Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part, as named in the project's dialogue file. The opening roll is a chorus of here with no names (0:02:37); the nonpublic roll-call votes name the members present. Where the dialogue file leaves a voice Unidentified, this page does too.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Chair | Presided; ran the donations hearing and the candidate interviews; read aloud the written answers of the absent candidate (see the method note); announced the appointment (0:34:10); reported on the budget subcommittee (1:33:08). |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Asked two of the interview questions; moved the minutes (0:04:08); seconded the seal of the nonpublic minutes (0:33:00); said she will run again in March (0:33:27); asked about the technical center and a stakeholder committee for the special education program (1:31:27). |
| Jason Benware | Member; budget subcommittee | Moved the nonpublic session (0:30:41), leaving it (0:32:06) and the 83-year seal (0:32:54); moved to accept the lunch-debt donations (1:37:08); read the absent candidate's questions (0:27:50 to 0:30:27). |
| Carolyn Towle | Member | Gave the superintendent search update in Zullo's absence (0:35:38); asked about office-software training in the business program (1:03:01); proposed postponing the joint council meeting (1:40:36) and skipping November 21 (1:46:02). Said she will run again (0:33:37). |
| Michael Petrin | Member; budget subcommittee | Asked the candidates the research-and-follow-through question (0:16:04); on the special education program, savings come from "preventing kids from being tuition out" (1:25:55). |
| Rebecca Zullo | Vice chair | Absent (0:35:38). |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Candidate; appointed to the vacancy | Not present; submitted written answers, which were read aloud (0:26:45 to 0:30:08). Appointed to serve until March (0:33:09, 0:34:10); to be sworn in by the clerk (0:34:43). |
| Sally Bouchard | Candidate | "Good evening. I'm Sally Bouchard, member of the community and here in Claremont for about 25 years." Interviewed in person. |
| Sultana (surname not recoverable from the transcript) | Candidate | Interviewed in person (0:19:20 to 0:26:11); the transcript renders her surname unintelligibly. |
| Dr. Keith Pfeifer | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent's report (0:05:09 to 0:07:11); noted the rescheduled search meeting (1:41:33). |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Presented the draft special education alternative program (1:13:27 to 1:32:47) and the lunch-debt figures (1:36:14); raised the meeting calendar (1:44:01). |
| Ben (surname not on record) | Director of special education, SAU 6 | "So Ben is here. Our director of special education" (1:13:27); explained the program model and corrected a figure (1:30:59). |
| Dr. Alex Herzog | Director, Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center (Claremont) | Presented enrollment, goals and a three-to-five-year plan (0:37:44 to 1:13:08). |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk | Called the nonpublic roll calls; explained who may swear in the new member (0:34:56). |
| No citizens | Donations hearing; citizens' comments | No one spoke at the hearing (0:02:08) or in citizens' comments (0:08:20). |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted online, though the chair reads from one. This outline is reconstructed from the chair's transitions. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | Call to order; pledge | Chair Sprague. |
| 0:01:19 | Public hearing: food service donations | No speakers; closed at 0:02:08. |
| 0:02:21 | Roll call; agenda | Agenda approved as written; motion Benware (0:03:07), second Pierce; voice vote. |
| 0:03:19 | Minutes of the October retreat and October 17 meeting | Approved as corrected (Pfeifer's title to interim superintendent); motion Pierce, second Benware (0:04:13). |
| 0:04:24 | Student representative; superintendent's report | No student representative present. |
| 0:08:20 | Citizens' comments | None. |
| 0:08:34 | Appointment of a new board member | Two interviews and one set of written answers; nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) by roll call, all Yes (0:31:08); out of nonpublic by roll call (0:32:06); nonpublic minutes sealed "for 83 years", motion Benware, second Pierce, voice vote (0:32:54); Rob Lovett Jr. announced as appointee (0:34:10). |
| 0:35:27 | Superintendent search update | Towle. |
| 0:36:51 | SRVRTC goals and strategic plan presentation | Dr. Herzog. No vote. |
| 1:13:13 | Draft special education alternative programming model | LeClair and the special education director. No vote. |
| 1:33:08 | Fiscal year 2020 budget discussion | Subcommittee progress report. No vote. |
| 1:35:53 | Acceptance of food service donations | $29,066.23 (anonymous) and $3,530 (named donors) accepted; motion Benware, second unidentified (1:37:44); voice vote, no opposition heard (1:39:45). |
| 1:39:53 | Agenda for joint city council and school board meeting | Postponed to January by consensus; no motion (1:41:28). |
| 1:43:53 | Future agenda items; for the good of the order | November 21 meeting dropped by consensus; next meeting December 5 (1:47:06); filing fee reminder (1:47:49). |
| 1:48:12 | Adjournment | Motion Benware, second Pierce; voice vote. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, taken from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:01:19 | Donations hearing | Sprague: "whenever we have a donation, that's over $500." Pierce: "Whenever we have a donation of over $500, we require a board approval. But any donation over 5005 via a public." Sprague: "Hearing requires a public hearing." (0:01:39). No speakers. | POSITIVE |
| 0:05:36 | Superintendent's report | "The Budget committee has met twice so far and have a third meeting on on Friday, 9 to 12 at here."; with the loss of stabilization funds and catastrophic aid the district "will be challenged to produce a level funded budget." Curriculum work and a state special education review completed (0:07:11). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:09:23 | How the vacancy will be filled | Sprague: "we're going to hear from both of you, and then we will, go into nonpublic deliberate and then come back into session." Each candidate was asked the same questions (0:12:55). | POSITIVE |
| 0:09:54 | Candidate interviews | Sally Bouchard (0:09:54 to 0:18:07) and Sultana (0:19:20 to 0:26:11) answered in person. Benware asked that the third candidate's written answers be read: "there's a third candidate as well." (0:18:41). | POSITIVE |
| 0:26:45 | The absent candidate's written answers | Read aloud: "We have a third candidate who cannot be here with us tonight. And his name is Rob Lovett Junior." His answers, read by the chair and Benware, describe a recent move to Claremont and work "with addicts and their families" (0:29:04). The dialogue file attributes the words read to the reader, not to Lovett. | |
| 0:30:35 | Nonpublic session | Benware moved; asked "Is there an RSA there?"; Sprague: "It's RSA 91-A colon, three comma." then "C parentheses with a one." (0:30:56). Roll call: Benware, Petrin, Pierce, Towle, Sprague, all Yes (0:31:08 to 0:31:36). | |
| 0:32:06 | Out of nonpublic; minutes sealed | Roll call to come out (0:32:06 to 0:32:54). Benware: "I'd like to make a motion to seal the minutes of the nonpublic for 83 years." Second Pierce; "All those in favor? I." (0:33:02). | MEDIUM |
| 0:33:09 | Appointment announced; March seats | "this position we're filling tonight is only till March". Three seats on the March ballot, "a two year and two, three years" (0:33:39); filing "between January 23rd and February 1st" (0:33:41). "The board has made a decision that we will be opting for Mr. Lovett, who is not here tonight." (0:34:10). | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 0:34:43 | Swearing in | Woodman: the oath "has to be done by," "The school district clerk, a justice of the peace of the moderator." (0:34:56), adding "We don't actually have a moderator." (0:35:02). Later in the meeting LeClair refers to "Tracy Pope, the school district moderator" (1:45:21). | |
| 0:35:38 | Superintendent search | Towle: the committee is "Working on the search process and developing the system for the criteria"; the survey drew "very good response" and the focus is now the forums (0:36:13). | |
| 0:37:44 | Technical center: enrollment | Herzog: "out of 173 possible seats. We have 140 filled" (0:42:49); for career and technical programs alone "we have 66 out of 101 seats" (0:47:03); three new teachers teach two blocks instead of three this year. | |
| 0:54:01 | Technical center: building plan | "We have for 2022 the lineup for funding to renovate this building and add programs. And the state will give us 50 to 75% of that cost." Ideas include a tech diploma (0:50:10) and evening adult classes. | |
| 1:14:47 | Draft in-district special education program | LeClair: "we have roughly 35 students who are placed at a district" (1:16:14); placements run "roughly $90,000 per student per placement" (1:24:38); first-year staffing "665,000 and change" against about 540,000 in hoped-for savings, "a difference of around 125,000" (1:30:20). | |
| 1:33:08 | Budget subcommittee | Sprague: "Mike, Jason and I have met twice. We're going to be meeting again this Friday."; "We've already spent five hours, another three hours this Friday." (1:34:03). "make sure you're spending it only if you need it." (1:35:21). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:36:14 | Lunch debt cleared | LeClair: "we had $32,596.23 of student lunch debt from 1718"; "$3,530 total in donations from individuals and locally" and "an anonymous donor who has stepped forward and is willing to contribute the balance, which will be $29,066.23." (1:36:44). The chair read the donors' names, not amounts (1:37:55). Carried by voice. | POSITIVE |
| 1:39:53 | Joint council meeting postponed | The mayor asked to move the joint meeting (1:40:05). Towle: "my thought was that we would postpone a combination meeting until January." Sprague: "I don't I don't know if we need a motion." (1:41:28). Petrin: "Consensus. I, I agree." (1:41:57). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:44:01 | November 21 meeting dropped | "November 21st is the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving." Towle: "we forego that second for the night, the eve before Thanksgiving, and just move to the December meeting." (1:46:02). LeClair: "The next meeting would then be December 5th." (1:47:06). Teacher grants over $500 held to December 5 "because it wasn't warned as part of this meeting". | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on November 7, 2018. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag names the rule it rests on; where no verified rule applies, it is recorded as an observation. Ordered by severity.
MEDIUM Nonpublic minutes were sealed "for 83 years" by voice vote, with no statutory determination stated
After the deliberation on the vacancy, Benware moved "to seal the minutes of the nonpublic for 83 years", Pierce seconded, and the motion carried on a voice call (0:32:54 to 0:33:06). The law then in force required nonpublic minutes and decisions to be disclosed within 72 hours unless, "by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session", the body determined that disclosure would likely harm the reputation of a non-member, render a proposed action ineffective, or bear on terrorism preparedness, and it allowed withholding only "until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply". The motion as heard states no determination, and a fixed term of 83 years is not the statute's measure. The vote was in public session and no dissent is heard, so the two-thirds margin was probably met; whether the minutes record a count or a determination cannot be checked, because they are not online. In the board's favor: the motion to enter nonpublic session did name its ground, paragraph II(c) (0:30:49 to 0:30:56), which fits discussion of non-member candidates, and the decision itself was announced in public at once (0:34:10), so the seal reaches the discussion rather than the outcome. MEDIUM: a probable documentation gap under a binding rule.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c) and III (2017 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017).
OBSERVATION The budget subcommittee met in daytime sessions for which no notices or minutes are online, and this meeting's own minutes are not online
The superintendent reported the budget committee had "met twice so far" with a third session "Friday, 9 to 12" (0:05:36), and the chair said he, Petrin and Benware had met twice and spent "five hours" (1:33:08, 1:34:03). A subcommittee of the board is itself a public body, subject to notice and minutes. No notices or minutes for these sessions are posted online, and none for this meeting either; the district's Drive shares begin in 2022 and 2023, so this is a finding about online availability, not evidence that records were never kept. The December 5, 2018 recording adds that this meeting's minutes were still "incomplete" four weeks later; that point is graded on the December 5 page.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (source note ends 2008, 354:1): a public body includes "any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto"; RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification; source note ends 2017, 165:1 and 234:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2018): notice 24 hours ahead; minutes open to inspection within five business days.
OBSERVATION Two scheduled meetings were set aside by consensus without a motion
The joint meeting with the City Council set for the following week was put off to January after the chair said "I don't I don't know if we need a motion." (1:41:28), and the November 21 regular meeting was dropped the same way, making December 5 the next meeting (1:46:02, 1:47:06). No statute verified for this page requires a vote to cancel or postpone a meeting, and the board's own rules for the period are not available. Recorded because a decision taken by consensus leaves no vote for the minutes to show and no record of who agreed.
Sources: No verified rule; recorded as an observation.
POSITIVE The vacancy was filled promptly, with candidate interviews held on camera and the same questions put to each
The seat left open by the resignation announced October 3 was filled about five weeks later. Two candidates were interviewed in public, each asked the same six questions by members in turn, and the absent candidate's written answers to the same questions were read into the record (0:26:45 to 0:30:27). The chair stated that the appointee serves "only till March" (0:33:09) and named the three seats and the filing window for that election (0:33:41). The law then in force directed the school board to fill vacancies, with appointees to "serve until the next district election", which is what the board announced.
Sources: RSA 671:33, II(a) (2019 codification; source note ends 2017, 3:2, so this text governed until the 2021 amendments): the school board "shall fill vacancies"; appointees serve "until the next district election".
POSITIVE Donations of $5,000 or more were accepted only after a public hearing, and grants not on the agenda were held over
The meeting opened with a public hearing on the food service donations because, as the chair and Pierce explained, a donation over the threshold "requires a public hearing" (0:01:19 to 0:02:08); the $29,066.23 and $3,530 gifts were then accepted by motion in public session, with the donors' names read (1:37:08 to 1:39:45). At the end, the assistant superintendent held two teacher grants over $500 to the December 5 meeting "because it wasn't warned as part of this meeting" (1:47:06). The law then in force required a prior public hearing for unanticipated funds of $5,000 or more and, for smaller amounts, notice "in the agenda" and acceptance "in public session of any regular school board meeting". Whether the newspaper notice the statute also requires was published cannot be checked from here.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(a) and (b) (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1, so in force in 2018).
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 10093, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 11-7": Claremont Community TV. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- No Drive material: neither the Claremont nor the SAU 6 share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (MAP.md section 86, checked 9/26/26). The agenda, the candidates' written answers, the special education handouts and the minutes were not located.
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/10093 SchoolBoard110718.mp4.CSV (742 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/10093 SchoolBoard110718.mp4Input/Transcripts/10093 SchoolBoard110718.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/10093 SchoolBoard110718.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 86
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c) and III (2017 codification, text in force from January 1, 2017): nonpublic motion, reputation ground, withholding of nonpublic minutes.
- RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification, text in force during 2018): notice and minutes.
- RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d): committees and subcommittees are public bodies.
- RSA 671:33, II(a) (2019 codification, text in force until July 2021): board fills vacancies until the next district election.
- RSA 198:20-b, III (text in force until July 2023): unanticipated funds, $5,000 hearing threshold.