On December 14, 2015 Judge Brian T. Tucker of the Strafford Superior Court denied the injunction brought by the NH Department of Education and Attorney General against the Croydon School Board. The Department of Education and Attorney General claimed that four Croydon students would be irreparably harmed if allowed to remain at the Newport Montessori School as part of the town’s school choice program.
The website School Choice for New Hampshire reports, “The final hearing of Croydon vs the NH DOE is scheduled for January 13, 2016.” Adding, “You can subscribe to our events page so you receive notification as soon as it is posted.”
Free State Project early mover Jody Underwood is the chair of the Croydon, NH school board and she believes it’s legal for the school board to send taxpayer dollars to private schools (which it’s been doing for a year), in kind of a localized voucher system. The board argues this is something they can do, as Croydon does not have its own school for grades 5-12. The state of NH gang disagrees with their legal opinion, and is now suing the Croydon school board over their program. NH Public Radio posted an interview with Jody here.
To help Croydon with their legal bills, you can contribute to this gofundme that is trying to raise just over $2,000.
If Croydon prevails, other school boards may follow suit and allow more choice in the government’s monopoly system. Stay tuned as this story develops.
Kudos to Foley for citing my blog, where I point out that Monadnock school administrators lied to parents when claiming activists recording students who are outdoors somehow violated their privacy. Derrick is also interviewed in the piece:
They came, they handed out pamphlets about “The Philosophy of Liberty,” and they left.
Ten days later, they came again, handed out the same brochures, and this time were told to leave school grounds by Swanzey police officers on behalf of Monadnock Regional Middle/High School administrators.
They left, and haven’t returned since. But that doesn’t mean these individuals associated with the libertarian-leaning, anti-government Free Keene movement, and their friends, won’t return to spread their message.
Derrick J. Horton, who was the main organizer of the two visits last month, said Monday he plans to continue the outreach at Monadnock Regional Middle/High School. (more…)
One man’s trash • Ji is free! • All drink and no food • Turn that fire down • The bellamy salute and some pesky kid who won’t stand for the pledge • Activists head back to school • VT cop gets snickerdoodled • Local sheep segregating by color? • Darryl, Shaunna, Tim, and Rapsher join • Show notes at: BlackSheepRising.org
Last week, the principal of Monadnock Regional Middle/High School sent a letter to certain parents promoting Free Keene, and for that I thank them. However, the letter also told a big lie. The letter’s purpose was to stir up concern among parents that some people from Free Keene have been recording on campus, (here’s the video) and further claims falsely:
This is a violation of your child’s privacy and because it happened on school property, we want to make sure you are aware of this video.
This is a lie. It was not Derrick’s intention to record the students, and the principal’s letter does admit the students were filmed inadvertently. That said, even if it had been his intention to record the students, it would not have been a violation of their privacy, given they were all outdoors, on ostensibly public property. Beyond that, the school district has already informed parents their kids will be recorded, not just for their school security system, but for newspaper, radio, TV and web! Here’s the proof. According to the “student registration” form for the Monadnock Regional School District, which covers Monadnock Regional Middle/High School, parents agree to the following statement, in a lengthy four-page form (check the bottom of page 3 for this):
I agree to allow the student to be recorded or photographed for public use by newspaper, radio, TV and web
So, this is nothing more than a dishonest, fearmongering hit piece that is designed to make the school look like they are somehow protecting the students from us horrible bloggers by claiming they are consulting with law enforcement and have formulated plans to remove us from the premises next time. All the while, they are recording the students on their own security system on a daily basis, and have had all parents sign a waiver allowing any media to use their images!
When he first moved to New Hampshire, it was Keene that was Ridley’s destination. He’s since lived in multiple places across the Shire and is now back in the Keene area! Upon his return, Ridley’s first target for his trademark ambush interviews was the Keene school board meeting, after it was revealed by the Sentinel that an elementary librarian apparently assaulted a student. Dave wants answers and in this series of videos he corners multiple school bureaucrats and gets everything from people pretending he doesn’t exist to blow-offs to stonewalling to even more ridiculous, unaccountable behavior.
In the first video in the series, Dave is mostly ignored or blown off by various school board members and superintendent Wayne Wooldridge:
In the second video, Ridley catches up with Keene school district human resources director Tim Rohr, who refuses to give up any information. When Ridley asks Rohr if people should stop paying taxes since the school people won’t tell parents any details about the supposed punishment to the assaultive librarian, Rohr says:
“My guess is you’ll be motivated to pay your taxes if you try to stop.”
Rohr is referring to the fact that the government will threaten to steal your home if you decide you don’t want to support their awful school system anymore: (more…)
