Claremont School Board, January 18, 2022 | FY23 budget hearing and vote for the deliberative session

Participants

Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Spellings follow the project's 2015 to 2023 roster and the speakers' own introductions, because no minutes survive to check them against; spellings marked "as heard" are unconfirmed. The district employee whose position was discussed is not named here.
Name	Role	Participation
Frank Sprague	Chair	Opens the hearing under policy BEDH, three minutes per speaker (0:00:32, 0:01:02). Says from his years as a Newport counselor that the center opened in 1993 with seven programs, "There were never 11 programs in this building" (1:17:10), then corrects to eight (1:27:14). Declines discussion of the specific position: "We're talking about specific personnel." (1:37:45)
Heather Whitney	Member	Answers the technical center criticism at length: "I don't know one member on this board who doesn't support the tech program" (1:17:34); reviews the center's budget against actual spending (1:19:48, 1:20:17); says the board was promised a community needs assessment and "We did not get a report on that." (1:22:03).
Steven Horsky	Member	Moves the nonpublic session (1:41:22), the budget (1:49:12), the four contract articles and adjournment. "As a board member, we don't make individual hiring in other staffing decisions." (1:44:09)
Rob Lovett Jr.	Member	Moves the agenda (1:40:54); notes "We don't have previous minutes. No." (1:41:14). A budget-committee voice in his diarized cluster calls the director cut "appropriate based on the current programs in this building" (1:46:21); the attribution review notes this could be Petrin.
Michael Petrin	Member; budget committee	Supports the budget: the board added a teacher-preparation course "to supplement the accounting, one that we removed" (1:47:15). Points out that the filing website lists two-year terms (1:53:13). His attributed rows rest on content and elimination.
Joshua Lambert	Member	"I'm concerned now too because when I voted yes. So through this budget I was not aware that we were cutting such an important position." (1:38:02). In the regular session supports the budget: "this is just a one year budget" (1:47:56).
Nicholas Stone	Member	Seconds the agenda (1:40:59). Finishing Carolyn Towle's term (1:52:43).
Richard Seaman	Assistant superintendent for finance, SAU 6	Presents the budget, revenue, tax rate, default budget and warrant-article costs (0:02:06 to 0:17:02); says the machine-tool position "Definitely still funded" (0:21:08).
Michael Tempesta	Superintendent, SAU 6	Speaks to the technical center's place in the strategic plan and the Region 10 agreement (1:28:01 to 1:31:39). These rows sit in Seaman's diarized cluster and were reassigned by content.
Ben Nester	Director of special education, SAU 6	Asked about special education savings, proposes "a detailed analysis of cost savings or otherwise" as a future agenda item (0:34:33).
Dr. Alex Herzog	Director, Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center	Disputes Whitney's spending figures, saying the budget was frozen one year (1:20:04); "We do have the comprehensive needs assessment" and "I'm happy to share it with the board" (1:33:26).
Mary Woodman	School district clerk	Calls the roll; lists the Article 1 offices (1:51:55 to 1:52:19).
John Lambert	Citizens' comments, Ward 2	Objects to "the 16% Cotton Technology Technical Center budget" cut, as transcribed (0:17:45); says Newport is using a "$15 million project that's 75% funded by the state" that Claremont passed on (1:11:21). Transcribed "John Labor". Not the board member Joshua Lambert.
Kip (surname heard as Ryan)	Citizens' comments, Ward 2	A graduate of the center's marketing program: "we've whittled away from 11, I believe, at the height down to four" (0:22:48); asks that the director remain full time (0:24:18).
Bonnie Miles	Citizens' comments, Ward 2	"I hate to see us lose this, this school." (0:26:10). Asks to serve on any visioning committee (1:36:19). Elected to the board in March 2022, per the project roster.
Matt Bean (as heard)	Citizens' comments, Ward 1; paraprofessional	Raises the elimination of the autism specialist position (0:29:43).
Jason Benware	Citizens' comments, Ward 1; former board member	"is there a metric in place so that we actually know that these programs are working?" (0:32:04); asks the rationale for the director reduction (0:33:27). The chair calls him "Mr. Bender".
Mimi Rhines	Citizens' comments, Ward 1; Stevens High School counselor	Speaks for the autism specialist position (0:35:10). Labeled "Mimi Ryan" in the dialogue file; the project roster's corrections give the spelling Rhines.
Josh (first name only)	Citizens' comments, Ward 3	"how hard it was to find the budget before this meeting" (0:36:29); later asks how the director cut fits the board's plans (1:27:24).
Jeanette Rourke (as heard)	Citizens' comments, Ward 1	Speaks for the autism specialist position (0:37:34) and asks again why it would be cut (1:35:44).
Kelly Fontaine	Citizens' comments, Ward 1; life skills teacher	Speaks for the autism specialist position (0:39:11).
Michael Demers	Citizens' comments, Ward 3	"the funding change, 16, 17% decrease in the budget is concerning"; his father served on the board that created the building (0:41:38).
Hilary Walch (as heard)	Citizens' comments, Ward 1; Stevens High School teacher	Speaks on both topics (0:44:16).
Whitney Skillen	Citizens' comments, Ward 2	Asks whether savings were considered for reallocation to unmet needs (0:46:13) and who is accountable for the needs assessment (1:32:28). Elected to the board as a write-in in March 2022, per the project roster. Transcribed "Whitney Skilling".
Renee (surname not recovered)	Citizens' comments, Ward 2; salon owner	Opposes the director cut (0:49:13) and reports an auto body business's offer of free training (1:12:35). Self-introduction transcribed "Ian Gates".
Derek Ferland	Citizens' comments, Ward 3	"what is the right size?" (0:52:24); reports a $25,000 USDA grant for adult vocational classes (0:52:41) and the November Region 10 meeting (1:15:19).
Allen Damren	Citizens' comments, Ward 1	"Cutting the director's time to 50%. I believe does does a very big disservice to this building" (0:55:38). Transcribed "Alan. Damron".
Scott Pope	Citizens' comments, Ward 2; technical center instructor	Proposes "a visioning committee once again" (1:01:27); invites members to his program (1:03:11).
Julie Scala (as heard)	Citizens' comments	"if we could all see this budget a little bit earlier so that we could have these discussions" (1:06:51).
John Hall	Citizens' comments, Ward 3	"to cut a direct to half time to me, sends the wrong message." (1:08:53)
Unidentified	Audience and short remarks	An audience member off microphone asks the board to put money back into the program (1:31:58); roll-call answers and seconds. 98 of 504 rows.
Named, not heard	District officers	The moderator, Miss Pope (by the project roster, Tracy Pope), and the treasurer, transcribed "Jane Hunter", listed for Article 1 (1:52:03, 1:52:12).

Order of business (reconstructed)

No agenda survives. The items are reconstructed from the chair's transitions; for the regular meeting the chair says "We have an agenda in front of us tonight. Really? Just a nonpublic." (1:40:30).
Taken up	Item	What was said and done
0:00:03	Public hearing on the fiscal 2023 budget	Pledge; ground rules under policy BEDH (0:00:32); administration's overview (0:02:06 to 0:17:02); public testimony (0:17:36 to 1:38:02); hearing closed (1:38:17).
1:39:45	Regular meeting: call to order, roll call	Roll at 1:39:54.
1:40:30	Agenda	Lovett moves "to accept the agenda as presented"; "Rob made the motion and Nick seconded it." Voice vote (1:41:08).
1:41:14	Minutes	"We don't have previous minutes. No."
1:41:22	Nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II(a)	Horsky: "under 91, a three section A the dismissal, promotion or compensation of any public employee." Second unidentified. Roll call (1:41:37 to 1:42:05); answers merged on the recording. Return by roll call (1:43:02 to 1:43:43). No decision announced; no motion to seal heard.
1:43:45	Fiscal 2023 budget	Horsky moves "to accept the fiscal year 23 budget in the amount of $37,243,825 to be the budget presented at the deliberative session" (1:49:12); second unidentified; voice vote (1:49:28).
1:49:57	Warrant articles 3 to 6: collective bargaining agreements	Horsky moves each: secretaries, Article 3 (1:50:03); paraprofessionals (1:50:23); maintenance, Article 5 (1:50:43); administrators, Article 6, second by Petrin (1:51:02). Voice votes.
1:51:18	Article 1: district officers	Sprague moves two three-year school board terms, a moderator, a clerk and a treasurer; Horsky seconds; voice vote (1:54:21).
1:54:30	Announcements and adjournment	Board meeting February 2, retreat on the sixth, "deliberative session will be February 9th, 2022". Horsky moves to adjourn; voice vote (1:54:46).

Discussion timeline

Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/12151 SchoolBoard011822.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.

Time	Topic	What was said	Flags
0:00:32	Hearing rules	"only questions and comments directly related to the school budget will be heard"; "as it refers to school board policy, BEDH"; "Only three minutes will be given to each citizen." (0:01:02); a second turn of two minutes after all have spoken (0:01:27).	POSITIVE
0:02:06	Budget by location	Bluff "a reduction of $134,000" (0:03:07); Stevens "a $454,000 reduction", including "$610,000 reduction in out of district" (0:04:40); the technical center "reduction of 181,000 is made up of of four positions" (0:05:10), among them the director "reduced by 50%" (0:05:36); district-wide "down by $312,000", "a couple of positions that have been determined to be removed" (0:06:24); total "a decrease of $541,581" (0:07:42).
0:08:07	Revenue and tax rate	"$400,000 fund balance" carried in (0:08:36); statewide property tax rate "from 1.85 to 1.23" (0:09:42); local rate $21.62, total $22.85 (0:12:05), "$1.68 reduction" (0:12:45).
0:13:01	Default budget	"The default budget is not going to be different than the than the recommended budget", because there are no one-time expenditures or growth to remove; "So the default budget will be the same as the proposed budget" (0:13:54).	OBSERVATION
0:14:25	Warrant articles	Secretaries $22,723, "a three cent increase" (0:14:51); paraprofessionals $157,564 and 21 cents (0:15:25); maintenance $30,791, "four cent"; administrators $53,592 (described as "7% impact on the tax rate", meaning seven cents); total 35 cents, for "$23.20, which is $1.33 lower" (0:16:13).	POSITIVE
0:17:45	Technical center cuts	John Lambert: "currently only offering for programs where used to have eight"; asks about the machine-tool instructor's replacement (0:18:10). Seaman: the position is "Definitely still funded" (0:21:08). Kip, a former marketing student: "He's not going to cut me to a half time position and then say, well, we're still we're still going to grow the company." (0:24:18)
0:29:43	Autism specialist position	A paraprofessional raises the position's elimination. Benware asks for a metric on in-district special education programs (0:32:04); Nester proposes a later report (0:34:33). A counselor, a teacher and the life skills teacher speak to the specialist's work (0:35:10, 0:37:34, 0:39:11).	OBSERVATION OBSERVATION
0:36:29	Access to the budget	Josh: "how hard it was to find the budget before this meeting"; "where can I find not just a summary, but a full version of the budget where we can go line by line?" (0:37:07). Scala: "if we could all see this budget a little bit earlier" (1:06:51). No answer is given on the record.	OBSERVATION
0:45:28	Reallocating savings	Skillen: "Was it ever considered to reallocate those funds into areas of need?" (0:48:19)
0:51:43	Right size of the center; adult education	Ferland: "what is the right size? It might not be 11, it might not be eight, but it's probably not four." A $25,000 USDA Rural Development grant was to fund four adult vocational classes, two here and two in Newport; "I'm prepared to do all for Newport" (0:53:23).
0:55:07	Damren, Pope, Scala, Hall	Damren asks for a plan from "a full time director" (0:57:20); Pope: "I think it may be time for a visioning committee once again" (1:01:27); Hall: "I don't understand that decision." (1:09:26)
1:10:56	Region 10 renovation money	John Lambert: Newport is voting this spring on "a $15 million project that's 75% funded by the state"; "It's the administration and the school board that isn't funding it." (1:11:43). Speaker's characterization; no document in the record.
1:16:42	The chair on the center's history	"There are seven programs here. There were never 11 programs in this building." (1:17:10); corrected to eight, adding machine tool (1:27:14).
1:17:34	Whitney responds for the board	"perhaps there's been some misperception that the board is anti technical education" (1:18:10). Fiscal 2019 "a budget of $941,000. What was actually used by the tech was $789,000" (1:19:48); Herzog: "Everybody froze our budget" (1:20:04). The decrease "comes in part from taking away those two budgeted positions, which was the guidance counselor position and the CMS s nurse position" (1:20:48). The needs assessment: "We did not get a report on that." (1:22:03)	OBSERVATION
1:28:01	Superintendent on the Region 10 agreement	"this is recently that we've had some clarification from the state" on regional agreements (1:29:07); "We have the ability to go into that, agreement with Newport" (1:29:38).
1:32:28	Who owns the needs assessment	Whitney: an outside agency was to produce it, and "it's required that we have that data to get our Perkins Grants" (1:32:45). Herzog: "We do have the comprehensive needs assessment"; "we got our Perkins funding because we did that" (1:33:26, 1:33:44).	OBSERVATION
1:37:44	The position is not discussed	Whitney: "Is that a non public." Sprague: "We're talking about specific personnel." Lambert: "when I voted yes. So through this budget I was not aware that we were cutting such an important position." (1:38:02)	OBSERVATION OBSERVATION
1:41:14	No minutes again	"We don't have previous minutes. No."	MEDIUM
1:41:22	Nonpublic session	Motion under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), "the dismissal, promotion or compensation of any public employee"; the chair: "I think we have to." / "Roll call." (1:41:35). The recording resumes with the return roll call; "We'll have a majority." (1:43:23)	MEDIUM OBSERVATION POSITIVE
1:44:09	Members explain their votes	Horsky: "The one person that we have control over is the superintendent" (1:44:47). A budget-committee member: the director reduction "I feel is appropriate based on the current programs in this building" (1:46:21). Petrin: "another big misconception out there that we're cutting programs" (1:47:15). Lambert: "this is just a one year budget" (1:47:56).
1:49:12	Budget sent to the deliberative session unchanged	"$37,243,825 to be the budget presented at the deliberative session." Voice vote.	POSITIVE
1:50:03	Contract warrant articles	Four motions by Horsky, voice votes; the maintenance article drops "transportation" from the unit's name (1:50:43).
1:51:18	Article 1 and the filing period	Two school board seats; "Nick is finishing right now the term of" Carolyn Towle (1:52:43). Petrin: the filing website "States 2 to 2 year terms" (1:53:24); the chair: "These are three year terms, two." (1:53:36). Filing opens "tomorrow" and runs "Through the 28th." (1:53:47)

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 January 18, 2022, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. No member is described as attending remotely, so the electronic-participation rules of RSA 91-A:2, III are not engaged on this recording.

MEDIUM For the second meeting running, no minutes were available for approval

Lovett: "We don't have previous minutes. No." (1:41:14). On January 5 the chair had reported no minutes "due to some technical difficulties", so by this meeting neither the December 1 nor the January 5 minutes had come before the board. 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". Draft minutes can meet the statute without board approval, which is why this is graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH; but a public body with two meetings' minutes outstanding, six weeks after the earlier one, is showing a records problem. The SAU 6 board, served by the same clerk, reported the same on December 16.

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

MEDIUM No notice, agenda, hearing record or minutes survive, including the nonpublic minutes

MAP.md records no packet folder: the district's 2022 archive begins with the July 20, 2022 meeting, and no Meeting Minutes year folder predates 2023. The recording is the only public account of the hearing's testimony and of the vote that sent the budget to the deliberative session. RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes with "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion"; two seconds tonight are unidentified on the recording (1:41:32, 1:49:26). The nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) (1:41:22) also had to be minuted, and RSA 91-A:3, III requires those minutes to be "publicly disclosed within 72 hours" unless sealed by a recorded two-thirds vote in public session; no such vote is heard. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the hearing was noticed (it was announced on January 5 and the public attended in numbers) and the handouts existed (0:02:06), so it is the minutes and documents that are missing; and because the district's shares hold nothing from before mid-2022, so their silence does not prove the records were never made.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification); RSA 91-A:3, III (2019 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1 and 280:1)

OBSERVATION The nonpublic session came between public testimony on two eliminated positions and the vote that kept them eliminated

The hearing's testimony centered on the half-time technical center director and the eliminated autism specialist position; the chair cut off public discussion of the latter as "specific personnel" (1:37:45). The board then entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), "the dismissal, promotion or compensation of any public employee" (1:41:22), and on returning voted the budget unchanged (1:49:28). RSA 91-A:3, I(c) provides that "All discussions held and decisions made during nonpublic session shall be confined to the matters set out in the motion." A discussion of an individual employee's dismissal or compensation fits II(a); a discussion of whether the budget should fund a position, which is a budget question, does not obviously fit any paragraph II ground. The recording cannot show which took place, and the nonpublic minutes that would show it are missing (flag 2). Members' public remarks afterwards discuss the director reduction openly (1:46:21), which suggests the position question itself was treated as public.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(c) and II(a) (2019 codification)

OBSERVATION The default budget was disclosed only as equal to the proposed budget

RSA 40:13, XI(a): "The default budget shall be disclosed and presented for questions and discussion at the first budget hearing held pursuant to RSA 32:5 or RSA 197:6." The assistant superintendent for finance said the default budget "will be the same as the proposed budget" (0:13:54) because there is no one-time spending or growth to remove, and that eliminated positions are reflected in it (as he also said on January 5). That is a disclosure, and no question followed. The default budget form, which would show the arithmetic from the current year's appropriation, is not in the record, so a reader cannot check that a budget $541,581 below the current year produces an identical default.

Sources: RSA 40:13, XI(a) (2019 codification; source note ends 2019, 192:2, the text in force through this date)

OBSERVATION The position cuts reached the public, and at least one board member, only at the hearing

The presentation described reductions as "a couple of positions that have been determined to be removed" (0:06:24) without naming them; residents learned of the autism specialist cut from "the person directly impacted" (0:29:43). A resident said the budget was hard to find before the hearing (0:36:29). And Lambert, who had voted on January 5 to send the budget to this hearing, said "I was not aware that we were cutting such an important position." (1:38:02). On the January 5 recording (show 12115) a former member had asked the board not to "say, oh, well, we're going to have to drop eight positions and then not say what those eight positions are". No statute required position-level detail at the hearing; RSA 40:13, II-a requires the budget to be posted by the last Monday in January, January 31 this year, after this hearing. The observation is that the hearing worked as the first notice of the budget's main changes.

Sources: RSA 40:13, II-a (2019 codification)

OBSERVATION The board and the center's director disagree on whether the required Perkins needs assessment was ever delivered

Whitney: the board was told in December 2019 that a local community needs assessment was coming, "We did not get a report on that." (1:22:03), and "it's required that we have that data to get our Perkins Grants" (1:32:45). Herzog: "We do have the comprehensive needs assessment" and "we got our Perkins funding because we did that" (1:33:26, 1:33:44). Federal law, 20 U.S.C. §2354(c), requires a recipient of Perkins V local funds to conduct a comprehensive local needs assessment and to update it at least once every two years. The statute does not require presentation to the school board, so both statements can be true. The assessment is not in the public record; its existence and date would settle the dispute and inform the "right size" question residents raised.

Sources: 20 U.S.C. §2354(c) (Perkins V, Pub. L. 115-224 §133, July 31, 2018)

POSITIVE The hearing was held on time, presented the whole budget, default budget and contract costs, and heard everyone before the board finalized

RSA 40:13, II-a(c) requires budget hearings "on or before the third Tuesday in January"; January 18, 2022 was the third Tuesday. The administration presented the budget by location, revenue, tax rate, default budget and each warrant article's cost (0:02:06 to 0:17:02); about eighteen residents spoke over some 80 minutes, several twice; and members responded on the record. Only after the hearing closed did the board vote the figure it sends to the deliberative session (1:49:12), as RSA 32:5, I contemplates ("after the conclusion of public testimony shall finalize the budget").

Sources: RSA 40:13, II-a(c) (2019 codification); RSA 32:5, I (2019 codification; source note ends 2018, 246:1)

POSITIVE The nonpublic motion named its exemption and was taken by roll call

RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires the motion to "state on its face the specific exemption under paragraph II" and the vote to be by roll call. Horsky's motion read the II(a) ground in its statutory words (1:41:22), and the chair called a roll call going in and coming out (1:41:37, 1:43:02). The individual answers merge on the recording, so the vote of each member cannot be confirmed from it.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and II(a) (2019 codification)

Appendix: source files

Official and public sources

Cablecast: School Board Meeting live on 1/18/22 (show 12151; the Cablecast API refuses requests from this environment, so the run time is taken from the last dialogue row, 1:54:49)
Google Drive: no packet folder, agenda, budget handout or minutes. MAP.md: "the district's 2022 Meeting Documents archive begins with 1. CSB 7.20.22" and no Meeting Minutes year folder predates 2023 (checked 9/26/26). A Drive title search for this meeting's date on 2026-10-03 returned nothing relevant (a search negative is not proof).
Related page: Claremont School Board, January 5, 2022 (budget moved to this hearing; contracts ratified).

Project files

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

Dialogue/12151 SchoolBoard011822.mp4.CSV (504 attributed rows; the basis of this page)
Input/Videos/12151 SchoolBoard011822.mp4
Input/Transcripts/12151 SchoolBoard011822.mp4.json
Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 160
Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/12151 SchoolBoard011822.mp4.md (speaker attribution report); Scripts/roster_2015_2023.md (spelling corrections)

Laws and rules cited on this page

RSA 91-A:2, II, 2019 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1): minutes, movers and seconders, five business days
RSA 91-A:3, 2019 codification: I(b) motion and roll call; I(c) discussion confined to the motion; II(a) employee dismissal, promotion, compensation; III nonpublic minutes within 72 hours unless sealed
RSA 40:13, 2019 codification (last amended 2019, 192:2): II-a January hearing and posting calendar; XI(a) default budget disclosed at the first budget hearing
RSA 32:5, I, 2019 codification: the budget is finalized after public testimony
20 U.S.C. §2354(c): Perkins V comprehensive local needs assessment, updated at least every two years