Green Complaint Escalates to NH Board of Education

Gentle Readers, here is the reply I received from SAU 55 concerning my request for a public hearing on alleged violations of RSA 194-C:5, which charges SAU boards with setting salaries for SAU employees, something our superintendent does currently.

July 25, 2017

Dear Mrs. Green,

This email confirms receipt of correspondence from you dated July 21, 2017 relative to your complaint invoking ED204.  This correspondence will be placed in the correspondence folder for review and possible discussion by the whole SAU 55 Board at a future SAU 55 Board meeting.

Cathy Belcher

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The next scheduled SAU meeting is October 4, 2017, a good three months from my complaint.  I read that as a “No.”

As a result, I have forwarded my complaint to the NH Board of Education and the Office of Legislation and Hearings.  A pre-hearing before the hearing officer will take place in mid-August.  That will be followed by a full hearing after which the hearing officer will make a determination.  That is then placed on the NH Board of Education’s agenda for their subsequent action.  Timberlane may be represented by an attorney.

All this is so avoidable if your SAU would simply put their big boy pants on and do their job. What is so hard about responding to my allegations in public and correcting what may be out of compliance with the law?

Faithful readers will perceive a pattern in all this. You might wish to join me in calling it The Three Monkeys Syndrome: see no evil, speak no evil, and do nothing.  The SAU board knows members have a much easier time of things if they clutch their blindfolds, cover their mouths and do nothing. Heck, a spouse might even get a job at Timberlane.

The Timberlane board could force the issue by taking a vote to require the SAU board hold a special meeting to sort this out, but they won’t.  Why, I don’t know.

What I do know is that this neglect cashes out in undisciplined budgets.  Unlike the school district budget, the SAU budget is untouchable by voters. The laws exist to protect taxpayers and I’m simply trying to get the law enforced.

Here is my complaint to the New Hampshire Board of Education concerning the conduct of the SAU 55 board:  Ed 206 Complaint_0001