Participants
Everyone heard or named as present. Spellings follow the 9/29/22 SAU 6 agenda and minutes, since no minutes of this meeting survive; transcript renderings are noted. 22.3% of dialogue rows are unidentified.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Marjorie Erickson | Chair, SAU 6 Board (Unity) | Presides; notes that the April organizational election made her chair and Frank Sprague vice chair (0:06:48); presses the superintendent on staffing needs (0:13:00); sets the retreat at her home (0:26:11) and the evaluation subcommittee meeting (0:29:41); moves the clerk pay increase (0:34:44). |
| Frank Sprague | Vice Chair (Claremont) | Moves into nonpublic (0:02:04) and out (0:02:53); seconds the seal; moves the agenda and three sets of minutes; asks how the decision to reduce staff was made (0:20:10); proposes $150 per meeting for the clerk (0:34:26); moves to adjourn (0:39:49). |
| Heather Whitney | Member (Claremont) | Moves to seal for 90 years (0:03:28); urges administrative assistants and a stronger HR office (0:18:02); helps set the subcommittee date (0:30:42). |
| Steven Horsky | Member (Claremont) | Not heard in the attendance roll; answers No on the motion to enter nonpublic as the secretary reads the vote (0:02:33). |
| Michael Petrin | Member (Claremont) | Named first in the attendance roll (0:01:34); not anchored to a voice. |
| Joshua Lambert | Member (Claremont) | Answers the roll and roll-call votes (0:01:55, 0:03:19); possibly the unlabeled member who elaborates on the chair’s staffing question (0:19:16), not confirmed. |
| Bonnie Miles | Member (Claremont) | Answers the roll and roll-call votes (0:01:55). |
| Whitney Skillen | Member (Claremont) | Answers the roll and roll-call votes (“Whitney Skilling” in the transcript, 0:01:55). |
| Shannon Popescu | Member (Unity) | Votes on the roll calls (“Sheena and you”, Cannon and “Shannon Popescu” in the transcript, 0:02:28, 0:03:10, 0:03:50); on the evaluation subcommittee (0:30:12). |
| Atonya Hart | Member (Unity) | Answers the roll and votes (“Tanya hart”, “Tonya. Hurt” in the transcript, 0:01:49, 0:03:10); spelling per the 9/29/22 SAU 6 agenda. |
| Garry Bator | Member (Unity) | Name read in the roll (“Gary bader”, 0:01:42) with no answer audible; presence not established. Spelled “Garry Bator” on the 9/29/22 SAU 6 agenda; the project roster has Gary Bader. |
| Unity member, unconfirmed | Member (Unity) | The secretary reads “Roger. He’s not coming.” (0:01:46); probably Rocco Ruggeri, who is on the 9/29/22 SAU 6 board list, but the name is not confirmed. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Report on graduations and the Unity eighth-grade capstone projects (0:08:38); says he has found no outside staffing comparison (0:13:20); “I don’t know of another superintendent who doesn’t have a dedicated administrative assistant.” (0:17:15); explains the staff reduction (0:20:13). |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources, SAU 6 | Audit backlog and FY2022 audit plan (0:36:27); SAU budget calendar (0:38:03). Not named on the recording; identified by content. |
| Melissa Small | SAU 6 administrative assistant; recording secretary | Reads the roll and roll-call votes (0:01:42); tracks outstanding minutes (0:08:06); filling in for the resigned clerk. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting has been located; the chair refers to one (“I think in the agenda it still reads Mike patron [Petrin].”, 0:06:48). The order below is reconstructed from her transitions.
Items in the order taken up, with motions and votes from the recording.
| Taken up | Item | Disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:58 | Call to order, Pledge, attendance roll | The chair calls to order once “Mike sits down”; the secretary reads the roll (0:01:34 to 0:01:55). |
| 0:02:04 | Nonpublic session | Sprague moves, cites “RSA 91, dash a colon three a”; roll call, Horsky No (0:02:33). Session not recorded. Out by roll call (0:02:53). MED |
| 0:03:27 | Seal nonpublic minutes | Whitney moves 90 years, Sprague seconds; roll call carries. MED |
| 0:04:11 | Agenda | Sprague moves to accept as presented; seconded; carried (0:04:32). |
| 0:04:32 | Previous minutes | 10/21/21 (0:05:40) and 11/18/21 (0:06:19) approved with abstentions recorded; 5/19/22 approved as amended to show the April officers (0:07:36); December and April outstanding (0:08:06). MED POS |
| 0:08:26 | Citizens’ comments | None. |
| 0:08:38 | Superintendent’s report | Graduations; staffing-needs question carried to an action list (0:25:13). POS |
| 0:25:49 | SAU retreat planning | July 24 at the chair’s home in Unity, attorney Will Phillips at 2:00 p.m. OBS |
| 0:27:36 | Superintendent evaluation update | Forms due June 22; subcommittee to meet June 24. OBS |
| 0:32:32 | Clerk resignation and compensation | Resignation already accepted (0:36:13); clerk pay raised to $150 per meeting on the chair’s motion (0:35:40). OBS |
| 0:36:17 | Financial audit update | Backlog; FY2022 audit targeted for February 2023. OBS |
| 0:37:37 | Schedule; adjournment | Next meeting August 18 (0:39:09); Sprague moves to adjourn (0:39:49); carried. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/13444 SAU6061622.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording. Quotations are as transcribed; bracketed words are corrections, with the transcript’s wording kept where the correction changes sense.
Chronological topics with the most concrete material first.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:00 | Before the call to order | “Start the meeting and then adjourn to the non public.” The board recites the Pledge and the secretary reads the attendance roll. | |
| 0:02:04 | Into nonpublic; out; seal | Sprague: “I’d like to make a motion to go into nonpublic RSA 91, dash a colon three a.” Roll call; the secretary reads “Stephen. No.” (0:02:33). The recording resumes at the motion to come out (0:02:53). Whitney: “To seal the minutes for 90 years.” (0:03:28); roll call, carried. | MED MED |
| 0:04:32 | Old minutes and quorum | The chair asks whether five continuing members can approve 2021 minutes: “It needs to be seven out of 12, doesn’t it?” (0:05:06). October and November 2021 approved with abstentions recorded; May 19 amended because “the elections were in April, so May should reflect the changes.” (0:06:48). Still outstanding: “December and April.” (0:08:06). | MED POS |
| 0:08:38 | Superintendent’s report | Unity eighth-grade capstone projects from the Washington trip (0:10:51); field days and last days of school. | |
| 0:13:00 | SAU staffing needs | The chair asks for the promised staffing review. Tempesta: area superintendents and attorney Will Phillips know of few outside reviewers (0:13:20); the SAU serves about “450 employees” without the HR function most districts have (0:16:06); “could we use more help in the building? Yes” (0:17:15). Whitney wants administrative assistants for both superintendents and a stronger HR office (0:18:02). Sprague: “Well, we made a decision this year to reduce staff.” (0:20:05); Tempesta: the cut was made to find money for more teachers (0:20:13). NESDEC (“Nasdaq” in the transcript) discussed as a possible study source (0:21:10). Hiring bonuses and the special education shortage (0:24:01, 0:24:32). | |
| 0:24:44 | Action-item list | “One of the things we do up in unity is we keep a running list of action items”; first item a staffing-needs presentation “at the saw [SAU]” with no due date. | POS |
| 0:25:49 | Retreat | “That will be meeting at 1:00 at my house. Will Phillips will come at two.” (0:26:11); potluck; directions to the house in Unity. | OBS |
| 0:27:36 | Superintendent evaluation | Forms still coming in; results to be averaged and compared with 2020, “the last one we did that I have” (0:27:36). The evaluation must be done “by June 30th” (0:29:03); forms due June 22 (0:31:08). Subcommittee meeting set for Friday, June 24 at 6:00 (0:31:44): “Now on a Friday that screams pizza and beer.” (0:31:33). | OBS |
| 0:32:32 | Clerk resignation and pay | The resignation letter from Mary [Woodman] “is very brief”; it was already accepted (0:36:13); an ad is posted (0:32:46). Erickson: a three-hour meeting means “almost another 2 or 3 hours” of minutes work (0:33:58). Sprague: “I think 150 meeting would be reasonable.” (0:34:26). Motion carried (0:35:40). A formal recognition for Mary goes on the retreat agenda (0:36:00). | OBS |
| 0:36:27 | Audit update | “action plan is in place” to complete the FY2022 audit “by February of 23”; the SAU “does not receive grants”. | OBS |
| 0:37:37 | Calendar | No July meeting besides the retreat; the SAU budget runs on its own schedule and must be final in December (0:38:21); next meeting August 18 (0:39:09). | |
| 0:39:49 | Adjournment | Sprague moves; seconded; carried. | |
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 June 16, 2022, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM The motion to enter nonpublic session cited “RSA 91, dash a colon three a”, with no paragraph II exemption
Frank Sprague moved “to go into nonpublic RSA 91, dash a colon three a.” (0:02:04). The chair began a voice vote, corrected herself (“Oh. Roll call.”, 0:02:16), and the secretary called the roll; Steven Horsky answered No and the others present Yes (0:02:33). The roll call is what the statute requires. The citation is not: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires the motion to “state on its face the specific exemption under paragraph II”, and RSA 91-A:3 has no free-standing subparagraph (a). The likeliest intended ground is II(a) (dismissal, promotion, compensation or discipline of an employee), but the motion does not say so and this page does not supply it.
The nonpublic session itself is not on the recording: the timecode moves from the roll call at 0:02:33 to the motion to come out at 0:02:53 in about twenty seconds, so the recording was paused. The same short form of the citation appears in the Claremont board’s minutes of the previous evening (Claremont School Board, June 15, 2022). Graded MEDIUM: the vote was properly taken by roll call, but the public could not tell from the motion which exemption was invoked.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), 2022 codification (motion states the paragraph II exemption; roll call)
MEDIUM Nonpublic minutes sealed for 90 years with no statutory determination stated
After the board came out of nonpublic session by roll call (0:03:10), Heather Whitney moved “To seal the minutes for 90 years.” (0:03:28), Frank Sprague seconded (“I’ll second. 90 years. 90.”, 0:03:31), and the motion carried on a roll call (0:03:48 to 0:03:57). RSA 91-A:3, III permits withholding nonpublic minutes only on a “recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session” that determines disclosure would likely affect adversely a person’s reputation, render the proposed action ineffective, or concern terrorism, and then only “until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply.” The recorded vote is on tape; the determination is not, and the minutes that would show it have not been located (flag 3).
Graded MEDIUM as a documentation gap. The Claremont board sealed its own nonpublic minutes for 99 years the night before on the same pattern.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III, 2022 codification (2/3 recorded vote with a determination)
MEDIUM The minutes of this meeting were approved three months later but are not in any district share; older SAU 6 minutes were seven to eight months behind
No minutes for June 16, 2022 have been located. The search was two-stage: this meeting has no packet folder of its own, and the later SAU 6 folders in the district’s 2022 Meeting Packets archive that could be inspected or are inventoried in MAP.md (2. SAU SB 9.29.22, which holds only the agenda; 3. SAU SB 11.16.22; 4. SAU SB 12.1.22; and the 2023 folders that carry later SAU 6 minutes) hold no file for this date. A Drive listing of the archive returned only three of its five folders, and the folders 1. SAU SB Retreat 7.24.22 and 5. SAU SB 12.15.22 could not be opened, so this is “not found”, not “does not exist”. The Claremont Meeting Minutes share starts in 2023.
The minutes did exist: the district’s draft SAU 6 School Board Meeting Minutes 9.29.22 record “Motion made by Bonnie Miles to approve June 16, 2022 meeting minutes; seconded by Shannon Popescu”, and the SAU 6 School Board Agenda 9.29.22 .pdf lists them for approval. The same session approved the December 16, 2021 and April 21, 2022 minutes. On this recording the board approves the October 21 and November 18, 2021 minutes, seven to eight months after those meetings (0:05:40, 0:06:19), and the secretary reports “December and April” still outstanding (0:08:06). RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be “open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting” (drafts suffice). Under this project’s severity rule, graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH because the record shows the minutes were produced and approved; the defect is that neither the June minutes nor a public copy of them can be found.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (five business days; movers and seconders); draft SAU 6 School Board Meeting Minutes 9.29.22; SAU 6 School Board Agenda 9.29.22 .pdf
OBSERVATION A subcommittee meeting and a board retreat were planned for a restaurant and the chair’s home
The chair said the superintendent-evaluation “subcommittee” was all present and set its meeting with the superintendent for Friday, June 24 at 6:00 (0:29:41, 0:30:42, 0:31:44): “Now on a Friday that screams pizza and beer.” (0:31:33); a member added “You get the back room.” (0:32:01); the chair: “It’s a business meeting.” and “for the moment, we’ll we’ll leave that open.” (0:31:50, 0:31:56). She also set the board retreat for July 24: “That will be meeting at 1:00 at my house. Will Phillips will come at two.” (0:26:11).
A subcommittee of the SAU board is itself a public body under RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (“any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof”), so its meetings need 24 hours’ posted notice of time and place and minutes, as the full board’s do. Nothing in RSA 91-A forbids meeting at a restaurant or a home, and an evaluation discussion may qualify for nonpublic session. On July 20 Joshua Lambert told the Claremont board the subcommittee had met (Claremont School Board, July 20, 2022, flag 4). No notice or minutes of that meeting have been located; the district’s archive does hold a folder named for the July 24 retreat, which could not be opened. Noted as an observation so a reader can check whether the public had notice and access.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d), 2022 codification (subcommittees are public bodies); RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (notice; minutes)
OBSERVATION The SAU board doubled the clerk’s per-meeting pay without a Claremont vote
On the chair’s own motion, seconded by an unidentified member (0:34:44, 0:35:00), the board raised “the compensation for, say, you six [SAU 6] clerk to $150 per meeting.” and the motion passed by voice vote (0:35:40). The superintendent said the prior rate was “$75 per meeting” (0:33:19). Asked whether Claremont had voted the night before, the answer was No, no (0:35:21); at the Claremont meeting the assistant superintendent for finance had said the clerk serves both the Claremont School District and SAU 6 and that a change “may involve unity being involved in the conversation” (show 13420; Claremont School Board, June 15, 2022). Election pay was left unchanged (0:35:09).
This page has not identified the statute that fixes who sets the pay of this combined position, so it records the vote without judging its authority.
Sources: Claremont School Board, June 15, 2022 (Claremont discussion of the same pay question)
OBSERVATION Audit backlog: the SAU expects to be “caught up” only with the FY2022 audit in February 2023
The assistant superintendent for finance reported “we’re working through a backlog on, on, audits” and an action plan with “our partner from Plods and Sanderson [Plodzik & Sanderson]” to have “fiscal 22 audit completed, by February of 23, which is a somewhat more normal timeframe for completing audits and that everything will be caught up by that time.” (0:36:27). Asked about grants, he said the SAU itself “does not receive grants” (0:37:16), so the federal single-audit deadline would not reach the SAU’s own audit.
The member districts are different. The district’s draft SAU 6 School Board Meeting Minutes 9.29.22 report that the auditor asked to push the Claremont FY2020 audit “to the end of October” 2022. For any entity spending $750,000 or more in federal awards in a year, the single audit is due nine months after year end (for FY2020, March 31, 2021). Claremont’s federal expenditures are not stated in this record, so the deadline is noted, not applied.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1), 2022 CFR edition (nine months after period end); 2 CFR 200.501(a), 2022 CFR edition ($750,000 threshold); draft SAU 6 School Board Meeting Minutes 9.29.22
POSITIVE Abstentions recorded by name and a running action-item list started
Approving minutes of meetings that many current members had not attended, the chair said “I think we have to record the abstentions, because there were a lot of people who weren’t here at the time. So if you’ve if you’re abstaining, raise your hand just so Melissa knows.” (0:05:44). She also corrected the officers shown on the May 19 minutes and this meeting’s agenda (0:06:48) and asked the secretary to keep “a running list of action items” carried on the agenda (0:24:44), starting with a superintendent’s presentation on SAU staffing needs (0:25:13). RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to show movers and seconders and final decisions; it does not require abstentions to be recorded, so this exceeds the minimum.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/13444 SAU6061622.mp4.CSV (341 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Dialogue/13420 SchoolBoard061522.mp4.CSV (June 15, 2022 Claremont meeting; cited for the clerk-pay discussion)Input/Videos/13444 SAU6061622.mp4Input/Transcripts/13444 SAU6061622.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 170Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/13444 SAU6061622.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d), 2022 codification (source note ends 2008, 354:1): committees and subcommittees are public bodies
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1): notice, minutes content, movers and seconders, five business days
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and III, 2022 codification (source note ends 2021, 163:1 and 172:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2022): nonpublic motion and roll call; sealing
- 2 CFR 200.501(a) and 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1), 2022 CFR edition: single-audit threshold and due date