Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Spellings follow the project's 2015 to 2023 roster, because no minutes survive to check them against; the dialogue file's transcriptions of names are noted where they differ. Roll-call answers that sit in the clerk's rows are credited to the member whose name was just called.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Michael Petrin | SAU 6 chair; Claremont member | Presides. Reports that the previous minutes are not ready (0:03:43); asks about the $14,000 increase in office salaries (0:52:01) and the office software line (1:11:09); checks that the remote member is still connected, "Is Rob still on." (1:13:25); introduces the contract item: "we've met some of it have presented a five year extension" (1:13:54). Transcribed "Petra" and "Pizza" at the roll. |
| Frank Sprague | Claremont member (Claremont board chair) | Raised the audit line at the prior meeting (0:47:20). Questions three salaries paid above budget, "about $8,500" in all (0:54:13), and says "it looks arbitrary" (0:54:24). Moves the budget (1:11:03) and the five-year contract extension "under such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon" (1:14:21, 1:14:25). Transcribed "Greg. Spread" at the roll. |
| Steven Horsky | Claremont member | Moves the agenda (0:03:28), the nonpublic session (0:09:18), the return to public session (0:10:45), the recess (0:13:16) and adjournment (1:15:56); seconds the contract extension (1:14:31). Asks about office supplies, budgeted at 8,000 against an actual of almost $24,000 (0:50:09). Recalls the board's original merit-pay intent and suggests a 2% or 2.5% pool (1:00:47, 1:01:46). |
| Heather Whitney | Claremont member | Seconds the budget (1:11:07). Warns that a merit raise paid to everyone "will start to become the cost of living raise" (1:08:52 to 1:08:55) and could hold back base salaries (1:09:57). |
| Nicholas Stone | Claremont member | Asks about contracted services (0:50:51); establishes that there has been no written evaluation behind merit pay (0:57:28) and that it was "just one flat rate" (0:59:46); asks whether the merit line is enough (1:12:12). Seconds adjournment (1:15:59). |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Claremont member (virtual) | "Present. Virtually." (0:03:07). Answers both nonpublic roll calls (0:10:05, 0:11:46). Asked whether he is still on: "No you guys are answering everything." (1:13:30) |
| Joshua Lambert | Claremont member | Answers the roll and both nonpublic roll calls, inside the clerk's rows (0:02:59, 0:10:01). Whether he attended in person is not stated. No other words of his are captured. |
| Marjorie Erickson | Unity member | Votes yes on both nonpublic roll calls, inside the clerk's rows (transcribed "Don't you? Ericson" and "Andrew. Erickson", 0:09:41, 0:11:23). A board-side voice that asks the assistant superintendent for finance to use the microphone (0:46:03) may be hers, but she is never named while it speaks. |
| Shannon (surname not spoken) | Unity member | Answers the roll and both nonpublic roll calls inside the clerk's rows (0:02:35, 0:09:41, 0:11:23). The project roster lists Shannon Popescu as a Unity member in this period. |
| Rocco Ruggeri | Unity member | Answers Yes. on both nonpublic roll calls (0:09:52, 0:11:32); the clerk's call is transcribed "Or Jerry?" and "Rocco. Would you." The attendance answer at 0:02:46 ("Go right here") is read as his by inference only. |
| John Dempsey | Unity member | Answers the roll (0:02:53) and both nonpublic roll calls (0:09:56, 0:11:37). |
| Gary Bader | Unity member | Absent: "Gary. Bader. No." at the roll (0:02:35) and "Gary. Baker. No." on the return roll call (0:11:23). |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Explains the next day's Claremont school closure (0:04:00); COVID update and school events (0:05:40 to 0:08:49). On merit pay: "We didn't even know we had a merit pool until we were reaping the budget." (0:59:14) and "Everyone received the same amount." (0:59:35). The subject of the contract extension. |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant superintendent for finance, SAU 6 | Presents the budget after sending members the wrong version (0:12:57); figures at 0:47:20 to 0:49:53. Defends past salary adjustments as market-based, "there's nothing arbitrary about it" (0:55:59), and the merit payments made "over the last two years" (0:57:47). His cluster also carried the chair's and Sprague's words, reassigned in the attribution review. |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk | Takes attendance (0:02:35 to 0:03:08) and both nonpublic roll calls (0:09:41, 0:11:23). The chair says she is "Still working on" the previous minutes (0:03:43). |
| Unidentified | Board-side voice | Asks Seaman to stand at the microphone (0:46:03) and remarks "If the money's not used, it goes back anyway." (1:04:29). Possibly Marjorie Erickson; never named. |
| Unidentified | Several voices | Pre-meeting talk, seconds and Aye. answers, and off-microphone talk during the recess (0:33:41 to 0:45:01): 87 of 387 rows. |
| Named, not heard | Staff mentioned | Ben (by the project roster, Ben Nester, director of special education), described as the only current staff member present when the evaluation tool was adopted (0:53:29, 0:59:14); Jeff (by the roster, Jeff Small, director of technology), to whom the chair directs a software question that Seaman answers (1:11:09). |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda survives. The items are reconstructed from the chair's transitions; the chair says "We have an agenda in front of us" (0:03:17) and later names item A and item B.
| Taken up | Item | What was said and done |
|---|
| 0:01:47 | Call to order, pledge, attendance | Eleven present, Bader absent; Lovett "Present. Virtually." (0:03:07). |
| 0:03:17 | Approval of the agenda | Horsky moves "to approve. The agenda as presented"; second unidentified. Voice vote, "Any further discussion? All in favor?" (0:03:35). |
| 0:03:43 | Previous meeting minutes | "We actually do not have previous meeting minutes tonight. Mary. Still working on those for us." Not taken up. |
| 0:03:55 | Superintendent's report | School closure for December 17; COVID; events. No questions (0:09:02). |
| 0:09:09 | Citizens' comments | "Seeing no citizens wanting to comment". |
| 0:09:18 | Nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II(a) | Horsky: "I'll make a motion under RSA 9183 [91-A:3], section two, subparagraph A to go into nonpublic session." Roll call (0:09:41 to 0:10:13): all eleven present vote yes. Return to public session moved by Horsky (0:10:45), roll call all yes (0:11:23 to 0:11:56). No decision is announced and no motion to seal minutes is heard. |
| 0:11:56 | Item A: SAU 6 budget | Wrong version distributed; recess on Horsky's motion, voice vote (0:13:16). Resumed at 0:46:39. Sprague moves "We approve the budget. As presented." (1:11:03); Whitney seconds; voice vote, "All those in favor? Aye, aye. Opposed?" (1:13:32). No count announced. |
| 1:13:54 | Item B: superintendent contract | Sprague: "I move that we extend the superintendent's contract. By five years. Under. Such. Terms and conditions as may be agreed upon." Horsky seconds (1:14:31). Voice vote (1:15:06); no count announced. |
| 1:15:13 | Future agenda items; other business | A January meeting date conflict is mentioned; "most actually emailed to cancel it" (1:15:30). |
| 1:15:56 | Adjournment | Horsky moves, Stone seconds; voice vote. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/12088 SAU6121621.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:02:35 | Attendance, one member virtual | Lovett: "Present. Virtually." (0:03:07). The reason he could not attend in person is not stated on the recording. | HIGH |
| 0:03:35 | Agenda approved by voice | "Any further discussion? All in favor?" Aye. "Opposed?" | HIGH |
| 0:03:43 | Previous minutes not ready | "We actually do not have previous meeting minutes tonight. Mary. Still working on those for us. And get them to us soon." | MEDIUM |
| 0:04:00 | Claremont schools closed December 17 | "we do not have school tomorrow." A message about "a national TikTok threat about school violence" had been planned; then "shortly after the close of school today, we had, some targeted names and things to investigate, which we work closely with the Claremont Police" (0:04:35), "And that's why we canceled school for tomorrow." (0:05:07) | |
| 0:05:40 | COVID update and events | "we have our lowest ratio of infections that we've had in Claremont as a, as a portion of the overall spread" (0:06:11); concern about Omicron, but no significant effect on instruction or staff absence (0:07:10); the high school's Odd Couple rehearsals and holiday concerts (0:07:37). | |
| 0:09:09 | Citizens' comments | "Seeing no citizens wanting to comment I'm going to move on to a non public session." | POSITIVE |
| 0:09:18 | Nonpublic session by roll call | Motion "under RSA 9183 [91-A:3], section two, subparagraph A"; the chair: "It's a roll call vote." (0:09:27). Eleven yes votes. The recording resumes with the return motion at 0:10:45 and a second roll call. | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 0:12:13 | Wrong budget version; recess | Seaman: "The one that got printed in. Some old version." "Is the budget reduced? Pretty significantly from what I presented last night, which is what you're looking at" (0:12:57). Horsky moves "a five minute recess" (0:13:16); the board returns at 0:46:39: "Sorry for the extended break". The revised file was emailed, "It's titled with a V two." (0:45:16) | OBSERVATION |
| 0:42:11 | Recess talk about the contract item | Off-microphone voices during the recess: "The superintendent contract?" and "It's really just a it's going to be a motion and a vote." (0:42:25). Speakers unidentified. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:47:01 | Budget figures | Prior total "1,000,008 14679" [apparently $1,814,679, matching "just over 1.8 million" below] (0:47:20). Audit cut "from the 25,000 down to a annual rate of 10,000" because "we will be caught up on audit"; staff training "from 10,000 to 15,000" (0:47:50); salaries updated for the new accounts payable and data service hires (0:48:18); new total "1 million. 795. 945", "up by 1.34%" (0:48:44); the 3% retirement increase costs "27,000" (0:49:13). | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 0:50:09 | Line questions | Office supplies: "budgeted for this year, if I'm reading this correctly is 8000. And then our actual was almost $24,000"; Seaman: last year's purchases "related to the pandemic" (0:50:33). Contracted services, Stone (0:50:51): "I'm not sure I can give you a detailed answer on what that one is." (0:51:27). Office salaries up $14,000 for "a higher paid position" (0:52:01, 0:52:12). | |
| 0:53:04 | Merit pool and salaries above budget | Seaman: the 3% merit pool carries "the specific direction and vote from the board that nothing would be paid out of it without the implementation and presentation of the evaluation process" (0:53:05). Sprague: three salaries above budget, "about $8,500" (0:54:13); "somebody got an extra $1,000, somebody else got an extra $3,500, and somebody else got an extra $5,000" (0:54:24). Seaman: increases above budget went to positions where "the employee rightfully came forward and said, I believe this position is being underpaid" (0:54:56). | MEDIUM |
| 0:57:28 | How merit pay was decided | Stone: "for the last few years there's been no evaluation piece in place. Correct." Seaman: "There hasn't been a written evaluation piece. That's correct." (0:57:39). Tempesta: "We didn't even know we had a merit pool until we were reaping the budget." (0:59:14); "So so we made the judgments on it. Everyone received the same amount." (0:59:35). Stone: "It was just one flat rate." (0:59:46) | MEDIUM |
| 1:00:47 | Board intent on merit pay; pool size | Horsky: "I believe the intent of the board was to provide a boost when people perform"; suggests 2% or 2.5% (1:01:46). Seaman: scores run 1 to 5, and the pool is whatever the board sets (1:03:26, 1:05:02). Whitney: a merit raise everyone gets "will start to become the cost of living raise" (1:08:52 to 1:08:55). Horsky confirms "It's a one time 3% payment"; Seaman: "It does not compound." (1:10:59). The pool stays at 3%. | MEDIUM |
| 1:11:03 | Budget adopted | Sprague: "Make a motion. We approve the budget." Whitney: "A second.." A further question on office software, which Seaman explains as shared general ledger, payroll and time-clock software (1:11:33, 1:11:40). Petrin: "Is Rob still on." (1:13:25). Voice vote (1:13:32). | HIGH POSITIVE |
| 1:13:54 | Superintendent's contract extended five years | Petrin: "we've we've met some of it have presented a five year extension." Sprague's motion "Under. Such. Terms and conditions as may be agreed upon" (1:14:25); he clarifies "there will be some further negotiations as to some of the fine points" (1:14:39); Petrin: "There could be or we could just agree." (1:14:48); Sprague: "Time driven" (1:14:54). Voice vote (1:15:06). | HIGH OBSERVATION |
| 1:15:26 | January meeting | A conflict with "one of the retreats" (1:15:37); the chair: "most actually emailed to cancel it" (1:15:30). | |
| 1:15:56 | Adjournment | Horsky moves; "Second by Nicholas."; voice vote. | HIGH |
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 December 16, 2021, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. The state of emergency behind Emergency Order #12 ended on June 11, 2021, so this meeting fell under the ordinary text of RSA 91-A:2, III (2019 codification, in force until October 3, 2023).
HIGH A member attended virtually, but the budget, the contract extension and every other vote except the nonpublic motions were taken by voice
Rob Lovett Jr. answered "Present. Virtually." (0:03:07). RSA 91-A:2, III(e) then requires: "All votes taken during such a meeting shall be by roll call vote." The board used roll calls to enter and leave the nonpublic session (0:09:41, 0:11:23), but took voice votes on the agenda (0:03:35), the recess (0:13:19), the SAU budget (1:13:32), the five-year superintendent contract extension (1:15:06) and adjournment (1:15:59). No count was announced for the budget or the contract, so neither the public nor the minutes could show how each member voted. Paragraph III(a) also requires the reason the member could not attend in person to be stated in the minutes, which are missing (flag 3). In mitigation: a physical quorum was present, the chair checked that Lovett was still connected (1:13:25), and no opposing voice is heard on any of these votes. The flag is HIGH because III(e) is mandatory and the two most consequential votes of the night were taken without it.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III(a), (e) (2019 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1); NHPR, June 10, 2021 (state of emergency ends June 11, 2021; reporting)
MEDIUM The previous meeting's minutes were still being written
The chair: "We actually do not have previous meeting minutes tonight. Mary. Still working on those for us. And get them to us soon." (0:03:43). RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be "promptly recorded and open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting". The previous SAU 6 meeting in this corpus is November 18, 2021 (MAP.md section 156), four weeks earlier. The chair does not name the meeting, and the five-day rule can be met with draft minutes, which the statement does not rule out; that is why this is graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH. Minutes not ready for approval four weeks on, from a clerk who is "Still working on" them, point to a deadline missed.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification)
MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes survive, including the minutes of the nonpublic session
MAP.md records no Drive material: neither district share holds a year folder older than 2022. The recording is the only public account of the adoption of the SAU budget and the contract extension. RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes with "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion", open to inspection within five business days. The nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) (0:09:18) also had to be minuted, and RSA 91-A:3, III requires those minutes to be "publicly disclosed within 72 hours" unless the board seals them by a recorded two-thirds vote in public session; no such vote is heard on the recording, so the nonpublic minutes should be public, and none has been found. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the record shows a clerk taking minutes for this body (flag 2), and because the district's shares hold nothing at all from before 2022, so their silence does not prove the records were never made. It stops short of HIGH for that reason only: nothing on the recording says these minutes exist.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification); RSA 91-A:3, III (2019 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1 and 280:1)
MEDIUM SAU staff received merit payments and above-budget raises decided by administrators, without the evaluation process the board had required
RSA 194-C:5, III provides that the SAU board "shall fix the salaries of all school administrative unit personnel". On this recording the administrators describe salary decisions the board did not make: increases above budget for three positions after employees said they were underpaid (0:54:56), totalling "about $8,500" by Sprague's count (0:54:13); and merit payments "over the last two years" (0:57:47) for which "There hasn't been a written evaluation piece" (0:57:39), where "we made the judgments on it. Everyone received the same amount." (0:59:35). The superintendent says "We didn't even know we had a merit pool until we were reaping the budget" (0:59:14), and the assistant superintendent for finance that the evaluation tool adopted years earlier was one "we didn't know about" (0:58:12). Mitigations on the record: the board itself budgeted the merit pool, and the assistant superintendent for finance says it now carries "the specific direction and vote from the board that nothing would be paid out of it without the implementation and presentation of the evaluation process" (0:53:05). Whether the earlier payments were within amounts the board had fixed cannot be told without the SAU's salary resolutions and payroll records, none of which is public; graded MEDIUM as a control weakness.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, III (SAU board fixes SAU salaries; 1996, 298:3, unamended)
OBSERVATION The budget adopted "as presented" was a revised version members received by email during a 33-minute recess
The printed packet held "Some old version" (0:12:31); the version adopted was emailed during the meeting ("It's titled with a V two.", 0:45:16) and shown on screen, a reduction from "just over 1.8 million" to "1 million. 795. 945" (0:48:44). A member of the public reading the packet would have held the wrong figures, and no version of either document survives. The audit line was cut from 25,000 to 10,000 on the reasoning that "we will be caught up on audit" (0:47:20), which implies the SAU's audits had been behind; which years, and why, is not said. Several line questions were left without a full answer ("I'm not sure I can give you a detailed answer on what that one is.", 0:51:27). No rule required a written budget in the packet; the point is the gap in the public record.
Sources: RSA 194-C:9, I (2019 codification; SAU budget adopted at a meeting before January 1)
OBSERVATION A five-year contract extension was voted with its terms left to later agreement
The motion extended the superintendent's contract "By five years. Under. Such. Terms and conditions as may be agreed upon." (1:14:21 to 1:14:25). The mover said "there will be some further negotiations as to some of the fine points" (1:14:39) and called it "Time driven" (1:14:54); the chair said "There could be or we could just agree." (1:14:48) and that "we've met some of it have presented a five year extension" (1:13:54). The board had just held a nonpublic session on a personnel matter under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), and during the recess unidentified voices said of the contract item, "it's going to be a motion and a vote" (0:42:25). No salary, term dates or other provision was stated in public, and the resulting contract is not in the record. RSA 194-C:5, III gives the SAU board the salaries of SAU personnel to fix; whether the final terms came back to the board for a public vote is not known from this recording.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, III; RSA 91-A:3, II(a) (2019 codification)
POSITIVE The nonpublic session was entered and left by roll call on a motion naming its exemption
RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires that a motion to enter nonpublic session "state on its face the specific exemption under paragraph II" and that the vote be by roll call. Horsky's motion cited "section two, subparagraph A" of RSA 91-A:3 (transcribed 9183) (0:09:18), the chair confirmed "It's a roll call vote." (0:09:27), and each member present answered by name, going in and coming out (0:09:41, 0:11:23).
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and II(a) (2019 codification)
POSITIVE The SAU budget was adopted before the January 1 deadline, with members' line questions taken in public
RSA 194-C:9, I: "At a meeting held before January 1, the school administrative unit board shall adopt a budget". The board adopted its budget on December 16 (1:13:32) after a line-by-line question period in public session (0:50:09 to 1:13:21), and the assistant superintendent for finance explained the year-over-year change, including the retirement cost increase (0:49:13).
Sources: RSA 194-C:9, I (2019 codification; source note 1996, 298:3; 2003, 279:1)
POSITIVE A citizens' comment period was offered before any statute required one
The chair called for citizens' comments before the nonpublic session (0:09:09). RSA 189:74's public comment requirement took effect September 6, 2022, and on its terms addresses meetings of a school board; offering the period here exceeded the legal minimum of the day.
Sources: RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022)
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: SAU 6 Board Meeting of 12/16/21 (show 12088; the Cablecast API refuses requests from this environment, so the run time is taken from the last dialogue row, 1:16:45)
- 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.
- Related page: Claremont School Board, December 1, 2021 (where the date of this budget meeting was set).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/12088 SAU6121621.mp4.CSV (387 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/12088 SAU6121621.mp4Input/Transcripts/12088 SAU6121621.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 158Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/12088 SAU6121621.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, 2019 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1; in force until 2023, 188:1): II minutes, movers and seconders, five business days; III(a), (e) remote participation and roll-call votes
- RSA 91-A:3, 2019 codification (source note ends 2016, 30:1 and 280:1): I(b) motion states the exemption, roll call; II(a) employee compensation and discipline; III nonpublic minutes disclosed within 72 hours unless sealed by a recorded two-thirds vote
- RSA 194-C:5, III (1996, 298:3): SAU board fixes the salaries of all SAU personnel
- RSA 194-C:9, I, 2019 codification: SAU budget adopted at a meeting held before January 1
- RSA 189:74: public comment period, effective September 6, 2022 (not in force on this date)