Participants
Everyone heard on the recording or named as taking part. No minutes were available to settle spellings; names follow the project's 2015 to 2023 roster, the attribution report for this file and the CSV corrections ledger. Transcribed forms are kept in parentheses where they differ.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Marjorie Erickson | Unity member; SAU 6 chair at the start; elected vice chair; presides to the end of the recording | Calls the meeting to order (0:00:33) and proposes the agenda changes (0:02:15). Corrects the March 7 minutes: Petrin, not she, ran that meeting (0:07:47). Declines a chair nomination and is elected vice chair (0:31:25). Explains, on counsel's advice, why the March 7 superintendent vote is being read into the record (1:41:56) and summarizes the search (1:42:44). |
| Michael Petrin | Claremont member; elected SAU 6 chair ("Mike patron") | Answers the roll (0:01:50). Elected chair on Carolyn Towle's nomination (0:28:51); Erickson keeps the gavel for the rest of the meeting. Supports the efficiency study (1:10:06). Reads the March 7 roll-call vote into the record (1:46:02). |
| Robert McDevitt | Unity member | Answers the roll as President. [present] (0:01:32). Answers the employee commenter on how news of board votes reaches staff (0:20:35). Moves the efficiency study (1:10:40) and advises that a second may be withdrawn (1:22:00). |
| Prudence McCormick | Unity member | Answers the roll (0:01:33, inside a row the CSV gives to the clerk). Named as seconder of the March 7 superintendent motion when that vote is read into the record (1:46:02). No other attributed speech. |
| Shannon Popescu | Unity member, new (roll call transcribed "Shannon Crossfield. Popescu, pastor") | Asks whether the efficiency study has to go out to bid (1:11:14). The attribution report rates this voice low confidence. |
| Frank Sprague | Claremont member ("Franks gray", "Franks. Greg") | Moves each of the four sets of minutes (0:10:06 to 0:12:24). Nominates Erickson for chair (0:28:24). Asks who is accountable for the lunch filings (0:44:58) and proposes withholding diplomas over meal debt (0:46:13). Seconds the efficiency-study motion after Towle withdraws (1:22:17). Voted no on March 7 per the roll read at 1:46:02. |
| Jason Benware | Claremont member ("Jason Bennion", "Jason Bender") | Moves the amended agenda (0:03:04) and corrects the November 8 minutes (0:04:07). Seconds three sets of minutes. Nominates Erickson for vice chair (0:30:53). Argues for the efficiency study as an investment (1:19:27), then offers a contingent motion that draws no second (1:28:04). Moves the nonpublic session (1:50:49). |
| Rebecca Zullo | Claremont member ("Rebecca Zulu") | Explains the search committee's weekend press release and a messaging glitch that delayed staff notice (0:22:55). Raises lunch-billing complaints (0:47:40). Questions commissioning the efficiency study before the new superintendent has input (1:03:49). Objects to how the March 7 vote was handled (1:47:01, 1:49:50). |
| Carolyn Towle | Claremont member ("Carolyn Toll", "Carolyn. Tall") | Nominates Petrin for chair (0:28:51). Seconds the efficiency-study motion, then withdraws the second (1:21:45). Notes that three Claremont members are booked for a May 9 training (0:26:42). |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Claremont member | Corrects the year printed on the February minutes (0:06:58). Opposes the efficiency study as unfunded and premature (1:15:08, 1:18:23). Answers Yes. to the nonpublic roll call (1:52:27). |
| Heather Whitney | Claremont member, new | Asks what authority the new food service assistant has (0:51:05). Asks what the efficiency study would target and how a capped study could be completed (1:03:08, 1:13:17). |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, Acting Superintendent | Reports the missed National School Lunch Program filing deadline and the corrective steps (0:32:42 to 0:43:47); the CSV labels rows 283, 318 and 319 as the chair, and the corrections ledger reassigns them to LeClair. Gives the lunch-debt figures (0:39:08). Reports what the auditors and Municipal Resources, Inc. said about a forensic audit or efficiency study (0:53:08). |
| Michael O'Neill | SAU 6 Business Administrator (surname spelling unverified) | Reads the lost-reimbursement figures (0:35:08 to 0:35:40). Says the loss can be covered by health insurance changes (0:44:40). Presents the year-end expenditure and revenue projection (1:31:55 to 1:41:05) and asks how to account for the merit pool (1:37:00). |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk and recording secretary | Calls the roll (0:01:33) and the nonpublic roll-call vote (1:52:22). |
| Mimi (surname not intelligible) | Citizens' comments; Stevens High School employee | Speaks for the lunch program (0:13:22). Transcribed self-introduction: "Mimi, rise for one". The project roster records a Mimi Rhines elsewhere in the corpus; that is not confirmed for this speaker. |
| Charlie Gessner (spelling unverified) | Citizens' comments; Ward 1; district employee | Asks about Dr. Pfeifer's status and pay, how employees learned of the new superintendent, whether a contract is signed, and what the year's turnover has cost (0:15:52 to 0:20:13). |
| Keith Pfeifer | Interim Superintendent, on leave (named, not present) | Raised in citizens' comments (0:16:20). Valley News reported on March 29, 2019 that he resigned on Thursday, March 28. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent nominee (named, not present) | Subject of the March 7 vote read into the record (1:45:38); the chair says she discussed the efficiency study with him (1:05:22). |
| Danielle Skinner | SAU food service program assistant (named, not present) | Hired in November, per LeClair, to prepare and file the lunch program applications (0:36:23, 0:45:11). |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting survives in any district share. The items below are reconstructed from the chair's transitions. The chair refers to the posted agenda's numbering once ("under three H"), so an agenda existed on the night.
Items in the order taken up, with the disposition heard on the recording.
| Taken up | Item | Disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:33 | Call to order, pledge, roll call | Called to order at 6:33 p.m. by the chair's computer clock. All eleven members answer or are present; the transcript does not catch Zullo's or Lovett's names in the roll, but both take part later. |
| 0:02:15 | Agenda | Two floor amendments by the chair: add citizens' comments after the minutes ("we missed putting the citizens comments on that"), and move item 3H, "contract discussion and ratification", into the nonpublic session (0:02:48). Benware moves the agenda as amended (0:03:04); a second is acknowledged and the voice vote carries with no opposition or abstention heard (0:03:08). |
| 0:03:33 | Minutes of November 8, 2018; February 19, February 21 and March 7, 2019 | All four approved as amended, each on Sprague's motion. Benware seconds February 19 (0:11:29), February 21 (0:12:01) and March 7 (0:12:34); the second to November 8 (0:10:23) sits in a row the CSV gives to Sprague. Members absent from the earlier meetings abstain; the counts are not settled on tape (for November 8 the chair says two, then Three, and Lovett adds an abstention, 0:10:34 to 0:11:02; for March 7, "two abstentions", 0:12:36). |
| 0:13:12 | Citizens' comments | Two speakers, both district employees: Mimi on the lunch program and Charlie Gessner on superintendent matters and communication. |
| 0:24:03 | Welcome and orientation of new members | The chair reviews the board's responsibilities and points to New Hampshire School Boards Association workshops. No action. |
| 0:27:25 | Election of chair and vice chair | Chair: Michael Petrin, nominated by Towle (0:28:51) and seconded by Zullo (0:28:54); voice vote with no opposition or abstention heard (0:29:26 to 0:29:42). Vice chair: Marjorie Erickson, nominated by Benware (0:30:53); voice vote (0:31:25), one sound transcribed Epstein. after the call for abstentions. No secretary or treasurer is chosen on the recording. |
| 0:32:25 | Food service | Report on the late National School Lunch Program application, the reimbursement lost, lunch debt and corrective steps. Discussion only. |
| 0:53:05 | Efficiency study / forensic audit | McDevitt moves to hire a firm for an efficiency study capped at $5,000 (1:10:40); Towle's second is withdrawn and Sprague seconds (1:22:17). Final wording read by the chair: "Hire a company to perform an efficiency study on staffing and training as soon as available for an amount not to exceed $5,000" (1:25:21). Failed on a show of hands (1:27:45); the in-favor count is transcribed "That's for" and no opposed count is spoken. Benware's follow-up motion, contingent on a signed contract with the new superintendent, draws no second (1:28:04, 1:30:00). |
| 1:30:05 | Revenue and expenditures | O'Neill's projection to June 30: expenditure balance about $133,714, revenue variance $9,071.25, projected fund balance increase transcribed "142. 78552". The board agrees to keep allocating merit pay to the salary lines as last year. No vote. |
| 1:41:43 | Summary of search process and vote | The chair summarizes the superintendent search; Petrin reads the March 7 nonpublic roll call into the record: motion Benware, second McCormick, 8 to 3 to offer the post to Michael Tempesta (1:46:02, 1:46:47). No new vote. |
| 1:50:39 | Nonpublic session | Benware moves to enter nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and II(c), reading both exemptions aloud (1:50:49, 1:51:03). Roll call called by the clerk (1:51:49); the recording catches yes answers from Sprague, Zullo, Benware, Lovett, Whitney and Towle and a Yes. after Erickson's name, then ends at 1:53:04. The contract item moved here under 3H, and anything decided in the session, is not on the recording. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/10304 SAU6032519.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
Topics in the order discussed. Quotations are from the transcript as it stands; bracketed words are corrections or insertions.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:33 | Opening and roll call | "I would like to call this meeting to order that. I can't even tell what time that is. 633 is what my computer says." The roll is called by the clerk (0:01:33) and closes with "Does that mean everybody's here?" (0:01:53). | |
| 0:02:15 | Agenda amended | "First off, we missed putting the citizens comments on that. We always have. So I would like to add citizens comments." Then: "under three H. We have contract discussion and ratification that needs to be moved to the nonpublic" (0:02:48). Carried on Benware's motion (0:03:04). | POSITIVE OBS |
| 0:03:33 | Minutes: corrections | Benware: November 8 calls Petrin "vice president"; "He's the vice chair" (0:04:07); "one spot where minutes said minuets" (0:04:19). For February 19 the chair supplies "the roll call vote for sealing the minutes for 99 years" (0:06:09); for February 21 the same pair of amendments (0:06:39). Lovett: both February sets are dated 2018 (0:07:15). For March 7: "I did not run the meeting. Mike Patron, vice chair, ran the meeting" (0:07:47), and the item "nomination of the superintendent" should read as moved into nonpublic session, not removed (0:08:07, 0:08:51). Petrin is to supply the March 7 roll calls (0:09:35). | MEDIUM OBS |
| 0:10:06 | Minutes: votes | Sprague first moves all four together; McDevitt objects, "Can't do that. Some of us weren't here." (0:10:15). Each set is then approved separately as amended, with abstentions from members not present at the earlier meetings (0:10:25 to 0:12:36). | MEDIUM |
| 0:13:22 | Citizens' comments: lunch program | Mimi, a high school employee: "for some of these kids, it's the only hot meal they get" (0:13:51); "there are federal guidelines with what can go into school lunch" (0:14:04); "it's also only year two of this program" and "keeping the hot lunch program is essential" (0:15:08). | |
| 0:15:52 | Citizens' comments: superintendent questions | Charlie Gessner, Ward 1, a district employee: on Dr. Pfeifer, "Is he being paid? Is he being paid until June 30th?" (0:16:20); "My phone blew up on Saturday night when you hired your new superintendent" (0:16:43); employees "were finding out through an indirect source" (0:17:11); the rumor that "we haven't officially signed one on the dotted line" (0:18:39); "we will have had four superintendents" (0:19:11); he asks what the turnover and search have cost (0:19:45). McDevitt: "The board takes a vote. The press is sitting in the audience. The press writes it." (0:20:35). The chair: "no one person on this board has authority to act and represent the board" (0:21:24). Zullo: the press release was "also supposed to go out via school messenger at the same time" and "there was a glitch on that part" (0:22:55, 0:23:21). The questions about Pfeifer's pay and contract status are not answered on the recording. | |
| 0:24:03 | New-member orientation | The chair lists the board's responsibilities, including to "hire a superintendent, which, of course is where we are now" and to "evaluate the superintendent" (0:24:34); reminds members "we act as a body" (0:25:10); points to NHSBA workshops including right-to-know sessions (0:26:04). Towle: "The three of us are already booked to go down on the May 9th." (0:26:42). | |
| 0:27:25 | Election of officers | "after elections, the first responsibility we have is to elect chair and vice chair of this group." Sprague nominates Erickson (0:28:24); she answers "I'd have to have a lot of arm twisting" (0:28:32). Towle nominates Petrin (0:28:51), Zullo seconds (0:28:54); elected by voice vote (0:29:26). The chair notes the practice of "a chair from one board and a vice chair from the other board" (0:30:25); Benware nominates Erickson (0:30:53), elected (0:31:25). Towle: "We've had one horrendous year" (0:31:52). | OBS |
| 0:32:42 | Food service: late lunch program application | LeClair: "we've missed the National School Lunch program filing deadline at the at the beginning of the year and our National School Lunch program application, which is filed at the SA level, not the individual district levels, was not filed till January 30th." Continuing (row 283, labeled the chair in the CSV): "we lost out on any of the reimbursements from the beginning of the school year until January 30th. This is the second year that the National School Lunch Program application was not filed at the beginning of the year." (0:33:12). | MEDIUM |
| 0:34:03 | Food service: the figures | O'Neill: "It's 209 for this year and slightly less for last year." Then, as transcribed: Claremont "for 18 years 150,007 2212", restated "Hundred and $50,722.12" [$150,722.12] (0:35:08, 0:35:16); Unity 2018 "11,900 4111"; Unity 2019 "11,002 2324"; and "19. Amount 18832284" (0:35:25 to 0:35:40). The garbled figures are left as heard. "Many things that we thought were done already were not done" (0:35:59). Benware later calls it "almost $200,000 worth of sort of lost money" (0:44:17); Lovett, "over $300,000 in reimbursements that we're missing out on" (1:18:23). | MEDIUM |
| 0:36:23 | Food service: corrective steps | The board "back in November hired a food service program assistant" to prepare and file the application; a Department of Education, Bureau of Nutrition timeline "released today" is in the packet (0:36:52). The form has "about 22 attachments" (0:37:50). Role assignments in the state's electronic system are restructured "so that it isn't all going through Mike's office" (0:38:30); periodic internal spot checks with the Abbey Group, the food service contractor (0:41:57); training (0:42:53). O'Neill: "I feel that we can cover it with the changes in the health insurance" (0:44:40). | MEDIUM |
| 0:39:08 | Lunch debt as of March 28 | LeClair, both districts combined: "1827 accounts that owe a total of $4,259.42", average $2.33; "64 accounts that owe a total of $15,162.30", average "$236.91 per student" (0:39:44); two accounts over $500, one of which should have been directly certified free (0:40:23). The assistant will contact families and set up payment plans (0:40:51). The figures are aggregate; no student is named. | |
| 0:44:58 | Food service: accountability and meal debt | Sprague asks "who is the Wrangler for this?"; LeClair names the assistant, Danielle Skinner, who "Primarily reports to me right now" (0:45:11, 0:45:19). Sprague: "you're not going to get your diploma unless you paid this debt" and "that's actual authority that we have, to not give a diploma until all their debt service" (0:46:13). Zullo: "a letter to the parents should be sent out as well" (0:47:40); complaints of uncashed checks and wrong charges (0:48:00). LeClair has raised them with the Abbey Group (0:48:43); the meal charging policy will go to a Claremont policy meeting for revision (0:51:47). | OBS |
| 0:53:08 | Efficiency study: background | LeClair: a forensic audit "is typically done when there is a concern of, questionable or illegal activity" (0:53:08) and "to my knowledge, there's no concern about that at this time" (0:53:38); the auditors called a full one "probably a five year process, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars" (0:54:07). Municipal Resources suggested an hourly study with a "not to exceed cost would probably be around $5,000, which would represent just over 40 hours of work" (0:55:16), about eight weeks out (0:55:42). Both advised "don't spend the money if you don't have a specific purpose for the outcome" (0:57:03). | |
| 0:58:30 | Efficiency study: debate | The chair: the study would "provide information to the incoming superintendent" for an entry plan. Sprague cites staffing changes after Cornish left and asks about consolidating city and school positions (0:59:29, 1:00:43). Zullo: "I'm going against the grain a little bit" (1:03:49); when the chair says she shared the idea with the nominee, Zullo replies "we haven't even had the conversation at a board level" (1:05:30). McDevitt favors a general study (1:08:16); Petrin agrees (1:10:06). | |
| 1:10:40 | Efficiency study: motion | McDevitt: "For an efficiency study with the cap of $5,000" (1:10:55). Popescu: "Is this something we need to go out to bid to do?" (1:11:14); McDevitt: "I wouldn't think so" (1:11:24). MRI is dropped from the wording (1:11:44). LeClair narrows it to "work productivity, staffing levels and staff training" (1:12:22). Lovett: "Where is this budget coming from?"; the chair: "Not yet identified?" (1:15:08, 1:15:14); Lovett calls it "reckless spending at this point" (1:18:23). Benware: "A $5,000 investment to find that information is somewhat worthwhile" (1:20:45). | |
| 1:21:45 | Efficiency study: vote | Towle: "Can I withdraw my second?"; McDevitt: "You can withdraw" (1:22:00); Sprague seconds (1:22:17). Timing language moves from "prior to the arrival of the new superintendent" (1:23:15) to "as soon as available" (1:25:21). Show of hands: "That's for all those opposed. Okay. Opposed carries." (1:27:45). Benware's contingent motion has no second (1:28:04); the chair proposes an April 11 meeting (1:29:00). | MEDIUM |
| 1:31:55 | Expenditure and revenue projection | O'Neill adds a projection column to the report through March 31. Items: $25,000 a year budgeted for the tech integrator paid through Claremont (1:33:16); $2,000 added to superintendent office salaries (1:34:08); business office software balance "27,000 725, 59" for the vision software package (1:35:13); security cameras "at the Dow" not budgeted (1:36:16). "I'm projecting a budget balance at the end of the year of 133. 714" (1:36:36). Merit pool: "it looks like we're adding $32,000 to the pool every year, when in fact we're not" (1:37:39); the board keeps last year's method (1:39:26). Revenue: "projecting $9,071.25 positive variance", "about $142,000 increase in fund balance" (1:40:27), stated as "142. 78552" (1:41:05). | |
| 1:41:56 | March 7 superintendent vote read into the record | The chair: "I learned after the fact that we actually should have come out of our nonpublic on March 7th to take a vote. The remedy for that is to retake the vote in public", but membership has changed, so counsel advised "we could simply read the roll call vote that was taken at the end of our March 7th meeting" (1:42:22). Search summary: search committee formed in October with a consultant (name garbled, 1:42:44); "By January 15th, we had 14 applicants" (1:43:26); five phone interviews, three in-depth interviews, two finalists and "a public meet and greet" (1:44:31). Petrin reads the roll call: "The motion was made by Jason Bender to offer Mr. Michael to the jobs as a you six superintendent. Seconded by prudence" (1:46:02); "The total being 8 to 3 in favor of Mr. Tempesta." (1:46:47). The chair: "I think that makes us now legal." (1:46:56). | MEDIUM |
| 1:47:01 | Members on the March 7 process | Zullo: "I have no problem ever sharing how I voted", but "the public did not have the huge presentation that we did" (1:48:01). Benware: "without that context you really don't know" (1:49:16). The chair: "this was came from the the lawyer that we hired" (1:49:38). Zullo: the agreed process got "changed last minute" (1:49:50). The chair: "no one was left standing at the end of that meeting" (1:50:12) and "there was nobody on air left" (1:50:28). | MEDIUM |
| 1:50:49 | Motion to enter nonpublic session | Benware: "I'd like to make a motion to go on a non public session for RSA 91, a column three, subparagraph two. A" [RSA 91-A:3, II(a)], then reads II(a) and II(c) aloud (1:51:03, 1:51:33). The chair: "We need a roll call vote on this one, Mary." (1:51:49). The roll is partly captured (1:52:22 to 1:52:38) before the recording stops. | OBS |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer's aid. They are not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each one names the rule it rests on, read as it stood on March 28, 2019, and links the primary source.
MEDIUM Lunch program application filed late for a second year; reimbursement lost from the start of the school year
The acting superintendent reports that the SAU-level National School Lunch Program application "was not filed till January 30th" and that reimbursement was lost from the start of the school year to that date (0:32:42, 0:33:12). The prior year's application went in at the beginning of February with the same result. The business administrator's figures are partly garbled on the transcript, but the Claremont amount for one year is read as $150,722.12 (0:35:16) and members put the loss between "almost $200,000" (0:44:17) and "over $300,000" (1:18:23). For a federal program, the Uniform Guidance requires the recipient to "Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award". The same failure in two consecutive years points to a control weakness rather than a one-off. Severity is MEDIUM because the missed date is an administrative program deadline, not a statutory one, and because the record shows remedies already in place: a dedicated program assistant hired in November, split system roles, internal spot checks and training (0:36:23 to 0:42:53). Whether the loss reached the financial statements as a reduction in federal revenue, and how it was funded (the business administrator expected health insurance savings to cover it, 0:44:40), would be settled by the FY2019 audit.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.303(a), 2019 annual edition (internal control over federal awards)
MEDIUM The March 7 superintendent decision was made in nonpublic session; the roll call reached the public record three weeks later
The chair states that, on counsel's advice, "we actually should have come out of our nonpublic on March 7th to take a vote" (1:41:56). Because two members had changed since March 7, the board did not retake the vote; Petrin read the March 7 roll call into the record instead: 8 to 3 to offer the post to Michael Tempesta, with Sprague, Erickson and Sara Lowe voting no (1:46:02 to 1:46:47). The March 7 draft minutes described the nomination item as removed from the agenda rather than moved into nonpublic session, and were corrected tonight (0:08:07, 0:08:51). RSA 91-A:3, III requires that "Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session shall be publicly disclosed within 72 hours" unless withheld by a recorded two-thirds vote taken in public session with a statutory determination. The choice itself was announced within that window: the board announced it on Saturday night, March 9 (Valley News, March 9, 2019; Zullo describes the weekend press release at 0:22:55). What is not shown is any public release of the roll call before tonight, 21 days after the meeting. Valley News reported on March 29 that the board's attorney required the hiring vote to be made public. The cure was partial by the chair's own account: reading a nonpublic roll call aloud is not a vote taken in public session.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and III, 2019 codification (nonpublic motion and roll call; 72-hour disclosure of minutes and decisions); Valley News, March 9, 2019 (reporting); Valley News, March 29, 2019 (reporting)
MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting can be located
RSA 91-A:2, II, as in force from January 1, 2019, requires minutes that name members and persons appearing, describe the subjects discussed and final decisions, name the mover and seconder of each motion, and are open to public inspection within five business days. No minutes, agenda or packet for this meeting are in any district share; the Drive archives start in 2022. Under the project's severity rule this is the mitigated limb, MEDIUM, not HIGH: the record shows minutes were produced, because on the April 11, 2019 SAU 6 recording (show 10321) the chair brings the minutes of the March 28 meeting before the board, and the chair here refers both to agenda item 3H (0:02:48) and to a packet (0:36:23). What is missing is the public copy today. Two things on this recording depend on the minutes: the efficiency-study vote, where no opposed count is spoken (1:27:45), and the abstention counts on the November 8 minutes (0:10:34).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2019 codification (minutes content, mover and seconder, five business days)
OBSERVATION Nonpublic minutes of February 19 and 21 sealed "for 99 years"
Amending the February 19 minutes, the chair says she has "the roll call vote for sealing the minutes for 99 years" and the same for February 21 (0:06:09, 0:06:39). RSA 91-A:3, III permits withholding nonpublic minutes only by a recorded two-thirds vote taken in public session that determines one of the statutory grounds, and then only "until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply". The statute sets no fixed term; a 99-year term substitutes a date for that test. Whether those votes were taken in public session with a stated determination is in the February minutes, which are not available. Valley News reported that Dr. Pfeifer was placed on paid leave in February, which may be the subject; the recording does not say.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III, 2019 codification (withholding nonpublic minutes)
OBSERVATION A contract ratification was moved into nonpublic session and its outcome is not on the record
The chair moved item 3H, "contract discussion and ratification", from public business into the nonpublic session (0:02:48). Benware's motion stated RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and II(c) on its face and a roll call was taken, as RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires (1:50:49 to 1:52:38). The recording then ends, and with no minutes available the record does not show whose contract was ratified, whether a vote was taken, or whether the decision was disclosed within 72 hours under RSA 91-A:3, III. Valley News reported the next day that interim superintendent Keith Pfeifer resigned on Thursday, March 28, and that officials declined to say whether financial terms extended beyond his resignation date. The recording itself does not connect the 3H item to that resignation.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), II(c) and III, 2019 codification; Valley News, March 29, 2019 (reporting)
OBSERVATION A member asserts authority to withhold diplomas over lunch debt
Sprague proposes telling students "you're not going to get your diploma unless you paid this debt" and calls it "actual authority that we have" (0:46:13); Zullo supports a letter to parents to that effect (0:47:40). No motion was made. RSA 189:11-a, VIII, in force since July 2, 2016, requires any school lunch meal payment policy to ensure all students access to a healthy lunch, to make every reasonable effort to inform parents, and to keep any student from "different treatment from the standard school lunch meal or school cafeteria procedures". The paragraph does not address diplomas, and no verified rule either authorizing or barring the step was found for this page. The point for a reader is that the authority was asserted, not shown; the district's meal charge policy, which LeClair says is due for revision (0:51:47), would be the place it is or is not written.
Sources: RSA 189:11-a, VIII, 2018 codification (meal payment policy; source note ends 2016, 48:1)
OBSERVATION Officers elected before the statutory window, and only two of the three statutory offices filled
RSA 194-C:5, I directs the SAU board to "meet between April 1 and June 1 in each year" and to "organize by choosing a chairperson, a secretary, and a treasurer". This board elected a chair and a vice chair on March 28 (0:27:25 to 0:31:25), four days before the window opens; vice chair is not one of the three statutory offices, and no secretary or treasurer was chosen on the recording. The April 11, 2019 meeting (show 10321) elected a treasurer after the business administrator said the SAU had been without one for some time, which brought the organization within the window. The early date has no stated consequence in the statute; the point is recorded so a reader can see when the board's organization was complete.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, I (SAU board organization; 1996, 298:3, unamended)
POSITIVE Citizens' comments added to the agenda when no statute required them
The posted agenda omitted citizens' comments; the chair added them at the start ("we missed putting the citizens comments on that. We always have", 0:02:15), and two employees spoke, one with pointed questions about the board's own conduct (0:15:52). The chair and two members answered on the record. New Hampshire did not require a school board public comment period until RSA 189:74 took effect on September 6, 2022.
Sources: RSA 189:74 (public comment period; 2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022)
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/10304 SAU6032519.mp4.CSV (791 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/10304 SAU6032519.mp4Input/Transcripts/10304 SAU6032519.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 96Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/10304 SAU6032519.mp4.md and Scripts/csv_corrections_2015_2023.md
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2019 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019)
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), II(c), III, 2019 codification (source note ends 2016, 30:1 and 280:1)
- RSA 189:11-a, VIII, 2018 codification (2016, 48:1, eff. July 2, 2016)
- RSA 194-C:5, I (1996, 298:3)
- RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022; cited to show it was not yet law)
- 2 CFR 200.303(a), 2019 annual edition