Participants
Everyone in the record. Names follow the dialogue file; spellings in brackets are the district's documents. Where the dialogue file says Unidentified, so does this table. Presence is given from both the roll call on tape and the draft minutes, because they differ.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Michael Petrin | Claremont School Board chair; presiding | "I am the Claremont School board chair, so I'm running tonight's meeting. Since Marjorie and Frank are unable to attend in person, they are at home attending, via zoom." Ran the agenda. In discussion named the HR manager and "the proposed organizational chart so we can see where the gaps are" as his priorities. Rendered Michael. Patron in the roll. |
| Marjorie Erickson | SAU 6 chair (Unity); by Zoom | Called the study "a fabulous report" with recommendations that are "actionable". Answered Hart's grant question at 1:03:07: "All grants come with indirect costs already allocated to them ... and we don't always use it that way." Asked for a draft budget showing the cost of an HR director and of a consultant for processes. |
| Frank Sprague | SAU 6 vice chair (Claremont); by Zoom | Pointed out at 1:04:25 that "we have a policy that the expectation is that exit interviews occur". Pressed for qualified hires: "we're not doing hiring somebody, friend or whatever". Recalled holding a student-services director post at Stevens. |
| Atonya Hart | Board member (Unity); by Zoom per the minutes | Asked at 1:02:40 how hard it would be to take administrative money from grants already allocated. Attributed in the dialogue file by sequence only (the chair had just invited "Frank or Tanya"). |
| Heather Whitney | Board member (Claremont vice chair) | First questioner: "what consulting resources are available to us to employ for such position development, job description development?" Later asked how much grant money could fund administrative posts, and cautioned against budgeting positions "without a process, how to develop those positions". Moved the September 29 minutes (misstating the date as "July 9th, 2022" before correcting). |
| Joshua Lambert | Board member (Claremont) | Moved the agenda. Asked for a timeline for the recommendations, and for two versions of the draft budget, with and without the new roles. |
| Bonnie Miles | Board member (Claremont) | "I was very impressed with your report. And I went through it a couple of times". Pressed the superintendent on why a lead HR position was needed if a coordinator existed. Moved adjournment. Attributed partly by voice cluster. |
| Shannon Popescu | Board member (Unity) | Heard in the roll as Shannon Lamb; the chair says "She is online". Seconded adjournment ("Second by Shannon"). The draft minutes list her present but not among the Zoom participants. |
| Rocco Ruggeri | Board member (Unity) | Listed present in the draft minutes. Not called in the roll on tape and no speech attributed. |
| Whitney Skillen | Board member (Claremont) | Answers the roll (Whitney skilling). No speech is attributed to her; the dialogue file lists her as one candidate for the unidentified SOP questioner below. |
| Steven Horsky | Board member (Claremont) | The roll on tape opens "Sure. Steven."; the draft minutes list him Absent. No speech attributed. |
| Gary Bader [Garry Bator] | Board member (Unity) | Absent: "Gary Bader is absent" (roll caller); the minutes agree, spelling him "Garry Bator". The spelling of this surname is unverified. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Gave no formal report. Introduced the consultants as recommended by the New Hampshire School Boards Association. Called the study "very accurate, fair" and "a tough knocks to take". Said central-office and technology positions had fallen from "22.5 positions" to "16.5 positions", that "there were years where we didn't have audits", and that the business team faced "a resurrection of records that literally didn't exist" (flag 3). |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and HR | Budget timeline: first draft December 1, final approval December 15, draft to the board November 29. Explained his decision not to draw indirect costs from grants: "our indirect cost rate, I think here is in the middle 3%, and I believe unity might be in the low 4%." Said there are purchasing SOPs at the administrative level but "not farther down through the structure". |
| Dr. William (Bill) Lupini | Consultant (co-author of the study); by video | Presented recommendations on job descriptions, cross-training, communication, grants management, indirect costs and the additional areas (technical center, one-to-one devices, special education). The dialogue file names him "William Lupini"; the study's title page gives "Dr. William H. Lupini". |
| Dr. Anne Wilson | Consultant (co-author of the study); by video | Presented methodology and the HR, staffing, finance-administration and curriculum recommendations. The dialogue file spells her "Dr. Ann Wilson"; the agenda and minutes spell Anne, and the study's title page gives "Dr. Anne Shaloka Wilson". |
| Unidentified | Roll caller | Calls the roll at 0:01:20. Never named on tape (the dialogue file notes the special-education director often acted as secretary in 2022; unconfirmed). |
| Unidentified | Board member | At 1:26:10 asked whether a qualified HR director could write the SOPs as "part of their 90 day goals", and at 1:27:24 disagreed that a consultant was needed "as much to implement as much of this as possibly, Miss Whitney does". Not Petrin, Whitney, Lambert, Miles or Erickson. |
| Unidentified | SAU administrator | At 1:27:53: "we now have a tidal [Title] grant reimbursement process." "Took about a really the equivalent of about an." "Eight hour." "Day with 3 or 4 people." |
Agenda
From the posted SAU 11.16.22 Agenda, with dispositions from the recording and the draft minutes. Quoted agenda and minutes wording is marked as such.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:15 | I. Call to Order and Pledge | Minutes: "Meeting called to order by Michael Petrin (Claremont School Board Chair) Marjorie Erickson (Chair) attended virtually." |
| 0:01:20 | II. Secretary Roll Call | Minutes: "Present: Marjorie Erickson, Frank Sprague, Atonya Hart all present via Zoom. Michael Petrin, Shannon Popescu, Rocco Ruggeri, Joshua Lambert, Bonnie Miles, Whitney Skillen, Heather Whitney Absent: Steven Horsky, Garry Bator". The roll on tape differs (flag 2). |
| 0:02:12 | II.a. Agenda approval | Lambert moved. Minutes: "seconded by Whitney Skillen; all in favor via voice vote." On tape the vote is a voice vote ("All those in favor? ... Opposed?"). |
| 0:02:35 | II.b. Minutes of September 29, 2022 | Whitney moved; the minutes record Lambert seconding, "all in favor via voice vote." |
| 0:02:56 | II.c. Citizens Comments | "Item C citizens comments. Seeing none". Minutes: "No citizens present." |
| 0:03:18 | III. Superintendent Report | No formal report "because of the nature and the depth of the report that we're going to go over". |
| 0:03:44 | IV.a. SAU 6 Consultant Presentation: Bill Lupini and Anne Wilson | Presentation to 0:51:16, questions to 1:13:08. No action taken; the minutes note the report is on the SAU website. |
| 1:13:56 | IV.b. FY23 [FY24] SAU 6 Budget Timeline | The agenda says FY23; the budget discussed is the next year's. First draft for December 1, target approval December 15, draft to members November 29. No vote. |
| 1:33:48 | V–VII. Future agenda items, Other business, Closing | Next two agendas "budget heavy". No other business. Adjourned on Miles's motion, second "by Shannon", voice vote at 1:34:40. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:57 | Who is chairing; roll | Petrin chairs because the SAU chair and vice chair "are at home attending, via zoom." Roll: "Steven." "Tanya hart." "Peter Whitney here." ... "Frank Sprague here. And Marjorie Erickson here. And Shannon Lamb." "She is online." "Gary Bader is absent." | MEDIUM OBSERVATION |
| 0:02:21 | Agenda; September minutes; no public | Both approved on voice votes with members on Zoom. Whitney: "I'd like to make a motion to accept the minutes from July 9th, 2022." Petrin: "September." No citizens present. | MEDIUM |
| 0:04:40 | Consultants introduced | Tempesta: both "long standing and serving superintendents in Massachusetts, also in New Hampshire", recommended by the NHSBA (Barry, Christina and Will Phillips): "They were gracious enough to put together a scope of work, and we immediately lock them in." | POSITIVE |
| 0:07:31 | Method: interviews, documents, comparison SAUs | Wilson: interviewees were told "there was confidentiality. We were not going to be putting quotes in this report by any individual." Reviewed job descriptions, budgets, the website and org chart; compared SAUs "18, 21, 48 and 60". Lupini: few comparison responses came back. | |
| 0:12:28 | Recommendation 1: HR lead | "a lack of clarity, consistency and timeliness that we noted regarding essential HR functions." Recommend "an appropriately trained human resources lead position, a manager's position" plus HR support. | |
| 0:14:13 | Recommendation 2: job descriptions, org chart, evaluation | "what we found in in number two was a lack of clear and current job descriptions, organization chart, employee evaluations." Building staff "don't know who's responsible for what at the saw [SAU]". "the evaluation process does not line up with the recertification process". A "who to call list". | |
| 0:18:19 | Recommendation 3: support-staff training | "there appears to be a lack of planned and implemented training for support staff", naming purchase requests and personnel requests. | |
| 0:19:34 | Recommendation 4: cross-training | "That person left, and now no one knows how to do X." August vacancies: "everyone needs to behave as if their hair is on fire because it is literally". | |
| 0:22:31 | Recommendation 5: recruiting, onboarding, evaluation, exit interviews | "the SAS had issues attracting and retaining teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators". A hiring process map, trained mentors, supervision and evaluation, exit interviews ("There's a lot of rumor"), better job advertising. Lupini: without exit data "all we'll have is, is our theories". | |
| 0:28:33 | Recommendation 6: communication and visibility | A current website with a named owner ("5 or 6 people who are responsible ... means no one's responsible"), regular meetings with agendas and norms, and staff wanting "to see the superintendent in our building." | |
| 0:31:33 | Recommendation 7: staffing | "We noted several areas of the saw that appear to be inadequately staffed." An assistant to the superintendent, a clerical post for the curriculum assistant superintendent, a cross-trained receptionist, an HR manager. | |
| 0:35:47 | Recommendation 8: grants management | "processing and accounting for grants has been a times a historical challenge". Recommend regular communication between program managers and finance and training for program managers on financial reporting. Wilson: "the SA is aware and is dealing with some issues from the past". | OBSERVATION |
| 0:38:19 | Recommendation 9: finance administration | "a budget development calendar is published for every year", a published process map, and responsiveness to principals on budgeting and purchasing. | |
| 0:39:54 | Recommendation 10: indirect costs | The SAU "has not, taken advantage of using the indirect cost portion of grants". "we can't think of anything that's more important to students than having a licensed teacher in front of them." | |
| 0:41:46 | Recommendation 11: curriculum review | "We did not see any evidence of an established curriculum review process." Recommend a review process "adopted by the boards"; Lupini: "we don't adopt textbooks. We don't adopt materials outside of this process." | |
| 0:45:04 | Beyond the charge: tech center, devices, special education | More students at the technical center and academic credit through CTE; technology-integration specialists under curriculum, not technology; the high school's assistant principals carrying special-education budget authority is "a very tough combination of jobs". | |
| 0:51:46 | Board questions | Whitney on consulting help (answer: the School Boards Association and the administrators' association first); Lambert on a timeline (Wilson: meetings, who-does-what and cross-training "at the top of the priority list"; Lupini: HR before the next hiring season); Whitney on grant money for positions. | |
| 0:59:12 | Members' reactions | Petrin: HR manager and "the proposed organizational chart". Miles: "I didn't realize there was this much". Erickson: "they're actionable". Hart and Erickson on indirect costs. Sprague on the exit-interview policy and qualified staff. | |
| 1:08:46 | Superintendent's response | "I think this is a very accurate, fair and report." Duties had drifted when staff left; the receptionist split "went back three superintendents"; SAU and Claremont budget allocations "got blurred and melded". "many of those things we already are working on". | POSITIVE |
| 1:13:56 | Budget timeline | Seaman: "we'll have a first draft of the budget on the first and still looking at the 15th for our final approval, so that we can roll the Saw budget into the budgets for both Claremont and Unity." None of the study's recommendations were in the draft yet. Draft out November 29 because of Thanksgiving. | POSITIVE |
| 1:17:09 | Putting recommendations into the draft | Tempesta would cost the HR items for the first draft; the SAU assessment splits "about 91% Claremont in the formula and 9% unity". Whitney: "I don't want to put positions in without a process". Erickson wants a version with an HR director and a consultant. | |
| 1:20:49 | The existing HR coordinator; staffing history | "we have a human resources coordinator already." The recommended role is "an administrative cabinet member", "a pricier position". "there were, I believe 22.5 positions. And now we're down to 16.5 positions". Positions moved to cover missing middle-school science and social studies teachers: "you could argue that kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul type of thing". | |
| 1:26:10 | SOPs, and a passing remark about audits | An unidentified member asks whether finance SOPs should already exist. Tempesta: "there were years where we didn't have audits, we didn't have a lot of things that have had." Later: "a resurrection of records that literally didn't exist". An unidentified administrator describes a new Title grant reimbursement process; Seaman: purchasing SOPs exist at the administrative level, "There is not farther down through the structure." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:29:29 | Two budget versions; indirect costs | Lambert asks for versions with and without the roles. Seaman: "if we have $2 million worth of grants in a 3.5% in direct cost rate, we have the ability to take 3.5% of that $2 million and utilize it for something." His earlier choice was to put that money back into programs: "We're not leaving it behind, we're just reallocating it." | |
| 1:33:48 | Future agendas; adjournment | "At least the next two agendas are going to be budget heavy." Motion by Miles, "Second by Shannon", voice vote. | MEDIUM |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the state and federal law in force on November 16, 2022. RSA 91-A:2 was amended in 2023 and 2025; the 2022 codification is cited. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on; where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. 6 flags follow, ordered by severity.
MEDIUM Members took part by Zoom, but every vote was a voice vote and the minutes give no reason for remote attendance
The chair said at 0:00:57 that the SAU chair and vice chair "are unable to attend in person, they are at home attending, via zoom"; the draft minutes list Erickson, Sprague and Hart "all present via Zoom", and the chair says Popescu "is online". In the 2022 text of RSA 91-A:2, III, a member may participate remotely "only when such attendance is not reasonably practical", "Any reason that such attendance is not reasonably practical shall be stated in the minutes of the meeting", and "All votes taken during such a meeting shall be by roll call vote." The three votes of the night (agenda at 0:02:24, September minutes at 0:02:56, adjournment at 1:34:40) were all taken as "All those in favor? ... Opposed?", and the minutes record each as "all in favor via voice vote". The minutes record who attended by Zoom but no reason.
Mitigation: the chair stated a reason aloud on the record, even if a thin one ("unable to attend in person"), and none of the votes was contested or substantive. Paragraph III(b) also requires a quorum physically present. By the minutes seven members were in the room out of twelve; if a quorum is a simple majority of the membership that is exactly enough, and if Popescu was in fact online, as the chair said, it is one short. This page cannot settle which record is right (flag 2).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III(a), (b), (e) (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1); RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (a school administrative unit's board is a public body).
OBSERVATION The roll on tape and the roll in the minutes do not match
On tape (0:01:20) the roll caller calls Steven, Tanya hart, Whitney, Miles, Skillen, Lambert, Petrin, Sprague, Erickson and "Shannon Lamb" (the chair: "She is online"), and closes "So we're just missing Gary. Gary Bader is absent." Rocco Ruggeri's name is not heard. The draft minutes instead list Ruggeri present, Popescu present in person, and Steven Horsky absent alongside Garry Bator. The ASR may have lost a name, and the minutes may have been written from memory of who spoke; either way the two accounts disagree about two members, and the difference matters to the physical-quorum question in flag 1. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to "include the names of members". No rule is violated on this record alone, so this is an observation.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification); draft SAU6 11.16.22 Meeting Minutes.
OBSERVATION The superintendent said in passing that there had been "years where we didn't have audits", and no one asked which years
Answering a question about finance SOPs at 1:26:51, the superintendent said: "there were years where we didn't have audits, we didn't have a lot of things that have had." He returned to it at 1:32:48: "There was a lot of catch up okay to do for, for for the, for the business team and a resurrection of records that literally didn't exist." The consultants had independently reported that "processing and accounting for grants has been a times a historical challenge" (0:35:47). Nobody on the board asked which years, which entity (SAU 6, Claremont or Unity), or whether the missing audits had since been completed. The statement is the superintendent's characterization; this page has not verified it.
Why it matters: a non-federal entity that spends $750,000 or more in federal awards in a fiscal year (the threshold for fiscal years beginning before October 1, 2024) must have a single or program-specific audit for that year, and must keep effective internal control over those awards. Seaman's own illustration at 1:30:51 used "$2 million worth of grants". The flag records the statement so the audit history can be checked against the federal audit clearinghouse and the district's filings; it does not assert that any audit was missed.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.501 (audit requirement; $750,000 threshold for fiscal years beginning before October 1, 2024); 2 CFR 200.303 (internal control).
OBSERVATION Draft minutes reached the public share two weeks after the meeting, and the September draft seven weeks after its meeting
The draft minutes of this meeting first appear in the district's public Drive share on December 1, 2022, in the packet for that day's SAU 6 meeting: the tenth business day after November 16, counting Thanksgiving Day out (the day after Thanksgiving is not a legal holiday under RSA 288:1). The draft minutes of September 29, approved tonight, entered the share on November 16. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting". A Drive created time measures when the district assembled the next packet, not when the minutes were written or first available at the SAU office, so this is an observation about online availability, not a finding that the deadline was missed. The minutes do record movers and seconders, as ¶II requires.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification: five business days; business-day definition).
POSITIVE The SAU commissioned an outside study of its own central office, published it, and heard it in open session
The board and administration brought in two former superintendents on the School Boards Association's recommendation, had them interview staff, principals and board members, and put the full report in the public packet (11.16.22 School Administrative Unit 6 Organizational Study Report, placed in the share at 1:50 p.m. on the meeting day). The presentation named weaknesses plainly, including in the superintendent's own span of control (0:31:33: "as long as the superintendent has his hand in many, many different places"), and the superintendent accepted it in public: "it's a it's a very authentic report I think." No statute requires an organizational study; the practice exceeds the minimum. A reviewer may note that the report's enrollment figures are cited to NHDOE 2016–2017 data, six years old at the time.
Sources: 11.16.22 School Administrative Unit 6 Organizational Study Report. No legal requirement is claimed.
POSITIVE The SAU budget calendar was set well inside the statutory deadline, with time for the board to read the draft
RSA 194-C:9, I requires that "At a meeting held before January 1, the school administrative unit board shall adopt a budget". The board set a first draft for December 1, final approval for December 15 and delivery of the draft to members on November 29, two days before the first budget meeting, at the chair's request (1:16:20). Members asked for alternative versions (with and without the recommended positions) before the draft was written.
Sources: RSA 194-C:9, I (2022 codification; source 1996, 298:3; 2003, 279:1; since amended by 2024, 329:1).
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/14727 SAU6111622.mp4.CSV (333 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/14727 SAU6111622.mp4Input/Transcripts/14727 SAU6111622.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 180
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes. RSA 91-A:2 (2022 codification): II (minutes: members' names, movers and seconders, five business days) and III(a), (b), (e) (remote participation: reason in the minutes, physical quorum, roll-call votes). RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d): public bodies include boards of a school administrative unit "or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto". RSA 194-C:9, I (2022 codification): SAU budget adopted before January 1. RSA 288:1: legal holidays, used to count business days.
- Federal. 2 CFR 200.501: single or program-specific audit at $750,000 in federal expenditures (for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2024 the threshold is $1,000,000). 2 CFR 200.303: internal controls.