CONCORD, NH — A New Hampshire school superintendent was arrested earlier this month on assault charges after an incident at his home on Oscar Boulevard in Concord, according to police.
Two officers were sent to the Concord home of James Kirk Beitler, the school superintendent in Gilford, just before midnight on July 6, after dispatch received a 911 call about an “extremely intoxicated” woman in the driveway of the home, “causing an issue.”
The dispatcher noted, while sending officers to the home, “I could hear her screaming in the background,” with the caller, later confirmed to be Beitler, looking for help controlling the woman. There was also another woman with the reportedly intoxicated woman and Beitler.
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Police radioed to dispatch they had the matter under control around 12:15 a.m. on July 7, according to scanner chatter. A check of all involved yielded no active warrants or other issues. During the course of the investigation, Beitler, 57, was accused of striking the intoxicated woman and charged with simple assault and domestic violence-simple assault. Beitler was released on personal recognizance bail with a court date slated for later that morning.
Beitler was arraigned in Concord District Court on the two charges and pleaded not guilty. A criminal bail protective order was issued against him and he was released on personal recognizance bail again. Beitler is due back in court on Oct. 19 for a trial management conference, according to a court document.
Beitler, who professionally goes by the name of Kirk, not James, holds a certificate as an experienced educator license as well as superintendent, principal, and physical education endorsements in the state of New Hampshire. All were renewed in May 2019 and are to be renewed on July 1, 2022.
He was previously a principal in Raymond and was an assistant superintendent in the Laconia School District, according to his LinkedIn account. Beitler has lived in Concord for around 16 years, according to online assessing information.
It is unknown, at post time, whether or not Beitler is being investigated by the education department for violation of the state’s code of conduct and code of ethics. Neither an email nor a phone call from an attorney with the department of education was returned at post time.
Beitler did not return an email seeking comment about the incident, and neither did any of the members of the Gilford School Board by post time.
The board has a meeting on Aug. 2. Whether it is connected to the incident is unknown, but the board has a scheduled nonpublic session to deal with a personnel matter, addressing “the dismissal, promotion, or compensation of any public employee or the disciplining of such employee or the investigation of any charges against him or her unless the employee affected (1) has a right to a public meeting, and (2) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted,” the notification stated.
Concord police would not release a copy of the arrest report, citing it being an open investigation.
Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.
Reprinted with permission from Patch Concord. Consider this “in addition” to Norm’s earlier post on Gilford School District Superintendent Kirk Beitler.
