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Teacher in N.H. fired for secretly helping pregnant student access abortion services – The Boston Globe

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Teacher in N.H. fired for secretly helping pregnant student access abortion services – The Boston Globe


“How should the Department respond when a parent has reached out to express concern that a teacher had called a student a ‘White supremacist’ and confiscated their Trump flag while ignoring the student wearing the Pride flag? … Or when an art teacher, rather than teaching art, introduces children to Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ for Kids, without consulting with parents or school leadership,” he wrote. “Should we look the other way?”

In that list, Edelblut briefly mentioned a teacher having been accused of lying to take the student to “get an abortion” without their parents knowing.

“Should we turn a blind eye?” he asked, rhetorically.

By stoking concerns about secrecy between school personnel and students, Edelblut’s op-ed echoed a contentious debate over “parental rights” legislation that state lawmakers considered in 2022 and 2023. Edelblut, a socially conservative former GOP candidate for governor, expressed disappointment last year when the legislation was defeated.

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His op-ed included enough detail to inspire public mistrust of New Hampshire educators, but not enough detail to verify its allegations. It didn’t cite evidence to substantiate the abortion-related allegation, and neither Edelblut nor a spokesperson for the Department of Education would tell the Globe in April whether the allegation had been investigated and deemed credible.

A month later, in late May, in response to a public records request from the Globe, the department released a heavily redacted one-page report about the incident, and posted it publicly online. The letterhead, address, and name of the investigating party were redacted.

The document said the teacher had told investigators she helped the student “determine how far along they were … so the student knew what options they’d have available,” located a “safe” facility for the procedure, spoke with the student for two and a half weeks about the appointment, and offered to accompany them based on a belief that the student “didn’t have anyone to support them.”

The teacher was placed on administrative leave through the remainder of her employment contract, at which point her termination would take effect, according to the redacted report, which does not reveal the year in which her firing was or will be finalized.

The department released two additional records on June 7. Although the names of the teacher and the school were redacted, the teacher’s last name was included in the metadata for one of the documents. An attorney for the department, Elizabeth A. Brown, acknowledged the name had been divulged mistakenly.

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No one with the teacher’s last name appears on the department’s public list of educators with suspended or revoked credentials. One person with that last name is included among educators with active certifications.

A Regional Services and Education Center Inc. school facility in Antrim, N.H., is seen in this photo taken on Sunday, June 9, 2024.

That teacher, who holds an experienced educator license, was listed on a school website as working for Regional Services and Education Center Inc., a nonprofit based in Amherst, N.H., that has been providing special education services for more than four decades. The nonprofit, which serves students from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, runs small non-public schools that cater to students in grades 5-12 with special needs and learning disabilities.

While superintendents and school board members from surrounding public school districts serve on RSEC’s board, the state lists the private nonprofit’s facilities as non-public schools.

The nonprofit’s executive director, Devin Bandurski, declined to answer questions about the teacher.

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“Matters involving personnel will not be discussed,” she said through a spokesperson.

Shortly after the Globe contacted RSEC with questions about the teacher and the abortion-related allegation, the teacher’s name was removed from the list of faculty and staff on the school’s website. A years-old post about her having received special recognition was removed as well.

The teacher did not respond to interview requests. The Globe is not naming her at this time to protect the student’s privacy.

The records that the Department of Education released on June 7 include an email showing that someone — their name, title, and employer are redacted — sent the initial one-page investigative report to Richard Farrell, an investigator for the department, on Oct. 19 (the year is redacted).

The records also include a letter that Deputy Education Commissioner Christine M. Brennan sent using official state letterhead on Nov. 9 (the year is redacted) to notify the teacher that the department had opened an investigation into possible violations of the educator code of conduct.

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“Namely, the allegation is that you failed to properly supervise and abide by ethical standards regarding student boundary protocols with a student under your care,” the letter states.

Brennan’s letter says the teacher’s license and credential are valid during the pending investigation, but the reason for that is redacted.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education declined to answer questions about the case, citing the “investigatory nature” of this matter.

It’s illegal in New Hampshire to perform an abortion on an unemancipated minor younger than 18 years old until 48 hours after providing written notice to the pregnant minor’s parent. In Massachusetts — the state line is a 20-minute drive from Amherst, N.H. — pregnant patients who are 16 or 17 can consent to an abortion without involving their parents. Each state also has a process for minors to persuade a judge to grant an exception.

None of the records obtained by the Globe specify whether the medical facility was located within New Hampshire, whether the student was an unemancipated minor at the time, or whether the teacher made any representations to medical staff concerning her relationship to the student. They also do not confirm whether an abortion was performed.

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Bandurski did not say whether RSEC reported the matter to law enforcement. Spokespeople for the Amherst Police Department and New Hampshire Department of Safety, which includes State Police, said their departments had no record of reports about the incident.

A spokesperson for the New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, which includes the Board of Medicine, an agency that oversees health care providers, declined on Tuesday to comment.

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said on Tuesday that staffers for the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine had checked their files and found no records responsive to the Globe’s request.

The teacher has since been hired to work at a public school district in New Hampshire, according to school board meeting minutes. The school board for the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District voted in early May to accept the teacher’s nomination for a job beginning in August, according to meeting minutes. The superintendent for that district, Reuben Duncan, did not respond to questions regarding whether the district became aware of the abortion-related allegation before the hiring process concluded.


Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.





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New Hampshire

5-year-old injured in New Year’s day Manchester, New Hampshire apartment building fire dies

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5-year-old injured in New Year’s day Manchester, New Hampshire apartment building fire dies



The child who was injured during a New Year’s Day apartment building fire in Manchester, New Hampshire has died, the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal announced on Saturday.

The 5-year-old girl had been found unresponsive in a fourth-floor bedroom by firefighters. She was rushed to a Boston hospital in critical condition and passed on Wednesday. The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has performed an autopsy to determine her cause of death.

The fire began just 30 minutes after midnight on Union Street. The flames raged on the third and fourth floors before spreading to the roof. One man was killed in the fire. He was identified as 70-year-old Thomas J. Casey, and his cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation, according to the medical examiner.

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One woman was rushed to a Boston hospital in critical condition. Five other people received serious injuries and were hospitalized. All the victims have since been discharged, according to the fire marshal. 

Residents could be seen waiting in windows and on balconies for firefighters to rescue them. 

“I kicked into high gear. I got my family rallied up. My son, my daughter, my wife. And I tried to find a way to get down safely off of one of the railings by trying to slide down one of the poles. But that didn’t work out,” said resident Jonathan Barrett. 

Fire investigators believe the fire is not suspicious and started in a third-floor bedroom. The building did not have a sprinkler system but did have an operational fire alarm, the fire marshal said. 

Around 10 families were displaced by the fire and are receiving help from the Red Cross. Around 50 people lived in the building.  

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire services respond to 7-car crash

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New Hampshire services respond to 7-car crash


SPRINGFIELD, N.H. (ABC22/FOX44) – After an icy morning on Interstate 89 that saw multiple cars in a crash in Springfield, New Hampshire, responders say that they are thankful that only one person sustained injuries.

According to Springfield Fire Rescue, they originally were called at 7:40 a.m. on Friday for a reported two-car crash between Exits 12A and 13 – but arrived to find 7 vehicles involved, including 6 off the road.

According to authorities, all of the occupants of the cars were able to get themselves out and only one needed to be taken to the hospital. Their injuries were reported to be non-life-threatening.

“Springfield Fire Rescue would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to slow down and move over when emergency vehicles are in the roadway. The area where this incident occurred was very icy and we witnessed several other vehicles almost lose control when they entered the scene at too great a speed.”

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Responders from New London, Enfield, and Springfield, as well as NH State Police, helped respond to the incident and clear the vehicles from the road, as well as to treat the ice to make the road safe.



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New Hampshire

Man killed in NH snowmobile crash

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Man killed in NH snowmobile crash


An Alton man is dead after a snowmobile crash in New Hampshire’s North Country Thursday afternoon.

The New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game says 63-year-old Bradford Jones was attempting to negotiate a left hand turn on Corridor Trail 5 in Colebrook when he lost control of his snowmobile, struck multiple trees off the side of the trail and was thrown from the vehicle shortly before 3:30 p.m.

Jones was riding with another snowmobiler, who was in the lead at the time of the crash, according to the agency. Once the other man realized Jones was no longer behind him, he turned around and traveled back where he found Jones significantly injured, lying off the trail beside his damaged snowmobile.

The man immediately rendered aid to Jones and called 911 for assistance, NH Fish and Game said. The Colebrook Fire Department used their rescue tracked all terrain vehicle and a specialized off road machine to transport first responders across about a mile of trail to the crash scene.

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Once there, a conservation officer and 45th Parallel EMS staff attempted lifesaving measures for approximately an hour, but Jones ultimately died from his injuries at the scene of the crash, officials said.

The crash remains under investigation, but conservation officers are considering speed for the existing trail conditions to have been a primary factor in this deadly incident.



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