Exeter High, CMS rack up $28K in legal bills for mask suit, prom vaccine marking, more
EXETER — SAU 16 Superintendent David Ryan informed the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board last week the district has expended more than $28,000 in legal costs in less than six months.
Ryan said the legal expenses include defending the district in the lawsuit brought forward by parents opposing mask requirements; complying with the attorney general’s office regarding parent complaints including the marking on unvaccinated students at the spring 2021 prom; and responding to 28 Right-to-Know requests.
Since June 1, Ryan said the Exeter Region Cooperative School District has spent $28,025.
“Particularly the first three (cases), they were complaints brought on by folks who disagreed with … decisions that were being made, and the court did not rest in their favor,” Ryan said. "These are costs incurred by taxpayers."
Ryan said the total legal costs are not solely applied to the Exeter Region Cooperative School District’s budget, but proportional to each individual school district’s involvement in each case, such as the mask lawsuit, which was also filed against Exeter, Brentwood, Kensington and Stratham elementary school districts.
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Ryan said each individual school budget within SAU 16 contains a line item of $50,000 for legal expenses. He said the Exeter Region Cooperative School District budget is $100,000 in legal expenses, split between CMS and EHS.
“We wanted to make sure we had ample money for the cost of anything that would arise through our legal team,” Ryan said.
Wadleigh, Starr & Peters is SAU 16’s retained law firm. Ryan said the firm bills SAU 16 at a rate of $235 an hour.
Ryan said, so far, SAU 16 has spent $7,446 defending the district against the mask lawsuit. While a Rockingham Superior Court judge ruled against the parents Oct. 16, their attorney Robert Fojo has requested a motion to reconsider.
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Ryan said the district spent $3,145 associated with the joint state attorney general’s office and Department of Education investigation into a number of complaints against SAU 16, including the marking of unvaccinated students with a sharpie at senior prom in June.
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The final report issued by both entities found the district did not violate any New Hampshire laws in regard to the prom incident, but both the attorney general and Department of Education commissioner were deeply concerned by the lack of protection for students’ vaccination information.
Ryan said the district has spent $10,812 on a Right-to-Know lawsuit filed against the district by Al Brandano. The Kensington resident sued the district claiming school officials had not properly fulfilled his Right-to-Know request regarding DEIJ (diversity, equity, inclusion and justice) that administrators and teachers were working to incorporate into curriculums.
The case was heard Oct. 20 in Rockingham Superior Court.
“This is very expensive case with the amount of materials requested,” Ryan said. “It is a complex case, which is why we haven’t heard from the court since that time.”
Lastly, Ryan said responding to the 28 Right-to-Know requests since June has cost the district $6,621, plus hundreds of staff hours in assembling the materials requested by the record seeker. Individually, Ryan said he has devoted more than 100 hours to responding to requests for information.
“There is a cost because we need legal counsel to advise us on certain exemptions relative to certain confidential material covered under 91-A (the Right-to-Know law,” Ryan said.
Ryan said in the event, the Exeter Region Cooperative School District exceeds its $100,000 budget for legal expenses, the Cooperative School Board would have to reallocate funds from another area of its budget.
Not included in the district’s review of legal costs, was a federal age discrimination lawsuit brought forward by a former Cooperative Middle School guidance counselor Margaret Walker in 2019. A judge granted SAU 16’s request for summary judgment and ruled Nov. 1 there was “not sufficient evidence” to convince a jury Walker, an at-will employee, was terminated due to age discrimination.
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Ryan said those legal costs are not included as they were covered by SAU 16's insurer, Primex.
Also not included, was a new lawsuit recently filed against the district by an Exeter High School freshman and his mother, who claimed he was wrongfully suspended from playing in a football game for allegedly expressing his view there are “only two genders.”
The student’s suit was filed in Rockingham Superior Court Thursday, Nov. 4, through his attorney, Ian Huyett of Cornerstone Action, a nonprofit Christian advocacy organization.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter High, CMS's legal bills for anti-mask suit, prom marking case
