Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part, as named in the project's dialogue file. No minutes exist online to check spellings against; identifications resting on inference are marked. Members are listed first.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Chair | Presided; opened citizens' comments and let the commenter ask questions during the food service item; explained how the budget nets out state revenue; set the donation deadline discussion; reminded viewers to vote on election day. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Vice chair | Explained to the commenter why members do not answer during citizens' comments; said every child is fed the same meal; reported superintendent-search survey response counts; asked that food policies be on the policy subcommittee's list. |
| Jason Benware | Board member | Moved to leave nonpublic session and to seal its minutes; moved the agenda and adjournment; explained how unpaid meals accumulate; asked for the drug and alcohol policy to be reviewed. |
| Michael Petrin | Board member | Seconded the agenda; summarized how state aid is pooled; said the new point-of-sale system made the debt visible; promoted the Trinity Church backpack program; said he posts board information online. Identification medium-high. |
| Michelle Pierce | Board member | Asked for staff and student debt to be separated and for a la carte limits; asked that donations be for students only; asked about posting school news on the website. |
| Carolyn Towle | Board member | Thanked the commenter and urged attendance at the budget hearing and deliberative session; backed fundraising for the backpack program; promoted the superintendent-search survey. |
| Keith Pfeifer | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Answered on bringing out-of-district special education students back to Claremont; said administrators would meet the Abbey Group. Identification low-medium (by elimination; not named on this recording). |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Explained lottery, Keno and state aid; set out the food service recovery plan; stated the donation deadline and payee. |
| Michael O'Neill | Business Administrator, SAU 6 | Gave the $32,000 2017-18 deficit and state revenue figures. The surname comes from the project roster, not this recording (identification medium). |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk | Asked by the chair to call the roll-call vote and attendance; not heard as a separate voice. |
| Deborah Chase | Citizens' comments, Ward 1 | Asked how the lunch debt arose, where state lottery money for education goes, how the food contractor sources products, and whether out-of-district special education students would be brought back. Name as heard ("Debbie chase. Deborah chase."); spelling unverified. |
| Unidentified | Short interjections, roll-call calls, group responses | 64 of 391 rows, including the roll-call calls and the second on adjournment. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted in any district share, so this list is reconstructed from the chair's transitions on the recording. The chair describes "a single item agenda". Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:12 | Leave nonpublic session | Benware moved "to come out of nonpublic session"; roll-call vote, six yes. The motion to enter nonpublic session, and the exemption it cited, are not on the recording. |
| 0:00:49 | Seal nonpublic minutes | Benware: "I'd like to make a motion to seal the minutes of the nonpublic session for 97 years." Voice vote: "All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?" No count and no statutory determination stated. See flag 1. |
| 0:01:04 | Attendance | The chair asks Mrs. Woodman for attendance; the replies are fragmentary on the tape. |
| 0:01:52 | Approval of the agenda | "We have a single item agenda in front of us tonight." Benware moved the agenda as written, Petrin seconded; approved by voice. |
| 0:02:29 | Citizens' comments | One speaker, Deborah Chase, Ward 1, on the lunch debt and lottery money. Closed at 0:16:31; she was later invited back to ask questions during the food service item. |
| 0:16:31 | Food service / school lunch program | Discussion only; no motion. Administration's plan: revisit the 2017 meal policy, meet the Abbey Group, hire a food service coordinator, ask the Department of Education about volunteer callers, and consider donations. Consensus to accept lunch-debt donations received by 4:30 p.m. on November 6, with a public hearing and acceptance at the next meeting. |
| 0:43:38 | Good of the order | Policy subcommittee to meet November 7; superintendent-search survey; election day; school website. |
| 0:48:19 | Adjournment | Benware moved; an unidentified member seconded; approved by voice. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:00:12 | Out of nonpublic session | Benware: "I'd like to make a motion to come out of nonpublic session." Roll call answered by all six members. The chair then asks for the clerk: "Mrs. Woodman. Roll call. Vote." | MEDIUM |
| 0:00:49 | Nonpublic minutes sealed | "I'd like to make a motion to seal the minutes for 97 years." The chair adds "Of the of the nonpublic." Benware: "Let me say that again, because it sounded bad. I'd like to make a motion to seal the minutes of the nonpublic session for 97 years." Voice vote at 0:01:04. | MEDIUM |
| 0:02:29 | Citizens' comments: the lunch debt | Chase (Ward 1): "how did we get to this point with the school being $36,000? Or I forget the exact number in debt on the school lunch program." "But really, who let the ball roll down the gutter?" | |
| 0:03:54 | Why members do not answer | Zullo: "we are not allowed to respond at citizens comments. So we're all looking at you and we're listening". The chair then proposed that "perhaps we can start with an explanation of, of how we got here." when the item came up, and the commenter was allowed to ask questions. | POSITIVE |
| 0:04:43 | Lottery money for education | Chase: the state lottery, "I think it was $79 million this year. Got for education." She asked where Claremont's share shows in the budget. O'Neill: "They gave $79 million to the state, which they used to pay $300 million in adequacy, for example." LeClair: lottery money is "less than 3% of the total state, money spent on education". | POSITIVE |
| 0:07:26 | Keno revenue for kindergarten | LeClair: the district does not know "how much of the money we get from the state is from lottery, from taxes", except the Keno money tied to kindergarten ("It was 140,000 for next year."). Zullo: "we know from kindergarten that we got $140,000" [Keno; the transcript renders Keno as kindergarten]. | |
| 0:09:03 | How the budget nets out revenue | Sprague: "We take away an estimated amount of revenue that we receive, most of it annually, some grants." and the remainder "becomes your local tax share after every revenue, federal and state that we get." | |
| 0:12:26 | State aid figures read aloud | O'Neill read statewide totals from the Department of Education spreadsheet, including "Special education aid 22.3 million building 836 million." [the building figure is likely two fused numbers; see the method note]. He and Towle pointed to the Department of Education website; Sprague added the Revenue Administration website. | |
| 0:15:48 | Encouraging public participation | Towle: "And we need more of you, coming and asking these type of questions because it's really good." She invited the commenter to the budget hearing and deliberative session. | POSITIVE |
| 0:16:31 | Food service: how the deficit arose | Sprague asked whether the figure was for this year or cumulative; O'Neill: generated from "the 1718 school lunch program". Sprague: "32. So what is it this year so far?" O'Neill could not say and offered to report at the next meeting. | |
| 0:18:13 | The same-meal rule | O'Neill: "So it all did start when we adopted a new policy that said that you can't differentiate between what children are eating". Benware: "if a kid comes to school and doesn't have food and they ask for food, you have to feed them." LeClair (0:19:24): meals are $3 a day, and "the federal law change that we are required to give the same meal to every child". | OBSERVATION |
| 0:19:24 | Collection efforts to date | LeClair: letters home, an app, phone calls to families in debt, outreach on free and reduced lunch eligibility. "So we we have landed here with $32,000 and we have a plan for moving forward." "we instituted a point of sale system. So our record keeping is much more accurate now". | |
| 0:21:10 | Staff debt and a la carte | Pierce asked for "a division on what the staff owes to what the student owes" and for limits on a la carte items: "it's not just the parents at home that aren't paying for their kids. It's, you know, unfortunately, it's our staff too." | |
| 0:23:03 | Administration's plan | LeClair: revisit the policy "put in place in 17"; sit down with the Abbey Group on "expectations, the policy and the contract language"; "We are in the process of hiring a food service coordinator"; ask the Department of Education about volunteer callers, since "There's some concerns about confidentiality issues."; decide on donations. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:24:49 | Why the number appeared now | Petrin: "The the food debt has been there in the past. The new point of service accounting system is now recognizing that differently, and that's why the number is showing up the way it is." The coordinator provides "services that we as a district have to do". | |
| 0:26:45 | Every child is fed | Zullo: "All children in this district are being fed, and they're being fed exactly the same meals as every other child who gets a hot lunch." "And that's the law." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:27:37 | Commenter's questions: the contractor | Chase asked who hires the food contractor and whether it buys locally. LeClair: the Abbey Group sources all products, and procurement "is very heavily regulated by the US Department of Agriculture." Kitchen staff work for the Abbey Group, not the district. | |
| 0:32:53 | Whether to accept donations | LeClair: "So if the board is willing to accept donations to alleviate the existing debt, I think you need to make that determination." Zullo (0:34:04): "it's quite a conversation as to whether or not taxpayers should be responsible for paying for children's meals." | POSITIVE |
| 0:34:37 | Why families are not paying | Sprague: "We're really not sure at this point." He suspects "people think they're paying and the child goes to school with $3 or $4 and they spend 5 or $6." The coordinator would find out. | |
| 0:36:01 | Paying online | Benware said he had to call the SAU to find the payment site. LeClair described the K12 Payment Center app ("There is an app for K-12 payment center"). | |
| 0:36:59 | Backpack program | Petrin: "There is also a backpack program that I've heard about, and I believe it's run through the Trinity Church." Towle: the program has "lost some of their funding". | |
| 0:38:39 | Special education students out of district | Chase asked about bringing back students placed out of district. Pfeifer: "We are aggressively talking and cooperating with the city of Claremont" on local programs in "the least restrictive environment". LeClair: "It's also a topic on next Wednesday's agenda." | |
| 0:40:16 | Donation deadline set | LeClair: "So we'll do a public hearing and acceptance of donation" at the next meeting; "So far, we've received $280 in cash and checks delivered to the office." Sprague (0:41:24): later gifts could go to the Trinity backpack program. Final wording (0:42:54): checks payable to the Claremont School District "Need to be received at the superintendent's office by end of business. 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 6th." | POSITIVE |
| 0:43:42 | Policy subcommittee | Zullo asked that the food policies be on the subcommittee's list; Benware asked for the district drug and alcohol policy. LeClair: "They are actually going to meet November 7th before the regular school board meeting." Sections A, B, C and J; Pfeifer raised administering medications. | |
| 0:45:08 | Superintendent-search survey | Towle urged the public to take the survey for "our search for our, new superintendent". Zullo (0:45:47): "parent and guardians who have filled out is at 54 community members, 25 have have done the survey." Two students, 35 faculty, 11 administrators and support staff. | |
| 0:46:48 | Election day; no school | Sprague: "Tuesday's election day. Make sure everybody gets out and votes." LeClair: no school November 5 (parent-teacher conferences) or November 6 (voting). | |
| 0:47:08 | School website | Pierce asked about posting school news; Petrin said he posted "Meeting agendas. I posted a link to the survey." | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on October 30, 2018, cited from the 2018 codification or from texts whose source notes show no later change relevant here. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. Six flags follow, ordered by severity.
MEDIUM Nonpublic minutes were sealed "for 97 years" by voice vote, with no statutory determination stated on the recording
The recording starts as the board leaves a nonpublic session (0:00:12), so the motion to enter it, and the exemption it had to state, are not on the tape. Once out, Benware moved "to seal the minutes of the nonpublic session for 97 years." (0:00:53), and the chair took a voice vote (0:01:04). In 2018 RSA 91-A:3, III required nonpublic minutes to be disclosed within 72 hours unless, "by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session", the board determined that disclosure would likely affect adversely the reputation of a non-member, render the proposed action ineffective, or concern terrorism; such information "may be withheld until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply." Three points are open on the tape. No determination is stated in the motion or before the vote. The vote was by voice with no count read, so whether it was recorded as a two-thirds vote depends on minutes that are not online (the roll call just before showed six members present, and no one is heard opposing). And the statute sets no fixed sealing term; it ties withholding to the determined circumstances, so a flat 97 years is a term the statute does not supply. Benware himself remarked that the motion "sounded bad". The nonpublic minutes may record the entry motion and a determination; they are the place to check. The limb applied is a documentation gap, not a confirmed violation, which is why this is MEDIUM.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and III (2018 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017).
OBSERVATION The same-meal rule was attributed to federal law; the binding rule in 2018 was New Hampshire's RSA 189:11-a, VIII
LeClair described "the federal law change that we are required to give the same meal to every child" (0:19:24); Zullo said every child gets "exactly the same meals" and "And that's the law." (0:27:01); O'Neill traced it to "a new policy that said that you can't differentiate between what children are eating" (0:18:13). As verified for this page, the federal requirement was procedural: USDA memo SP 46-2016 required every school food authority to have "a written and clearly communicated system to address meal charges", and USDA's 2017 guidance left serving an alternate meal to local choice. The substantive rule came from the State: since July 2, 2016, RSA 189:11-a, VIII has required a district's meal payment policy to ensure "that all students have access to a healthy school lunch" and that "no student will be subject to different treatment from the standard school lunch meal or school cafeteria procedures." So the members' bottom line (every child is fed the same meal, and that is the law) was right for New Hampshire in October 2018; only the attribution to federal law was imprecise. Recorded as an observation because the public explanation of why the debt accrues depends on getting the source of the rule right.
Sources: RSA 189:11-a, VIII (2018 codification; source note ends 2016, 48:1, eff. July 2, 2016); USDA FNS memo SP 23-2017, Unpaid Meal Charges: Guidance and Q&A (March 23, 2017), restating SP 46-2016.
OBSERVATION No agenda, notice or minutes for this meeting are posted online, and the opening of the meeting is not on the recording
MAP.md section 85 records that neither district Drive share holds anything before July 2022 (checked 9/26/26). That is a limit of what the district posts online, not by itself evidence that records were never made. It matters more than usual here: the call to order, the first attendance, the motion to enter nonpublic session and its cited exemption, and the nonpublic session itself all happened before the tape starts (0:00:03; the chair's "We've already done the Pledge of Allegiance." at 0:01:04). In 2018 RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes, including of nonpublic sessions, to "include the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions", open to inspection within five business days. The 2019 amendment requiring minutes to name the mover and seconder of each motion was not yet in force. The limb applied is the online-availability observation.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2018 codification; the mover/seconder sentence arrived with 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 85.
OBSERVATION The recovery plan does not say which fund absorbs debt that is never collected
The plan set out at 0:23:03 (policy review, a contractor meeting, a food service coordinator, volunteer callers, donations) addresses collection going forward. LeClair added: "I don't think it's reasonable to think we would end the year without anybody in debt" (0:24:23). USDA's 2017 guidance states that unpaid meal charges that become bad debt cannot be covered from the nonprofit school food service account: "these losses must be restored using non-Federal funds." Nothing on this recording says where the uncollected part of the $32,000 would be charged. The board's October 3 vote to write off small balances raises the same question (see the October 3 page). No violation is shown; this is noted so a reader knows what to look for in the budget.
Sources: USDA FNS memo SP 23-2017 (March 23, 2017), bad debt.
POSITIVE A resident's questions were answered on the record, including where lottery money goes
Zullo told the commenter why members stay silent during citizens' comments (0:03:54), and the chair then brought her questions into the agenda item so they could be answered (0:04:21). Administrators explained that lottery revenue is pooled into state education aid and cannot be traced to a Claremont budget line, named the one earmarked stream (Keno money for kindergarten, $140,000), and pointed her to the Department of Education and Revenue Administration websites (0:06:23 to 0:14:58). She was invited back to ask about the food contractor and out-of-district special education placements (0:27:37, 0:38:39). No 2018 statute required any of this: the 30-minute public comment rule, RSA 189:74, dates from 2022. It is the kind of responsiveness these pages should record.
Sources: Recording only; practice beyond statutory minimums. RSA 189:74 enacted by 2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022 (project anchors file).
POSITIVE Small lunch-debt donations were routed through a public hearing and a fixed deadline
About $280 had come in when the board discussed donations (0:40:43). Under RSA 198:20-b, III(b) as it read in 2018, unanticipated funds under $5,000 needed only notice in the agenda and the minutes and acceptance in public session at a regular meeting; a hearing was required at $5,000 or more. The administration nonetheless proposed "a public hearing and acceptance of donation" at the next meeting (0:40:16), set a public cutoff with a named payee (0:42:54), and the board pointed later gifts to the Trinity Church backpack program rather than letting an open-ended fund grow (0:41:24). Pierce asked that the money be for students only (0:42:04). Whether the hearing and acceptance happened is for the November 7 record.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(a)-(b) (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1, so the same text governed in 2018).
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 10095, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 10-30": 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, checked 9/26/26). No notice, agenda, packet or minutes were located.
- Related pages: Claremont School Board, September 19, 2018; Claremont School Board, October 3, 2018 (lunch balances and the Horsky resignation); SAU 6 Board, October 18, 2018 (food service compliance position).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/10095 SchoolBoard103018.mp4.CSV (391 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/10095 SchoolBoard103018.mp4Input/Transcripts/10095 SchoolBoard103018.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/10095 SchoolBoard103018.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 85
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on October 30, 2018. RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes; 2018 codification, before the 2019 mover/seconder amendment). RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and III (nonpublic sessions and sealing; 2018 codification). RSA 189:11-a, VIII (meal payment policies; 2018 codification, eff. July 2, 2016). RSA 198:20-b, III (unanticipated funds; unchanged since 2005). RSA 189:74 is mentioned only to note that it did not yet exist.
- Federal guidance. USDA FNS SP 23-2017 (unpaid meal charges; restates the SP 46-2016 written-policy requirement; bad debt restored from non-federal funds).