Participants
Everyone named in the minutes or heard on the recording. Spellings follow the agenda and minutes, then the project's 2015-2023 roster. Where the minutes name a speaker the dialogue file leaves unidentified, this page follows the minutes and says so.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Marjorie Erickson | Unity member; SAU 6 chair; presides | Leads the pledge (0:00:07) and asks for the roll (0:00:38); runs the agenda and minutes votes (0:01:56, 0:02:29); skips citizens' comments with nobody present (0:02:54); leads the budget review (0:03:04) and calls the budget vote (0:37:06); recognizes Patrick Adrian (1:01:57) and commits to check the law (1:05:31). The roll-call transcription renders her name "Margaret Harrison" (0:00:44). |
| Frank Sprague | Claremont member; SAU 6 vice chair | Questions mileage and travel lines (0:03:53), contracted services (0:06:56) and the roughly $500,000 increase (0:10:43); moves the $2,406,073 budget (0:33:21) and restates the motion (0:34:39); asks that the HR director handle non-renewals (0:39:02) and supervise HR staff (0:43:39); raises the statutory vote on new administrative positions (0:50:51). The minutes record him moving the 12/1/22 minutes and the adjournment. |
| Heather Whitney | Claremont member | Asks why the HR director description prefers an MBA and whether a human-resources certificate could be required (0:40:08, 0:41:35, 0:42:10). The dialogue file puts the opening of her question in the chair's row at 0:40:08. The minutes record her seconding the agenda, the budget motion and the adjournment, and credit her with asking where the increases come from; on the recording that question is put by Frank Sprague and the chair (0:10:43, 0:15:03). |
| Michael Petrin | Claremont member (Claremont board chair) | The minutes record him moving the agenda, asking about the total cost of supplies, and asking whether the SAU has "shopped around" for legal services. The dialogue file leaves those turns unidentified (0:26:10, 0:30:39, 0:31:40); this page follows the minutes for those two questions. The chair's "Mike. Thank you." at 0:01:38 recognizes the agenda motion. |
| Bonnie Miles | Claremont member | Present per the minutes. The chair names her once while taking the agenda motion (0:01:38); no dialogue row is attributed to her. |
| Joshua Lambert | Claremont member | Present per the minutes, which record him seconding the 12/1/22 minutes. No dialogue row is attributed to him. |
| Atonya Hart | Unity member | Present per the minutes. No dialogue row is attributed to her. |
| Rocco Ruggeri, Steven Horsky, Whitney Skillen, Garry Bator | Members (Bator and Ruggeri, Unity; Horsky and Skillen, Claremont) | Absent per the minutes. "Garry Bator" is the agenda and minutes spelling; the project roster carries "Gary Bader" as unverified. A member says "I'm going to channel Steve here for a minute because he's not here" (0:20:42); Seaman refers to "Mr. Hauschka" [Horsky] and his views on the merit pool (0:52:06). |
| Shannon Popescu | Unity member | Listed on the agenda masthead; the minutes record her as neither present nor absent. Attendance not established. |
| Unidentified board members | Several voices the dialogue file does not name | Questions on staff training (0:10:00), the ESSER-funded curriculum position (0:20:42 to 0:22:33), lighting retrofits (0:27:26), a clarifying question on the budget motion (0:36:32), HR backup (0:46:12), experience requirements (0:48:25), the Hanover-Dresden comparison (1:05:45), the January 11 schedule (1:09:12) and "I'm with Patrick here" (1:09:48). The motions on the agenda, the minutes and the adjournment (0:01:52, 0:02:22, 1:10:27) are unidentified in the dialogue file; the minutes give the movers. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Explains the ESSER-funded curriculum position (0:20:17, 0:20:21) and legal-services arrangements (0:32:06); presents the HR director (0:37:54) and data specialist (0:53:40) job descriptions; confirms facilitator Will Phillips for the January 26 retreat (1:01:18). |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations & HR (agenda masthead; the agenda item calls him "Director of Finance & Operations") | Presents the budget changes (0:03:27, 0:06:24, 0:07:51), the transfer of two positions from Claremont (0:12:07), the components of the increase (0:15:11), benefit loading (0:25:37), utilities (0:26:31) and lighting retrofits (0:28:35); proposes funding the HR director this year from the unspent merit pool (0:52:31). |
| Jeff Small | Director of Technology | Describes the data specialist's state reporting and PowerSchool duties (0:55:20, 0:55:46). |
| Patrick Adrian | Citizen, Ward 1 (minutes); former Claremont board member | Asks to speak mid-agenda (1:00:22) and argues the SAU budget needs a public hearing (1:02:04 to 1:07:55). The transcription renders his self-introduction "Adrian. Fourth one." |
| Chelsea Weatherford | Minutes taker (named in the minutes) | Not in the room: the chair says "Oh, she does it from the televised." (0:00:38). The minutes are signed "Respectfully submitted by Chelsea Weatherford". |
Agenda
Items from the posted agenda (SAU6 1.3.23 Agenda .docx (2).pdf), with the time each was taken up and its disposition from the recording and the minutes.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:07 | I. Call to order, pledge | Scheduled 6:30 p.m. Pledge led from the chair; she then asks who is taking minutes. |
| 0:00:44 | II. Roll call | The transcription catches only fragments ("Margaret Harrison here. Here."). Attendance is taken from the minutes: seven present, four absent, one member unrecorded. |
| 0:01:26 | II.a Agenda | Approved as presented by voice vote (0:01:56). Minutes: Petrin moved, Whitney seconded. |
| 0:02:22 | II.b Minutes of December 1, 2022 | Approved by voice vote (0:02:29). Minutes: Sprague moved, Lambert seconded. |
| 0:02:54 | II.c Citizens' comments | Skipped: "We have no citizens present, so I'm going to skip that part." Patrick Adrian arrived later and was heard at 1:01:57. |
| 0:03:04 | III.a "FY23 SAU 6 Budget" | The agenda's label; the budget under discussion is for the year starting July 1, 2023 (Seaman, 0:51:14: approved "for next next year in July 1st"). Sprague's motion at 0:33:21, restated at 0:34:39; carried by voice vote at 0:37:06, with no opposition or abstention audible. Figure: $2,406,073, including about $85,000 to move the assistant superintendent's administrative assistant into the SAU budget. The minutes record the motion as one "to move" the amount "to a public hearing", seconded by Heather Whitney (see flag 2). |
| 0:03:19 | III.b Action items for Richard Seaman | Six items from December 1: insurance-versus-salary table, remove $10,000 of business-office contracted services, mileage as reimbursement, contracted-services breakdown, utilities analysis, data specialist rationale. Seaman answers "They are again." when asked whether all were implemented; mileage is discussed at 0:03:53, contracted services at 0:06:56, utilities at 0:23:10, the insurance cost share at 0:35:31. |
| 0:37:42 | III.b Superintendent Tempesta: job descriptions | "SAU 6 Human Resources Director" and "SAU 6 Data Specialist". Discussed, no vote; the superintendent will add non-renewals and supervision duties and post the HR position the next day (0:50:45). The packet also carries a Food Service Program Coordinator description, not on the agenda; Tempesta says he included it (0:57:51). |
| 1:01:05 | III.b Retreat facilitator | Agenda: "Confirm Will Phillips availability for SAU 6 Board Retreat on January 26, 2022" (the minutes correct the year to 2023). Confirmed; retreat at 5:30 on the 26th (1:01:21). |
| 1:01:57 | (not on agenda) Citizen comment | Patrick Adrian, recognized after the job descriptions, on whether the SAU budget required a public hearing. Recorded in the minutes as an action item: "Should there a public hearing for SAU#6 budget under RSA standards?" (minutes' wording). |
| 1:01:21 | IV. Future agenda items | The retreat and a meeting on the 19th; the minutes list only "1.26.23 Board Retreat". |
| 1:10:19 | V. Other business | None beyond the schedule discussion at 1:08:31. |
| 1:10:27 | VI. Closing | Motion to adjourn carried by voice vote (1:10:29). Minutes: Sprague moved, Whitney seconded, adjourned 7:41 p.m. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/14822 SAU6010323.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
Topics in chronological order.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:31 | Who takes minutes | The chair asks who is taking minutes and answers herself: "Oh, she does it from the televised." The minutes taker works from the broadcast, not from the room. | MEDIUM |
| 0:03:04 | Budget review opens | "You should have all received a budget via email and have a budget in your packet." No budget document is in the public packet folder for this meeting. Seaman: "I'm not able to open the file" (0:07:51), and the notes "were not printed" (0:07:07). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:03:53 | Mileage and travel | Sprague: mileage for the superintendent's and special education offices "is there in two different forms." Seaman: the stipend line was recalculated "based on a certain number of miles at the IRS reimbursement rate" (0:06:24); travel covers conferences. | |
| 0:06:56 | Contracted services | Technology contractors for wiring and Wi-Fi; the superintendent's office line is "as of yet, unidentified" and "if it's not used, it just flows to the bottom line as a surplus." (0:08:16). Business office: "In the business office, we have it at 5000." (0:09:21), for audit or legal expertise "continuing to clean up some of the historical items". | |
| 0:10:00 | Staff training | Training for the leadership group, for example Title IX or bullying (0:10:16). | |
| 0:10:43 | The $500,000 increase | Sprague reports a constituent message about "a $500,000 increase or what proximately 500,000 in the budget". Seaman: about "$200,000 for the transfer of the two positions from Claremont into the south" [SAU] (0:12:07), which comes out of Claremont's budget. | |
| 0:12:28 | Assistant superintendent's secretary | Seaman says the position supporting the assistant superintendent sits in Claremont's budget only because nobody asked to move it; moving it is "absolutely the right thing to do because she is supporting the assistant superintendent as it relates to curriculum" (0:13:27). The chair agrees: "I think it's cleaner." (0:14:07). It goes into Sprague's motion as about $85,000. | |
| 0:15:11 | What drives the increase | Seaman: the outplacement and Medicaid-reimbursement positions moving from Claremont, "the HR director position, which I think came out to approximately $130,000." (0:15:37), health-care costs, and a curriculum position now funded by ESSER (0:15:57). The old HR position is eliminated and the receptionist becomes HR clerical support (0:17:45). Tempesta: "Unity pays 9%." (0:19:19). | |
| 0:19:59 | Curriculum position into the SAU budget | Tempesta on ESSER: "It's going away in in two years." (0:20:17). A member: "So I'm going to channel Steve here for a minute because he's not here." (0:20:42), warning that once it is a line item "now we have to find funds for this person because it's a line item, correct?" Tempesta: Yes. Seaman: the SAU budget once funded two curriculum specialists; the money left when the positions went unfilled (0:21:55). | |
| 0:23:10 | Utilities and benefits | Utilities analysis: the budget "Is close enough." (0:23:13). Other benefits are "everything except for health", mostly retirement (0:24:37). Seaman on loading: "whereas in business you'd see a loading factor of 25% or so." then "Here 50% is much more likely." (0:26:03). | |
| 0:26:10 | Supplies, lighting retrofits | Other costs "is up by about 21,000" (question attributed to Michael Petrin in the minutes), mainly utilities (0:26:31). Seaman: lighting upgrades are done with grant money or "as a zero cash out or cost to the school district so that the savings on the electric bill pay for it" (0:28:35); the SAU office could be studied (0:29:57). | |
| 0:30:39 | Legal services | A member (Petrin per the minutes) asks where attorney costs fall and whether "have we looked at taking a look at the services of the attorneys and if we're getting the best deal" (0:31:40). Seaman: billed to each district by matter. Tempesta: "Drummond's one of the biggest firms in New England." (0:32:32), and the choice is "obviously the board's discretion" (0:32:54). | |
| 0:33:21 | Budget motion | Sprague: "So I'd like to make a motion to move a budget of $2,406,073 for three public hearing." He has "added 85,000" for the administrative assistant (0:33:49). A row the dialogue file gives to Sprague, which also carries Seaman's answer, says "And let's understand this budget doesn't go to a public hearing." and "This budget is approved by this board." (0:34:07). Sprague restates: "So I'd like to move that. We approve the six budget of $2,406,073." (0:34:39). | HIGH MEDIUM OBSERVATION |
| 0:35:01 | Salary increase and health share | Chair: "Now, this budget still includes the 11% salary increase that was proposed." Seaman: a budgeted increase of 6%, and "There is also a cost share that has been put in place on health insurance" at 4% (0:35:31), which "reduces the net impact of that 6% increase to much closer to high threes, low fours" (0:36:04). The minutes say 6.5%. | MEDIUM |
| 0:37:06 | Vote | "All those in favor of adopting this budget as proposed by Frank say I." Ayes heard; then "I and he opposed any abstentions?" (0:37:13), no response audible. Voice vote, no count. | HIGH |
| 0:37:54 | HR director job description | Tempesta assembled it from other districts' descriptions. Sprague: the old HR person "actually handled the non renewals." (0:39:02) and the director should have clear authority: "this person directly supervises and directs those subordinates." (0:43:39). Whitney asks why an MBA and whether a certificate could be required: "my biggest fear is that we will hire somebody by default." (0:42:10). The packet text reads "Masters in Business Administration or combination of equivalent advanced degree or experience preferred" (job description, updated 12.8.22). | |
| 0:46:12 | Backup and experience | "Who's who can fill in for what they're doing?" Tempesta: several staff already trained on fingerprinting (0:46:39). A member asks for years of experience in the qualifications (0:48:29). | |
| 0:50:24 | Posting and authority for the new position | Tempesta: "We'll have a posted tomorrow." (0:50:45). Sprague: "technically I think by RSA we're supposed to vote and approve a new administrative position." and putting it in the budget is "probably tacit approval." (0:50:51). Tempesta: "I'll follow up on that for the RSA." (0:51:03). | MEDIUM |
| 0:51:14 | Funding the hire this year | Seaman: "We don't have this position in this year's budget." He proposes the merit pool: "we do have $36,000 that won't be expended because we're no longer doing any kind of a merit merit pool." (0:52:31). "And that's not a motion request." (0:53:10). | MEDIUM |
| 0:53:40 | Data specialist job description | Updated description covering the student information system, state reporting and food service data. Jeff Small: state reports and PowerSchool security (0:55:20). Tempesta: "I think the request was just to to to review it and make sure that we have it" (0:57:51); no advertisement planned. | |
| 1:01:05 | Retreat | Will Phillips confirmed for the January 26 retreat at 5:30; potluck to be organized at the meeting on the 19th (1:01:21, 1:01:42). | |
| 1:02:04 | Citizen: does the SAU budget need a hearing? | Patrick Adrian: "I am very concerned, I guess, about the accuracy of saying that you don't need to do a public hearing for the Saw budget." He cites SAU 70 (Hanover and Norwich) holding one, and warns that "you approved it without a public hearing." (1:02:36). Chair: "We will make sure that what we're doing is legal and change it to what is legal." (1:05:31). A member notes Hanover-Dresden "it's a two state district." (1:05:45). Adrian: "No one shows up because no one cares about it because it's just the s a budget." (1:06:00). | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 1:08:31 | Meeting calendar | "The 11th is a regular school meeting that we, we moved from this week to, to next week." (1:09:12), despite a City Council conflict. A member: "I'm with Patrick here. How does that work if we haven't yet approved?" (1:09:48). Chair: "Did we did approve it. And we're just going to double check to make sure that our process followed." (1:09:55). | MEDIUM |
| 1:10:27 | Adjournment | "I make a motion that we adjourn." Carried by voice vote. | |
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 3, 2023, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. The RSA 91-A:2, II requirement that minutes name each motion's mover and seconder (2018, 244:1, eff. January 1, 2019) applies to this meeting; the minutes meet it.
HIGH The SAU budget was adopted on January 3, after the statutory "before January 1" meeting
RSA 194-C:9, I reads: "At a meeting held before January 1, the school administrative unit board shall adopt a budget". The board adopted its $2,406,073 budget by voice vote at 0:37:06 on January 3, 2023. The December 1, 2022 minutes show the budget still under review, with six action items assigned and the note "Next SAU meeting is scheduled for 12.15.22"; the January 3 meeting approves only the December 1 minutes, and no December 15 packet folder, agenda or minutes was found in the SAU 6 share (folder listing of the 2022 Meeting Packets archive, a title search for "12.15.22" and a date-range search of SAU files created December 2, 2022 to January 3, 2023; Drive searches can miss files, so this is "not found", not "does not exist"). Paragraph III exempts districts that adopted RSA 194-C:9-a, but that procedure only brings in RSA 194-C:9-b, which "shall not apply to a school administrative unit that includes a city" (¶IV); Claremont is a city, and nothing on the record suggests either district voted to adopt it. Nobody at the meeting mentions the date. What would settle it: a record of a budget vote at a meeting held in December 2022.
Sources: RSA 194-C:9, I and III, 2022 codification (SAU budget adopted at a meeting held before January 1); RSA 194-C:9-b, IV (alternative procedure does not apply to an SAU that includes a city); SAU6 12.1.22 Meeting Minutes
MEDIUM The minutes record a different budget motion from the one adopted, and leave one member out of the attendance
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to include "the names of members" and "final decisions". On the recording Sprague first moved the budget "for three public hearing" (0:33:21), then restated: "We approve the six budget of $2,406,073." (0:34:39); the chair called the vote "of adopting this budget" (0:37:06) and later confirmed "Did we did approve it." (1:09:55). The minutes instead read: "Frank Sprague makes a motion to move 2 million 4 hundred and 6 thousand and 73 dollars to a public hearing. Seconded by Heather Whitney. All in favor via voice vote." A reader of the minutes alone would take the vote as sending the figure to a hearing rather than adopting it. The minutes also list Shannon Popescu as neither present nor absent, give the salary increase as 6.5% where Seaman says 6% (0:35:31), and credit Heather Whitney with the question on the increase that the recording gives to Sprague and the chair (0:10:43, 0:15:03). The minutes taker worked from the broadcast (0:00:38), which may explain some of this.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (minutes: names of members, persons appearing, final decisions, mover and seconder); SAU6 1.3.23 Meeting Minutes_
MEDIUM The minutes reached the public share on the twelfth business day
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting", which for a Tuesday, January 3 meeting is Tuesday, January 10. The only public copy was created in the SAU 6 share on January 20, 2023 (Drive createdTime and modifiedTime the same afternoon), inside a folder created January 10; January 16 was a legal holiday, so January 20 is the twelfth business day. Applying the run's severity rule: the meeting was noticed and packeted and only the minutes are late, so this is MEDIUM, not HIGH. The Drive date shows when the public share received the file, not when a copy was first available at the SAU office, which the record does not show.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (minutes open to inspection within 5 business days); RSA 288:1 (legal holidays)
MEDIUM A new SAU administrative position was to be posted the next day, before the district vote RSA 194-C:5, II(c) calls for
RSA 194-C:5, II(c): "Other administrative positions may be established, but only after 50 percent or more of the school districts in the school administrative unit representing 60 percent of the total pupils in the school administrative unit has voted favorably upon the establishment of the position." The Human Resources Director replaces an eliminated HR position (0:17:45) at about $130,000 (0:15:37). Sprague raised the point himself (0:50:51), suggesting the budget vote was "probably tacit approval"; Tempesta undertook to check (0:51:03) and said the job would be posted the next day (0:50:45), funded for the rest of the year from the unspent $36,000 merit pool, which Seaman said was "not a motion request" (0:53:10). Whether the statute's district vote means a vote of each district's school board or of its voters, and whether the director counts as a new position or a re-titled one, is not settled on this record; a recorded vote of the Claremont and Unity boards or meetings establishing the position would answer it.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, II(c) (new SAU administrative positions need a favorable vote of districts holding 60 percent of pupils)
OBSERVATION No statute requires a public hearing on the SAU budget; the board left the citizen's question open
Patrick Adrian argued the SAU budget needed a public hearing (1:02:04). RSA 194-C:9 sets the date and the apportionment formula and imposes no hearing requirement, so the statement on the floor that "this budget doesn't go to a public hearing" (0:34:07) matches the statute, and Adrian's concern does not rest on a rule this project has located. The chair committed to check and to "change it to what is legal" (1:05:31); the minutes record the question as an action item. The district's own SAU 6 share then holds a folder titled 2. SAU Public Hearing FY24 Budget 1.17.23, created January 10, which suggests a hearing was scheduled after this meeting. A hearing would exceed the statutory minimum.
Sources: RSA 194-C:9, 2022 codification (no hearing requirement)
OBSERVATION The budget the board adopted is not in the public packet
The chair says members received the budget by email and in their packets (0:03:04); Seaman refers to notes "a part of this folder" that he could not open (0:07:07, 0:07:51). The public packet folder 1. SAU SB 1.3.23 holds six documents: the agenda, the public notice, the December 1 minutes and three job descriptions. No budget, line-item schedule or Seaman's notes are among them, so a member of the public cannot see the figures discussed for two hours or the $2,406,073 total adopted. No rule requiring posting of packet documents has been verified for this page; the point is offered for transparency only.
Sources: Drive folder 1. SAU SB 1.3.23
POSITIVE A late-arriving citizen was heard and his question entered as an action item
Citizens' comments were skipped at 0:02:54 because nobody was present. When Patrick Adrian arrived and asked to speak, the chair finished the item in hand and recognized him (1:00:32, 1:01:57), answered on the record, and committed to a legal check before the next meeting (1:06:33). The minutes record his name, ward and concern. Nothing in the SAU 6 agenda format required a second comment opportunity.
Sources: SAU6 1.3.23 Meeting Minutes_
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: SAU 6 Board Meeting Live 1/3/23 (show 14822; run time from the Cablecast API not retrieved, as the API refuses requests from this environment)
- Drive folder 1. SAU SB 1.3.23 (6 documents; folder created December 15, 2022), in the SAU 6 share's 2023 Meeting Packets archive:
- Minutes:
SAU6 1.3.23 Meeting Minutes_, in 2. SAU Public Hearing FY24 Budget 1.17.23 (file created January 20, 2023). Nothing for this meeting is in the Meeting Minutes share (MAP.md).
- No budget document is in the packet folder (see flag 6). No December 15, 2022 SAU 6 folder was found in the
2022 Meeting Packets archive, whose listing returned folders 2, 3 and 4 (the last for December 1); a folder listing is not proof of absence.
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/14822 SAU6010323.mp4.CSV (452 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/14822 SAU6010323.mp4Input/Transcripts/14822 SAU6010323.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 181Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/14822 SAU6010323.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 194-C:9, I and III, 2022 codification (1996, 298:3; 2003, 279:1): SAU budget adopted at a meeting held before January 1; no hearing requirement (read 2026-10-03)
- RSA 194-C:9-a and RSA 194-C:9-b, IV, 2022 codification (2003, 279:2; 2004, 75; 2012, 7): alternative budget procedure, not available to an SAU that includes a city (read 2026-10-03)
- RSA 194-C:5, II(c) (1996, 298:3, never amended): new SAU administrative positions (read 2026-10-03)
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019): minutes content, mover and seconder, five business days
- RSA 288:1: legal holidays (third Monday in January)