Part 1 went rather long (even for me), so I decided to split the remainder into this post. To recap, Gilford School Board Superintendent Kirk Beitler stated the following when High School Principal Anthony Sperazzo announced the formation (and seeking official backing thereof) of a new student club called “Prism” – a “safe space for LGBT and allies:
“Tolerance is fine but acceptance is the goal.”
The received nuance was that Beitler, speaking in his official capacity per Gilford School Board Policy BHD, that everyone must affirm lifestyle choices that run contra their religious and faith beliefs. The fact that that he said “is the goal” runs counter to the court decisions on Biden’s attempts to illegally rewrite Title IX and Trump’s Executive Orders rescinding any Federal funding to entities (the Gilford School District SAU73).
A spit in the eyes of the Law.
He made it clear that the District’s stance is to positively push students in accepting choices, for themselves or by others, that their parents would not approve of – or even know about.
To that latter point, Sperazzo said that parents of students that joined the club would not be notified of their child’s participation.
So I decided to see what the School Board thought about it – and get it on record (actually, a second chance):
February 6, 2025
Right to Know Request per RSA-91A: SAU 73 / Gilford School District: Superintendent Kirk Beitler’s Statement
To repeat the responsibilities of Government workers according to the NH Constitution:
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive…The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government…
Also:
US Constitution:
First Amendment – “…Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
NH Constitution:
[Art.] 4. [Rights of Conscience Unalienable.] Among the natural rights, some are, in their very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or received for them. Of this kind are the Rights of Conscience.
[Art.] 5. [Religious Freedom Recognized.] Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he doth not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious worship.
Gilford School Board Policy BHD: COMMUNICATION WITH PUBLIC
The chairperson shall be the spokesperson for the board. The chairperson and the superintendent shall handle communications with media, administrators, and the public on board issues.
Background:
At the Monday, 2/3/25, School Board public meeting, during the discussion concerning the new Gilford High School club, Prism for LGBT/Heterosexual student “Safe Space”, Superintendent Kirk Beitler, in his official capacity, made the following statement in support of launching this new student club:
“Tolerance is fine but acceptance is the goal.”
Thus, the Superintendent has espoused a governmental belief system that is to be actively encouraged during the school day but is not a belief held by many people of faith. His statement shows the intent to actively override the religious beliefs and training by parents of their children by substituting the “governmental transgender religion/philosophy” in the District.
Demand:
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the following Governmental Records:
- Provide the documents that show that the sense of the Gilford School Boards supports their employee’s declared statement “to the public”.
Failing that,
- Provide the documentation that shows that the Board disavowing his statement and his evangelism as the formal / informal sense of the Board.
If this cannot be fulfilled within that 5 business day mandated window per RSA 91-A:2, II, please advise when the Responsive Record(s) will be made available.
Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption (see RSA 91-A:5 – the ONLY enumerated exemptions allowed by RSA 91-A) used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
Additional: It is not up to the Requester to be made to look up the subjects or materials that are the focus of this Right To Know (e.g., from the Respondent: “here’s the URL so do the search yourself”). It is the responsibility of the Respondent to fully supply all demanded materials.
Unless of course, if you present a set of credentials for accessing your accounting system.
As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of Responsive Records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply.
Please also note, per RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such Responsive Records. This also includes such responsive records (e.g., emails, query files, policies) which may have been deleted from respective local hardcopy or software systems but are still available on the applicable servers or in application or archival system (s) either in-house or hosted.
Please let me know when these records are available for inspection or you may email the records to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume turns out to be substantial, I’ll be happy to supply a shared DropBox folder sufficient to hold all of the Responsive Records.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Skip Murphy
Skip@GraniteGrok.com
So, I put him on notice that I recognized it. Given actions taken by the School Board after he spoke these words, the School Board outed themselves with respect to the new strictures that have been put into place.
And they outed themselves on being hypocritical about it as well.
So onward to Part 3.
