Today Justice N. William Delker of Rockingham Superior Court ruled that the Timberlane School Board must attend the next SAU 55 Board meeting and must deliberate in good faith over SAU 55’s 2019/20 budget. If the Timberlane board fails to attend or to provide a quorum, the judge also ordered that the SAU 55 Board could deliberate and vote on the budget without a quorum present. The order further said that “[A]ny Timberlane School Board Member who is present for a meeting of less than a quorum shall be entitled to vote all of the Timberlane School District votes (or a proportionate share thereof) as authorized by RSA 194-C:7 (2008).”
The Hampstead School District won all of its requests.
Just recently hired, Timberlane’s counsel was not present in court as he had previously committed to being out of the country. He did, of course, submit a written objection to Hampstead’s demand for a Writ of Mandamus, as well as a subsequent request for clarification by the court. Here are all the filings as well as today’s decision:
Emergency Petition (1) This is Hampstead School District’s petition to the court.
Objection to Hampstead Petition This is Timberlane’s response.
Hampstead School Dist v SAU No 55
For those who understand the history of this dispute, this is a disappointing day for Timberlane and its taxpayers.
timberlaneandsandown 