Gilford superintendent on paid leave following arrest

GILFORD — School Superintendent Kirk Beitler, currently facing assault charges, is on leave, according to the head of the Gilford School Board.

The report of Beitler’s status came Monday night after the board met in a nonpublic session to discuss a personnel matter.

“Mr. Beitler is on leave, and Amie Leigh, the district’s business administrator, will perform the superintendent’s duties,” board Chairperson Gretchen Gandini said after the nonpublic session ended.

Beitler’s paid leave follows his arrest on a charge of domestic violence simple assault, and another for simple assault, charges which he has denied. The arrests took place following an incident at Beitler’s home in Concord on July 6. He has been free on personal recognizance bail since then and is due back in court for a hearing scheduled for Oct. 19.

Beitler was not present at Monday’s School Board meeting.

Jesse Friedman, Beitler’s attorney, issued a statement on Monday saying his client maintains his innocence and that the charges against him are unwarranted.

Beitler, who has been Gilford superintendent since 2016, is continuing to be paid during his leave, Gandini said Tuesday.

Beitler’s annual salary is $131,884 which comes to almost $11,000 a month.

The matter of Beitler’s arrest came up early in Monday’s School Board meeting during the public comment period.

Norm Silber, a Gilford resident and state representative, called on the board to make public what it knows about the situation.

“The people of Gilford have a right to know,” he said.

Silber said that earlier in the day he had filed a formal complaint against Beitler with the state Department of Education and had asked that his superintendent credentials “be at least suspended while this matter is adjudicated.”

Silber noted the next scheduled court proceeding in Beitler’s case will not take place until mid-October — more than two months away.

Asked during a brief phone interview Monday night what the School Board might do if Beitler’s leave continues for a significant length of time, Gandini said, “Everything is on the table.”

But she declined to say how long the School Board had known of Beitler’s legal troubles.

“We’re not going to discuss that,” she said.

However, the School District’s lawyer learned of Beitler’s arrest at least three weeks ago, according to court records. A standard form requesting copies of documents in the Beitler case was submitted to the Sixth Circuit Court-District Division-Concord by attorney Michael Elwell on July 12, five days after Beitler was arrested.

Elwell was present at Monday’s board meeting. He sat in the audience for the public portion, but then moved up to the table just before the board convened its nonpublic session.

In his remarks to the board prior to that closed-door session, Silber said Beitler’s actions had brought disrepute upon the School District. He added that Beitler’s arrest is a critical matter because police need to have probable cause — or reasonable grounds — before they can arrest someone.

In other business, resident Skip Murphy presented board members right-to-know requests related to the district’s gender identity policy, which he alleged violates people’s rights to follow their religious convictions. He told the board that he was engaging legal representation and was considering taking formal legal action against the School District.

The board took Murphy’s written requests without comment.