Nicholas Gelinas wants to be a professional sports broadcaster. When he walked in to announce a girls’ basketball game at Merrimack Valley on a livestream before the holiday break, he was told it would be one of his last.
The Merrimack Valley student is best known as the “Voice of the Pride” for his public address announcing and play-by-play commentating for his school’s games. Halfway through his senior year, his opportunity was muted.
When the Parental Bill of Rights was signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte in June, most of the discussion surrounded the bill’s focus on mandatory disclosure and transparency around educational content.
However, one line stipulates that schools must obtain parental consent in writing to make a video or voice recording of students, except in three narrow cases when safety is at risk.
Merrimack Valley decided it would suspend all audio and video recordings, including Gelinas’ online broadcast, as it tries to comply with the law.
Superintendent Randy Wormald understood the difficult implications for many students in the district, from athletes trying to send clips of their playing time to NCAA coaches to theater actors who want to capture a performance.
“This was not something that we wanted to do, but we felt we needed to, to comply with the law,” the superintendent explained. “But it’s not just the players. We could have gotten notes from all the players, but as the camera pans the audience, that doesn’t fall into one of the exceptions, either.”
On Wednesday, Concord Superintendent Tim Herbert sent a notice to parents announcing a similar pause of all audio and video recordings, including livestreams of sporting events, as it determines how to meet state requirements.
The freeze covers classroom recordings, performances, athletic events and practices, co‑curricular activities, and livestreamed meetings. The district is also going through its recorded material back to July 1, to take those down too.
“There was just an initial shock. How do we figure out how to navigate this and what does this mean?” Herbert said about Concord’s conversations with its legal counsel and teams.
What the ban doesn’t cover is media recorded by parents, booster clubs or members of the media. The CHS Hockey video livestream on Facebook would remain, as would recordings by ConcordTV, which is an independent non-profit.
Gelinas can still do public announcements over the loudspeakers in the gym. He just can’t record or send audio to the internet.
Gelinas, a senior, said he felt fortunate because he accrued multiple years of commentating that he used to apply to the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, a prestigious broadcast journalism program.
“It’s just been a great kind of professional development, in a way, it’s been my way of practicing, getting used to being on a mic and calling a game as fast-paced basketball,” Gelinas said.
He’s also a member of the marching band and a former lead in the school’s musical theater productions. He worries about his friends who pursue the performing arts.
“Music schools are very, very competitive, and they really want to see what you can do, especially like live, in action,” he added, comparing athletes to musicians.
What else is impacted?
Wormald explained that recordings in school are frequently used for things such as dyslexia screenings and language learning.
The state Department of Education advised districts to get parental consent for a section on English language proficiency testing that measures speaking, listening, reading and writing, which is required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The state currently administers the ‘ACCESS’ assessment, and students who receive the test virtually must record for the speaking section.
The advisory does not specify alternatives for evaluating speaking proficiency testing if parental consent is not received.
Herbert said he was concerned the changes would restrict innovation and creativity opportunities in school, in addition to hindering artists or athletes who want to highlight their accomplishments.
“It really does hurt that creative aspect of public education,” he said.
While the law allows recordings with parental consent, that consent is difficult to obtain for all students, particularly at large events.
Concord’s school district announced that it will add a permission form online to obtain consent every school year. Before, it had an opt-out measure where parents would have to write the school before a deadline to express non-consent for recordings.
After sending out the alert on Wednesday, Herbert said the district received an immediate response.
Herbert said he understands the concerns of parents over the changes and he recognizes the importance of parents’ access to information about their child in school.
“Our hopes are that most families see the value in this opportunity that can be provided through audio, video recording, appropriately,” Herbert said. “And with supervision, with school personnel.”
Similar to Concord, other districts already had a semi-blanket measure for parental consent for audio and video recording before the law was signed last June.
Page 80 of the 2025-2026 Pembroke Academy Student-Parent Handbook includes a section that covers website, photograph and video releases. It reads that unless disapproval is received from a parent or guardian by September 30 of each year, the approval is given for the photo and video to be used for school purposes.
That may have to change, as the law states schools must receive specific written consent rather than using a blanket procedure such as a non-response opt-out.
Athletic directors at Bow and Pembroke indicated they had not received guidance from their school districts on athletics yet.
Editor’s note: This article has been changed to reflect that Kearsarge’s Athletic Director had received guidance from the school district regarding audio and video recording.