NEWPORT, N.H. — School Board members called for another resignation in the district following the surprise exit of Superintendent Brendan Minnihan earlier this month. This time, they said, the person leaving should be one of their own: board member Bert Spaulding.
“There is a resignation due in this district, and it is not Mr. Minnihan,” board member William Wilkinson said before an audience of about 50. “So Bert, on behalf of the administration, the majority of teachers and support staff and in the best interest of Newport, I’m calling on you to resign your seat on the board.”
The statement, referring to the board member widely believed to be Minnihan’s reason for leaving, brought a round of applause from the audience, with many standing for an ovation.
Reached at his home Friday morning, Spaulding, who did not attend the meeting, said he had no intention of resigning and will continue to demand the board and administration come up with a plan to improve academic performance at district schools. Spaulding’s term ends in 2024.
“This issue is not Mr. Spaulding; the issue is the elementary school is the worst in the state of New Hampshire. Period,” Spaulding said, referring to himself in the third person and to a ranking on SchoolDigger.com, which puts Richards Elementary School at 211 out of 211 Granite State schools based on test score data from the state and federal departments of education.
At Thursday’s often emotional meeting, several people spoke in support of Minnihan, thanking him and outgoing SAU 43 Business Administrator Ed Emond for bringing stability and direction to the district.
In a letter read by School Board Chairwoman Jenna Darling, school district clerk Robert Scott said Minnihan arrived at one of the lowest points in the district’s history and in a “heroic manner” has led the most successful leadership team he has witnessed in 30 years.
Spaulding’s conduct at board meetings and with administration officials has come under severe criticism from the public and from other board members.
At the Thursday meeting, board members Rhonda Callum-King and Darling talked about what it is like to have Spaulding on the board.
“We are abused regularly, verbally assaulted and harassed,” Callum-King said of Spaulding, calling him a toxic person who was already toxic before he was elected in 2021. “He shows up in the offices and berates them. If you say no, you are on his hit list.”
Spaulding in 2017 petitioned a court to delay the Town Meeting vote on the school budget, then sued to overturn the vote afterward, citing what he argued were right-to-know violations. His legal efforts did not succeed, but he earned enough write-in votes at that year’s Town Meeting to claim a seat on the School Board, though he declined to serve.
Wilkinson said Spaulding’s recent behavior, including making demands on the administration that are not within his authority and shouting at board members, is “deplorable.”
Elected to the board in March, Wilkinson said he was asked to run because of its dysfunction but did not realize how much relations had deteriorated until he received Minnihan’s April 5 resignation letter.
“I won, but not on a school-bashing campaign. We can’t allow that negative voice to dominate the conversation on our schools,” Wilkinson said. “It talks about the problem, not the solution.”
He further charged that a very vocal negative minority is drowning out the positive steps the district is taking.
“I cannot sit on the board and allow it to continue,” he said as he called for Spaulding to resign.
Darling also praised Minnihan, telling him he was the leader Newport needed and still needs and that he has shown grace during times of turmoil.
“Newport is a better place because of both of you,” Darling said of the superintendent and Emond.
She recounted a conversation with Spaulding, saying he told her it didn’t matter what she thought of the performance of Minnihan or Emond.
“He said, ‘If I don’t get my way, I’m going to sink this ship and take everyone with me,’ ” Darling recalled. “Mr. Spaulding, you can’t sink this ship. It is not possible. We will move forward and we will show up for our students and families.”
Spaulding on Friday declined to comment on what was said about his conduct but did bring up Richards Elementary School and what he’d hoped Minnihan would have done.
According to Spaulding, in a one-on-one conversation with Minnihan earlier this year, he mentioned the ranking of Richards based on test scores and a precipitous drop over three years. He said the superintendent agreed there was a problem and also agreed to begin addressing it in kindergarten and first grade and work up from there as an overall plan.
“He said he would bring it to the next school board meeting,” Spaulding said, expecting they would begin heading in the right direction. “But he did not raise the issue.
“What he chose to do was divert it. I was disappointed,” Spaulding said, adding that Minnihan “turned things around” in his resignation letter when he accused some on the board and in the community, though he did not state names, of “denigrating staff and indirectly students.”
“I’m not impressed by his dishonesty,” Spaulding said Friday.
Recently, Spaulding said he came up with a series of topics to discuss regarding Richards Elementary at the Thursday night board meeting. These included student testing reluctance, parental involvement, staff issues and administration, but he said the agenda item was denied.
“This is simply a case of recognizing you have a problem and deciding you need to fix it,” he said. “I will continue to speak to this because it is significant.”
Minnihan was out of the office on Friday and was not available for comment.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
