Claremont School Board, April 17, 2019

MEDIUM A motion to seal the nonpublic minutes for 76 years was made and seconded, but no vote and no reason are on the tape

After the return roll call, Benware moved "to seal the minutes for 76 years" and the motion was seconded (0:05:05, 0:05:10). The next row, 18 seconds later, is the superintendent's report; no vote, count or determination is recorded. RSA 91-A:3, III, in the 2019 codification, requires nonpublic minutes to be disclosed within 72 hours unless the body, "by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session", determines that disclosure would likely affect a person's reputation adversely, render the proposed action ineffective, or relate to terrorism, and it sets no fixed term. On April 3 the same board sealed its minutes for 99 years on a voice vote (see the April 3, 2019 page). The motion here cited II(a) and II(c), so a reputation determination may have been intended. MEDIUM because the vote may simply not have been recorded and the minutes, which are not available, may show it.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III (2019 codification; sealing by recorded 2/3 vote in public session with a determination); Dialogue/10330 SchoolBoard041719.mp4.CSV (rows 44 to 46)

MEDIUM After adjourning, the board stayed to answer the auditor's questionnaire as a body, off camera

The questionnaire was an agenda item, added at the start of the meeting (0:01:18). When it was reached the chair proposed doing it "right after the meeting" because "I don't think it's a matter of public necessarily" (0:41:25, 0:41:43); the acting superintendent offered to read the questions so the board could "answer them for each of the, each of the different fiscal years" (0:41:29). After the vote to adjourn, the chair said "Hang in for a second, though. We're going to do these questionnaire." (0:48:04).

Under RSA 91-A:2, I, a meeting is the convening of a quorum to discuss or act on a matter within the body's jurisdiction, and RSA 91-A:2-a, I requires a public body to deliberate on such matters only in meetings held under RSA 91-A:2. A quorum answering, as the board, an auditor's questions about three years of district finances is that kind of business. If the room stayed open, the public could in principle have stayed; but the session was after adjournment, off the recording, and so outside the minutes of the noticed meeting. The board's answers to an auditor's governance questions are ordinarily part of the audit file, not a public record by themselves, and nothing on the tape suggests anything was concealed. MEDIUM as a process gap.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I (2019 codification; meeting is the convening of a quorum); RSA 91-A:2-a, I (2008, 303:4, never amended; deliberation only in meetings)

MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting are publicly available

MAP.md records no Drive material: neither district share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the 2019 codification, requires minutes that include the names of members, persons appearing, a brief description of the subject matter and final decisions, and the names of the persons who made and seconded each motion, open to public inspection within five business days.

This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the record mitigates the gap: tonight the board approved its April 3 minutes as amended (0:02:44), and on May 1 it approved these minutes with corrections, so minutes were kept. No public copy can be found. The minutes would settle the seal vote, the seconders this page lists as unidentified, and the composition of the policy subcommittee, which two members described differently (0:31:54, 0:35:05).

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification; minutes content, mover and seconder, five business days)