What is The SAU16/Exeter Superintendent Hiding? - Granite Grok

What is The SAU16/Exeter Superintendent Hiding?

SAU16 Exeter coop

A few years ago, I filed a Right to Know Request seeking information from SAU16. At that time, it was revealed that the district did not comply with parental consent laws when they administered the mental health assessment (DESSA).

There were many questions asked and many questions not answered. It appears the same thing is going on with another RTK issued by a resident:

SAU 16 RIGHT TO KNOW – follow-up Request of July 4, 2021.

Superintendent SAU 16: David Ryan
Chair Joint School Board: Travis Thompson
Chair Exeter Regional Coop: Helen Joyce
Commissioner Dept Of Education:  Frank Edelblut
NH Attorney General: John Formella
NH Executive Council: Janet Stevens

Aug 16, 2021

Superintendent Ryan,

I write following up on your responses to my July 4th request for public access to governmental records regarding DEIJ activity in SAU16. I have reviewed the governmental records that your responses made available to me. Furthermore, through means not enabled by your responses, I have obtained numerous additional relevant records that you did not make available to me. This cache of records, both the ones you provided and the ones you did not provide, contains evidence of the existence of yet more inaccessible records that are directly responsive to my request for access to public records.

Note, Mr. Ryan, that this message is not a new request for public access to governmental records. My original request of July 4, 2021, remains active and unfulfilled. This message serves to notify you that I find your responses to date non-compliant with RSA 91-A and to convey my demand that you comply fully with the law by completely fulfilling my rightful request of July 4th.

I requested public access to all governmental records of the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021, regarding “DEIJ Activity” in SAU16 or any School District in SAU16. I defined DEIJ Activity as “the study, development, recommendation, or implementation of curriculum, training, policy, practice, positions of employment, or internal or public communications regarding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice.” I defined “DEIJ Committees” as “committees or other groups formed to engage in DEIJ Activity.” I defined “SAU16 Officer” as “any or all of the following: the Superintendent, the Associate Superintendent, all Assistant Superintendents, the Executive Director for Finance and Operations, the Director of Student Services, and the Director of Human Resources, present or past, within the time period of this request.”

I requested public access to:

1.    All charters, member lists, or other records establishing or setting out the purposes, goals, or objectives of all DEIJ Committees.

2.    All postings, agendas, materials distributed to committee members, presentations, work products, videos, chat logs, and minutes for all meetings of all DEIJ Committees.

3.    All emails or other written communications between any DEIJ Committee Chairperson or other group leader or facilitator, and any SAU16 Officer, concerning a DEIJ Committee or DEIJ Activity.

4.    All records of any DEIJ Activity of any School Board or Committee of a School Board. Such records include but are not limited to postings, agendas, materials distributed to members, presentations, work products, videos, chat logs, and minutes.

5.    All records of any DEIJ Activity of any SAU16 Officer.

6.    All contracts, agreements, or grant applications that, in whole or in part, concern a DEIJ Committee or seek to enable DEIJ Activity.

7.    All records of expenses incurred in support of a DEIJ Committee or DEIJ Activity and the budgets from which they were paid or will be paid.

8.    All records of any DEIJ-Activity-related curriculum materials, for example, books, that were distributed, assigned, recommended, or suggested to any SAU16 teachers or students.

Your responses to date indicate that SAU16’s position is that it has fully complied with RSA 91‑A regarding all Request Items above except Item 3, which will be answered within 45 days of my request.

Your responses referred me, via internet links you provided, to specific web pages and documents downloadable from those pages. You provided me also with a small number of files attached to an email. By my count to date, SAU16 has provided me access to a total of 24 files containing responsive governmental records. Since the time of my request, half of these (12 files) have been removed from the SAU16 website. The now-deleted records were under the heading “Professional Learning Information” on the SAU16 website. Most of these were records of “ABAR [Anti-Bias Anti-Racist] Sessions” with employees.

I have acquired other responsive records that were not accessible through the information provided in your responses to my request. I have categorized their responsiveness to specific Request Items. I find that these unprovided records are responsive collectively to all Request Items except Item 3. So far, there are 43 such records that you did not provide. Please remember at this point that SAU16’s position is that it has fully complied with RSA 91-A regarding all Request Items except Item 3.

The large number of responsive records that SAU16 did not provide, and the breadth of their responsiveness, suggests the existence of an unknown number of additional responsive records to which SAU16 has not given me access and which I have not acquired by other means. Furthermore, records that I have obtained, both through SAU16’s responses and otherwise, contain direct evidence of the existence of additional responsive records. The following examples are a sample of such evidence.

Multiple files documenting “ABAR Sessions” (Anti-Bias Anti-Racist) with DEIJ Committees show that they were conducted by the consulting company 2revolutions. However, no record of a contract or invoices from 2revolutions was provided by SAU16, though this would be responsive to Request Items 6 and 7.

The file “Toyin Augustus Invoices.pdf” includes a contract between Olutoyin Augustus and SAU16. The contract is entitled “SAU16 – DEIJ Committee Leadership & Curriculum Development”. It lists 3 “Goals, desired outcomes, and agenda.” These are DEIJ Committee Facilitated Sessions (7 sessions); Direct Consultation with various school leaders and teams (10 sessions); and SAU16 Curriculum Team Direct Consultations (5 sessions). The contract specifies 7 DEIJ Committee Sessions. The Superintendent has provided a file “SAU 16 DEIJ foundations (1).pdf” that includes presentations for 4 DEIJ Committee sessions of the contracted 7 sessions. This file is now deleted from the web page. No records were found for the remaining 3 contracted DEIJ Committee Sessions. No records were received or found for the 10 sessions for “Direct Consultation with various school leaders and teams” and the 5 sessions for “SAU16 Curriculum Team Direct Consultations”. Such records are likely to be responsive to Request Items 1, 2, 5, and 8.

The file “Mini Grant NHEEH.pdf” mentions a “CMS Equity Team.” This team is covered by my request as one of the “committees or other groups formed to engage in DEIJ Activity.” However, I do not have access to any records of its work. Such records are responsive to Request Items 1, 2, and possibly 8.

At the SAU16 Blog page, there are blog posts containing DEIJ content (Request Item 1, 5, and 8) not provided by SAU16. The January 2021 post (file “January Blog.pdf”) mentions a “DEIJ Curriculum Committee.” Though records of this committee would be responsive to Request Items 1, 2, 5, and 8, I have access to none.

The minutes (file “8.18.20 Minutes with email.pdf”) of the Exeter School Board meeting on August 18, 2020, include a DEIJ Committee report that mentions 4 “affinity groups”: Families of Black Indigenous and People of Color, Learning to be an Anti-Racist White Ally, School Leaders for Social Justice, Educators for Social Justice. These groups fit under my request’s definition of DEIJ Committees as “committees or other groups formed to engage in DEIJ Activity” (Request Items 1 and 2). Nonetheless, I have no access to records of the proceedings of these groups.

The minutes (file “School Board 10.13.2020 draft.docx”, approved the following month) of the Exeter School Board meeting on October 13, 2020 record a motion, passed unanimously by the Board to provide “$7000 for DEIJ training” including “a session with just the Board and an outside facilitator.” These minutes are responsive to Request Items 4 and 7. But you did not direct me to them. I obtained them independently. Moreover, these minutes indicate the existence of at least one Exeter School Board session with a DEIJ training facilitator. I have access to no records of any such meeting, though they would be responsive to Request Item 4.

The minutes (file “School Board_12.08.2020_Regular_Meeting_Approved.docx”) of the Exeter School Board meeting on December 8, 2020, document DEIJ work with the ESSO Group from PEA. I have no access to records of this work.

The minutes (file “School Board Regular Meeting 01.12.2021 draft.docx”) of the Exeter School Board meeting on January 12, 2021, record that at that time, there were 13 DEIJ groups in SAU16. I do not have access to records for 13 DEIJ groups as requested in Request Items 1, 2, 4, 7, 8.

The large number of responsive records I obtained without access provided by SAU16, and the abundant compelling evidence of the existence of yet more responsive records, show that SAU16’s responses to my request for access to governmental records are grossly noncompliant with RSA 91-A. So that the public interest can be served, I demand that you comply fully with the law by completely fulfilling my rightful request of July 4th.

Sincerely,

Al Brandano

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