By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – The morning after dozens of parents turned out at a school board meeting to support the Christa McAuliffe School art teacher who was on leave after complaints by one parent about his sometimes “girly” style of dress and social media posts, Silas Allard was back in the classroom Tuesday morning.
Concord Superintendent Kathleen Murphy sent a note home to parents updating her investigation into the complaints Tuesday. Allard has been open about being a member of the LGBTQ community.
“I appreciated all the letters and emails you sent to my office and after a thorough investigation I found the social medial complaints against Mr. Allard to be unsubstantiated. Mr. Allard’s attire at no time has been an issue for the district,” Murphy wrote.
“As an educator and human being, I reject all forms of hatred and discrimination in our schools and community, but as your superintendent when any complaint is brought forward, I must carry out my due diligence regardless of my opinion. This has been a difficult time for our community. I thank you for your patience and understanding over the last few weeks as I completed the process,” Murphy wrote.
Parents were supportive Tuesday on a Facebook page set up in favor of Allard that included a photo of him being welcomed back by excited elementary school students.
“My child came bursting through the door all smiles excited to tell me Mr. Allard was FINALLY back today,” wrote Kate West on the Facebook page. She spoke with many other parents in favor of Allard at Monday night’s school board meeting.
Parent Michael Guglielmo, who has been complaining about Allard for months, appeared at the school board meeting dressed as Julius Caesar.
Guglielmo, who has a long criminal record starting in 1985 with a violent standoff with Manchester police, also later garnered respect for his work promoting the bone marrow registry to help his son Giovanni, who Guglielmo mentioned at the meeting Monday saying he took his young son off life support as he died of cancer.
Guglielmo spent 17 ½ years in state prison.
“I am Caesar, Julius Caesar of Rome, the emperor. I’m also a female. Does anybody here believe that?” Guglielmo asked. “Of course not, it’s ridiculous. I’m not Caesar. I’m not a woman.”
Guglielmo said children should be loved no matter what their sexual identity.
“Engaging and facilitating gender confusion, gender dysphoria is developmentally injurious to the mental and emotional capacity of children…,” Guglielmo said Monday.
He didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment Tuesday.
It is unclear if the Department of Education, which is headed by Commissioner Frank Edelblut, is still looking into the matter.
On Monday, the department said: “Pursuant to our policy, the New Hampshire Department of Education is unable to confirm whether an active investigation is ongoing with regard to a particular educator. The Department is following this situation and will take action if it is believed there is a violation of the Educator Code of Conduct.”
