Legislative hearing on HCR 6 draws heated testimony over Bow superintendent removal

Representative Mike Belcher introduced House Concurrent Resolution 6 (HCR 6), a measure asking the legislature to remove for cause the superintendent of School Administrative Unit (SAU) 67. Belcher told the committee the resolution is intended as a "bill of address" exercise of the legislature’s oversight when a locally appointed official exercises authority inconsistent with state law or constitutional protections. He said the resolution stems from an incident in which parents at the sideline of a Bow High School girls’ soccer game wore protest signage and the superintendent — he said — applied school rules to adults in a way that chilled free expression.

Local officials and school administrators pushed back strongly. Clement Madden, chair of the Dunbarton School Board and SAU 67 board member, urged the committee to decline the resolution, citing RSA 194‑C:5 (which vests removal authority in the school administrative unit board) and arguing the legislature lacks authority to…