SB Meeting: Immature Malice on Full Display

Three board members used the Public Comment portion of the school board’s agenda last night (Feb 16, 2017) to air their grievances.  Board members cannot get items on the agenda and so must resort to Public Comment period for three minutes of free speech. The Timberlane board, you see, does not control their own agenda. As a result, their meetings are usually little more than puppet shows — of the Punch and Judy kind. Last night was different. The drama turned against Punch.

Jack Sapia, school board representative from Atkinson, is not running for re-election.  Last night was his last meeting as a board member and he decided to go out with a bang.  Mr. Sapia read a list of objectionable incidents contrived by Chairman Bealo and then called for Bealo’s resignation from the board.  Bealo pretended nothing had happened and moved on.  Fortunately social media and the press are not moving on.

One particular incident Mr. Sapia related involved me.  According to Sapia, before the October 6, 2016 school board meeting, Bealo bragged to some board members that he was going to “set me up” with an anonymous donation.

Sure enough, I objected to accepting an anonymous donation, as I always do, and Bealo shot back with some quick insults calling me the busybody Aunt Bea from the old TV series, Mayberry RFD.  Without knowing**  about the “set up,” Sapia joined in disparaging my concerns, although minus Bealo’s personal insults.

Stefanie Dube showed remarkable insight and backbone to call them both out.  She was the only person on the board to understand that malicious behavior towards one is a threat to all – eventually. Mr. Sapia now knows it as well.  Perceptively, Mrs. Dube told Bealo that he had to have known that the anonymous donation would elicit my criticism.  Bealo put on a good show of innocent indignation, showing what bold-faced lying looks like in real life.

According to Sapia, Bealo then gloated about his success and enjoyed a laugh in front of him with the same confreres after the meeting.

You can watch the immature malice in this 6 minute video from the October 2016 meeting:

Bealo donation setup

Mr. Sapia should be given credit for pulling back the curtain on the evil puppet show and I thank him for it. To hear all of Mr. Sapia’s complaints, start at 13 minutes into this video:

TRSB Meeting Feb 16, 2017

Vote wisely in March.

** A previous version of this post reported that Mr. Sapia knew about the “set up” before the meeting.  He corrects my misapprehension and affirms that he knew about the plot only afterwards when he was present with the inner circle of board members.  I apologize to Mr. Sapia for the error.

 

 

More Exploits from the Mushroom Farm

Social media has been abuzz since Cindy Buco announced at Sandown’s Town Deliberative Session on Jan. 30 that the consultant supposedly hired by the school district’s withdrawal study committee  was never actually hired and never actually did any work – despite Rob Collins’ assertions in the past that this consultant had verified the preliminary buyout number.  Something isn’t making sense.

To clear things up I sent the school board chairman, Mrs. Steenson, an email yesterday:

Dear Mrs. Steenson:

Please add to the next School Board meeting agenda the following:

   Discussion and action on communication to the school board concerning the engagement and pay of the consultant associated with the TRSB’s Sandown Withdrawal Study Committee.

I await confirmation that this will in fact be placed on the forthcoming agenda.

Thank you,

Donna Green

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Here is the reply I received today:

Mrs. Green

If you have a question about the  consultant, feel free to contact Rob. He’d be glad to answer any questions you may have. There is no need to put this on the agenda. Furthermore, we won’t have a meeting for two and a half more weeks. I’d like you to get any questions you may have answered a lot sooner than that.

Nancy

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My reply:

I’m overwhelmed by your kind solicitude. Do you ever get tired of putting your head in the sand and covering for Rob?

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Mrs. Steenson’s reply:

Mrs. Green,

I am trying to get your questions answered in a timely manner. I am sure Mr. Collins would be happy to clear up any confusion for you.

Nancy

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My reply:

It should be evident that mine are not questions that need to be cleared up but rather to discuss an issue of Mr. Collins’ conduct.

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Mrs. Steenson’s reply:

No, Mrs. Green, it was not evident. I suggested you contact Mr. Collins because you appeared to have a question about the consultant for the committee which Mr. Collins chaired. If you have specific concerns about the conduct of another board member, I’d be happy to set up a meeting between the vice chair, you and me to discuss your concerns. But I would suggest that an open dialogue with Mr. Collins would be a very productive first step for you in understanding his actions.

Nancy

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My reply:

 This is an issue for the entire board and the public as a whole as it goes to the credibility of the district’s withdrawal study committee and apparent deception to the school board as a whole.  This needs to be dealt with in public at a board meeting.  You had no hesitation whatsoever in discussing issues with my behavior in public without so much as a notification to me in advance.  I see no reason why something much more seriously such as what appears to be outright dishonesty to the board should not be placed on the agenda for public discussion.

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The agenda for our next meeting on Feb 18 was posted two and a half hours later with no inclusion of my requested agenda item.  Talk to the hand while it feeds the mushrooms.

House of Marked Cards

Danville Selectman Shawn O’Neil made a devastating public comment at last night’s school board meeting. He read a letter outlining the complete chain of events that resulted in Danville being given, mistakenly, information Danville had requested but which the school board refused to release. Let’s call this the Danville Impact Fee Controversy.

Here is Mr. O’Neil’s letter:

Dear Timberlane School Board and Dr. Metzler,

I am here tonight to address the false accusations that were annunciated by Dr. Metzler at the September 3, 2015 meeting when Dr. Farah notified the School Board that we did not need any support from the School District for our School Impact Fee analysis. Dr. Farah was asked by Mrs. Steenson if the school provided the student data and she responded that they had. She did not state that the data was used for the town study. Dr. Metzler’s response was that “It was not authorized and you have it illegally”.

I would like to point to you Exhibit A – Which is an email sent from the Danville Board of Selectmen Assessing/Land Use Clerk, Ms. Janet Denison, to Mr. George Stockinger, Ms. Kathleen Smith, and Dr. Earl Metzler outlining our request for information relative to this study. This email was dated January 22, 2015 at 9:34am. This was the email version of the request that was sent via US Mail as well.

On the same Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 4:59pm Ms Denison received an email from Mr. John Holland, Technology Director of TRSD, which indicated “As requested, attached is the list of Danville students by grade level and residence address, in Excel format.” This is illustrated by Exhibit B.

Then 22 minutes later a subsequent email was sent by Mr. Holland requesting to recall the message “Danville List”. Ms. Denison responded at 6:21pm to Mr. Holland via email, “What do you mean?” Ms. Denison called Mr. Holland’s phone on Friday, January 23 on two occasions asking for clarifications about why his list was being recalled. This is illustrated by exhibit C. Questions that Ms. Denison had included: was the data incorrect, incomplete, or outdate? Later that morning Ms. Denison forwarded the list to Mr. Bruce Mayberry from BLM Planning who was conducting the survey on behalf of the Town of Danville. Ms. Denison indicated to Mr. Mayberry that the data way be incomplete or incorrect. This was done after two phone calls went unanswered to Mr. Holland.

On Monday January 26, 2016 Ms. Cathy Belcher sent the following email to Ms. Denision as a high priority – Exhibit D which indicated ‘… the divulgence of this information may be in violation of FERPA laws.”

On Wednesday, January 28, 2015 Mr. Bruce Mayberry sent Ms. Cathy Belcher an email outlining the receipt of the recalled data, and supplied 2 pages of supporting documentation to ask for reconsideration – Exhibit E. No response followed from Ms. Belcher to Mr. Mayberry about this matter.

This information was never supplied to the School Board.

On March 12, 2015 I, acting as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, sent a follow up to Dr. Metzler to discuss the outstanding issue that remains with respect to our School Impact fee Study – Exhibit F. You will also notice in this exchange that Danville Representative Mr. Collins was involved in this discussion and after a few email exchanges between him and me, indicated “this isn’t happening. I’ve confirmed it, it’s a FERPA violation.” This is illustrated by exhibit F.

I will disclose now that Mr. Collins and I had a phone conversation relative to this matter around this time frame and I disclosed to him that we already had the data from the SAU. His response was, “You didn’t destroy it yet?”

Now let us fast forward to the April 2, 2015 School Board meeting (Time 3:13:45 -3:24:05) when Dr. Metzler recommended to the School Board that they waive School Board policy to support the release of this information to the Town of Danville. This recommendation was based on discussions with Dr. Metzler, Dr. Farah, and Cathy Belcher in which it was noted there was no FERPA violation but rather a school board policy in place. Dr. Metzler’s office was in possession of Mr. Mayberry’s 2 page explanation of why the data was needed from Jan 28, 2015. This information was not provided to the School Board for your deliberations.

On May 7, 2015 I presented more information to the School Board which resulted in a May 21, agenda item on this topic which Mr. Mayberry attended at our expense.

On Sept 3, 2015 Dr. Farah indicated to the School Board that we had the data from the SAU but she did not indicate that we had used the data in our School Impact Fee study. Mr. Mayberry, as you may recall from his May 21, 2015 appearance is able to obtain this data in a statistical form from the State. It is not as accurate as having actual verifiable data as obtained from the District. The Town of Danville and Mr. Mayberry used the State statistical data knowing that the School District was not going to assist in our effort to obtain the data.

On Monday Sept 14, 2015 the Town of Danville received a letter from the District attorney outlining some of these events. This is illustrated as Exhibit G.

Dr. Metzler and Mr. Collins, how can you say that the District is ‘transparent’ to this community when you are not transparent to your fellow Board members? It is clear that Ms. Steenson, as Chairwoman, was not aware of the release of information by the SAU. I suspect than many of your fellow Board members were not aware either. I have seen in our schools, that you oversee, a very powerful and inspirational passage, “Character – Doing the right thing when nobody is watching”. How would you define your Character at this time?

Upon receipt of a written apology to the Danville Board of Selectmen and our staff, as a courtesy to the district, we will destroy the data, which we believe is NOT a FERPA violation but a School Board policy violation which is NOT applicable to the Town of Danville.

Thank you,

Shawn O’Neil

Chairman

Board of Selectmen

Town of Danville, New Hampshire      10.1.15 ltr to the school (1)

The Danville Impact Fee Controversy: September 17th non-public session

At the school board’s previous meeting on September 17th, the board went into non-public session on the grounds of reputation (91-A:3, II (c)). The topic was Danville’s acquisition of data for their impact fee study. In no way does the law allow this topic to be discussed in non-public.  It is not one of the clearly listed subject matter exclusions from mandatory public discussion. S0oooo,  the name of an employee was used as a pretext to hide this discussion in non-public. Your school board regularly stretches the law to keep uncomfortable realities from you. Thanks to the Danville Board of Selectmen you now know how the information got to Danville.

This time the district was thwarted in its efforts to keep unpleasant truths from the public ear, but the board nevertheless continues to do its best to distance itself from the truth in its minutes. Let’s take the non-public minutes from that meeting of the 17th.  It says that I seconded a motion to go into non-public. I don’t remember doing this, though my memory is not perfect, but given my mistrust of non-public sessions generally, I don’t think I provided the second.  Wouldn’t you know it?  The Vimeo cuts off just at the moment a second is being requested.

Then the September 17th non-public minutes go on to say that “A brief discussion ensued concerning the Danville Board of Seletman (sic) and student information.”

This is a more accurate one sentence description than is normally provided; however, the brevity of the discussion is exaggerated. The minutes show exactly two minutes elapsed, when in fact the discussion lasted well in excess of ten and I would say closer to twenty minutes because it was a far ranging discussion with a number of people jumping in. I had time to eat an entire plate of carrots and grapes so you can be sure it was not a two-minute conversation.

Same Old: The August 27th non-public session

You may not think this abuse of non-public discussions and its subsequent misrepresentation in minutes is as big a problem as I do, so let me give you some recent background.

On August 27, 2015 the board went into another illicit non-public session to discuss the possibility of launching legal action against Danville selectman Joshua Horns should he refuse to surrender either his seat on the Timberlane Budget Committee or on the Danville BOS. During this meeting I protested that it was an illegal non-public and that I wanted my protest recorded in the minutes. Here’s what the minutes ended up recording:

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A discussion ensued regarding the implied threat of legal action by an individual as it relates to a conflict of interest when retaining both Board of Selectman and Budget Committee positions.

Motion: Mr. Bealo motioned to authorize Madam Chair Steenson to compose a letter to Joshua Horns to accompany the attorney’s letter requesting he make a choice of which position to serve: Danville Board of Selectman or TRSD Budget Committee member, as serving on both constitutes incompatibility of offices. Seconded was made by Mr. Sapia.

With no further discussion the motion passed by a vote of 6-1-0 (Mrs. Green opposed).

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These minutes do not faithfully describe the actual nature of the discussion or my protest of it being done in non-public.  To rectify this, I made the following motion during the next PUBLIC meeting on September 3, 2015:

MOTION:  “To correct the non-public minutes of August 27 to read: ‘A discussion ensued regarding the possibility of launching legal action against an individual as it relates to a conflict of interest when retaining both Board of Selectman and Budget Committee positions.  Mrs. Green objected to the non-public as being inappropriate and illegal.’ “

In another proud moment for your school board, they voted down the motion to amend the minutes which means

1. the non-public minutes are not accurate in their description of this discussion;
2. my protest about the non-public session was not recorded in the non-public minutes.

But it gets better.

When the minutes for the September 3, 2015 (public) meeting came out, here’s what was recorded:

“Mrs. Green motioned to change and add wording of the discussion held during the non-public session.”

For those who may not know, all motions made at public meetings should be recorded and minuted as they were said – not some Cliff Notes freeze-dried version.

Soooo, on October 1, 2015 I tried once again to get into the public record my motion to correct the public minutes of Sept. 3, 2015…. and Mrs. Steenson cut me off. The board directed the recording secretary to go back, watch the Vimeo recording, adjust the minutes, and with that they blithely and irresponsibly accepted them.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the trouble with this is that all these minutes are legal records of events, which is why it is so important for the board not to record the truth and to substitute a facsimile for history.  What a fine example for the moral instruction of our students.

Post Script

Lest you think it is only I who have issues with honesty, read the Tri-Town Times article about Hampstead’s school board feeling duped. http://tritowntimes.net/2015/09/school-district-misinformed-parents-about-controversial-program/

Responses to My Deliberative Speech

Gentle Readers,

Some very interesting comments have been posted to my last posting, “My Deliberative Speech.”  Please scroll down to it and click on the comments.  After the first 6, things get interesting.

For instance, it is news to me that there is a certified Foreign Language in Elementary School instructor already employed at Timberlane High School. We did not need to hire the superintendent’s wife.  I knew that there were other FLES instructors in NH, but right at our own high school, this is rich.  Pinocchio Academy and the Mushroom Farm strike the school board once again and hit you in the pocketbook, too.

And of course, the no big secret, that Mrs. Grosky, the budget committee chairman’s wife, was hired to combat “The Greens.”   Mr. Collins said so at a Danville Board of Selectman meeting.

As I said before, Timberlane does not look for the best people in its own backyard; it climbs up on ladders and peers into bedroom windows. And nepotism is far from the only hiring problem.

Those who care about education are going to wake up one day to realize that all these things that look like minor financial and ethical irregularities have completely corroded our ability to deliver a quality education.

 

 

The Real Reason TRSD Hired a PR Consultant

“…[T]here are people out here who are trying to sabotage things…”

This is how Rob Collins, former Chairman of the Timberlane School Board, feels about this blog and the representation that Mr. Green and I are providing.  He and the district will be using your taxpayer dollars by way of a PR person to combat the public policy measures we are advocating.

Here is a clip from Danville’s fascinating Selectman’s meeting of Dec. 22 where they discussed trying to change the district’s funding formula or withdrawing from the school district.   I disagree with virtually everything Mr. Collins says at this meeting and would dispute the relevance of his facts, especially his claim that our cost per pupil is in the lowest third for the entire state.  Why does Timberlane think it should be comparing itself to tiny school districts in rural areas?  Of the ten school districts in the state  similar in size to Timberlane, we have the third highest cost per pupil for 2013-2014.  I could go on disputing his reasoning, but I  most want to draw to your attention to the real reason Timberlane hired a PR specialist, according to the man who was instrumental in the bidding and contracting process.

Now Mr. Collins’ own words:

Citizen:  Why do we need a PR person?

Rob Collins: “I was on the chair of the committee that spearheaded that.  So the last five years, you may recall, that in the mail you get something called School Board Notes…  predominantly I wrote that…  To mail that out 4 times a year costs about $12,000, maybe a little bit more…  We’ve stopped that.  We’re not doing that.  To hire the PR consultant  is less than that.  It’s $10,500.

Citizen:  That is not a full year cost.

Collins:  You’re right… it is to the end of June.

Citizen: Why do you need a PR person for a public high school that our kids have to go to?

Collins:  “Well, it is for the entire district actually.  It would be for efforts like educating the public on the [funding] formula.  It would be for efforts for getting out information that’s true and not skewed like we see currently.  That’s right.  That’s Mr. Green right there bravely waving his hand.  So there are people out here who are trying to sabotage things and we cannot work our jobs, meet twice a month, and deal with things like what’s going on which angers people…”

Watch it yourself:    http://vimeo.com/115743437

The law has something to say about this. RSA 659:44-a Electioneering by Public Employees:

No public employee, as defined in RSA 273-A:1, IX, shall electioneer while in the performance of his or her official duties or use government property, including, but not limited to, telephones, facsimile machines, vehicles, and computers, for electioneering.  For the purposes of this section, “electioneer” means to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office.  Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

A public employee is defined as “any person employed by a public employer . . .”  with some other qualifications not pertaining to a PR consultant.

Here is the whole meeting:  http://vimeo.com/115743437

The Attorney General’s Role in Overseeing Municipal Governance , by: Attorneys James W. Kennedy and Orville “Bud” Fitch, II

http://www.nhbar.org/publications/display-journal-issue.asp?id=382

 

Is This the Vote to Close Sandown Central?

Here is a video excerpt  from the Dec. 4, 2014 Timberlane School Board meeting where Superintendent Metzler presented the board with the budget documents that were predicated on closing Sandonw Central School.  The board deliberated this brand new information, just seen that very night at the meeting, for all of 46 minutes.  At 44:56:00 minutes, they took a vote on the following motion brought forth by Atkinson’s Mr. Sapia:

“I make a motion to support the superintendent in moving this proposed budget [draft 2] forward.”

And that, Gentle Readers, is what your superintendent takes as the school board’s decision to close Sandown Central.  (As usual, I was the only vote against.)

Below is the full 46 minutes the school board took to deliberate the brand new idea of closing a school in Sandown.  Unfortunately the software permits only 15 minute segments so the 46 minutes had to be split into four video clips.  The motion is in the fourth clip. I would urge you to watch the other clips because you will be shocked and appalled at the superficiality of the discussion. Keep in mind, this is the very first time the school board had seen any figures about this proposal or had heard about it at all. Nothing was communicated in advance of this meeting – at least not to me.  I give more thought to my weekly grocery shopping than this committee did to the closing of a school – if this is what you think they did.

I personally believe they voted to give the superintendent a poker chip to play against the budget committee. Does it look to you like the school board thought they were actually closing a school, as Superintendent Metzler is making this vote out to be?

Either they intended only to authorize a bargaining ploy, or they treated the closing of a neighborhood school with breathtaking superficiality.  You decide.

 

Meeting Comprehension: Did you Hear What I Heard?

Here is Superintendent Metzler’s latest spin from the keyboard of SAU employee Cathy Belcher this morning:

Good morning Board members,

 Dr. Metzler would like to provide you this budget update relative to last night’s Budget Committee meeting.  As you may know, the Budget Committee rejected the flat line budget that was presented and further directed the administration to come back with a 3^rd draft in the amount of $68,078,927.  The Superintendent and Business Administrator will have a 3^rd draft by this afternoon and will use this opportunity to incorporate some needed improvements to Sandown North in preparation of the consolidation plan.

He thanks you, again, for your continued support.

 Have a good day,

Cathy

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This is so beyond the intention and instructions of the budget committee last night that it defies an honest explanation.  The budget committee asked the administration to provide justification for 22 line item increases greater than 20% provided by Mr. Cantone and similarly for other committee members who would like budget line  justifications.  The deadline is Sunday for submitting requests.  There was no instruction to return with a 3rd draft at any number.

Your Board at Work Doing All the Wrong Things

Here are two very telling clips  from the Nov. 6 Timberlane School Board meeting.  Watch it if you want to understand why your School Board is so impotent.

Better to Ask Forgiveness Than Permission

In this first clip you will first see me make a motion to review a publicly announced educational goal of offering online courses for credit. (This was announced during the department heads’ presentations of their budgets at the PAC in October.)  Developing online courses has never been discussed at the board level or anywhere else it seems. When Superintendent Metzler was asked directly if he had instructed a staff member to pursue this goal, he would not give a straightforward answer. See my motion go down in flames.

Refuse to Put Contracts Out to Bid

Then (at 6 minutes, 36 seconds) I make a motion to have the rubbish removal contract go out to bid because at the same public session in the PAC, the Facilities Director said the contract had gone up $12,000.   I asked about the length of the existing contract and when it was last put out to bid.  I could not get an answer out of Mr. Stokinger, who despite being asked, refuses to bring his computer to a meeting. Some districts post this information on their websites.  In our district school board members can’t even get an answer. Watch the school board tie itself into ridiculous knots worming its way out of not putting this contract to bid.

For the record, the Facilities Committee does not deal with contracts. That was a complete canard. It hardly needs to be said that this is your tax money being gobbled up by an inexplicable refusal to put contracts out to bid. (At the beginning of the meeting not captured on these clips, the board voted against getting competitive quotes for our liability insurance.) You should also watch Ms. Steenson make a virtue of ignorance by protesting that contract review is not the job of the board. Subsequent to this board meeting, Mr. Hughes announced to the Budget Committee on Nov. 13 that he had made a mistake and the rubbish removal service is going up only $6,000 and not $12,000.

Have Serious Errors in Financial Projections

Next there is Mr. Stokinger publicly admitting that he was in error when he projected hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra Adequacy Aid for the district with the expansion of full-time Kindergarten. Thank you to Arthur Green for catching an error so material that it changes the whole financial complexion of the program. (One of the sheets Mr. Stokinger “regenerated” and distributed at the subsequent Nov. 20th school board meeting still included the erroneous Adequacy Aid. Sigh…)

Use Illegal Non-public Sessions to Hide Discussion of Issues

And finally, in the second clip,  you will see the board going into yet another illegal non-public session. Why am I claiming it was illegal?  The topic concerned facilities and this is not a permitted exclusion under the Right to Know law.  The board deliberately misstates the Right to Know law provision under which non-public sessions can be called to make it seem this topic is permitted. They call it safety and security, but the RSA is exclusively for terrorism. When Mr. Collins called for a non-public under 91-A, subsection (i), I read the SAU’s version of the so-called RSA out loud.  A day later I  checked the actual RSA and found, as I had thought, that what was purported to be the RSA wasn’t the RSA at all!

This is what the SAU self-servingly misconstrues as the provision in the RSA allowing non-public discussion.  It is this which  I read aloud at the meeting:

i) Consideration of matters relating to preparation for and the carrying out of such emergency preparations to prevent widespread injury or loss of life [security].

Here is the actual RSA:

(i) Consideration of matters relating to the preparation for and the carrying out of emergency functions, including training to carry out such functions, developed by local or state safety officials that are directly intended to thwart a deliberate act that is intended to result in widespread or severe damage to property or widespread injury or loss of life. 

Even without the benefit of the actual RSA, the moment I learned what the non-public was about, I motioned to exit non-public because the public, I said,  had a right to know the information we were discussing.  My motion didn’t get a second and the non-public session lasted 20 minutes.

Superintendent Metzler’s emails to Sandown BOS

The SAU board added a new full-time staff person to the SAU budget for a cost of $80,000.  Perhaps the new staff person will be able to take over the burdensome responsibility of smearing my reputation to the Sandown Board of Selectman.  Below are some select emails concerning me from Superintendent Metzler to Sandown’s Town Administrator over a period of some months.  Each email chain is in reverse chronological order.

Email ONE: 

From: Metzler, Earl [mailto:Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net]

Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 10:57 PM
To: Lynne Blaisdell
Subject: Fwd: agenda item requests for August 28,2014

So…if each member submitted 4 items…we would have an agenda with 36 items…not to mention the real work…..if each item took 15 minutes…I think you get my point.

Dr. Earl F. Metzler

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com>
Date: August 19, 2014 at 8:31:47 PM EDT
To: nancypetunia <nancysteenson@comcast.net>, TRSD School Board <trsb@timberlane.net>, Rob Collins <robcollins89@gmail.com>, Peter Bealo <pbealo@comcast.net>, sue sherman <susherm@hotmail.com>, Rick Blair <softwarethatworks@comcast.net>, Kate Delfino < ksdelfino@gmail.com>, “Kelly Ward” <kellyward9700@gmail.com>, michael mascola <mmascola@gmail.com>
Cc: <TownofSandown@sandown.us>
Subject: agenda item requests for August 28,2014

Dear Mrs. Steenson:

I would like to request the following items be added to the August 28 agenda:

 Discussion and action on proposed spending cap on TRSD 14/15 budget

 TRSB email policy and disposition of emails

 Discussion and action on the No Trespass order issued to Donna Green

I would also like to have the auditor present for a the discussion of the auditor’s report as I have a number of questions.

Thank you.

 Donna Green

DG NOTE:  NONE OF MY AGENDA REQUESTS HAVE EVER BEEN INCLUDED IN A REGULAR MEETING. NOTE THAT DISCUSSION OF THE AUDITOR’S REPORT OR A SPENDING CAP ON THE CURRENT BUDGET  ISN’T CONSIDERED “REAL WORK.”

Email TWO:

—–Original Message—–
From: Metzler, Earl [mailto:Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 12:23 PM
To: Lynne Blaisdell
Subject: Follow up to my email

Lynn – Please note the correction….this is an example of what the Board has been trying to communicate. Earl

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DG NOTE:  THE PHOTOS DO NOT OPEN IN THE COPY I RECEIVED.  THEY ARE, I BELIEVE, A SCREEN SHOT OF MY BLOG WHERE I POSTED A VERY MINOR CORRECTION ON SEPTEMBER 3.

Email THREE: 

From: “Belcher, Catherine” <Catherine.Belcher@timberlane.net> Date: October 10, 2014 at 12:18:02 PM EDT To: Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com> Cc: “Metzler, Earl” <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net>, Nancy Steenson <nancysteenson@comcast.net>, “Nancy Steenson (2)” <nansteenson@gmail.com> Subject: FW: Audio problem on TRSB Vimeo  Good afternoon Donna, Dr. Metzler has been informed that you are communicating with district staff members to obtain free professional services for personal reasons.  It is his understanding this is not the first time you have done so. He directs that any further requests to use district resources in either your capacity as a school board member or taxpayer, needs to be submitted to through the proper channels (School Board chair or the Superintendent). Kindly refer to attached school board policy BHC. In closing, Dr. Metzler indicates he would be more than happy to help you with any requests that assist you in performing your duties as a school board member. Have a good afternoon, Cathy  Cathy Belcher Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Schools (603) 382-6119(603) 382-6119 ext. 2217 catherine.belcher@timberlane.net __________________________________________________________   SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT NO 55 Serving the Hampstead and Timberlane Regional School Districts Begin forwarded message: From: Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com> Date: October 10, 2014 at 9:31:46 AM EDT To: Dean Zanello <Dean.Zanello@timberlane.net> Subject: Audio problem on TRSB Vimeo Dean, I can’t get the audio to play on the TRSB Vimeos.  Audio plays on all other files on the Vimeo site. Could you help me figure out what my problem is please? Many thanks, Donna

From: “Metzler, Earl” <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net> Date: October 10, 2014 at 12:33:51 PM EDT To: “lblaisdell@sandown.us” <lblaisdell@sandown.us> Subject: Fwd: Vimeo Audio? Dr. Earl F. Metzler Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: From: <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net> Date: October 10, 2014 at 12:33:34 PM EDT To: Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com> Subject: Vimeo Audio? Donna – I have checked the audio from several computers and it appears to be working just fine. I am not sure what the issue with your equipment is. Respectfully, Earl Dr. Earl F. Metzler Sent from my iPad

DG NOTE :   THE VIDEOS IN QUESTION WERE RECORDINGS OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS I WISHED TO REWATCH. HERE IS MY EMAILED RESPONSE. I HAVE NOT GOTTEN A REPLY. TURNS OUT THE VIMEOS WERE IMPROPERLY RECORDED ON ONLY ONE AUDIO CHANNEL.

Oct 10

Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com>
to Richard, Catherine, Earl Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com>

Dear Ms. Belcher:

Could you please be more specific in your accusations?  When exactly did I communicate “with district staff members to obtain free professional services for personal reasons”? Please specify all instances in which you believe this to be true.  What were the services requested and what were the personal reasons?

I await your response.

Thank you,

Donna Green

Email FOUR:

From: “Metzler, Earl” <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net> Date: July 24, 2014 at 6:16:18 PM EDT To: “lblaisdell@sandown.us” <lblaisdell@sandown.us> Subject: Fwd: Report Dr. Earl F. Metzler II Begin forwarded message: From: “Metzler, Earl” <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net> Date: July 24, 2014 at 6:14:47 PM EDT To: Donna Green <donnagre@gmail.com> Cc: Nancy Steenson <nancysteenson@comcast.net>, “Belcher, Catherine” <Catherine.Belcher@timberlane.net> Subject: Report Mrs Green – Today it was reported to me that you were both disrespectful and harassing to several employees. Of course I will investigate this report and if validated I will need to limit your access to the SAU. This is both disturbing and unfortunate. I will also be consulting with both the Plaistow Police Department and district council. Respectfully, Dr. Earl F. Metzler II

DG NOTE :  THE PLAISTOW POLICE HAVE NOT CHARGED ME WITH AN OFFENSE.  I OBTAINED THE SECURITY TAPE THROUGH THE INTERVENTION OF A LAWYER WHICH EXONERATES ME FROM THESE FALSE ACCUSATIONS. THE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED “INVESTIGATION” HAS BEEN CLOSED.

EMAIL FIVE:

Subject:  Factual Errors….
From:  “Metzler, Earl” <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net>
Date:  Wed, Aug 20, 2014 7:23 am
To:  Nancy Steenson <nancysteenson@comcast.net>, Lynne Blaisdell <lblaisdell@sandown.us>
Attach:  image001.jpg

Nancy – Good morning! Many factual errors continue to be publicized and

politicalized by DG.

1 – There was never a “no trespass” notice issued. We are trying to protect both

a Board member and the employees from what occurred earlier this summer.

Scheduling visits and having her review documents in a public videotaped setting

protects everybody, including her.

2- We never charged or brought charges against DG. I simply turned the

investigation over to the PPD once I read the report and watched the video.

I have not taken any action and await the police report. Whatever they decide

is fine by me.

3- She has not cooperated with the PPD, hence this is being dragged out.
4 – The employee apologized for raising her voice. Although this is true she

should not have apologized for telling DG that what she was saying, the tone in

which it was being delivered was accusatory, disrespectful and harassing. All

victims should confront their aggressor to let them know it is not okay and that

they are offended by this type of interaction.

This is one event…and I could go on. She continues to disrupt and misrepresent

the Timberlane District.

Respectfully, Earl
Dr. Earl F. Metzler II
SAU 55
Superintendent of Schools
Serving Timberlane and Hampstead
Phone: (603)-382-6119 Ext. 2217
Fax: (603)-382-3334

Email SIX:

From: Metzler, Earl [mailto:Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 3:19 PM
To: Lynne Blaisdell
Cc: Belcher, Catherine
Subject: Fwd: SN Incident

No question about the student’s well being….pretty clear what she is concerned with. Very sad!Dr. Earl F. Metzler II

Begin forwarded message:

From: “Belcher, Catherine” <Catherine.Belcher@timberlane.net>
Date: October 28, 2014 at 12:59:45 PM CDT
To: “Metzler, Earl” <Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net>
Cc: “Stokinger, George” <George.Stokinger@timberlane.net>
Subject: FW: SN Incident

See Donna’s question below.  Not sure if she intends to ask this at a meeting or if you wish anyone to respond.

Cathy Belcher

Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Schools

(603) 382-6119(603) 382-6119 ext. 2217

catherine.belcher@timberlane.net_

 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT NO 55

Serving the Hampstead and Timberlane Regional School Districts

 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  This e-mail message and any attachment to it is intended only for the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged materials.  Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited.  If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, delete this message and destroy all copies and backups of the original message. 

 From: Donna Green [mailto:donnagre@gmail.com]

Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 12:52 PM

To: Belcher, Catherine; Nancy Steenson

Subject: Re: SN Incident

Who pays for the ambulance in this situation?

DG NOTE: FOR STUDENT PRIVACY REASONS, I DO NOT WANT TO REPRODUCE THE EMAIL THAT WAS SENT TO SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS, BUT MY QUESTION WAS IN RESPONSE TO A STUDENT ALLERGIC REACTION THAT RESULTED IN AN AMBULANCE RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL IN COMPLIANCE WITH PROTOCOL.  THE EMAIL ENDED WITH “STUDENT IS FINE.”  I HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN ANSWER TO MY QUESTION.

A private email to Arthur Green:

From: Metzler, Earl [mailto:Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net]
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 4:20 PM
To: Green, Arthur Z
Cc: Belcher, Catherine
Subject: RE: Request for information

Mr. Green – Is it okay to communicate with you on your company email during company time? I was not sure if this violated your company policy on the use of social media and online activity 3.5.1. Please let me know and I’ll be sure to pass it along.

Respectfully, Dr. Metzler

3.5.1 Use of Social Media and Other Online Activity

Use good judgment in your use of social media and other online

activity. Your postings on Internet sites may include the fact that you

work for xxxxxxxxx, your job title, a general job description

and your office location, but you should not include any information

related to the Company’s business including references to — or

information about — specific clients, suppliers, employees, projects,

transactions, applications or technologies you may be involved with

or knowledge/expertise you may have by virtue of your job duties

with our Company. Don’t post, seek or provide recommendations,

endorsements or referrals by or of other employees, customers or

suppliers (current or former) unless you are authorized to do so. For

more information see our Social Media Policy.

Dr. Earl F. Metzler II

SAU 55

Superintendent of Schools

Serving Timberlane and Hampstead

Phone: (603)-382-6119 Ext. 2217

Fax: (603)-382-3334

DG NOTE :   DR. METZLER HAD NOTICED THAT ONE OF ARTHUR’S MESSAGES HAD ORIGINATED FROM ARTHUR’S BUSINESS EMAIL. THE SUPERINTENDENT THEN LOCATED A POLICY STATEMENT ON AN OBSCURE AREA OF ARTHUR’S EMPLOYER’S WEBSITE AND SENT IT FOR ARTHUR’S ATTENTION.

Gentle readers and taxpayers:  You are not paying for my emails.

Stern Letter to Superintendent Metzler

The following email was sent to Superintendent Metzler yesterday by Cynthia Buco.  Ms. Buco is a Sandown Selectman who yesterday received yet another in a string of derogatory emails sent to the Sandown BOS by Superintendent Metzler about Sandown’s elected representatives; namely myself and Arthur Green.  Ms. Buco gave me permission to reproduce her letter.  Please note that she is writing as a private citizen.

Subject: Fw: Bud Com Reply-To: Cindy Buco  Superintendent Metzler You ask Lynne to share this email with the BOS from Sandown.  She has so graciously has honored your request as she has in the past.  Can you please explain why you wanted this shared with the Board?  It is not very clear to me.  It seems that you are frustrated in the email but I am not sure if you are expecting the BOS to address this in some manner. I tried to watch the last Bud Com meeting as you mention to do and the Vimeo is not yet posted.  I try to attend meetings when possible to keep abreast of the activities of both the School Board and the Budget Committee but when I can’t I do watch the Vimeo recordings.  My observations are not very pleasing however.   I am actually quite offended with the lack of respect that is shown to the Elected Officials and I have to tell you that I am very disappointed in the lack of professionalism that you are portraying in this email.  Being a Superintendent of the Timberlane School District I expect much more. I am now going to ask that you stop addressing the Elected Officials with disrespect and when information is requested that you provide it timely and with the respect an Employee of the District should show to an Elected Official.  There should not be a need for a Right to Know request because you should honor the law and provide information to the Officials as it is required of you and your staff.  It is outright insulting that you charge these individuals who are also Taxpayers for this public information, to do a job they were elected to do. The information that is required for the Bud Com Member to fulfil their duties should have already provided to them freely and openly and should not even need to be asked for.  The information requested is available as the District has a very robust accounting system and reports should be able to be accessed very quickly and easily.  If this is not the case I would be more than happy to take a trip to the office to review the system with Mr. Stokinger and have him walk me through why these documents are either difficult to access or not available.  I would like to see you work together with the Elected Officials of Sandown in a more cooperative manner and anything I can do to help facilitate that I am more than happy to assist.  If that is your intention by sending the email than please let’s move forward in a professional manner respecting each other. Sincerely, Cindy Buco

Her email was in response to this one from Superintendent Metzler.  It was sent to the Sandown Town Administrator.

From: Metzler, Earl [mailto:Earl.Metzler@timberlane.net]
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2014 8:01 AM
To: Lynne Blaisdell
Subject: Bud Com

Lynne – Same old same old with our friends. Our Budget Committee has committed to a process to review the budget and has stuck to it. The complaining continues because if it does not go my way I will demand documents that either we don’t have or we have not produced yet. Then make it a RTK request and complain that they are not being honored. I even moved Bud Com to let AG make his presentation (which concluded with very offensive remarks). They (Bud Com)  were pushing that presentation out to December because it interfered with the agenda that they ALL agreed to. Please share with your BOS. Please watch the last meeting…it will become even more clear how ill prepared and misinformed a certain member is. Thanks, Earl

Dr. Earl F. Metzler II

SAU 55

Superintendent of Schools

Serving Timberlane and Hampstead

Phone: (603)-382-6119 Ext. 2217

Fax: (603)-382-3334

__________________________________________________________

For the record, Mr. Green made no offensive remarks during his profound, insightful and devastating presentation (linked below) or at an other time.

Mr. Green is  ill-prepared and misinformed?  That’s a howler.  It was Mr. Stokinger and Superintendent Metzler who misled the entire district by publishing financial analysis claiming the district would be gaining hundreds of thousands of dollars of Adequacy Aid with full-time kindergarten.  Mr. Green is the one who nailed this inexcusable miscalculation in a letter that has still not been acknowledged, though Mr. Stokinger publicly admitted the error. That’s how ill-prepared and misinformed Mr. Green is.

Yesterday Arthur Green drove to the SAU office and paid the district $20 for a Right to Know request for public information about the basis for the tax rates in the four district towns.  This is your open and transparent school government at work for you, exerting themselves to keep your elected representatives uninformed by withholding information.

Thank you to Ms. Buco for watching all the meetings and understanding the mudfest that the Superintendent has started. Tomorrow I will be posting other insulting emails he has sent to the Sandown Board of Selectmen concerning me.

UPDATE 11/20/14:  Rich Girard of Girard at Large radio show reports that there are more than 30 emails of a similar nature sent from Superintendent Metzler to the Town Administrator in Sandown.  He learned this through a Right to Know request yesterday which Ms. Blaisdell responded to immediately. I will be posting tomorrow some of the emails I already knew about from my own avenues.