the ORSD will may be join the US Military should they not have a fighting chance if they come back to the USA alive.
Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi
465 Packers falls Rd Lee NH 03824 603-5659-6217