By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — As the campaign trail rages on for many political hopefuls, so too does the spread of misinformation.
On October 25, 2022, Don Bolduc, a retired general and Republican New Hampshire Senatorial candidate spoke to concerns he hopes to tackle should he become a senator. One of those issues being the urban legend of litter boxes in high schools in the area.
During Bolduc’s speech he cited both Dover High School and Pinkerton Academy as academic institutions where a group he referred to as “the fuzzies” practice unhygienic behavior while identifying as cats. He also stated in a speech to community members in Northampton that schools were installing litter boxes.
“We have a group called ‘the fuzzies’ now in our schools, who go to school and identify themselves as cats and lick themselves. This is true, I’ve been talking to teachers. I’ve been talking to many people,” Bolduc said to an audience at the Claremont Senior Center.
“It has come to our attention that at a recent event in Claremont, Don Bolduc named Pinkerton in false claims suggesting that unhygienic, disturbing practices are taking place in our classrooms and spaces on campus,” representatives from Pinkerton Academy wrote in a recent statement posted to their Twitter on October 31, 2022. Dover High School has also made comments refuting the claims of litter box use.
This litter box hoax does not come as any surprise to local educators and school administration. In October, schools in the area, including Newport High School and Claremont’s Stevens High School, saw community members insisting upon the veracity of these claims on social media, as well as showing up to the schools to do inspections looking for litter boxes. Similarly in Windsor, educators at the high school said they have been made aware of the hoax but clarified that the school does not have litter boxes.
“No, we do not have litter boxes in the high school,” stated a Windsor High School educator.
“I thought I was being pranked,” Newport High School Principal Shannon Martin said in regard to a community member arriving at the school in search of litter boxes.
Martin explained that Superintendent Donna Magoon had become aware of allegations that the school was utilizing the unhygienic practice via social media. In an effort to quell any concerns regarding the issue, Magoon reached out to the concerned citizen to inform them that the high school did not have litter boxes. According to Martin, the citizen was receptive, but still wanted to see for themselves.
“We did have a community member come to the school, with the superintendent stating they have heard from parents and students that we had litter boxes in the bathroom. We gave them a tour to show them that we didn’t, and I invited them to speak to teachers so that they knew that it wasn’t real,” stated Martin.
As Martin puts it, the litter box issue is one of the more “colorful” that the school has had in recent years, but schools in the area, as well as nationwide, have fallen victim to misinformation campaigns.
Issues surrounding misinformation regarding budgetary spending and, more recently, discussion around the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in local school district administrations needing to nip some fears in the bud.
“Sometimes it’s just the world we live in a little bit. It’s nice as a small school we certainly encourage people to call and talk to us,” said Sunapee High School Principal Sean Moynihan.
According to school administration at local districts, this method of open communication and transparency is vital to the continued success of the schools as well as the students. Not only does Newport’s SAU 43 encourage community members to reach out with concerns, but they meet with the school board weekly to discuss what is happening in the building.
“We don’t need people thinking that we are off the rails. Things like that are a distraction from education. So, I’m happy to talk to anyone and let them know just how hard the school is working to support the education of the students,” said Martin.
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