Police Sent Undercover Officer to School Board Meeting to Monitor Kidd

While Democratic members of the Manchester Board of Education were hoping to force Merrill Kidd's resignation at Monday's school board meeting, an undercover member of the Manchester Police Department was sitting in the audience in case things got out of hand. 

Manchester Police declined to discuss the issue, but several members of the Board of Education told Manchester Patch that they were aware of the officer's presence or were informed of it after the meeting. 

"We don't discuss security measures," Manchester Police Cpt. Chris Davis, the department's spokesman, told Patch Thursday when asked about the issue. 

Democrats privately asked Kidd to resign after school board member Kelly Luxenberg complained that she received harassing late-night Facebook messages from Kidd, but Kidd left the meeting Monday without acknowledging the request. Afterwards, Democrats gave copies of Kidd's messages and a statement asking for her resignation to Patch. 

"The environment that we strive to create in our schools is conducive to learning and we endeavor to have that same environment on our board for conducting the public’s business," Democratic members of the Manchester Board of Education wrote in a statement that they provided to Patch after Monday's meeting. "We have the expectation to communicate with each other and the community we serve in a respectful and professional manner." 

After consulting with members of the Board of Education and several attorneys, including the school board's counsel, Luxenberg reported Kidd to Manchester Police, who reviewed the complaint, warned Kidd to refrain from contacting Luxenberg, but declined to press charges. 

Luxenberg, a Democrat who is married to State Rep. Geoff Luxenberg, told Patch Thursday that she was aware that the undercover police officer would be present for Monday's school board meeting but that she did not request the officer's presence. 

"I knew that someone was going to be there beforehand," Luxenberg told Patch. 

Kidd, who did not return a call seeking comment Thursday, has said she has no intention of resigning from the Board of Education. Barring a change to the town's charter, which could only be accomplished through a voter referendum, there is little school board members can do to force Kidd to resign. 

Matt Galligan, chairman of the Republican Town Committee, has maintained that Democrats insistence that Kidd step down is entirely politically motivated. He said that by going to the police Luxenberg "blew an instance of political debate out of proportion." 

"The fact that an undercover police officer had to take time to come to a Board of Education meeting underscores how foolish this was," Galligan said. "The Manchester Police department does great work and were just responding on their part as they have to do with every complaint." 

But undercover officers at town meetings appear to be more common than people may think, particularly when the subject can be controversial. 

Neal Leon, a Democratic member of the Board of Education who said he was informed during the meeting of the undercover officer's presence, said that he believes there have been at least half a dozen times in his three years on the school board when undercover officers may have been present during board meetings. 

"Anytime they feel it might be a voluble issue, because the building is unsecured and anybody could walk in," he said. 

Leon said he believed the officer's presence was due to Kidd's messages to Luxenberg and her complaint to police. 

"My understanding was it was because of the Merrill situation," Leon said. "There was a lack of communication as far as what was going on." 

General Manager Scott Shanley also declined to discuss the issue Thursday. 

"I wouldn't disclose anything about security measures to the press whether I was aware of them or not," Shanley told Patch.

But Shanley said that the presence of an undercover officer at a town meeting is a far more common occurrence than people might think. 

"There have been times throughout my career when I have asked for security to be present at meetings, either on my behalf or on behalf of a member of the board, because we had reason to believe there might be someone present who was a threat or dangerous," Shanley said. 

Board of Education Chairman Chris Pattacini also declined to comment on the presence of the undercover officer at Monday's meeting or whether he requested that the officer be present. 

"That's not something that I would be able to talk about," he said. 

Pattacini said he is trying to schedule a time to meet with Kidd to discuss the issue. 

"There has to be some resolution, and we need to work toward that," Pattacini said. "I don't know what that will look like." 

Kidd told Patch earlier this week that she does not feel she owes Luxenberg an apology for her comments. 

Both Davis and Pattacini declined to say whether an undercover officer would be a common occurrence at school board meetings as long as Kidd and Luxenberg remained on the board together. 

Since the allegations against Kidd surfaced earlier this week, Patch has received feedback from a number of Manchester residents who claim they were the recipients of similar harassing emails or messages from Kidd over the years. Davis said the only other complaint the Manchester Police Department has received against Kidd was in 2010 and involved a dispute over a neighbor's dog. 

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