Claremont School Board, April 7, 2021 | Second upload of the recording (show 11527)

Participants

Everyone heard or named as present in this recording. Names follow the project's 2015-2023 roster and the attribution reports for shows 11527 and 11444, since no minutes survive.
Name	Role	Participation
Frank Sprague	Chair	Conducts the hearing (0:04:59 to 0:05:21) and the meeting; moves the board back to voice votes (0:08:25); proposes Stevens ventilation work as a CARES use (0:34:21); suggests completion incentives for the summer program (0:49:36). Answers roll as "chair Frank speck" (0:06:40). In this diarization his early rows were merged with the superintendent's and reassigned by hand.
Heather Whitney	Board member	Questions the business administrator on CARES money (0:28:02 to 0:28:12); moves to accept the donation (0:55:08).
Michael Petrin	Board member (transcribed "Mike patron")	Moves the agenda (0:07:30) and the March 17 minutes (0:08:54), both attributed from the twin file's clustering; presses for clubs and performances (0:38:59 to 0:41:18).
Steven Horsky	Board member	Moves to revoke the needle exchange permission (1:00:45, 1:01:56); raises school realignment (1:08:56).
Rob Lovett Jr.	Board member	Moves to accept the technology grant (0:57:57). Attribution medium.
Joshua Lambert	Board member	Present at the roll (0:06:19). No row is attributed to him in this transcript.
Carolyn Towle	Board member	Absent (0:06:19 to 0:06:38).
Michael Tempesta	Superintendent, SAU 6	Asks to add the grant to the hearing (0:02:09 to 0:04:14); superintendent's report (0:14:20 onward); presents the grant (0:55:40 to 0:57:40).
Richard Seaman	SAU 6 business administrator ("director of finance, Mr. Seaman", 0:19:06)	Explains the CARES allocations (0:23:41 to 0:33:26).
Donna Magoon	Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6	Reports on clubs, summer pre-registration and the needle exchange program (0:40:24, 0:50:20, 0:58:35 to 0:59:25). Attribution medium.
Prescott Herzog	Student representative	Student report (0:09:30 to 0:11:30); clubs meeting online (0:42:38). Named from the May 5, 2021 recording. Attribution medium.
Mary Woodman	School district clerk and recording secretary	Calls the roll and the agenda roll call.
Unidentified	Various	77 of 418 rows (18.4%), including the group Pledge, roll-call answers, seconds and voice votes.

Order of business (reconstructed)

No agenda survives; the chair says it was posted and discussed online in advance (0:59:59). Reconstructed from the chair's transitions.

Items in the order taken up, with dispositions as heard in this recording
Taken up	Item	Disposition
0:00:31	Public hearing: donation; technology grant added	Noticed for the donation ("the other item that we posted the meeting for", 0:02:39); grant added at the superintendent's request; no public comment; closed at 0:05:21. See flag 1.
0:05:31	Pledge of Allegiance; roll call	Six present, Towle absent.
0:06:47	Approval of the agenda	Amended to add citizens' comments and the grant (0:06:47, 0:07:05); "A motion to approve the agenda as amended." (0:07:30); second unidentified; roll call: this transcript captures answers from Lovett, Whitney, Sprague and one unidentified member, all Yes (0:07:45 to 0:08:01).
0:08:03	Return to voice votes	No vote.
0:08:43	Minutes of March 17, 2021	Moved (0:08:54); "A second." (0:09:00); voice vote, ayes, no opposition (0:09:06).
0:09:06	Student representative report	Report; alumni scholarship comment by the chair (0:12:03).
0:13:00	Superintendent's report	COVID-19 data, return to in-person learning, CARES/ESSER, clubs, summer program. No action.
0:53:59	Citizens' comments; action items	"I don't see any citizens, so we'll dive past that" (0:53:59).
0:54:52	Action: donation	Whitney moves "$11,160.92" (0:55:08); second unidentified (0:55:20); ayes (0:55:27).
0:55:40	Action: technology grant	"I'd like to make a motion that we accept the restaurant [Russ grant] in the amount of $451,832. I'll second." (0:57:57, motion by Lovett, the second inside the same row); "Seconded by Steve." (0:58:05); ayes (0:58:12).
0:58:35	Action: needle exchange program	Horsky: "The motion is to revoke the current commissions [permissions] to run a needle exchange program at Valley Regional Hospital until it's presented to the board when it is, in fact, active again." (1:01:56); "Second, okay." (unidentified, 1:02:06); ayes, no opposition (1:02:08).
1:02:20	Retreat; future agenda items	Food for the April 18 retreat; items for May. No action.
1:12:52	Good of the order; close	"All those in favor." (1:13:04); no motion to adjourn heard.

Discussion timeline

Times are taken from this upload's dialogue transcript (Dialogue/11527 SchoolBoard041521.mp4.CSV) and link into show 11527. The fuller timeline is on the show 11444 page.

Topics in the order discussed
Time	Topic	What was said	Flags
0:02:09	Grant added to the hearing	Tempesta: the district had "been awarded the Russ Grant, a technology grant", "450,000 that's coming to us with a 15% match, which is already in the budget" (0:02:09); "what we should have done that that night is ask for that"; add it "along with the other item that we posted the meeting for, for the, the $11,000 over the $10,000 threshold" (0:02:39); "obviously that's over at that threshold as well" (0:03:21); "legal counsel has met up and is okayed it" (0:03:51); "We didn't know that that requirement was there." (0:04:14).	HIGH OBSERVATION
0:04:59	Hearing comment and close	"Are there any citizens here that would like to speak specifically on either the Russ donation or the donation from New Hampshire?" (0:04:59); "Comment on that? Seeing none." (0:05:15); "I will close the public hearing" (0:05:21).	HIGH
0:08:03	Roll call or voice votes	"It was because we were online. We didn't have all our members were not present." (0:08:16); "So everybody is present." (0:08:23); the board returns to voice votes (0:08:25).	MEDIUM
0:09:30	Student representative report	Technical center summer programs and an eighth-grade showcase (0:09:30); the scholarship packet, "worth more than $100,000", due "the 28th of April" in this transcription (0:10:11; the show 11444 transcription renders the date differently). The report names individual students; this page does not repeat them.
0:14:20	COVID-19 data; April 12 return	Cases low for nearly two months (0:14:45); "we hope to go live." "The regular way" from the next meeting (0:15:24); in-person projections "I think on Friday we were at 87." (0:17:22); air purifiers to be installed over vacation (0:18:41).
0:19:06	CARES/ESSER funding	Money "Again, not not in the budget" (0:19:34); the first allocation's expiration "is September" (0:20:48); Seaman: "approximately $2.9 million" more (0:23:41), "It's a reimbursement type." (0:27:48), CARES two by "I believe it's 2023." (0:28:15), possibly "seven, $8 million" more (0:28:46); Title I-based allocation makes Claremont among the largest recipients in the state (0:33:26); Tempesta: "about $10 million over the next 2 or 3 years" (0:31:03).	OBSERVATION
0:34:21	Stevens ventilation	Sprague: renovation items lost to "unexpected hazardous waste costs" and the stage replacement, "probably 700,000" (0:34:21).	OBSERVATION
0:38:59	Clubs and performances	Petrin: "the question from the top should be, why not?" (0:39:39); "these kids deserve to have to be up on stage" (0:41:18). Magoon: "drama is up and running at the middle school" (0:40:24).
0:49:13	Summer program	Sprague: "a $50 gift card to Hannaford or Walmart" for completion (0:49:36); Magoon: "We had about 98 children that pre-registered for this." (0:50:20); capacity "up to 200 or 300 for the elementary" (0:51:08).
0:54:52	Donation accepted	"for the amount of $11,160.92." (0:55:08); "I'll second that." (unidentified); "Aye, aye." (0:55:27).	OBSERVATION
0:55:40	Technology grant accepted	"hired a third party." "Outfit out of new Jersey to to write this grant." (0:55:40); "451,000 is what we are going to get in our share. It's $1 million grant because of our size." (0:56:07); "a small match that we have to do, which is $80,000" (0:57:18); "We're putting in the same boards that Jeff and his crew have already started." (0:57:40). Motion and second at 0:57:57, 0:58:05.	HIGH OBSERVATION
0:58:35	Needle exchange program	Magoon: on "March 24th of 2020, because of Covid, there protocols changed. So they are no longer in the hospital." (0:58:35); the quarterly forms do not break out Claremont (0:59:25). Horsky: the approval "allowed it pretty much kind of open ended" (1:00:38); motion (1:01:56), second (1:02:06), carried (1:02:08).	POSITIVE
1:02:20	Retreat; future items	Retreat food on "the 18th" (1:03:11); contracts: "three of them actually" (1:05:14); "Grading is a goal for May." (1:05:55); Magoon reads back "Grading system proposal play." and "Students failing due to remote learning" (1:08:43, 1:08:46).
1:08:56	School realignment	Horsky raises it; Tempesta: "that doesn't mean that we're looking to move schools around" (1:09:24).
1:12:52	Close	"is there anything else for the good of the order?" then "All those in favor." (1:13:04).	MEDIUM

Items flagged for review

These flags are a reviewer's aid, not findings of violation and not legal advice. They are the same six findings as on the show 11444 page, cited here to this upload's transcript. Each names the rule it rests on as that rule read on April 7, 2021, or is labeled an observation.

HIGH A $451,832 federal grant was given its required public hearing without the required notice

RSA 198:20-b, III(a), as in force in 2021: "For unanticipated funds in the amount of $5,000 or more, the school board shall hold a prior public hearing on the action to be taken. Notice of the time, place, and subject of such hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the relevant municipality at least 7 days before the meeting is held." The hearing had been noticed for the donation ("the original item on the public hearing", 0:04:31). The grant was added on the night at the superintendent's request (0:02:39, 0:03:21), heard with no public comment and closed (0:05:21), and then accepted (0:57:57). A subject added at the hearing cannot have been in a notice published seven days before. Mitigation on the record: the superintendent reported that "legal counsel has met up and is okayed it" (0:03:51), offered to re-post for the next meeting (0:03:51), and described the 15 percent match as already budgeted (0:02:09). Counsel's reasoning is not on the record, and no notice survives.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I, III(a) and IV(a) (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1, eff. Aug. 29, 2005; in force until 2023, 38:1)

MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes survive, and the seconds are mostly unidentified

MAP.md records no Drive material for this meeting. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force since January 1, 2019, requires minutes naming members and persons appearing, describing the subject matter and final decisions, recording the members who moved and seconded each motion, and "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting". The MEDIUM limb applies because the board approves the March 17 minutes on tape (0:08:54) and the agenda was posted in advance (0:59:59). In this transcript the seconds on the agenda (0:07:34), the donation (0:55:20) and the needle exchange motion (1:02:06) are unidentified, the grant's second sits inside the mover's row (0:57:57), and the meeting closes on "All those in favor." with no motion to adjourn (1:13:04).

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019)

OBSERVATION The grant was in use before the board accepted it

The superintendent said the grant would fund "the same boards that Jeff and his crew have already started" (0:57:40), and on March 17 he had told the board SAU 6 had received the grant and the district was already installing boards under its technology plan (see the March 17, 2021 page). RSA 198:20-b, I lets a board "apply for, accept and expend" such money, and ¶III(a) makes the hearing "prior" to "the action to be taken". Whether grant money was spent before tonight's acceptance is not on the record; the award and purchase orders would settle it.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(a) (2019 codification)

OBSERVATION A "$10,000 threshold" was stated; the statute's was $5,000

The donation was described as "the $11,000 over the $10,000 threshold" (0:02:39). RSA 198:20-b, III(a) set the hearing threshold at $5,000, and ¶III(b) allows a board to set a lower notice amount only: "A school board may establish the amount of unanticipated funds required for notice under this subparagraph, provided such amount is less than $5,000." No effect tonight, since $11,160.92 exceeds both and was heard; it would matter for a gift between the two figures.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(a) and III(b) (2019 codification)

OBSERVATION About $3.7 million in CARES/ESSER money is described as received, with no acceptance step on this record

A first allocation of about $760,000 (0:27:52) and "approximately $2.9 million" more (0:23:41) are described as received, on a reimbursement basis (0:27:48), money "not not in the budget" (0:19:34). Federal money passed through the state during the fiscal year is the "unanticipated money from a state, federal or other governmental unit" that RSA 198:20-b, I addresses, with a prior hearing at $5,000 or more. No hearing or acceptance for either allocation appears here; they may have been accepted at earlier meetings, and no minutes survive to check.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(a) (2019 codification)

POSITIVE The board followed up on the needle exchange question within one meeting and closed an open-ended exception

Three weeks after the board learned on March 17 that no quarterly updates had arrived, the assistant superintendent reported that the program had left the hospital site on March 24, 2020 and distributed its quarterly reporting forms (0:58:35 to 0:59:25); the board then revoked its permission until the program is presented again (1:01:56 to 1:02:08). Under RSA 318-B:45 an exception for a drug-free school zone "may be granted by the applicable district school board", and the statute sets no reporting or review duty, so the follow-up and the recorded decision exceed its requirements.

Sources: RSA 318-B:45 (2018 codification; exception sentence added by 2018, 254:2, eff. Aug. 11, 2018)

Appendix: source files

Official and public sources

Cablecast: VOD School Board of 4-7-21 (show 11527; run time from the Cablecast API not retrieved, the API refuses requests from this environment)
Cablecast: Claremont School Board Meeting of 4/7/21 (show 11444, the first upload of the same recording)
Google Drive: no packet folder, agenda 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.

Project files

Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.

Dialogue/11527 SchoolBoard041521.mp4.CSV (418 attributed rows; the basis of this page)
Dialogue/11444 SchoolBoard040721.mp4.CSV (436 rows; the first upload, used to check attributions; not quoted here)
Input/Videos/11527 SchoolBoard041521.mp4
Input/Transcripts/11527 SchoolBoard041521.mp4.json
Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, sections 143 and 142
Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/11527 SchoolBoard041521.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)

Laws and rules cited on this page

RSA 198:20-b, I, III(a), III(b) and IV(a), 2019 codification (in force until 2023, 38:1): acceptance of unanticipated money; prior public hearing on 7 days' newspaper notice at $5,000 or more
RSA 91-A:2, II, 2019 codification: minutes content, movers and seconders, five-business-day inspection
RSA 318-B:45, 2018 codification: syringe service programs in drug-free school zones only by school board exception