Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Spellings follow the draft minutes where they name the person, otherwise the project's roster; the dialogue file's renderings are noted where they differ. Unidentified voices stay unidentified.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Michael Petrin | Claremont chair; SAU 6 member | Presides over the Claremont hearing and meeting. Moves the SAU 6 agenda and January 3 SAU minutes (0:26:00, 0:27:15). Champions the teachers' contract: "Our teachers deserve it. It would be catastrophic if this did not pass." (1:22:00). Counts the first budget vote "four in favor and two again opposed" (2:35:46) and the final vote "I had 5 to 1." (2:43:46). Transcribed "Mr. Peter" and "Mikey". |
| Heather Whitney | Claremont vice chair; SAU 6 member | Seconds Sprague's $38,345,312 motion (2:22:51), Horsky's private-ballot motion (2:39:29) and Horsky's $37,345,312 motion. Argues the room is "a very specific type of voter, not representative of the average voter in our community" (2:26:49) and that "preserving the teacher's contract is the paramount importance to me" (2:28:00). Transcribed "Heather Whitman" in the SAU roll call. |
| Frank Sprague | Claremont member; SAU 6 vice chair | At the SAU 6 session questions a position budgeted at $101,641 against the $85,000 the board had set (0:04:39) and moves the SAU budget to $2,396,000 (0:49:47). At the Claremont meeting adds the NH Listens candidate forum to the agenda (1:59:20) and moves the $38,345,312 budget to the deliberative session (2:22:25). |
| Steven Horsky | Claremont member; SAU 6 member | Moves to remove non-contractual cell phone stipends at the SAU 6 session (failed, 0:51:46). Presents his own Ed 306 minimum-standards analysis claiming "$2.2 million" in savings (2:11:35), moves a re-vote (2:36:02) and a private ballot (2:39:24), then moves $37,345,312 (2:42:20). Abstains on the January 9 minutes after missing that meeting with the flu (2:01:18). |
| Whitney Skillen | Claremont member; SAU 6 member | Moves at the SAU 6 session to rescind SAU administrative raises and level fund salaries (0:29:31), citing "the looping report" [the Lupini organizational study] (0:32:27). At the Claremont meeting worries the cut ends the two proposed tech-center programs (2:23:03) and votes No. on the abandoned roll call (2:36:49). The minutes say she did not vote on the final motion. Transcribed "Whitney Skilling", "Skill it" and "Miss Gillen". |
| Bonnie Miles | Claremont member; SAU 6 member | Argues for the tech center with enrollment and graduation figures and quotes the Lupini study (2:28:36, 2:29:50). Says "I'm not in favor." after the chair counted the first vote four to two (2:35:53), votes No. on the abandoned roll call (2:36:56), and says "I'm just totally confused." (2:37:49). |
| Marjorie Erickson | SAU 6 board chair (Unity) | Presides over the SAU 6 hearing and meeting (identification from the project's attribution report and roster, not from the transcript, which never names her). Holds the hearing open to 7:00 on a point of order (0:21:42), reports that the January 3 SAU minutes "appeared to be wrong" on the budget figure (0:49:09), and declares the $2,396,000 SAU budget approved (1:01:07). |
| Other SAU 6 members (Unity) | SAU 6 board | Answer the SAU 6 roll call, which is partly inaudible (0:25:22): the transcript reads "Gary Bader here, art University here". The project's notes treat Gary in 2023 roll calls as a possible garble for Rocco Ruggeri; this page names no Unity member other than the chair. The minutes approved that night add Shannon [Popescu] as absent on January 3 (0:26:55). |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations | Presents both budgets: SAU 6 at $2,311,072.74 (0:02:09) and Claremont at $38,345,312 with a $754,470 unidentified reduction, a $24.53 target rate and a $23.19 default rate (1:05:20, 1:10:28, 1:17:08). After the $1,000,000 cut asks for direction on where to allocate it on the MS-26 and default forms (2:45:53): "I don't want to get creative." (2:48:15). |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Explains where the $754,470 would come from: turnover savings of "approximately 400,000", letters of agreement, ESSER funds, and a tuition reserve fund (1:27:24, 1:28:13, 1:29:29). |
| Jeff Small | Director of Technology | Calls the Claremont roll (1:02:56, 1:58:52) and the abandoned roll-call vote (2:36:47); collects the secret ballots (2:40:41). Defends his cell phone stipend at the SAU 6 session (0:56:32). |
| Unidentified administrator | SAU 6 central office | Speaks for the cell phone stipends: "For most of us, the day starts around six" (0:55:51). Not named on the recording. |
| Chris Pratt | Principal, Stevens High School | Estimates that the new state-required personal finance course needs "approximately 100 ish juniors" and about two thirds of a position (1:50:58, 1:51:10). Identified by Sprague's reference to "Mr. Pratt" (1:52:48). |
| Dr. Alex Herzog | Director, Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center; Ward 2 resident | Explains the Visioning Committee's business entrepreneurship and teacher education programs, says the preschool in the building "puts us out of compliance" with the exclusive-CTE-use requirement (1:40:50, 1:41:14), and reports on the boiler. |
| Gary Merchant | Citizen, Ward 2; NH state representative (Claremont, Croydon) | Questions SAU raises paired with the new insurance share (0:07:00); raises the point of order that the noticed hearing must stay open to 7:00 (0:21:32); asks SAU 6 to keep minutes and notices posted on its website (0:28:24); urges the Claremont board to sell the budget (1:47:13). Transcribed "Gary Merchant award to". |
| David Putnam | Citizen, Ward 2; former board and SAU chair | Asks whether the SAU budget flows into the default budget (0:11:59); notes the posted detail shows the tech center up $321,054 for new programs (1:33:34); argues for the two CTE positions (1:51:31); raises the point of order that the public cannot speak on a seconded motion (2:26:05). |
| Patrick Adrian | Citizen, Ward 1 | Asks about the $798,000 middle school reduction and the effect of the cuts (1:23:57, 1:26:26); questions the personal finance requirement (1:54:06); criticizes the Stevens High School schedule in citizens' comments (2:01:41). |
| Mary Lovett | Citizen, Ward 2; former student representative | Raises board conduct and paraprofessional pay (1:35:28, 1:36:08), and later the readability of the posted budget (1:56:08). The minutes list her once as Ward 2 and once as Ward 1; the February 1 minutes spell the name "Marion Lovett". |
| Scott Pope | Citizen, Ward 2; retired tech-center teacher | Proposes using the personal finance position as a feeder for the entrepreneurship program (1:42:55). |
| Unidentified citizen | Citizen, Ward 2 (SAU 6 hearing) | Compares the SAU's 6% raise and 4% insurance share with the teachers' contract (0:16:58). Name not audible. |
| Chelsea Weatherford | Recording secretary | Signs the draft minutes ("Respectfully submitted by Chelsea Weatherford"). Not heard on the recording. |
Agenda
The Claremont agenda (1.17.23 CSB Agenda.docx (2).pdf) covers a 7:30 p.m. hearing and an 8:00 p.m. board meeting. The SAU 6 sessions that open the recording have their own agenda, which was not reviewed; their items are listed from the chair's transitions. Quotations in the third column are from the agenda or minutes where so marked.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:23 | SAU 6 FY24 budget hearing | Not on the Claremont agenda. Seaman presents $2,311,072.74, "increase of $515,127.51" (0:02:09). Public comment; the chair moves to close at 0:20:53, holds the hearing to 7:00 on a point of order, and closes it at 0:25:07. |
| 0:25:15 | SAU 6 board meeting | Roll call; agenda approved; January 3 SAU minutes approved with Shannon added as absent, three abstentions (0:27:31); citizens' comment; Skillen amendment to rescind SAU raises fails with one abstention (0:43:47); Sprague's amendment to $2,396,000 carries on a voice vote (0:50:54); Horsky's cell phone stipend amendment fails on a show of hands (0:59:48); SAU budget of $2,396,000 approved on a voice vote (1:01:07); adjourned (1:01:23). |
| 1:02:03 | Claremont hearing: call to order, roll call | Agenda: "7:30pm Secretary Roll Call of Attendance of Board Members". Jeff Small calls the roll (1:02:56); minutes: all six present. |
| 1:03:16 | Overview of the FY2024 budget | Agenda: "7:35 pm Overview of Fiscal Year 2024 Budget". Seaman: $38,345,312, "an increase of 205,460 from the current year" (1:10:28); target rate $24.53, up $0.95 (1:16:32). |
| 1:16:49 | Overview of the default budget | Agenda: "7:40 pm Overview of the 2024 Default Budget". Default rate $23.19, down $0.40 (1:17:08); the posted summary gives the default as $37,342,948. |
| 1:23:19 | Citizens' comments on the budget | Agenda: "only questions and comments directly related to the budget will be heard", three minutes, then two. Speakers: Adrian, Putnam, Lovett, Herzog, Pope, Merchant, Herzog, Putnam, Adrian, Lovett. |
| 1:58:33 | Close of the hearing | Agenda: "8:00 pm Closing of Public Hearing". The chair closes it. |
| 1:58:38 | Board meeting: call to order, roll call, agenda | Sprague adds the NH Listens candidate forum (1:59:20); Horsky moves the agenda as amended (2:00:09); carried on a voice vote (2:00:32). Minutes: "seconded by Heather Whitney". |
| 2:00:35 | Minutes of January 9, 2023 | Whitney moves, second credited to Whitney [Skillen] (2:01:04); carried, Horsky abstaining (2:01:13). Minutes agree. |
| 2:01:26 | Citizens' comments | Adrian on the high school schedule; Putnam on homework and retention. |
| 2:08:37 | Fiscal 2024 budget approval | Horsky's minimum-standards presentation; Sprague moves $38,345,312, Whitney seconds; voice vote counted four to two and disputed; re-vote moved; roll call abandoned; secret ballot (minutes: "3 yes, 3 no"); Horsky moves $37,345,312, Whitney seconds; carried on a show of hands, 5 to 1 per the chair, "all in favor ... with Whitney Skillen not voting" per the minutes. See flag 1 and flag 3. |
| 2:44:15 | School board candidate forum (added item) | Sprague reports NH Listens offered February 28 or March 7; the board leans to February 28 (2:45:13). No vote heard. |
| 2:45:43 | Other business | Seaman asks how to allocate the $1,000,000 on the required forms; Horsky points to his analysis; Whitney says building administrators should decide. |
| 2:49:28 | Adjournment | Horsky moves; the chair names Heather as seconder (2:49:30). The minutes name Bonnie Miles as seconder. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/14847 SchoolBoardBudgetHearing011723.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:02:09 | SAU 6 budget presented | Seaman: "a budget of $2,311,072.74, increase of $515,127.51", driven by moving two special education positions and a curriculum coordinator into the SAU and a new human resources director; "a 6% increase in salary, which is offset by a change in the match on the insurance" (0:02:59), from 100% employer-paid to 96/4 (0:03:48). | OBS |
| 0:04:39 | A position over its approved figure | Sprague: "we had put in 85,000 for that, and it's at 101. 641 I'm wondering where that extra money came from." Seaman: "It's been added to the budget." (0:05:44). | |
| 0:07:00 | SAU raises and insurance share | Merchant asks whether teachers get the same offset. Seaman: the SREA contract moves from "97% employer pay 3% employee" to 95/5 "if this contract is approved" (0:12:51). An unidentified Ward 2 speaker compares the SAU's 6% with the teachers' 3.25% on the base (0:16:58, 0:17:29). | |
| 0:11:59 | Is the SAU budget in the default? | Putnam: "Does it automatically become part of the default budget?" Seaman: "And my understanding on that, David, is, yes, it becomes a part of the default budget." (0:12:32). | |
| 0:21:32 | Point of order on the noticed time | Merchant: "Since this was a notice meeting. Yes. I think legally you have to wait until 7:00." The chair agrees and waits; at 0:24:57 she invites further comment before closing. | OBS |
| 0:28:24 | Website posting of minutes and notices | Merchant: "If we could somehow say you to keep the website updated as far as posting minutes, posting notices of hearings" and "You have to be posted within five days." (0:28:51). The transcript renders the statute as 918. | MEDIUM |
| 0:29:31 | Motion to rescind SAU raises | Skillen: "To make a motion to rescind the raises for the six administration." Her reasons: "the recent evaluation and several concerns with from with the report" (0:32:01). Whitney: "the only administrator that we evaluate is a superintendent" (0:32:42). Fails, one abstention (0:43:47). | |
| 0:44:09 | Which SAU figure? | Sprague moves "$2,406,073. It's in the minutes." Members hold different printouts; after a recess the chair says "the minutes from last meeting appeared to be wrong" (0:49:09) and Sprague moves $2,396,000 (0:49:47), carried (0:50:54). | OBS |
| 0:51:46 | Cell phone stipends | Horsky moves to remove all but the contracted stipend; Seaman says the others were cut to $50 a month (0:53:21). Fails on a show of hands: "Nays have it, and the line items will remain." (0:59:48). | |
| 1:00:51 | SAU 6 budget adopted | "The ayes have it. We have approved $2,396,000 budget." (1:01:07). No count is announced. | OBS |
| 1:04:43 | Claremont budget: three changes | Seaman: the two new tech-center positions eliminated; target set at "$24.53, was the tax rate"; and "a total reduction of $754,470" to be found over the year (1:05:20), from "a range of different line items, different areas, and utilization of grant funds" (1:06:01). | OBS |
| 1:06:59 | Teachers' contract inside the budget | "The cost of the teacher contract is a little over $1 million. That is included within the budget, as opposed to as a separate warrant article." Total: "$38,345,312, an increase of 205,460 from the current year" (1:10:28). | |
| 1:11:21 | Revenues | District assessment is "our plug number"; "approximately $400,000 surplus coming out of this year" (1:11:48); state property tax up $420,000; adequacy grant down (1:12:11, 1:12:43). | |
| 1:15:50 | Tax rates, proposed and default | Local rate $23.09; total "$24.53, an increase of $0.95 from current year" (1:16:32). "There are no warrant articles" (1:16:49). Default: "a tax rate of $23.19 or reduction from current year of $0.40" (1:17:08). | POSITIVE |
| 1:17:46 | Why the teachers' contract matters | Seaman: "almost 50% of those that leave us leave within the first three years" (1:18:25); if the budget fails, salaries and steps freeze (1:21:01). Petrin: "It would be catastrophic if this did not pass." (1:22:00). | |
| 1:23:50 | Public comment: where the cuts fall | Adrian asks about the $798,000 middle school reduction; Seaman: out-of-district down "approximately 560,000" and special education positions moved to ESSER (1:24:09). Tempesta: "approximately 400,000" in turnover savings (1:27:24) and an emergency meeting on pre-K paraprofessionals to be paid "using Esser funds as an emergency" (1:28:38). | OBS |
| 1:33:34 | Posted detail out of date | Putnam reads a tech center increase "of $321,054" with new programs. Seaman: "That's been updated. David. Okay. That the increase to the in the tech center is $94,983." (1:34:25) and "So we clearly need to coordinate better." (1:34:40). | OBS |
| 1:35:28 | Paraprofessional pay | Lovett compares area para rates; Petrin: the paraprofessionals are "under a three year agreement" (1:36:37). | |
| 1:39:16 | Tech center programs | Herzog explains the two Visioning Committee programs; the preschool in the building "puts us out of compliance" (1:41:14). Pope proposes a half-time feeder model (1:43:28). Pratt sizes the personal finance course (1:50:58). | |
| 1:56:08 | Accessibility of the budget documents | Lovett: "it's very hard to read through" (1:56:18), with lines at zero and "40% increases, 40% decreases" unexplained (1:56:46). | OBS |
| 2:08:50 | Horsky's minimum-standards budget | Working from Ed 306 class-size and guidance ratios, Horsky says "we're technically heavily overstaffed" (2:11:07) and that "$2.2 million" could be saved (2:11:35); "That got us to a grand total of $2,206,000." (2:18:53). He says he does not propose cutting the tech center or athletics (2:19:55). | |
| 2:22:25 | Motion: $38,345,312 to deliberative | Sprague moves (transcribed "$338,345,312"), Whitney seconds (2:22:51). Skillen weighs the two tech-center positions: "if the difference was 226,000 and not 1 million, would you choose to keep the text in our programs" (2:24:41). Putnam: "it's not appropriate for us to speak at this time." (2:26:05). | |
| 2:34:04 | First vote and its count | Voice vote; chair: "So my count is four in favor and two again opposed." (2:35:46). Miles: "I'm not in favor." (2:35:53). Horsky moves a re-vote, Whitney seconds (2:36:02). | HIGH MEDIUM |
| 2:36:36 | Roll call abandoned | Small calls Skillen (No.) and Miles (No., 2:36:56); an unidentified voice says "Motion to seal the vote." (2:37:02) and the roll call is not finished. | HIGH |
| 2:39:18 | Secret ballot | Horsky: "I make a motion to have a private ballot." (2:39:24); Whitney seconds (2:39:29). Petrin: "Jeff, can I ask you to collect the votes for us?" (2:40:41). The tally is not in the transcript; the minutes: "Secret ballot vote is 3 yes, 3 no." | HIGH |
| 2:42:20 | Motion: $37,345,312 | Horsky: "I found $2 million in savings. And I'm betting that the administration can too." He moves "$37,345,312 to be sent to the public at the deliberative session"; Whitney seconds (2:42:56). Show of hands: "I had 5 to 1." (2:43:46). The chair then says "$37,345,313" (2:43:53). | MEDIUM OBS |
| 2:45:53 | Where does the million come from? | Seaman: "I'm just looking for direction on where you'd like that million dollars allocated." (2:46:07); "I don't want to get creative." (2:48:15). Whitney: leave it "to the building administrators" (2:48:37). No direction is voted. | OBS |
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 17, 2023, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. RSA 91-A:2 is cited from its 2022 codification (source note ending 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019), the text in force until 2023, 188:1 took effect on October 3, 2023.
HIGH The board took its budget vote by secret ballot
After a voice vote the chair counted four to two (2:35:46) was disputed and a roll call was abandoned after two answers (2:36:36), Horsky moved "to have a private ballot" (2:39:24), Whitney seconded, and Jeff Small collected paper votes (2:40:41). The draft minutes record: "Steven Horsky motions to hold a secret ballot; seconded by Heather Whitney; Secret ballot vote is 3 yes, 3 no." The question was whether to send the $38,345,312 operating budget to the deliberative session; on a tie it failed, and the $37,345,312 figure that went to the voters followed directly. RSA 91-A:2, II provides: "Except for town meetings, school district meetings, and elections, no vote while in open session may be taken by secret ballot." A school board meeting is none of the three. No member or administrator raised the rule on tape. How each member voted on the motion that decided the size of the operating budget is therefore not in the public record. Mitigation: the motion to use the ballot was itself made and seconded in public, and the next motion was decided by a public show of hands.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; secret ballot barred in open session except town and school district meetings and elections); draft 1.17.23 CSB meeting minutes
MEDIUM The draft minutes reached the public share on the eighth business day
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." Five business days from Tuesday, January 17 ran to Tuesday, January 24. Drive metadata for draft 1.17.23 CSB meeting minutes .docx.pdf show a modifiedTime and a createdTime both on January 27, 2023 (Friday), the eighth business day, and the file sits in the February 1 packet folder, not in the Meeting Minutes share. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule: the minutes exist and the meeting was noticed and packeted; what the record shows is late posting. The limit of the evidence: Drive dates show when the public share received the file, not whether a copy was available for inspection at the SAU office earlier. The same evening, Gary Merchant asked the SAU 6 board to keep minutes posted, saying "You have to be posted within five days." (0:28:51).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; minutes open to inspection within 5 business days)
MEDIUM The approved minutes depart from the recording on the budget figures, the final tally and a seconder
The February 1 board approved these minutes "as presented". Against the recording: (1) the minutes state both motions as "thirty eight million three hundred forty five thousand three hundred and thirteen dollars" and "thirty seven million three hundred forty five thousand three hundred and thirteen dollars", where Sprague's and Horsky's motions and the posted summary say $38,345,312 and $37,345,312 (2:42:20); the chair himself says "$37,345,313" after the vote (2:43:53), which may be where the error began, and the warrant prints $37,345,312. (2) The minutes record the final motion as "all in favor via show of hands with Whitney Skillen not voting"; the chair announced "I had 5 to 1." (2:43:46), and the district's own February 1 presentation describes it as "motion voted (5-1)". (3) The minutes name Bonnie Miles as seconder of adjournment; the chair says "seconded by Heather" (2:49:30). (4) The minutes omit the first voice vote, its disputed four-to-two count, the re-vote motion and the abandoned roll call. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to record "final decisions" and "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion". A one-dollar error in the figure sent to the voters, and a tally that differs between the record and the minutes on the decisive budget vote, are corrections the approving body should have made.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; minutes contents, movers and seconders); 1.CSB Meeting Minutes 2.1.23 (approval "as presented"); Budget Reduction Emergency Action ... for CSB Meeeting 2.1.23 ("voted (5-1)")
OBSERVATION The detailed budget posted for the hearing was a superseded version
The hearing folder's Claremont Proposed FY 24 Budget (uploaded about 12:39 p.m. on the hearing day) shows the tech center at $1,359,697, up $321,054, annotated "Includes new programs". The one-page Claremont Budget Summary 1.17.23.pdf uploaded that afternoon, and Seaman's presentation, put the tech center at $1,133,625, up $94,983, with the new programs removed. Putnam read the old figure at the podium (1:33:34); Seaman: "So we clearly need to coordinate better." (1:34:40). Mary Lovett said the document was "very hard to read through" (1:56:18). RSA 32:5, I requires a district that budgets by sub-account to "make that data available for public inspection at the public hearing". Whether a current line-item version was available in the room is not shown, so this is an observation; what the public share holds for this hearing is line-item data that does not match the budget heard.
Sources: RSA 32:5, I (2022 codification; sub-account data available at the hearing)
OBSERVATION A $1,000,000 cut sent to the voters with no line items, on top of $754,470 not yet identified
The budget heard already carried "a total reduction of $754,470" that the administration expected to find during the year (1:05:20). Horsky's $1,000,000 motion (2:42:20) identified no accounts; immediately after the vote Seaman asked "where you'd like that million dollars allocated" so the MS-26 and default forms could be completed (2:46:07), and the board gave no voted direction. A post-hearing reduction is lawful: RSA 32:5, I directs the body to "finalize the budget" after testimony closes, and ¶II bars only inserting amounts not disclosed at the hearing. The observation is about information, not legality: the voters received a figure whose composition was unknown on the night it was set. The $37,345,312 sent forward is also $2,364 above the $37,342,948 default shown in the hearing summary, so the board's figure and the default nearly coincided. The February 1 page records the administration's reduction plan.
Sources: RSA 32:5, I and II (2022 codification; finalize after testimony; bar on later insertions)
OBSERVATION No notice of the budget hearing is in the packet folder
RSA 40:13, II-a(a) set the second Tuesday in January (January 10, 2023) as the last day to post notice of budget hearings under RSA 32:5, and RSA 32:5, I requires 7 days' notice. The hearing itself was on time: II-a(c) required it "on or before the third Tuesday in January", which January 17, 2023 was. The Claremont folder holds the agenda (uploaded about 4:51 p.m. on the hearing day), the summary, the line-item budget and the January 9 minutes, but no public notice; the February 1 folder, by contrast, holds its notice ad. A notice may have been posted elsewhere, so this is an observation; the notice would settle it.
Sources: RSA 40:13, II-a(a) and (c) (2022 codification; SB 2 January calendar); RSA 32:5, I (7 days' notice)
OBSERVATION The SAU 6 portion: a budget adopted after January 1, a hearing nearly closed before its noticed hour, and a disputed figure in its minutes
The SAU 6 board is a separate body; its records were not reviewed for this page. On the recording: the SAU 6 hearing began and was about to close when Gary Merchant objected that the noticed hearing had to stay open until 7:00 (0:21:32); the chair agreed and invited comment again after 7:00 (0:24:57). The chair later said the January 3 SAU minutes "appeared to be wrong" on the budget figure (0:49:09) after the same minutes had been approved with a different correction (0:27:31). The board then adopted a $2,396,000 SAU budget (1:01:07). RSA 194-C:9, I provides: "At a meeting held before January 1, the school administrative unit board shall adopt a budget", and requires certification of each district's share "Prior to January 15". Seaman described the SAU budget as approved at the board's "last meeting to come to this meeting" (0:01:55), which was January 3, 2023. An adoption before January 1 is not excluded by this recording, so this is an observation for the SAU 6 page; the SAU 6 minutes of December 2022 would settle it. RSA 194-C:9, III exempts districts that adopted RSA 194-C:9-a; speakers on tape say the voters do not vote on the SAU budget (0:13:25), which is consistent with ¶I applying.
Sources: RSA 194-C:9, I and III (2022 codification; source note ends 2003, 279:1); RSA 194-C:9-a (alternative procedure by district vote)
POSITIVE The default budget and both tax-rate effects were presented at the hearing
The agenda carried a separate default-budget item, and Seaman gave the default's tax effect, "$23.19 or reduction from current year of $0.40", beside the proposed budget's $24.53, "an increase of $0.95" (1:16:32, 1:17:08). The posted summary lays out proposed and default side by side with the computation from appropriations to rate. RSA 40:13, XI(a) requires the default budget to be "disclosed and presented for questions and discussion at the first budget hearing". Whether January 17 was the first budget hearing is not settled here (Seaman refers to a review "Six days ago.", 1:04:31); the presentation met the requirement for this hearing either way.
Sources: RSA 40:13, XI(a) (2022 codification; default disclosed at the first budget hearing)
POSITIVE Public comment ran under published rules, and the chair accepted a point of order from the floor
The agenda printed the citizens' comment rules (three minutes, then two, with reference to Policy BEDH), and the chair read them before opening the floor (1:23:19); ten turns from six citizens followed, with a staff member answering most questions on the spot. When Putnam objected that the public could not speak on a pending motion, the chair accepted it: "Thank you. Point taken." (2:26:25). No statute requires a comment period at a budget hearing beyond the hearing itself; the structure exceeded what RSA 32:5, I asks.
Sources: RSA 32:5, I (2022 codification; public hearing on the budget)
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/14847 SchoolBoardBudgetHearing011723.mp4.CSV (1,008 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/14847 SchoolBoardBudgetHearing011723.mp4Input/Transcripts/14847 SchoolBoardBudgetHearing011723.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 184Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/14847 SchoolBoardBudgetHearing011723.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019): no secret ballot in open session except town and school district meetings and elections; minutes contents, movers and seconders; five business days
- RSA 32:5, I and II, 2022 codification (source note ends 2021, 134:3, 4): hearing and 7 days' notice; sub-account data at the hearing; finalize after testimony; bar on later insertions
- RSA 40:13, II-a and XI(a), 2022 codification (last amended 2019, 192:2): SB 2 January calendar; default budget disclosed at the first budget hearing
- RSA 194-C:9, I and III, 2022 codification: SAU budget adopted before January 1; apportionment certified before January 15
- RSA 194-C:9-a, 2022 codification: alternative SAU budget procedure by district vote