Yo, Gilford School Board Member Nicole Hogan? Here’s the Proof You “Nuanced” Didn’t Exist Last Month- “Vociferous”

I guess that both the Gilford Superintendent, Kirk Bietler, and SB member Hogan didn’t learn from the last go-round with me and have decided to wage war again. After this “introduction/recounting” here, I’m reposting the video proof that Hogan refused to believe I had when I said that she was the most vociferous SB member arguing AGAINST both the US and NH Constitutions’ Free Speech that “Trans-feelings” outweighed the Constitutional strictures preventing Government abridging Free Speech of citizens. The end result is that she was the ONLY one voting to keep the parts of Policy JBAB (Transgender and non-conforming) that demanded fealty to Government speech codes (mandatory use of “preferred pronouns”) and mandating that their staff MUST lie to parents about the transgender status of their children. After all, being an elected Representative, she IS “an Agent of Government”.

There’s now also a NEW war about to happen. I’ll cover that later (part of it is here) but first to prove to Nicole Hogan (and to anyone else that decides to search for her as the Internet never forgets) was that “vociferous” anti-Constitutionalist

Here is that post found here (posted October 2022):

Gilford School Board Meeting – They Have Finally Seen the Light! Well, except for One School Board Member

Monday night was the October monthly meeting of the School Board, and this month was a joint meeting with the Gilmanton School Board (they tuition their high school students into Gilford High). Thus, the meeting was longer than normal; the video of that joint meeting is below.

Please also note that I have abstracted the three Public Comment sessions (one at the start of the joint meeting, at the end of that meeting, and a final one at the conclusion of the Gilford-only meeting; that is also below.

However, the most contentious part of the meeting was after the “joint meeting,” where the again modified JBAB was on the agenda.  It was highly changed (from the parts I was contesting in my lawsuit) and looked far better.  As a recap, I am suing over:

• Abrogating the Freedom of Speech by Government (the School Board) mandated use of [ever changing] “personal pronouns.”
• Giving itself the Power, absent any NH State statute delegating such Powers, to enforce staff to lie to Parents about the transgender status of their child.

Imagine my surprise when I saw these two sentences, “highly suggested” by their legal counsel, added on the first page (emphasis mine – Policy JBAB starts on page 4 of the “Second Read Policy Packet included at the very bottom of this post):

“Should” does not mean “shall” or “must” but is a permissive term. Nothing in this Policy limits the rights of individuals under the federal or state constitutions.

(Note: This was moved during the discussion from the first page to section J.  Still, I’ll take it).

Double-take time.  It has taken TWO YEARS of changing “A transgender student has the right to be called by their preferred pronouns and name” to “…Should be called by their preferred pronouns and name” (with Superintendent Kirk Beitler, in a phone conversation, telling me that the meaning of “should” was mandatory -I had to drag that out of him!) to the above.  Combine that with in the Names/Pronouns section (emphasis and markups by the School Board):

C. Names/Pronouns

A student Students under this policy should be addressed by a their preferred name or pronoun that corresponds to the student’s gender identity that is consistently asserted at school. “Should ”does not mean “shall” or “must” but is a permissive term.

So, they moved that last sentence to the first page.  BETTER as it then becomes “more inclusive” (heh!) relative to the entire policy. The end result, however, is EXACTLY what I have been saying for these two long years – a School Board, a mere subdivision of the State that has NO Powers (their own Policy BBA) except for those delegated to them by the State Legislature, can demand Government coerced speech from ANYONE – student, staff, or a visitor that just happens to be on school grounds.

YAY!

FINALLY, a recognition that the US and NH Constitutions come FIRST in any and all deliberations when it comes to policymaking!

However, one School Board member, Nicole Hogan, continuously insisted that the first quote MUST be deleted from the Policy. Her emphasis, as you will hear in this video, is all about “emotional trauma” and “safe environments.”  During the video, you will hear her talk about that she doesn’t want “should” to be deliberately changed to “must” (a long discussion before that utterance) but doesn’t want the clarification of what the intended usage of “should” is to be (at 22:00 in the video) so that people would think that it IS mandatory to:

“prevent wiggle room.“

Translation: she was demanding, even with my lawsuit, their lawyer telling the Board they can’t do this, and her fellow Board members she can’t coerce HER brand of speech on others, that the reference to our Constitutional Rights be removed so that she would get her ideological way; the camel’s nose under the tent. She WANTS to coerce peoples’ speech on behalf of her transgender activism (see 22:00).  In fact, around 41:00, Nicole puts mental health over any legal precepts and rejects the Policy, because “should” will be read and applied, now, in a voluntary way AND that Constitutional Rights should be “hidden”.

Jessica Jacques said “Yes, everyone has legal Rights and First Amendment but [those two sentences] only highlight one side. She wants students put over taxpayers. And also holds that simply allowing for Freedom of Speech creates an environment for bullying.

I am presenting the Gilford only and “Second Reading” Policies meeting first. The discussion on Policy JBAB starts at 10:25

I dryly note that School Board member Nicole’s motion to delete that Constitutional reference didn’t even get a second for her motion so it died.  She crossed the Rubicon and THEN discovered no one was following her anymore on this issue. Not a happy camper. Freedom of Speech finally prevailed – but there is still one more Reading to be done before the changes become official.

To the other point of my lawsuit, the Board instructing its staff to lie to Parents (by omission or commission) about the transgender status of their child, that language was also modified:

III. GUIDANCE

A. Privacy

The Gilford School Board recognizes a student’s right to keep private one’s transgender status or nonbinary presentation at school. The Board also recognizes a transgender and nonbinary student’s right to discuss and express their gender identity openly. Information about a student’s transgender status, legal name or biological sex gender assigned at birth listed on a person’s birth certificate also may constitute confidential information. School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or nonbinary presentation to others. School personnel shall include parent(s) or legal guardian(s) when implementing a written plan for a student to address their needs as it relates to their transgender or nonbinary status.

Sometimes, it is a case of being careful about what you wish for. So, “to others” also include Parents at any time along a time spectrum?  Does “shall” only kick in when parents are brought in?

When contacting the parent or legal guardian of a transgender or nonbinary student, school personnel should use the student’s preferred name and pronoun listed in the student information system. Students’ legal names shall not be changed in the official records unless legally required to do so.

I learned at the last meeting that the student information system has been modified to expand the data elements for a student entity for preferred pronouns and names.  So, is “should” still permissive?  That staff have a choice to use what a student has decided for themselves or the name that the Parents gave their child?  It is unclear.  Ditto for “confidential information” is still withheld from parents.

I did NOT, given the battle over attacking/protecting our Freedom of Speech and the legal/emotional skirmishes, did not bring it up.  There was drama enough over just this issue. Thus, the question of whether or not this still is the understanding.

Here are the videos of the Joint Meeting and then the Public Comment Sessions. In the third video, the Comments, I am the last speaker and I lower the boom on Hogan by repeating her Oath of Office to her in which she PROMISES to support the Constitution:

[Art.] 84. [Oath of Civil Officers.] Any person chosen governor, councilor, senator, or representative, military or civil officer, (town officers excepted) accepting the trust, shall before he proceeds to execute the duties of his office, make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.

I, A.B. do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the United States of America and the state of New Hampshire, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.

I, A.B. do solemnly and sincerely swear and affirm that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent on me as …………………………………………., according to the best of my abilities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this constitution and laws of the state of New Hampshire. So help me God.

I also point out that she is forcing HER transgender religion onto me – in effect, she is doing the exact bullying and marginalization (to people of faith that believe God made man and woman only – Christians, Jews, and Hebrews as three examples). I could tell she was rather unhappy. However, see the last video for that as well as “bringing the Science” over the Woke phrase “assigned at birth”.

Joint Meeting:

The Gilford only meeting: reports and “First Read” on new Policies:

Public Comment Sessions: I speak a little in the first one and then the last speaker in the third session.

Note: Superintendent Kirk Beitler also had another corker, this time in the meeting rather than over the phone.  I’m betting, this time, that I wasn’t the only one that took note of it.  This is why I always say that I want Progressives (and now, Wokesters) to keep on talking, talking, and talking some more even as they (like Gilford School Board member Nicole Hogan) wish to shut us all up.

The Second Read Policy Packet – Policy JBAB starts on page 4. Remember, too, that the NH School Board has completely stepped away from this policy that gave out and told School Boards that have adopted it that they are on their own – they saw the legal battles and they didn’t want any part of it.

Hmmm, that gives me more ideas…