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 |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Chair | Opens the public hearing (0:00:11) and the meeting; asks the nurses and superintendent what a closure would look like (0:20:36, 0:22:58); states for the record how his remote vote on the fish-tank motion was meant (0:30:10 to 0:31:23); asks whether the district would be liable for the middle-school trip (1:26:23); reports on the support-staff negotiations (1:32:55); appeals to members to wear masks in school buildings, without a motion (1:41:54 to 1:50:14). |
| Heather Whitney | Board member (vice chair per the project roster) | Points to the state school and childcare toolkit and the district's absence threshold (0:25:19, 0:25:44); asks whether students must show a vaccination card (0:42:00); says she found no approval of the Maple Avenue roof draw (1:38:49); argues vaccination, not masking, is the message (1:45:01); explains her fish-tank motion (2:01:31, 2:01:52); raises a homeschool student's access to the school-day SAT (2:03:08). |
| Michael Petrin | Board member; SAU 6 Board chair (transcribed "Michael Patron", "Mike patron") | Seconds the agenda (0:06:58); questions the nurses' protocol counts and testing (0:41:41, 0:42:51); distinguishes educational from recreational trips (1:19:33); on masks, “we follow the rules that are put forth” (1:47:57); speaks for the performing arts (1:52:02, 1:52:25). |
| Steven Horsky | Board member | Moves the amended agenda (0:06:39); reads corrections to the minutes (0:28:50); asks whether staff may ask students their vaccination status (0:43:34); compares the trip refusal with the Puerto Rico trip (1:16:39 to 1:18:51); reports for the Policy Committee (1:34:03); moves acceptance of the gifts (1:50:54); asks for a nonpublic session on contracts next time (1:56:44); moves to adjourn (2:05:54). |
| Joshua Lambert | Board member | Asks that exposure letters name the grade level (1:01:38); questions why the trip could not go ahead (1:28:50, 1:29:02); says members should mask in schools so staff can trust the board (1:46:44). |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Board member | Capital Improvement Committee report on the Maple Avenue roof and the emergency reserve fund (1:37:47 to 1:38:41). Attribution by elimination (medium confidence). |
| Nicholas Stone | Board member | Moves to table the minutes (0:30:03); asks why buses were refused (1:15:47) and calls the trip decisions inconsistent (1:28:00); seconds the gifts (1:51:07); asks that citizens be invited to comment on discussion items (1:41:11). |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Presents the gifts at the hearing (0:03:20, 0:04:22); superintendent's report on the Dow building renovation, COVID-19 and the restructuring survey (0:07:13 to 0:19:11); explains the bus decision (1:20:54 to 1:24:16); names the teachers behind the fish-tank presentation (2:00:14). |
| Ronnie (surname not stated) | Lead nurse, SAU 6, and Maple Avenue school nurse (self-introduction transcribed "Ask you to leave nurse for six") | Presents the COVID-19 process, tracking and counts by school (0:35:19 to 1:12:14), the exposure letters (0:55:19) and the case for using the River Valley Community College testing site rather than in-school surveillance testing (1:08:58 to 1:10:37). |
| Tessa Akins | School nurse, Claremont Middle School (spelling as transcribed; attribution medium) | Introduced by the lead nurse (0:35:19); on vaccinated students staying in school (1:02:38) and on parents not reporting positive family members (1:03:24). |
| Vicki Johnson | School nurse, Disnard Elementary (transcribed "Disney") | Introduced by the lead nurse (0:35:19); no attributed row. |
| Sean LaPlante | Athletic director, Claremont Middle School (self-introduction transcribed "Sean. The plan on"; spelling unverified) | Asks how a student trip to a professional game in Boston can go ahead: bus quote $950, tickets $35, about 60 students signed up (1:12:35 to 1:15:31). |
| Dr. Mary Ellen Janeiro | Curriculum administrator, SAU 6 (name per the project roster; attribution of these rows low) | Says she will convene the music teachers (1:53:36, 1:53:47); says the fish-tank books will still be used (2:01:13). |
| Emily (first name only) | Student representative, Stevens High School senior | Introduced (0:05:26, 0:05:47); student report given late in the meeting (1:57:18, 1:57:36). |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk and recording secretary | Calls the roll (0:01:41 to 0:01:55). |
| Unidentified | Various | 131 of 753 rows (17.4%), almost all one- to three-word responses; includes the adjournment second (2:05:56). |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda survives. The chair adds the gifts “under letter G” (0:06:07) and refers to “item C” (0:20:36); the order below is reconstructed from the chair's transitions. The minutes were skipped at first and taken after the superintendent's report (0:28:18).
Items in the order taken up, with dispositions as heard in the recording
| Taken up | Item | Disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:11 | Public hearing: two gifts | NH Charitable Foundation, “10,500 are from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation”, for year-long professional development and outdoor classroom materials; Claremont Savings Bank, “For $1,000 to be used.” (0:04:22). No public speakers; hearing closed (0:04:51). See flag 6. |
| 0:05:04 | Pledge of Allegiance; student representative introduced | Emily, a Stevens senior (0:05:47). |
| 0:06:07 | Approval of the agenda | Amended to add the two gifts as item G (0:06:07). Horsky: “make a motion to accept the amended agenda, adding the public hearing donations to item G for acceptance” (0:06:39); Petrin seconds (0:06:58); voice vote (0:06:59). |
| 0:07:13 | Superintendent's report | Dow building renovation, COVID-19 trends, restructuring survey and forum. No action. |
| 0:28:18 | Approval of previous minutes (taken late) | The chair backs up to the item (0:28:18). Horsky reads corrections (0:28:50); the chair has an amendment too (0:29:54); Stone: “Do a motion tabled until we figure it out.” (0:30:03); Whitney seconds (0:32:12); voice vote to table (0:32:13). See flags 4 and 5. |
| 0:32:13 | Citizens' comments | None (0:32:32). |
| 0:32:32 | Discussion: agreements from the SRA and the CAA | Superintendent: included for reference only; the district did not pursue the memoranda (0:32:41). No action. |
| 0:33:08 | Nominations | Not ready; deferred to the next meeting (0:33:08). |
| 0:34:08 | Discussion: COVID-19 process (school nurses) | Presentation and questions. No action. |
| 1:12:23 | Discussion: middle-school trip travel concerns | Chair announces “CMS revolution Puerto Rico trip. Travel concerns.” (1:12:23) Board consensus that the athletic director may arrange a private charter; no motion (1:32:05). See flag 2. |
| 1:32:34 | Subcommittee reports | Negotiations (1:32:55); Policy Committee (1:34:03); Capital Improvement Committee (1:37:47). No action. See flag 3. |
| 1:41:54 | Discussion: mask use by board members in school buildings | Discussion only; the chair declines a motion (1:50:14). |
| 1:50:24 | G. Acceptance of the two gifts | Horsky moves to accept $10,500 and $1,000 (1:50:54); Stone seconds (1:51:07); comment invited (1:51:09); voice vote (1:51:14). See flag 6. |
| 1:51:19 | Next agenda and other business | Policy Committee report, subcommittee reports and nominations next time (1:51:19 to 1:51:45); performing arts (1:52:02); a nonpublic session on contracts requested for the next agenda (1:56:44); student representative's report (1:57:18); fish-tank presentation (1:57:59); homeschool access to the school-day SAT (2:03:08). |
| 2:05:54 | Adjournment | Horsky moves (2:05:54); second unidentified (2:05:56); voice vote (2:06:01). |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/11963 SchoolBoard102021.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
Topics in the order discussed
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:11 | Public hearing on two gifts | “it's 630, October 20th, 2021” (0:00:11). The chair calls the hearing “really a formality” (0:00:52) and is unsure of the threshold that triggers one (0:00:52, 0:01:07). Superintendent: “10,500 are from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation” (0:03:20) for professional development and outdoor classroom materials; and $1,000 from Claremont Savings Bank (0:04:22). No public speakers (0:04:51). | POSITIVE |
| 0:05:26 | Student representative | “I'm a senior at Stevens. It was announced a few times that someone was needed for it and nobody took it, so I did.” (0:05:47) | |
| 0:06:07 | Agenda amended | Gifts added as item G; motion Horsky, second Petrin, voice vote (0:06:39 to 0:06:59). | MEDIUM |
| 0:07:13 | Superintendent's report: Dow building | Before-and-after photographs of the SAU office renovation; money was set aside “from a few years ago, in the before time when we had the governor's one time money” (0:08:45); completion expected “in the next three weeks” (0:09:49). Horsky later calls it an impressive transformation (0:27:18); the superintendent says the project stayed on budget (0:27:48). | |
| 0:11:17 | Superintendent's report: COVID-19 | Claremont numbers dropped in recent days (0:11:57); “River Valley Community College is one of the four driving PCR tests from your car locations in all of New Hampshire.” (0:12:17) Cases are “higher than the January that that peak of cases right now.” (0:14:46) Sullivan County “went over 300 cases of active infections” (0:24:26). On moving to remote instruction, the superintendent: “There is no transitional model.” (0:23:08) | |
| 0:17:37 | Restructuring survey and forum | “we had 202 responses so far.” (0:17:37); respondents “are not Claremont parents, actually 60% or so.” (0:18:01); the elementary restructuring forum is set for “forum on Monday night”. Whitney questions who answered (0:19:41, 0:19:56). | |
| 0:20:36 | What if cases surge | Chair: “If it does get really bad, what is what does that look like?” (0:20:36) Whitney: the matrix adopted at the start of the year turns mainly on student and staff absence, “I think the low threshold is something like 15%.” (0:25:44) and the dashboard lags the district's own tracking (0:26:05). | |
| 0:28:18 | Minutes tabled; the chair's remote vote | Horsky reads corrections describing the temporary citizens'-comment rule (0:28:50, 0:29:38). Stone moves to table (0:30:03); carried by voice (0:32:13). The chair: “but I was participating remotely.” (0:30:27) and “even though I voted yes, my vote was for Mike's motion to move the question not on fish tank.” (0:30:56) | MEDIUM OBSERVATION OBSERVATION |
| 0:32:13 | Citizens' comments | None. Petrin checks the scope: “Not agenda items because on the discussion we'll have.” (0:32:24) | OBSERVATION |
| 0:32:41 | SRA and CAA agreements; nominations; background checks | “We we didn't want to pursue the Moas, but we, we had these and I just wanted to put it in their information for the board.” (0:32:41) Nominations deferred because the HR coordinator was out (0:33:08); the state fingerprint backlog is easing: “22 of those came in in one fell swoop today” (0:33:35). | |
| 0:35:19 | COVID-19 process: sending students home | The lead nurse introduces the middle-school and Disnard nurses (0:35:19); students sent home are out ten days unless they test negative (0:35:37 to 0:37:34). The tracking sheet “includes the child's name their their grade, whether or not they've been vaccinated, whether or not they ride the bus, whether or not they play sports.” (0:37:52) | POSITIVE |
| 0:40:06 | COVID-19 counts by school | “in September for Stevens High School, there were 79 students that we put on protocol” (0:40:06); “22 students actually tested positive for Stevens in September” (0:40:28); “45 students are on protocol” (0:40:57) at Stevens in October to date. Similar breakdowns follow for the middle school (0:44:58), Bluff (0:47:04), Disnard (0:47:58) and Maple Avenue (0:48:21, 0:48:49). Horsky: “basically one in every nine students roughly is on protocol in the total district right now.” (1:07:48) | POSITIVE |
| 0:41:41 | Vaccination status and privacy | Vaccination status is self-reported: “we're asking the students and the students parents whether or not they're vaccinated.” (0:41:45) Whitney: “Do they have to produce a card?” (0:42:00) Horsky asks whether staff may legally ask (0:43:34); Whitney: “Only has to do with information from a healthcare provider to an insurance.” (0:43:39) Horsky would ask parents, not students (0:43:48). | POSITIVE |
| 0:49:13 | An unreported cluster | “So this this cluster was not reported. And I want to apologize to all of you.” (0:49:13) The state posted it while the district's caseworker was on vacation (0:49:13, 0:49:35). | POSITIVE |
| 0:55:19 | Exposure letters | Letters name the school or cohort, not the child, because “we also need to protect privacy.” (0:57:13) Lambert asks “is it possible to identify the grade level in the letter” (1:01:38); the nurse: “there's no reason why we can't identify grade level.” (1:01:51) | POSITIVE |
| 1:08:58 | Surveillance testing | “honestly, right now we don't have the bandwidth.” (1:09:17) The nurses favor sending families to the free college site, “It's seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.” (1:10:37) | |
| 1:12:23 | Middle-school trip to a professional game | “they gave me a quote of $950 for the bus, and each ticket would cost $35.” (1:13:41) “I have about 60 kids signed up right now” (1:15:31). Reason given for refusing buses: “we didn't want to risk the fleet.” (1:15:50) | OBSERVATION |
| 1:16:39 | Comparison with the Puerto Rico trip | Horsky: “Not long ago, this board approved a trip out of country to Puerto Rico.” (1:17:32) Petrin: “educational versus recreational” (1:19:33). Superintendent: “we don't have backup drivers.” (1:21:14) and “we're not willing to to risk our drivers in the busses.” (1:24:16) | OBSERVATION |
| 1:26:23 | Liability; informal go-ahead | Chair: “are we are we actually liable.” (1:26:23) Stone: “we're just kind of inconsistency there.” (1:28:24) Chair: “So you can do the transaction.” (1:29:13) and “So I don't think we need to vote or anything.” (1:32:05) | OBSERVATION |
| 1:32:34 | Negotiations and Policy Committee | Negotiation ground rules mean “we can't really disclose any of the negotiating topics” (1:32:55). Horsky: the Policy Committee found “there was some deficiencies in an audit that we had. As far as policies went” (1:34:03), including “Drugs in the workplace, essentially. Is one of them.” (1:34:28) The chair says best practice is review “every, every three years or 1 to 3 years.” (1:35:13) | |
| 1:37:47 | Maple Avenue roof and the emergency reserve fund | Lovett: the roof repair “Was paid for through the emergency reserve fund, and we could not figure out when that had been approved or moved through the school board.” (1:38:12) “can anyone recall us approving Maple Avenue roof repairs through the emergency reserve fund?” (1:38:41) The superintendent will follow up (1:41:03). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:41:11 | Public comment on discussion items | Stone: “if there's any citizens that want to comment on this.” (1:41:11) Petrin and Horsky disagree on what the board adopted (1:41:24, 1:41:37). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:41:54 | Board members' masks in school buildings | Chair: “the main thing is just the optics of going into buildings.” (1:43:31) Whitney: “we have a 44.8% vaccination rate, and it's only gone up 0.8% since the beginning of the school year.” (1:45:01) Lambert: masking matters “in terms of staff members to trust the board.” (1:46:44). Horsky: “If I'm going to make kids mask up and muzzle them, I'm going to muzzle myself too” (1:50:08). No motion (1:50:14). | |
| 1:50:24 | Gifts accepted | Horsky: “I am going to make a motion to accept the donation from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation in the amount of $10,500, and from Claremont Savings Bank in the amount of $1,000.” (1:50:54) Stone seconds (1:51:07); comment invited (1:51:09); voice vote (1:51:14). | POSITIVE |
| 1:52:02 | Performing arts and the music program | Petrin: “I am here to speak up for performing arts” (1:52:25), suggesting tents and heaters for winter concerts (1:53:06). Dr. Janeiro: “there's an invite going out for them to gather together with me” (1:53:47). | |
| 1:54:32 | Restructuring forum; nonpublic request | Forum on Monday night, with remote access (1:54:55, 1:54:57). Horsky: “I believe by then we may need to have a non public for personnel in regards to contract discussion.” (1:56:44) | |
| 1:57:18 | Student representative's report | PSAT and SAT, a fall walk, the Puerto Rico trip (“we have 52 students signed up.” (1:57:36)), a virtual financial-aid night, the spring senior play and homecoming. | |
| 1:57:59 | Fish-tank presentation teachers | Superintendent: the presenting teachers “have taken a beating on social media.” (1:58:47) and “that was Cassandra Lockwood and Joan Fontaine.” (2:00:14) Whitney: the objection was that the material “was to be used for a reading program, which the board approved of” (2:01:52) but was implemented as social studies (2:01:52). Dr. Janeiro: “the books are still going to be used there, Newbery Award winning books” (2:01:13). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:03:08 | Homeschool access to the school-day SAT | Whitney: “I had a request from a homeschool parent who was told that her child was not going to be able to take the SAT at Stevens.” (2:03:08) Chair: “Exclude a Claremont resident from any activities that our kids are.” (2:05:00) Put on a future agenda (2:05:37). | |
| 2:05:54 | Adjournment | Horsky: “I would like to make a motion to adjourn.” (2:05:54) Second. (unidentified, 2:05:56); voice vote (2:06:01). | MEDIUM |
Items flagged for review
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 October 20, 2021, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes survive; the recording is the only public account of the meeting
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. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force since January 1, 2019, requires minutes that name the members and persons appearing, describe the subjects and final decisions, record the members who moved and seconded each motion, and are open to public inspection within five business days. The MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule applies because the record mitigates the gap: on the November 3, 2021 recording the board approves the minutes of this meeting as amended (November 3, 2021 page), so minutes were written. What is lost is the public copy. Without it, the posted agenda (including whether the $1,000 gift appeared on it before the night, see flag 6), the text of the documents the nurses and the superintendent showed, and the outcome of the tabled minutes cannot be checked. Every vote on the recording was by voice; movers and seconders are audible for the agenda (0:06:39, 0:06:58), the motion to table (0:30:03, 0:32:12), the gifts (1:50:54, 1:51:07) and adjournment (2:05:54), with the adjournment second unidentified.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2021 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019): minutes content, movers and seconders, five business days
OBSERVATION A middle-school trip was cleared by informal board consensus, with no motion and an unanswered liability question
The Claremont Middle School athletic director told the board he had been told by administration that the district fleet could not be used, that he could not buy tickets or hire a bus himself because, as a school employee, that would make it a school-sanctioned trip, and that the district would then be liable (1:14:17, 1:25:07). The superintendent explained the bus decision by a shortage of drivers: “we don't have backup drivers.” (1:21:14). The chair asked “are we are we actually liable.” (1:26:23) The superintendent answered that “I didn't get into that depth with with principal Romeo or Sean” (1:26:28), and no one answered the legal question. Members then told the director he could proceed: “So you can do the transaction.” (1:29:13); “Yeah, I don't care.” (1:29:14); and the chair closed with “So I don't think we need to vote or anything.” (1:32:05) The result reverses an administrative instruction on the strength of remarks around the table. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to record final decisions; a direction given without a motion leaves nothing for minutes to record, and the liability question the chair raised stayed open. Members also compared the refusal with the board's approval of a high-school trip to Puerto Rico (1:17:32, 1:28:00), which the student representative said has 52 students signed up (1:57:36).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2021 codification): minutes record final decisions; the recording
OBSERVATION Members could not recall voting to pay for the Maple Avenue roof from the emergency reserve fund
Reporting for the Capital Improvement Committee, Lovett said that a fund created by warrant article “for any emergency building maintenance” (1:37:49) was understood to need board approval for any withdrawal, and that the committee had been told the Maple Avenue roof repair “Was paid for through the emergency reserve fund, and we could not figure out when that had been approved or moved through the school board.” (1:38:12) Whitney said she had found no approval in her notes and recalled telling voters that the fund “would not be expended unless the board by majority vote, agree with it.” (1:39:33) Horsky recalled being told the reserve “wasn't touched for the roof” (1:39:58). The superintendent said he had no record and would follow up (1:40:38, 1:41:03). The question was answered at the next meeting: on November 3, 2021 the business administrator said nothing had been drawn from the capital expendable trust, that the trustees release money only on a board motion, and that the roof's cost had been incurred with its funding source still undecided (see the November 3, 2021 page). This page found no warrant-article text or statute to test the committee's premise against, so it records the question and its answer.
Sources: the recording; the November 3, 2021 recording (show 12005)
OBSERVATION The board's temporary rule allowing public comment on discussion items was not applied until a member raised it
Horsky's corrections to the tabled minutes describe a motion, made by Stone, “allowing citizens comments during discussion action items” (0:28:50), “up to three minutes for each citizen, with a timekeeper appointed by the chair”, as a temporary measure “until the Policy Committee can craft a formal policy” (0:29:38). Through the COVID-19 report, the trip item and the subcommittee reports no comment was invited. Stone raised it at 1:41:11: “if there's any citizens that want to comment on this.” Members then disagreed about what had been adopted: Petrin, “my understanding was it was only if there's a motion on the floor.” (1:41:24); Horsky, “They were allowed to speak during the discussion.” (1:41:37) The chair did invite comment before the vote on the gifts (1:51:09). No statute required a comment period at a New Hampshire school board meeting on this date: RSA 189:74, which now requires one of at least 30 minutes, took effect September 6, 2022. The point is the board's own rule, whose text is in the minutes this page cannot read.
Sources: RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022; not in force on this date); the recording
OBSERVATION The chair put on the record that his remote vote on the fish-tank motion was meant for a different motion
Before the minutes were tabled, the chair said that at the earlier meeting he had been home ill and “but I was participating remotely.” (0:30:27) He continued: “even though I voted yes, my vote was for Mike's motion to move the question not on fish tank.” (0:30:56) He did not ask to change the vote, said “I could have asked to have the motion restated, and I didn't.” (0:31:23) and drew the lesson “I think it's going to be really important to restate the motion” (0:30:56). The minutes under discussion appear to be those of September 15, 2021, whose recording carries the fish-tank vote and the citizens'-comment motion that Horsky's corrections describe (September 15, 2021 page). Under RSA 91-A:2, III(e), as it read in 2021, every vote at a meeting in which a member takes part remotely must be by roll call, so each member's vote is recorded by name; the chair's statement bears directly on how his recorded vote should be read. Whether the September 15 minutes carry his clarification cannot be checked, because no minutes survive. The same concern surfaces the next evening at the SAU 6 board, whose chair restates the merit-pay motion before its vote and says the boards are working on making motions clear (October 21, 2021 page).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III(a) and III(e) (2021 codification): remote participation only when attendance is not reasonably practical, reason stated in the minutes; all votes by roll call; the recording
POSITIVE Public hearing held on both gifts, including one below the statutory hearing threshold, and both accepted in public session
The meeting opened with a public hearing on a $10,500 New Hampshire Charitable Foundation grant for a year of professional development tied to outdoor classrooms and a $1,000 Claremont Savings Bank gift (0:03:20, 0:04:22); no one spoke (0:04:51). The gifts were added to the agenda as item G (0:06:07) and accepted on Horsky's motion, seconded by Stone, after the chair invited comment (1:50:54 to 1:51:14). RSA 198:20-b, as it read until July 18, 2023, required a prior public hearing for unanticipated funds of $5,000 or more; for smaller amounts it required notice in the agenda and in the minutes, with acceptance in public session at a regular meeting. The board held a hearing on the $1,000 gift as well, which goes beyond that minimum. Two cautions: the chair was unsure of the threshold (“I think that the threshold is 5000” (0:00:52); the superintendent, “Think it's 500.” (0:01:07)), and the statute then read $5,000; and the authority rests on the district having adopted the enabling warrant article under ¶I, which this page could not check.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I, III(a) and III(b) (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1; in force until 2023, 38:1, eff. July 18, 2023)
POSITIVE COVID-19 cases reported to the public by school in aggregate counts, with no student identified
The lead nurse walked the board through September and October counts for each school: students placed on protocol, household contacts, those who chose not to test and those who tested positive (for example “in September for Stevens High School, there were 79 students that we put on protocol” (0:40:06)). She also disclosed an error, a fourth-grade cluster at Maple Avenue that the state posted before the district reported it: “So this this cluster was not reported. And I want to apologize to all of you.” (0:49:13) The district's own tracking sheet holds identifiable information (“It includes the child's name their their grade, whether or not they've been vaccinated” (0:37:52)), and the nurse said exposure letters are kept general because “we also need to protect privacy.” (0:57:13) On the ordinary reading of FERPA, a district record like that sheet is an education record, and FERPA bars disclosing personally identifiable information from them without signed parental consent except as 34 CFR 99.31 allows. Reporting only aggregates in public meets that rule; reporting them at this level of detail, in public and on camera, goes beyond any requirement this page found. One remark should not be relied on: Whitney said HIPAA “Only has to do with information from a healthcare provider to an insurance.” (0:43:39) HIPAA's definition of protected health information excludes health information in FERPA-covered education records (current eCFR text; this page did not verify the 2021 edition), so FERPA, not HIPAA, is the rule for school health records.
Sources: 34 CFR 99.30(a) (2021 annual edition): signed, dated consent before disclosing personally identifiable information from education records; 45 CFR 160.103, "protected health information," exclusion (2)(i) (current eCFR)
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: Claremont School Board of 10/20/21 (show 11963; run time from the Cablecast API not retrieved, the API refuses requests from this environment)
- Google Drive: no packet folder, agenda, presentation slides 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.
- Neighboring recordings cited: September 15, 2021 (show 11886; page) and November 3, 2021 (show 12005; page).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/11963 SchoolBoard102021.mp4.CSV (753 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/11963 SchoolBoard102021.mp4Input/Transcripts/11963 SchoolBoard102021.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 153Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/11963 SchoolBoard102021.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II and III, 2021 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019; in force until Oct. 2, 2023): minutes content, movers and seconders, five-business-day inspection; remote participation only when attendance is not reasonably practical, with the reason in the minutes, and all votes by roll call
- RSA 198:20-b, I and III, 2019 codification (source note ends 2005, 188:1; in force until July 18, 2023): unanticipated funds; hearing at $5,000 or more; agenda and minutes notice below that; acceptance in public session
- RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022): public comment period; cited to show it was not yet law
- 34 CFR 99.30(a), 2021 annual edition: consent before disclosing personally identifiable information from education records
- 45 CFR 160.103, definition of protected health information, exclusion (2)(i) (current eCFR; 2021 edition not verified)