The SAU 6 board's first meeting since December 10, 2020, held with its chair absent: the superintendent opened it and ran the re-election of Michael Petrin as chair and Marjorie Erickson as vice chair, then Erickson presided over introductions, a superintendent's report on the SAU office renovation, summer programs and Goshen tuition students, the election of Steven Horsky as treasurer, and the revival of the superintendent evaluation subcommittee. Built from the Claremont Community Television (CCTV) / Claremont Community Media Center (CCMC) recording's dialogue transcript; no agenda, packet or minutes survive in the district's online shares. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
Body
SAU 6 Board (School Administrative Unit 6: the Claremont and Unity school boards meeting jointly)
Date
Thursday, July 1, 2021 (MAP.md section 146, the file name and the Cablecast title give 7/1/21; the board approved "the minutes from July 1st, 2021" on October 21, 2021, show 11980)
Start time
About 6:35 p.m.: the superintendent opens at "a little past 635" (0:00:12). Adjourned: "We are adjourned at 730." (0:55:49). The dialogue transcript runs 0:56:27, consistent with those two clock times.
Location
Not stated in available records. Members plan the August 4 subcommittee meeting "in this building" and "in the teal Room" (0:51:32, 0:51:47); the SAU office conference room is under renovation (0:51:03).
None located. MAP.md records no Drive material for this meeting: neither district share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (checked 9/26/26). The SAU 6 board approved minutes of this meeting on October 21, 2021 (show 11980), so minutes were written.
Board composition
Claremont's seven members and Unity's members sit together. The clerk's roll as transcribed answers for Erickson, Popescu ("Shannon. Peskin"), Bader ("Gary. Vader"), Ruggeri, Dempsey, Horsky, Lambert, Lovett, Whitney and Stone (0:00:58 to 0:01:25); Frank Sprague introduces himself later (0:05:49). Chair Michael Petrin is absent ("he was a no show", 0:53:27). The roll's final name, transcribed "And my teacher." (0:01:25), is unresolved.
Participants
Everyone heard or named as present in the recording. Names follow the project's 2015-2023 roster and the speaker attribution report for this recording, since no minutes survive; transcript renderings are noted where they differ.
Name
Role
Participation
Marjorie Erickson
Vice chair, presiding from 0:02:43; Unity School Board chair
Re-elected vice chair and handed the meeting (0:02:26, 0:02:43); circulates three typo corrections to the December 10 minutes (0:03:55); asks for a Goshen update (0:40:44); nominates Horsky as treasurer (0:35:47); revives the superintendent evaluation subcommittee and sets its meeting (0:46:07 to 0:51:47); adjourns the meeting (0:55:49).
Michael Petrin
SAU 6 chair (Claremont member), Absent
Re-elected chair in his absence (0:02:07); "Mike wanted to know whether he was no longer chair because he was a no show." (Whitney, 0:53:27).
Steven Horsky
Claremont member
Moves Petrin's and Erickson's re-election (0:02:07, 0:02:26); "I'm Steven, I am a returning board member." (0:06:25); elected SAU treasurer (0:35:34 to 0:36:09); moves to adjourn (0:55:42).
Frank Sprague
Claremont member; Claremont School Board chair
Introduces himself (0:05:49); notes that Nicholas Stone joined after Carolyn Towle's death (0:07:00, 0:07:17).
Heather Whitney
Claremont member; Claremont vice chair
"I'm the vice chair of the Claremont School Board. I'm into my second term." (0:06:17); asks about summer busing (0:26:19) and the source of the renovation money (0:30:30); on the evaluation subcommittee (0:47:25).
Rob Lovett Jr.
Claremont member
Moves the December 10 minutes (0:03:47, 0:04:15); introduces himself (0:06:03); alternate on the evaluation subcommittee; asks about COVID-funded SAU staff for the budget (0:55:05 to 0:55:17).
Joshua Lambert
Claremont member
Introduces himself (0:06:41); joins the evaluation subcommittee (0:48:05).
Unity member (transcribed "Shannon. Peskin" in the roll)
Introduces herself as Unity soccer coach (0:05:02, 0:05:13); seconds the treasurer nomination (0:35:51) and adjournment (0:55:46); offers to join the evaluation subcommittee (0:48:25).
Rocco Ruggeri
Unity member (transcribed "Roger, unity")
Answers the roll (0:01:09); "In the beginning of my first term." (0:06:38); asks whether the summer program is new (0:24:55).
Gary Bader
Unity member (spelling per roster; transcribed "Gary. Vader")
Opens the meeting and runs the officer elections (0:00:12 to 0:02:43); superintendent's report on the SAU office renovation, relief funds, a state-funded curriculum program, summer programs and a new interim principal (0:07:36 to 0:30:15); describes the treasurer's duties (0:33:08); summer forums (0:36:14 to 0:40:32); Goshen tuition students (0:40:50 to 0:45:53).
Richard Seaman
SAU 6 assistant superintendent for finance (roster)
Calls the roll (0:00:58 to 0:01:25); receives Erickson's corrections to the December minutes (0:03:55).
Jeff Small
SAU 6 Director of Technology (roster)
Runs the slides ("Mr. small", 0:16:50); answers No. when asked about citizens present (0:04:35, unattributed in the transcript).
Unidentified
Various
31 of 373 rows (8.3%), including the seconds on the chair and vice chair elections, the agenda amendment's mover and second, and the December minutes' second.
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda survives. Erickson refers to "our action items" (0:32:32) and to the evaluation subcommittee as "Our last agenda item" (0:46:07). The order below is reconstructed from the presiding officers' transitions.
Items in the order taken up, with dispositions as heard in the recording
Chair: Horsky's row reads "Mike patron remains chair second." (0:02:07) [Michael Petrin]; the superintendent calls the vote, "All in favor? Aye." (0:02:12). Vice chair: Horsky, "I will make the motion to allow Marjorie Erickson to continue as vice chair." (0:02:26); second unidentified; "All in favor? Aye. So moved." (0:02:32). No secretary or treasurer is elected at this point; a treasurer is chosen later (0:35:47) and no secretary is chosen on the record. See flag 1.
Unidentified member adds "introduction of new Claremont board members" (0:02:53); unidentified second (0:03:03); agenda approved as amended by voice vote (0:03:14).
Lovett moves (0:03:47); unidentified second (0:03:54); Erickson's typo corrections (0:03:55); "Make a motion to accept the minutes, as amended for December 10th, 2020." (0:04:15); voice vote, ayes (0:04:22, 0:04:26).
Next SAU meeting expected in September or October for the budget (0:53:48). Horsky moves to adjourn (0:55:42); Popescu seconds (0:55:46); "We are adjourned at 730." (0:55:49).
"It's a little past 635. I'd like to start tonight's meeting." (0:00:12). "The first order of business is the election of officers. The last time we met was, believe, December 10th or so." (0:01:45). Petrin and Erickson re-elected by voice vote (0:02:07 to 0:02:32); "Marjorie, it's your meeting right now." (0:02:43).
Agenda amended to add introductions (0:02:53). Erickson on the December 10 minutes: "I know three of you at least were not there" (0:03:14); "Mary, I emailed you a copy of the minutes with just three typos highlighted." (0:03:55); approved as amended (0:04:15). No citizens present (0:04:35).
Popescu: "This is going into my last year right now." (0:05:02). Erickson: "chairperson of the Unity School Board and also now vice chair of this August body." (0:05:28). Sprague: "I'm the chair of the Claremont board" (0:05:49). Lovett: "Elected to the board in October by special session and then officially in March." (0:06:03). Whitney: "I'm the vice chair of the Claremont School Board." (0:06:17). Sprague on Towle: "Carolyn's a very, very tough act to follow." (0:07:00).
The new Broad Street entrance is "where most of the money is going" (0:07:36). Seaman: the ADA entrance concrete will be cleaned up and handrails replaced, "Some of them are actually two by fours just stuck in" (0:10:48); human resources will move to the first floor because the second floor "does not have Ada access" (0:13:13). Asked whether the money is "not Covid money": "No, it's not Covid money. Correct." (0:13:39, 0:13:47). Later: "We came out of the budget the last year" when the state provided more, and "we have not touched the capital of reserve fund yet." (0:30:40, 0:30:56).
"Claremont has a large chunk chunk of money to use for remediation programs and the like in potential construction. Projects." (0:15:33); outdoor classrooms first, pending clarity on what is "reimbursable" (0:15:57); "maintenance of equity versus maintenance of effort" (0:16:28). A science curriculum program "pushed out for the entire state" at no cost (0:17:18), worth by his estimate "seven 70,000 or so per, per year" (as transcribed, 0:18:35).
Retreat days to open the year (0:19:22); forums "on Monday nights through the summer, beginning the 19th. And we're looking at five of those nights." (0:20:24), starting as "a listening session" on scheduling and elementary restructuring (0:20:54).
The summer program starts Tuesday (0:21:22); Magoon: "Some weeks we have like almost 200 students." (0:22:10) and staff from 4 or 5 other districts are joining (0:24:09). A new interim principal, named as transcribed "Nicole Bailey", was put forward by a committee (0:23:12). Whitney: the program provides busing; Magoon: "They're getting breakfast, lunch and two snacks." (0:26:19, 0:26:31); hours "from 830 to 5" (0:32:07). Lovett: "I have two kids in it" (0:31:47).
"the intention of the administrative team to open 100% as, as, as regular instruction as we can" (0:29:28), with any plan "passed again in individual boards" (0:29:52).
Tempesta: duties are "looking and signing off on bills reconciliations and the like" (0:33:08). Seaman: Claremont's treasurer, named as Jane Hunter, reviews warrants weekly (0:33:36); "the treasurer is responsible for reconciliation of the bank accounts, although that's done internally" (0:34:00); "the treasurer's name is on all checks that will be paid out" by the SAU (0:34:35). Horsky elected: "I can do math. We're good." (0:36:09).
Forums to cover the master schedule and elementary restructuring, "picking up where we did" before the pandemic (0:36:46, 0:37:18); "it's going to be 5 or 6 that we know of" (0:40:32).
"we started foundationally with 141 for K to five and" for grades 6 to 12 "the tuition would be 153. We increased that 3% this year with an understanding that in future years it would be 3%." (0:41:20); "between a two and 4% raise" (0:42:24). "there's still an outstanding 40 or so folks who haven't made a decision" (0:42:33), "of the 85 that are not set yet" (0:42:57). Seaman on choice towns: students "can show up where they want to show up" (0:43:22, 0:43:40). Transportation has "enough redundancy" (0:44:44).
Erickson: "Rebecca was on it, which tells you how long ago we met. We haven't met. I think we met in the fall." (0:46:07); a tool had been used "in the fall" and changes discussed, "but again, nothing has been done" (0:47:02). Whitney: tie the evaluation to the strategic plan (0:47:25). Lambert and Horsky join, Lovett as alternate, Popescu offers (0:48:05 to 0:48:25). Set for "August 4th at 5:00 in the teal Room" (0:51:47), before that night's Claremont meeting (0:52:26).
Whitney relays Petrin's question whether "he was no longer chair because he was a no show." (0:53:27). Next SAU meeting "in September. October timeframe for the budget." (0:53:48); Unity's retreat on August 5 and its meeting on the 24th; "Claremont, I guess, is off until the 21st." (0:54:41). Lovett asks whether new COVID-related staff sit at the SAU level (0:55:05 to 0:55:17); Tempesta: "there's one position that we expanded" (0:55:23).
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 July 1, 2021, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM The SAU board organized on July 1, outside the April 1 to June 1 window, and no secretary was chosen on the record
RSA 194-C:5, I provides that the SAU board "shall meet between April 1 and June 1 in each year" and "shall organize by choosing a chairperson, a secretary, and a treasurer". By the superintendent's account, "The last time we met was, believe, December 10th or so." (0:01:45), and the December 10, 2020 minutes are the ones approved tonight (0:04:15), so the board did not meet in the statutory window; it organized on July 1. On the record it re-elected a chair and a vice chair (0:02:07 to 0:02:32) and elected a treasurer (0:35:47 to 0:36:02); no secretary is chosen, though the clerk takes the roll and minutes. The election was opened and called by the superintendent, who is not a member, with the vice chair present (0:01:45 to 0:02:43); no rule examined for this page says who presides before officers are chosen, so that point is noted only. Graded MEDIUM, not HIGH: the whole window fell within the COVID-19 state of emergency, which lapsed at midnight on June 11, 2021, and the project's search for an emergency order extending RSA 194-C:5 was not exhaustive. A reviewer should confirm that no order or later minutes cure the gap before treating it as a missed statutory deadline.
MEDIUM No agenda or minutes survive, and the seconds on the officer elections are unidentified
MAP.md records no Drive material for this meeting; the SAU 6 share holds nothing older than 2022. 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, and recording the members who moved and seconded each motion, open to inspection "not more than 5 business days after the meeting". The MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule applies because the record mitigates the gap: the board approved minutes of this meeting on October 21, 2021 (show 11980), so they were written; no copy survives in any share checked. The recording cannot replace them: the chair election's mover and second are run together in one row (0:02:07); the vice chair's second (0:02:32), the agenda amendment's mover and second (0:02:53, 0:03:03) and the December minutes' second (0:03:54) are unidentified. Every vote was by voice, with no tally stated.
OBSERVATION The superintendent evaluation subcommittee had not met since the fall; its revived meeting is a public meeting
Erickson said the subcommittee last met "in the fall" and that "nothing has been done" on the planned changes to its evaluation tool (0:46:07, 0:47:02). It now has members from both boards and a meeting set for August 4 at 5:00 p.m. (0:51:47). A subcommittee of the SAU board is itself a public body: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) reaches "any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto", so the August 4 session needs 24 hours' posted notice and minutes under RSA 91-A:2, II, and any evaluation discussion held in private must go through a nonpublic-session motion and roll call. Setting the date, time and room in open session is a good start; no notice or minutes of the August 4 session have been found in the district's shares, which hold nothing older than 2022.
OBSERVATION Seven months between SAU board meetings during the pandemic year
The board's previous meeting was December 10, 2020 (0:01:45, 0:03:14), and Erickson expects the next "in September. October timeframe for the budget." (0:53:48). In that interval the SAU office renovation was contracted (0:07:36), relief-funded programs were planned across both districts (0:15:33), and an interim principal was put forward (0:23:12). Apart from RSA 194-C:5's April-to-June organizational meeting (flag 1), no rule examined for this page sets how often an SAU board must meet, so this is recorded as context: decisions shared by both districts were reported to the joint board after the fact, and Lovett's question about COVID-funded SAU staff (0:55:05) was deferred to the budget meetings.
Sources: recording only; RSA 194-C:5, I for the one meeting the statute requires.
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, 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.
RSA 194-C:5, I (1996, 298:3; unamended, so the current text governs): SAU board meets between April 1 and June 1 and organizes by choosing a chairperson, secretary and treasurer