By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

The Candia School Board has stricken a sentence from one of the rules on a proposed school district code of conduct that one of the board members said violated her First Amendment rights.

Board member Ingrid Byrd said she had originally been upset by a code of conduct rule that read: "If I should be a member of the minority on any vote, I will abide by the majority opinion. We will not speak outside of board meetings against any majority decision which was reached in good faith."

At the board's meeting on Thursday, Aug. 4, it was decided to keep the first sentence of the rule intact, but to remove the second sentence, based upon legal advice by the school district's law firm.

SAU 15 Superintendent Armand LaSelva said the first sentence in the code of conduct rule was "defensible," but the second sentence could cause legal problems for the district.

"The second sentence may infringe upon someone's right to free speech, so that sentence is gone," he said.

Byrd said she is glad legal counsel agreed with her assessment about the code of conduct rule.

"It is nice to know I reached the same conclusion (as the district's lawyers) without having spent 1,000 years in law school," she said.

Byrd said a number of districts around the state have adopted the New Hampshire School Board Association-recommended codes of conduct and she is surprised that a rule similar to the one she opposed has been voted in.

"My surprise is that the School Board Association, which has lawyers on its staff, would promote that portion to a code of conduct," she said. "I'm surprised lawyers on their staff did not say, 'Hey, this is not a good idea.'"

The code of conduct has already been adopted for the school board in Auburn and Hooksett has adopted a series of resolutions similar to the code of conduct. Both schools are in SAU 15.

Byrd said although the second sentence in the code of conduct rule was stricken, she can still foresee difficulties in speaking out against a board decision.

"The first sentence (in the rule) is up to debate," she said. "According to Webster's Dictionary, submit means to 'carry out.' I can't agree with that - it is saying I have to go along with something I voted against."

She said although the second sentence, which was agreed could limit a board member's freedom of speech, was removed from the code of conduct, she might still feel pressure to not voice an opposing opinion.

"I think it still might be held against me if I hold an opinion that is different than the board's," she said.

Byrd said she is representing the entire town of Candia on the board and believes every residents. voice must be represented.

"(As a board member), you need to hear what everybody in town has to say because you represent everybody in town," she said.

Also changed on the code of conduct was a rule that used the expression "executive session," which will now be referred to as a "nonpublic session."