Participants
Everyone heard on the recording. There are no minutes to check spellings against; names follow the project's 2015-2023 roster and attribution report, or a speaker's own introduction, with the transcribed form kept where it differs. The diarizer merged most male voices into one cluster and the moderator with most female voices, so names rest on the moderator's recognitions.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Tracy Pope | School district moderator, presiding | Not named while presiding. Towle reads "The moderator, Tracy Pope" among the officers under Article 1 (0:06:54), and on December 13 the interim superintendent and a board member had referred to the district moderator as Mrs. Pope (December 13, 2018 page). Reads the rules, recognizes speakers and calls every vote. |
| Frank Sprague | Chair, Claremont School Board | Introduces the board (0:02:11) and closes with a plea against the default budget (0:57:57 to 1:04:05); recognized as "Craig spray" (0:57:33). |
| Jason Benware | Board member; budget subcommittee | "The moderator recognizes Jason Benner." (0:07:51). Reads Article 2 and gives the budget presentation (0:08:11 to 0:29:57). |
| Michael Petrin | Board member; budget subcommittee | Introduced as "Mike. Peter." (0:02:11). Presents Article 4, the Disnard fire-alarm panel (0:37:36). |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Board member | "My name is Bob Lovett." (0:34:04). Presents Article 3, the Bluff roof, and Article 5, the radios (0:39:20). |
| Carolyn Towle | Board member | "Moderator recognizes Caroline Holt." (0:06:35). Presents Article 1, the election of officers. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Vice chair | Introduced as "assistant board chair" (0:02:11). Presents Article 6, the bus cameras (0:50:35). |
| Keith Pfeifer | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Introduced as "Doctor Keith Speicher" (0:01:03). Introduces the administrators present. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Introduced as "Corey McClure" to lead the Pledge (0:00:26). Answers the question on audio in bus cameras (0:54:40); the moderator thanks "Mr. Blair", which the project reads as LeClair (medium confidence). |
| Josh Malloy | Director of technology, SAU 6 | Named by Pfeifer (0:01:08); introduces himself as "Joshua Ward one." (0:45:09). Speaks for Article 5 and answers on bus integration. |
| Patricia Barry | Principal, Stevens High School (attribution medium) | Introduced by Pfeifer as "Pat Barrett, principal of Stevens High School" (0:01:08); her self-introduction is garbled and the moderator thanks "Mrs. Barrett" (0:44:24). Speaks for Article 5 (0:43:00). |
| Mark Chase | Claremont Police Chief; Ward 1 resident | "The moderator now recognizes chief Mark Chase." (0:40:24). Speaks for Article 5 (0:40:37). |
| Other administrators introduced | SAU 6 and school staff | Pfeifer names, as transcribed, "Alyssa Ruiz", "Kathleen Grinnell" [Kathleen Bunnell], "Alex Herzog, principal director of sugar River Valley Technical Center", "Michael Neill, director of business and finance" [O'Neill] and "Ben Nestor, director of special education" [Nester] (0:01:08). Their schools are not reliably separable in the transcript. None speaks. |
| Larissa Cahill and Chris Lewis (as transcribed) | Counters | Introduced as "this evening's counters" (0:04:24); spellings unverified. |
| Charlene Lovett | Mayor of Claremont (in the audience) | "I see Mayor Lovett in the audience" (0:59:40); quoted by the chair from the newspaper. |
| Unidentified | Floor speaker, Ward 1 | Asks how a $100,000 roof can have "a zero impact on the tax rate" (0:35:28). No answer is captured. |
| Unidentified | Floor speaker | Asks whether the radios would reach the bus garage and the buses (0:47:06). |
| Unidentified | SAU staff member | Answers that radios are already on "all of our busses" and the new system would integrate with phones (0:48:38). |
| Unidentified | Floor speaker, Ward 3 | Speaks against the bus cameras unless they record audio (0:52:46). The name is garbled in the transcript. |
| Unidentified | Various | 40 of 215 dialogue rows (18.6%): motions, seconds, voice-vote choruses and floor fragments. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No warrant or agenda survives online; the articles were read aloud and the order below follows the recording. Each article was presented and carried on a voice vote; no amendment was offered.
| Taken up | Item | What was said and done |
|---|
| 0:00:26 | Welcome, Pledge, introductions | Pledge; administrators introduced by Pfeifer (0:01:08); board introduced by Sprague (0:02:11). |
| 0:02:43 | Rules of procedure | Read from the handout "deliberative session introduction and rules procedure": articles "are automatically presented as written or amended by the voters present to the March 12th ballot session." Five minutes for proponents, two for others; "Amendments must be in writing, presented to the moderator, signed by the person making the motion and the person seconding the motion." (0:03:31). A secret-ballot procedure is described (0:04:42). |
| 0:05:34 | Minutes of the 2018 deliberative session | "I'd like to begin the meeting with a motion to approve the minutes of the February 8th, 2018, deliberative succession." Moved and seconded; carried by voice vote with a nay heard (0:06:11). |
| 0:06:35 | Article 1, election of officers | Presented by Towle. Carried by voice vote (0:07:51). |
| 0:07:51 | Article 2, operating budget | "totaling $35,293,063. Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $35,113,750" (as read by Benware, 0:08:39). No floor speakers. The moderator first calls the vote at "$5,113,757" (0:31:16), then "I'm sorry. The amount was $35,293,063." The ayes have it (0:32:26). |
| 0:32:54 | Restrict reconsideration of Articles 1 and 2 | Moved and seconded; carried (0:33:28). |
| 0:33:39 | Article 3, Bluff roof | "the sum of $100,000 for the purpose of roofing repairs at Bluff Elementary School." (Lovett). A Ward 1 question. Carried (0:37:13). |
| 0:37:13 | Article 4, Disnard fire-alarm panel | "the sum of $80,000" (Petrin). Carried (0:38:51). |
| 0:38:51 | Article 5, district-wide emergency radios | "an appropriate sum of $249,950" (Lovett, 0:39:20). Speakers: Chief Chase, Barry, Malloy; a question on buses. Carried with nays heard (0:50:02). |
| 0:50:21 | Article 6, bus cameras | "the sum of $51,000 for the purpose of purchasing and installing surveillance cameras on all Claremont School District busses." (Zullo, 0:50:57). A Ward 3 resident against; LeClair answers. Carried with nays heard (0:57:05). |
| 0:57:21 | Restrict reconsideration of Articles 3 to 6 | Moved and seconded; carried (0:57:33). |
| 0:57:57 | Closing remarks and close | The board chair on the default budget; the moderator closes the session (1:04:24). No adjournment motion is heard. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/10232 SchoolBoardDeliberative020619.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording. Quotations are as transcribed; bracketed words are corrections, with the transcript's wording kept where the correction changes sense. Wording from the warrant and the rules sheet is that wording as read aloud on the recording.
Chronological topics with the most concrete material first.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:06:54 | Article 1 as read | "to elect a moderator, district clerk and a district trader [treasurer] each for a one year term. The moderator, Tracy Pope, District Clerk Mary Wigman [Woodman], and Mr. Treasurer Jane Hunter, also three board members, two for three year term and one for two year term." The names read for the board seats are "Caroline Toll, Michelle Piper, Brian Rath, Rob Lovett" [Towle, probably Pierce, Rapp, Lovett] and, for the two-year term, "Heather Whitney". | |
| 0:08:39 | Article 2 as read | "totaling $35,293,063. Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $35,113,750". It "includes the sum necessary to fund the cost items in the 20 1920 fiscal year for a three year collective bargaining agreement reached between the Claremont School Board and the Claremont Administrators Association" (0:09:25): "The estimated increase of 17,789. 2021 estimated the increase is 31,197" and a third-year figure transcribed "32,000 to 85" (0:09:52). A favorable vote "shall be considered not only the approval of the proposed operating budget" but also of the cost items. | POS |
| 0:10:49 | Why the warrant figure is larger | Benware: "This amount includes money from grants and other state and federal sources that don't impact our tax rate. So it's passed through money." and "what you're going to see for a number here is larger than the actual budget". Later: "The main article, the operating budget is $31,828." [$31,828,063] (0:28:47). | OBS |
| 0:11:52 | Default budget | Benware: "The default budget is 35,113 7050." and "The school district and school board do not get to determine the amount of the default budget, and that's important to know." (0:12:13). | OBS |
| 0:12:32 | How the budget was built | A subcommittee of Benware, Sprague and "Michael Patron" [Petrin] worked "with the administration, with principals" to "build a budget together and collaboration rather than a sort of us versus them approach." | |
| 0:14:35 | Costs and revenues | "A total fixed cost increases in 813,780." Adequacy aid including stabilization "is down $71,061"; stabilization falls "4% a year. Which equates to about $225,000 a year every year" (0:16:11), softened by good attendance. Total increase with lost revenue "434,714, which comes in below our target" (0:18:34). | |
| 0:21:24 | Reductions and additions | Positions at Stevens "for a cost of $258,729", preschool "$134,425", Bluff $84,125, district-wide "six full time equivalent positions for cost of $143,100", all expected through attrition or reassignment (0:21:58). Additions: an ROTC course and supplies, a 0.2 FTE ESOL tutor at $6,644, and the alternative program at "$373,914, for a total additions of $400,738." (0:23:46). | |
| 0:25:39 | Alternative program | "a total projected cost for a year one $642,914." With three students returning from out-of-district placement, "which brings the projected program cost per year, one of $373,914 at $90,000 per kid". | |
| 0:29:18 | Tax rate | Operating budget "affected by $0.27" after the security-upgrade removal; radios "$249,950, which would equate to a 35 cent increase". "The total of all warnings [warrants], $32,309,013 would increase the tax rate of all warrants were approved by $0.79." With lost revenue, "your total tax increase would be $0.90 per 1000." (0:29:57). | |
| 0:30:49 | Calling the votes | The moderator asks "is there anyone wishing to speak against this amendment?" though no amendment has been offered, and calls a voice vote on each article; Article 2 is first called at the default figure and corrected (0:32:26). Two such calls at 0:34:31 and 0:34:37 are labeled Rob Lovett Jr. in the dialogue file; by content they are the moderator's. | OBS |
| 0:35:28 | Roof with no tax effect | A Ward 1 resident: "Is 100,000 coming from the Capital Reserve fund to offset this, or how is that work?" A board member had said it has "zero effect on the tax rate" (0:34:47); Benware had said "It's $100,000 that you will see no tax increase from approving that." (0:29:18). No answer to the question is captured in the transcript. | |
| 0:37:36 | Fire-alarm panel | Petrin: the panel "is at least 20 years old"; parts are hard to find "because they're not made anymore." If it fails, "You then have to post the fire fire department at the school until it's replaced" (0:38:06). | |
| 0:39:46 | Radios: the board's case | Lovett: "Most of our schools are older if thick walls, which will sometimes impede the use of cell phones." The system "would connect all seven of the different locations." | |
| 0:40:37 | Radios: the police chief | Chief Chase: "I recently purchased a radio just for a specifically for our SRO." (0:40:55); "we had a specific incident in November, December where it was apparent that we needed some sort of immediate communications with the school. We didn't have it." (0:41:19). The system could integrate with a planned county-wide radio project (0:41:47). "I'm in support of this and I think it's crucial." | OBS |
| 0:43:00 | Radios: Stevens High School | An incident in the cafeteria "with someone who has gotten gravely ill" could not be relayed in time to the nurse (0:43:27); "We have only five working radios at the high school right now where we should have at least ten." (0:43:57). | OBS |
| 0:45:09 | Radios: technology director | Malloy: "We did a lot of research on this before we brought it to chief." "It integrates with broadband". On buses: "I'm gonna have to look into that." (0:48:12) and "But I'm like 95%, maybe 7% sure." (0:48:31). A staff member adds that buses already carry radios (0:48:38). | OBS |
| 0:51:20 | Bus cameras | Zullo: four internal and two external cameras with "a digital video recorder, wiring accessories and viewing software for each of our 12 full size busses." (0:51:46). A Ward 3 resident opposes video without audio: "unless you can hear here and see it, it's more of a deficit" (0:53:54). | |
| 0:54:40 | Audio on buses | LeClair: the system is "video only" because "There are different rules for audio recordings, and there are for video recordings. To add a system that included audio recordings would be much more complex in terms of parental permissions and things of that nature." Retention and access are "dictated by state statute" (0:55:16). This matches RSA 570-A:2, II(k) as it read on this date: audio on a school bus is lawful only with video, board authorization, notice to parents and students, and a posted sign, with retention capped at 10 school days unless needed for discipline or ordered by a court. | POS |
| 0:58:12 | The chair on the default budget | Sprague: the legislature has made the default budget "somewhat of a moving target with the intention of giving voters an actual choice"; this year's default "It's actually $193,340 less than our proposed budget." (0:59:40). | OBS |
| 1:00:49 | Trust the process | "So I'm asking taxpayers in Claremont this year to really trust our process." The board is "a complete consensus on this budget" (1:01:19). He cites a school boards association presentation on early-childhood trauma (1:02:39) and closes: "I really hope that people will not succumb to the temptation of voting to save a few dollars" (1:04:05). | OBS |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer's aid, not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each one names the rule it rests on, as that rule read on February 6, 2019, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. A deliberative session is a meeting of the voters, so school-board rules (public comment periods, nonpublic sessions, roll calls) do not apply to it.
MEDIUM No warrant, rules sheet or minutes for this session survive in any district share
MAP.md records no Drive material. The clerk "shall keep a true record of all the doings of each meeting" under RSA 197:20, and RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes open to inspection within five business days. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the recording shows that record being kept: the session approved the minutes of the February 8, 2018 deliberative session (0:05:34). The online shares do not reach back to 2019. The gap still matters: the rules sheet and a frequently-asked-questions handout on the default budget were distributed in the room (0:02:43, 0:58:12), and neither can be read today.
Sources: RSA 197:20 (source note ends 1963, 120:5); RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1)
OBSERVATION The warrant's operating budget is $3,465,000 larger than the figure presented at the budget hearing
At the January 2 hearing the board presented an operating budget of $31,828,063, the figure it had voted to send to the hearing on December 19 (January 2, 2019 page). Article 2 asks for $35,293,063 (0:08:39). Benware explained the difference here: the article "includes money from grants and other state and federal sources that don't impact our tax rate" (0:10:49). That is what RSA 32:5, III requires: "All appropriations recommended shall be stipulated on a 'gross' basis, showing anticipated revenues from all sources, including grants". RSA 32:5, II also requires that "All purposes and amounts of appropriations to be included in the budget" be "disclosed or discussed at the final hearing". The hearing transcript never states the gross figure; the business administrator's handouts at the hearing may have, but none survives. The record cannot show whether the $3,465,000 was disclosed on January 2, so this is an observation. A reader comparing the two meetings' figures should know they measure different things.
Sources: RSA 32:5, II and III (2018 codification; source note ends 2018, 246:1, eff. Aug. 11, 2018)
OBSERVATION Two different default-budget gaps were given to the voters
The warrant as read puts the default budget at $35,113,750 against a proposed $35,293,063 (0:08:39), a difference of $179,313, which matches the business administrator's "$179,000 less" at the January 2 hearing. In his closing remarks the board chair told the voters the default "It's actually $193,340 less than our proposed budget." (0:59:40), about $14,000 more. The moderator also first called the Article 2 vote at the default figure before correcting herself (0:31:16, 0:32:26). Under RSA 40:13, XI(b) the default amount "shall not be amended by the legislative body", so the warrant figure governs; the point is that the voters heard two numbers for the choice in front of them.
Sources: RSA 40:13, IX(b) and XI(b) (2018 codification; text in force August 2018 to July 9, 2019)
OBSERVATION Each article was put to a voice vote, styled as a vote on an "amendment", though none was offered
The moderator correctly read that articles "are automatically presented as written or amended by the voters present to the March 12th ballot session" (0:03:05). She then called for speakers "against this amendment" and a voice vote on every article (0:30:49, 0:38:51, 0:50:02, 0:57:05), with nays heard on several. Under RSA 40:13, VI, as it read on this date, "All warrant articles shall be placed on the official ballot for a final vote, including warrant articles as amended by the first session", so these votes decided nothing. The first session's power is to explain, debate and amend. A viewer could take "the ayes have it" as approval.
Sources: RSA 40:13, IV and VI (2018 codification)
OBSERVATION Public employees spoke for the radio article when the moderator called for speakers in favor
For Article 5 the police chief, a Stevens High School administrator and the SAU technology director each spoke in favor (0:40:37, 0:43:00, 0:45:09), and the chief said "I'm in support of this". RSA 659:44-a, I provides that "No public employee, as defined in RSA 273-A:1, IX, shall electioneer while in the performance of his or her official duties", and ¶III defines electioneering as acting "in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question". Several facts point the other way: the moderator recognized them in the article's debate, a deliberative session exists for "explanation, discussion, and debate" of each article (RSA 40:13, IV), the chief and the technology director introduced themselves as Ward 1 residents, and much of what they said was factual. Whether speaking at a deliberative session is within "official duties" is not settled by anything verified for this page. Elected officials are outside the section: RSA 273-A:1, IX(a) excludes "Persons elected by popular vote", so the board chair's closing plea (1:04:05) is not covered.
Sources: RSA 659:44-a, I and III (2019 codification; source note ends 2016, 176:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017); RSA 273-A:1, IX(a) (2019 codification); RSA 40:13, IV (2018 codification)
POSITIVE The contract cost items were spelled out for all three years, and the bus-camera answer matched the statute
Article 2 told the voters that it carries the administrators' agreement and gave the estimated increase for each year (17,789; 31,197; and a third figure), and the presenter explained in plain terms that approving the budget also approves the later years (0:09:25, 0:11:22, 0:11:52). Asked why the bus cameras would not record sound, the assistant superintendent gave an answer that matches RSA 570-A:2, II(k): audio on a school bus requires board authorization, notice to parents and students and a posted sign, and recordings are kept no more than 10 school days unless needed for discipline or ordered by a court (0:54:40). The session fell inside the statutory window, the first and second Saturdays after the last Monday in January (February 2 to February 9, 2019), and the moderator read the written-amendment rule before business began (0:03:31).
Sources: RSA 570-A:2, II(k) (2018 codification; source note ends 2016, 169:1 and 322:2, eff. Jan. 1, 2017); RSA 40:13, III (2018 codification)
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: CLAREMONT SCHOOL BUDGET Deliberative Session of 2-6-19 (show 10232; run time from the Cablecast API not retrieved, the API returned 403 on 2026-10-02)
- Google Drive: no warrant, rules sheet, default-budget handout, packet or minutes. MAP.md: "neither share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (checked 9/26/26)." Not searched again for this page, per the run instructions for meetings with no Drive material.
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/10232 SchoolBoardDeliberative020619.mp4.CSV (215 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/10232 SchoolBoardDeliberative020619.mp4Input/Transcripts/10232 SchoolBoardDeliberative020619.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 92Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/10232 SchoolBoardDeliberative020619.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 40:13, III, IV, VI, IX(b) and XI(b), 2018 codification (source note ends 2018, 241:1, 2 and 313:1, 2): first-session window, conduct, all articles to the ballot, default budget
- RSA 32:5, II and III, 2018 codification (source note ends 2018, 246:1): disclosure at the final hearing; gross-basis appropriations
- RSA 197:20 (1963, 120:5): the clerk keeps a true record of each meeting
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2019 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1): minutes
- RSA 570-A:2, II(k), 2018 codification (source note ends 2016, 322:2, eff. Jan. 1, 2017): audio recording on school buses
- RSA 659:44-a, I and III, 2019 codification (source note ends 2016, 176:1): electioneering by public employees
- RSA 273-A:1, IX(a), 2019 codification (source note ends 2014, 13:1, 2): elected officials are not public employees for this purpose