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Hooksett Police, school officials will finally meet

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:35:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

Hooksett school district and Police Department officials will meet in a closed-door session on Friday, Feb. 20, to air out any disagreements about alleged weapons and drug issues at Cawley Middle School. The meeting, originally scheduled for Feb. 4, has been delayed a couple of times.

School Board Chairman Maura Ouellette said after the Hooksett School District deliberative session that she had requested 51 safe school reports that were filed by the school resource officer during the 2007-08 and the 2008-09 school years in advance of the Feb. 4 meeting.

Ouellette submitted an official Right-to-Know request to obtain the files. Hooksett Police Chief Steve Agrafiotis said the reports could not be gathered in time for the scheduled meeting Feb. 4.

“She made a Right to Know request and we’re working on filling that for her,” Agrafiotis said.

Under state law, school resource officers are required to file safe school reports anytime they officially respond to safety issues on school grounds. Those incidents include weapons, drugs or alcohol possession, homicide, sexual assault, robbery, burglary, theft, arson, criminal mischief, vandalism, physical assault and threatening.

The 51 reports that Ouellette requested include every report filed at the Hooksett schools in the past two school years.

Last year, Ouellette cited incidents of drugs and weapons on campus in her argument for retaining a full-time school resource officer at Cawley Middle School. The Police Department has repeatedly countered her statements, saying her allegations must have stemmed from an unknown source of misinformation and that the specific incidents that Ouellette publicly referred to were either were exaggerated or incorrect.

The individual parties, which will include Ouellette, Agrafiotis, school Superintendent Charles “Phil” Littlefield and Police Commission Chairman David Gagnon, set the date at a Police Commission meeting on Feb. 17.

Ouellette said she hopes the meeting will help.

“I hope it will finally resolve these issues,” she said.

Hooksett Police chief, school officials to iron out disagreement on weapons in schools

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:20:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

Representatives from the Hooksett School Board and Police Commission decided meeting behind closed doors will be more efficient as they seek to air out any misunderstandings about safety issues present at Cawley Middle School. Both groups announced they will meet in a closed door session on Wednesday, Feb. 4, to address allegations that School Board Chairman Maura Ouellette made about the confiscation of drugs and weapons at the school last year.

The Police Department has denied the claims, insisting there are no records of the incidents.

Ouellette has defended her original statements, which were intended to publicly argue the necessity of a full-time school resource officer in the public schools to prevent any similar cases from happening again.

“I think we have a sense we don’t want this to go on and on and on,” said Superintendent Charles “Phil” Littlefield, who will be present at the meeting. “Certainly one would hope that if we have an intermediary meeting and we’re able to address and solve all issues, I can assure you the public will be very much aware of how we come to a resolution.”

At the time the claims were made, school resource officer Jason Defina’s full-time hours spent at Hooksett’s three public schools had been cut from 40 hours to less than eight hours per week. Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis said he ordered the schedule change because of staffing shortages. Defina’s fulltime hours at the school have since resumed.

Police Commission Chairman David Gagnon said the intent of the meeting is to clear any misunderstandings.

“There are two different versions right now,” Gagnon said. “We need to come to some conclusion about what’s going on. It’s all about what’s best for the students. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

Agrafiotis and Littlefield decided to meet in a nonpublic setting to encourage open, honest dialogue between all parties. “I hope to resolve the issue and move forward,” Agrafiotis said.

Hooksett School Board, police at standstill on weapons reports

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

The debate between the chairman of the Hooksett School Board of the chief of police over alleged weapons and drug possession incidents at Cawley Middle School will continue until the two groups can agree on a time and place to meet.

The School Board recently extended an invitation to members of the Hooksett Police Commission to attend the board’s Jan. 20 meeting to voice concerns or questions they might have about safety issues at the middle school. Police Commission Chairman Dave Gagnon said it will be impossible for the groups to meet that evening because the commission also has its regular monthly meeting scheduled for the same date.

Until then, questions about whether such incidents occurred at all will go unanswered.

“We’re working on it with them,” Gagnon said.

School Board Chairman

Maura Ouellette said a meeting between the two groups would be beneficial.

“This will get everyone in the room and it will be a chance to hash out everything that’s on the table,” Ouellette said at a School Board meeting on Jan. 6.

The verbal exchange between Ouellette and Police Chief Steve Agrafiotis originated when Ouellette expressed public concerns about various weapons and drug possessions incidents at the middle school in Hooksett. She said it is necessary for a full-time school resource officer to monitor the three Hooksett public schools so that these cases could be kept at a minimum.

Her comments stemmed from a schedule change ordered by Agrafiotis that cut back the hours that officer Jason Defina, the town’s school resource officer, spent at the schools. Agrafiotis said the changes were necessary to fill in gaps in the department’s schedule that resulted from personnel shortages.

Defina has been suspended from duty for reasons that have not been made public, but which Agrafiotis has said have nothing to do with the school resource officer position. He is expected to return to duty Jan. 19.

Agrafiotis has maintained that the allegations about drugs and weapons issues at Cawley Middle School raised by Ouellette are unfounded. He and members of the Police Department have repeatedly claimed her information is incorrect. Ouellette stands by her original statements.

“We certainly need to get this cleared up,” said School Board member James Sullivan, adding that the dispute is effectively serving as poor public relations for both groups. “We need to get answers to some questions.”

Police chief asks for details on school trouble

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:27:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

When Hooksett School Board Chairman Maura Ouellette reported serious incidents of weapons and drug possession by students at Cawley Middle School in an editorial letter to The Hooksett Banner in November, officials at the Police Department were scratching their heads over where her reports had originated.

More than a month later, Hooksett Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis still isn’t sure where the serious allegations came from and SAU15 Superintendent Charles “Phil” Littlefield is ready to move past the debate.

“She might have been exaggerating. I don’t know. Maybe she misunderstood what happened,” Agrafiotis said. “If she has information that we don’t have, give it to us or go back and clarify that her information is incorrect.”

Ouellette’s letter was published in response to the drastic cutback in hours spent by the school resource officer in Hooksett’s three public schools.

Officer Jason Defina, a member of the Hooksett Police Department, had been working full time in the schools to address immediate safety issues and to act as a liaison between the department and the educational community. When his hours were cut from eight hours per day spent in the schools to only two hours per day, Ouellette and other school officials considered it a step in the wrong direction.

Agrafiotis said he had to order the cuts because of personnel shortages. His full time hours at the schools were reinstated in early November.

Now, in an attempt to clear any misunderstanding, Agrafiotis has requested a meeting with Littlefield and the police commission.

“School Board Chair Maura Ouellette made a statement to the effect that the command staff was not being truthful (about the alleged incidents),” Agrafiotis wrote in a recent letter to the Littlefield.

“The commission is concerned because it calls into questions the integrity of the staff members,” he said.

Littlefield, who said he received the letter one day before school vacation, said he has not decided how to proceed.

“I haven’t given it a lot of thought,” Littlefield said. “The fundamental question I need to answer is – however we proceed – is it in the best interest of the kids and the taxpayers? I think there have been some misunderstandings up until now. Everybody is going to have to put those misunderstandings aside because it’s not in the best interest of the kids or the taxpayers.”

He added that although there may be some disagreement over past incidents that may or may not have occurred, the school resource officer program is vital to the everyday workings of the schools.

Several members of the Hooksett Police Department attended the Jan. 6 meeting of the School Board, but did not speak.

The board has scheduled a meeting with the Police Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 6:30 p.m., at Cawley Middle School, to hash out everyone’s concerns.

“We certainly need to get this cleared up,” said School Board member Jim Sullivan, adding that the dispute is serving as poor public relations. “We need to get answers to some questions.