Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part. Names follow the project's dialogue file; no minutes exist online to check spellings against, so non-members' spellings are as the dialogue file gives them and uncertain identifications are marked. Students recognized by name on the recording are not listed individually. Members are listed first.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Chair | Presided. Led the tribute to Carolyn Towle ("Carolyn was a taskmaster"). Explained that he had "acted unilaterally" in advertising the vacancy and had consulted an NHSBA attorney. Raised pay-to-play and moved it to the policy committee; explained the summer hiring authority; declined to have the board oppose HB 544; urged an application for NHSBA School Board of the Year. The dialogue file notes two diarizer label swaps involving his voice. |
| Heather Whitney | Board member | Added and moved the mask item: masks optional at Claremont School Board meetings "unless state or federal guidelines, prohibit". Seconded the May 5 minutes. Described the board's culture to the applicant and asked about the statewide education property tax. |
| Steven Horsky | Board member | Suggested a vacancy policy for the future; moved the summer hiring authority and amended it to budgeted positions; argued pay-to-play should cover the arts as well as sports; asked how soon schedule and realignment numbers would be ready; moved to adjourn. |
| Michael Petrin | Board member; SAU 6 Board chair | Moved the appointment of Nicholas Stone ("the notice was posted timely"). Answered the roll as Michael Pitcher. The dialogue file's later short rows for him rest on cluster continuity only. |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Board member | Seconded the agenda and the mask motion; asked whether past vacancy candidates had been contacted, recalling that he "started in October to run through March". |
| Joshua Lambert | Board member | Added HB 544 to the agenda at a constituent's request and described other districts' opposition to its language in the state budget. |
| Nicholas Stone | Applicant; appointed and sworn in | Spoke during citizens' comments: "Hello, I'm Nicholas Stone, Ward three"; "I graduated in 2018." Appointed at 1:13:54 and sworn in by the clerk. Joined the pay-to-play discussion as a new member. |
| Carolyn Towle | Board member (deceased) | Died in May 2021 while serving; remembered by the chair and the student representative (both transcribed Carolyn Toll or Carolyn Tol). |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent's report on the strategic plan, COVID relief funds, outdoor classrooms and playgrounds, Goshen tuition and the ConVal school funding lawsuit (transcribed carnival lawsuit). Presented secondary schedules and elementary realignment; asked to move the August meeting to the 18th. |
| Donna Magoon | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Presented professional development tracks and the FY2022 federal grant general assurances, including a past monitoring citation on purchasing documentation. The dialogue file notes her voice shares a diarizer cluster with Heather Whitney's. |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant Superintendent for Finance, SAU 6 | Explained ESSER reimbursement and the statewide education property tax. |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk | Called the roll and administered the oath to the new member. |
| Prescott | Student representative (last meeting) | Final student report, including a tribute to Carolyn Towle and a call to reverse "the increasingly dwindling opportunities for advanced classes at the high school." The dialogue file gives the surname Herzog from the 2019 roster; it is not said on this recording. |
| Sean | Stevens bowling coach | Presented the bowling team's season with two players present. Surname not said. |
| Unidentified | Members and staff | The member who asked to add the vacancy, clarifying questions on the mask motion, a member speaking on out-of-district athletes (possibly Michael Petrin, per the dialogue file), and several seconds (83 of 720 rows, 11.5%). |
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. A written agenda existed ("We have an agenda in front of us tonight"; the vacancy was added "under action Item A"). Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:16 | Call to order, pledge, moment of silence, roll call | Moment of silence for Carolyn Towle; roll by the clerk. |
| 0:02:05 | Agenda | Amended to add a discussion of masks at board meetings (Whitney), HB 544 (Lambert) and the board vacancy (unidentified member). Adopted as amended by voice vote; the transcript runs mover and seconder together ("I'll second that, Rob."). |
| 0:04:00 | Minutes of May 5, 2021 | Moved (mover not clear), "Second Heather seconds"; voice vote. |
| 0:04:18 | Recognition: Stevens bowling team | Coach Sean and two players; informational. |
| 0:10:45 | Citizens' comments | The vacancy applicant, Nicholas Stone, spoke at the chair's invitation; no other speaker. |
| 0:15:38 | Student representative report | Prescott's final report. |
| 0:23:55 | Superintendent's report | Strategic plan, relief funds, facilities, tuition, school funding litigation, professional development, summer program. |
| 1:06:35 | Action item A: school board member application | Petrin moved to appoint Nicholas Stone to fill the vacancy; seconder not identified; voice vote, no audible opposition or abstention. Sworn in by the clerk at 1:14:10. |
| 1:16:05 | Masks at school board meetings (added) | Whitney moved masks optional at every Claremont School Board meeting "From this day forward, unless state or federal guidelines, prohibit"; Lovett seconded; voice vote at 1:22:47. |
| 1:23:09 | General assurances FY 2022 | Read into the record as a federal grant requirement; the chair to sign. |
| 1:29:29 | Secondary school schedules, time on learning, strategic plan; elementary realignment | Discussion; forums and recommendations planned for the fall. |
| 1:54:56 | Pay to play | Middle school out-of-district athletes referred to the policy committee without a motion ("I don't think we do"). |
| 2:08:07 | Meeting schedule; permission to employ | No July meeting planned; the August meeting to move to the 18th. Horsky moved to let the superintendent fill vacancies through August 18, amended to budgeted positions; seconded by an unidentified member; voice vote at 2:11:30. |
| 2:11:37 | HB 544 (added) | Discussion; no board position taken. |
| 2:18:17 | Future items and adjournment | NHSBA School Board of the Year; back-to-school plans; summer school update; graduation. Adjourned by voice vote at 2:28:36. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:00:47 | Moment of silence for Carolyn Towle | "we, lost our dear colleague, Carolyn Toll. Since our last meeting." Then: "Well, Carolyn was a taskmaster, and she'd say, don't spend too much time in silence for me." | |
| 0:02:11 | Agenda amended | Whitney: "a discussion about removing masks for school board meetings." Lambert: "HB 544 being included into the state budget". A member: "we're missing bringing on a new school board member. And we had one applicant." | |
| 0:04:18 | Bowling team recognized | Chair: "our our bowling team was, really against the odds". Coach Sean: "out of out of doing this for 12 years we've been third three times and first twice." | |
| 0:10:45 | Applicant speaks in citizens' comments | Chair: "Nick Stone applied, so I've asked him to to speak during citizens comments". Stone: "my interest here is I want to help, have an active role in helping our school system right now." Whitney at 0:13:05: "even if we disagree with the will of the board, that we support the will of the board". | POSITIVE |
| 0:15:46 | Student representative's last report | Tribute to Carolyn Towle; school news; then at 0:22:04: "dozens of classes that were available when I entered the building aren't offered anymore". On the role: "give a voice for a part that's underrepresented." | |
| 0:24:41 | Strategic plan | "we have we have six major components for the strategic plan. And all of them are focused around student achievement." | |
| 0:31:45 | COVID relief money | "Claremont has almost $10.6 million from the beginning of Covid to the end of about 2 to 2 and a half more years after this"; "this is outside of the budget." At 0:43:39: "Concord got 15 million and we almost got 11." Seaman at 0:44:52: approval questions go to the state ESSER coordinator first. | |
| 0:33:04 | Goshen tuition | Goshen students under the new tuition contract "so far have all selected to come to Claremont", at "about 16,000 per student". At 0:33:43: "We negotiated at 153. I think our final number was just right at 159." | |
| 0:37:58 | Outdoor classrooms and playgrounds | "the 10 million will go fast." "We focused on what was going to break the roofs and everything else with this money, again, not taxpayer money." | |
| 0:46:18 | School funding lawsuit and SWEPT | The district is part of "the carnival lawsuit" [ConVal] with "18 or 19 of us". Whitney at 0:49:29 on the statewide property tax. Seaman at 0:54:13: "there's no way you can educate a child on $3,600." | |
| 0:56:26 | Professional development tracks; summer program | Magoon on year-long teacher tracks; at 1:05:31: "we have an abundance amount of teachers that are applying" for the summer program. | |
| 1:06:35 | How the vacancy was handled | Chair: "I kind of acted unilaterally when I made the decision"; "If things have been working properly, I would have we would have had a special meeting". He called "Will Phillips", an NHSBA attorney, and read "RSA 671 colon three three Roman numeral two A". At 1:08:54: "There are no there is no regulation, just simply past practice". At 1:11:23: an appointee serves "until the next election", "that is in statute". | POSITIVE |
| 1:09:28 | Members on the process | Horsky: "maybe that's a good thing to generate a policy on going forward". Petrin at 1:10:53: "we have one applicant and the notice was posted timely." Lovett at 1:11:54 asked about reaching past candidates. | POSITIVE |
| 1:13:17 | Stone appointed and sworn | Petrin: "I'd like to make the motion to, move forward with the nomination of Nicholas Stone". Chair at 1:13:54: "All those in favor opposed? Okay. Any abstentions? Welcome aboard." Oath by the clerk at 1:14:10. | POSITIVE |
| 1:16:29 | Masks optional at board meetings | Whitney cited "changes in recommendations from the state of New Hampshire". Lovett at 1:17:20: "I'll second it with an amendment. It's six meetings, not just the Claremont School." Final motion at 1:22:08: "mask optional at every Claremont school board meeting". Voice vote. | |
| 1:23:13 | General assurances FY 2022 | Magoon: "We have to make it publicly known of some of the requirements". At 1:27:06: "We were not doing sole source documents. We weren't reporting out anything over $10,000." "So since they came out and cited us on it, we need to make sure that we're following all those procedures." At 1:29:24: "Frank, I just need you to sign off on that." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:29:38 | Secondary schedules and time on learning | Forums and modeling over the summer; recommendations in the fall, built into the schedule in January 2022, implemented the following year. Horsky at 1:37:13: can relief funds pay for realignment? Superintendent: yes, "particularly if it's related to a gap". | |
| 1:50:48 | Elementary realignment | "about 300 in maple just under that, and, and only 150. And in bluff, the catchment areas need to be looked at". | |
| 1:54:56 | Pay to play | Chair: "at the middle school level, we've got nonresidents who are who are playing." Horsky at 1:56:56: "it's basically it's borderline discrimination in my eyes", comparing sports to band costs. Chair at 2:06:17: "I'd like to move this middle school thing to the policy committee. I don't know if I need to do a motion for that or. We just do. I don't think we do." | |
| 2:08:07 | No July meeting; summer hiring | "So we don't meet in July". Superintendent: push the August 4 meeting "to the 18th". Chair at 2:08:41: "we're going to allow you to defer those nominations to, to August." Horsky at 2:09:17: "I will make a motion to allow the superintendent to fill vacancies as required during the month of June, the end of June, July, and to beginning of August 18th of 2021." Amended at 2:11:22: "I'll amend my motion to budgeted positions." | OBSERVATION |
| 2:11:40 | HB 544 | Lambert: "a lot of school districts have come out against that language". Chair at 2:14:21: members should object "as a person, not as a board member"; at 2:14:50: "I would not vote in favor of this board opposing it as a, as a board". | |
| 2:18:40 | School Board of the Year | "Wow, you should apply for School Board of the year." The NHSBA's Will Phillips "urged us to because of our the way we operate as a team." | |
| 2:23:22 | Fall reopening | "I don't know of another district in the region that isn't going to be all in, in person". The remote option under discussion is an outside vendor. | |
| 2:28:31 | Adjournment | "Probably to make a motion to adjourn." Voice vote. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on June 2, 2021. Several provisions cited below were amended later in 2021, and each flag cites the text as it then read. 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. Four flags follow, ordered by severity.
OBSERVATION The board authorized the superintendent to fill teaching vacancies over the summer, with its own election of teachers deferred
RSA 189:39 provides that "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers employed in the schools in their school administrative unit". At 2:08:41 the chair described the motion as letting the superintendent "fill staffing" and "defer those nominations to, to August", because the board did not plan to meet in July. Horsky's motion (2:09:17) authorized him "to fill vacancies as required" through August 18, 2021, and was narrowed at 2:11:22 to budgeted positions after Whitney asked whether new positions were included. The superintendent's answer mentioned possible additional ESSER-funded teachers (2:09:44), which the amendment excluded.
Read with the chair's explanation, the arrangement keeps the board's election but moves it after the hire, so teachers may be at work before the board has elected them. Whether a board may delegate in that way is a legal question this page does not resolve; the statute's text puts the election with the board, and no provision authorizing interim appointment was identified. In the board's favor: the authority was voted in public, limited in time and to budgeted positions, and the chair stated that nominations would come back to the board. Whether they did, and when, is a question for the August pages and minutes.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (source note ends 1971, 371:2; in force in 2021): superintendents nominate and school boards elect all teachers.
OBSERVATION A past state monitoring visit cited the district for purchasing documentation under its federal grants; the report is not public
Reading the FY2022 general assurances into the record, the assistant superintendent said that when she started, "they were coming out to do an audit. We were not doing sole source documents. We weren't reporting out anything over $10,000. We have to get permission from them to spend it." and "So since they came out and cited us on it, we need to make sure that we're following all those procedures." (1:27:06). She connected the fix to policy DAF, revised "last year". Federal award recipients must keep documented procurement procedures and records under the Uniform Guidance procurement standards. The monitoring report, its date and findings, and the corrective action plan are not in any available record, so the public cannot see what was cited or whether it was closed. Recorded as an observation: the disclosure itself, made unprompted in open session, is to the administration's credit, and she describes corrective action already in place.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.318 to 200.327 (Uniform Guidance procurement standards; general standard, current text); the monitoring report and policy DAF were not located.
OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting are posted online
MAP.md section 145 records that neither district Drive share holds anything before July 2022 (checked 9/26/26), so this page rests on the recording alone. That is a limit of what the district posts online, not by itself evidence that records were never made: the chair refers to "an agenda in front of us tonight", the board approves its May 5 minutes at 0:04:12, and the July 21 recording shows these June 2 minutes approved. RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to be "promptly recorded and open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting" and to name "the members who made or seconded each motion"; several seconds here, including the second to Stone's appointment, cannot be attributed from the recording. The project's missing-records rule is applied on its online-availability limb.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification, in force June 2021): minutes content and five-business-day availability; Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 145.
POSITIVE The vacancy was filled promptly, in public, after the applicant was heard, with the chair disclosing his own shortcut
RSA 671:33, II(a), as it read in June 2021, provided that "The school board shall fill vacancies occurring on the school board" and that "Appointees of the school board shall serve until the next district election". The chair described that rule accurately (1:11:23), had consulted an NHSBA attorney, and told the board he had "acted unilaterally" in advertising the seat without first convening the board (1:06:35). The applicant spoke in open session and members questioned him (0:10:45); members debated the process and whether to reach past candidates; the appointment was moved and voted at the next regular meeting after the death, and the new member was sworn in on the spot. The statute sets no procedure beyond the board's vote, so the advertisement, the public hearing of the applicant and the chair's candor about his own step exceeded what it required. One gap: the vote was by voice with no audible tally or named seconder (1:13:54), so only the minutes could confirm it.
Sources: RSA 671:33, II(a) (2019 codification; source note ends 2017, 3:2; amended later by 2021, 91:318, eff. July 1, 2021, and 2021, 42:1, eff. July 16, 2021): school board fills vacancies until the next district election.
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/11649 SchoolBoard060221.mp4.CSV (720 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/11649 SchoolBoard060221.mp4Input/Transcripts/11649 SchoolBoard060221.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/11649 SchoolBoard060221.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 145
Laws and rules cited on this page