Claremont School Board, Deliberative Session, February 8, 2023
First session of the 2023 Claremont School District annual meeting under SB 2. The body is the voters, with the moderator presiding; the board presents the warrant. Voters amended Article 2 to add back the $1,000,000 the board had cut on January 17, raising the operating budget from $37,345,312 to $38,345,312 on a secret ballot the minutes record as 41 to 27, and then restricted reconsideration. The page is built from the CCTV recording's dialogue transcript, the warrant, rules of procedure, agenda, notice and both sets of minutes. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
Body
Claremont School District annual meeting, first (deliberative) session, under RSA 40:13. Presiding: Moderator Tracy Pope (named in the minutes and on the Rules of Procedure; not named on the recording).
Date
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 (snow date Thursday, February 9, not needed)
Start time
6:30 p.m. (notice, warrant, agenda). The moderator opens the session at 0:00:18 of the recording and declares it concluded at 1:43:41; two speakers address the room afterwards, and the dialogue transcript runs 1:53:11. The transcript has no rows between 1:35:11 and 1:43:19, the balloting and count.
Location
Stevens High School, 175 Broad Street, Claremont. District records disagree on the room: the public notice and warrant say Auditorium; the agenda and both sets of minutes say Gymnasium.
Recording
Cablecast: Claremont School Board Deliberative Session 2/8/23 (show 14892; the Cablecast API refused this environment, so the extent is taken from the last dialogue row, 1:53:11). The moderator thanks CCTV's executive director, Joshua Nelson, for televising the session (0:02:21).
Article 1 (election of officers) to the ballot as written. Article 2 amended from $37,345,312 to $38,345,312; secret ballot 41 in favor, 27 opposed (minutes; the announcement is not in the transcript). Reconsideration of Articles 1 and 2 restricted (1:43:19). Default budget on the warrant: $36,342,948.
Participants
The dialogue file leaves 254 of 352 rows unidentified, because the podium name-and-ward announcements were mostly lost. The approved minutes list the floor speakers grouped as for, against or neither; this page names a floor speaker only where the recording itself, or the recording together with the minutes' order within a group, supports it, and says which. The minutes also list Cassandra Edwards, Rob Beaton, Jessica Christian, Raqual Fluette and Jennifer Austin (for), Gary Merchant (against) and Anne Feln and Pamela Ruest (neither), whose turns this page does not attempt to match.
Name
Role
Participation
Tracy Pope
District moderator (presiding)
Named in the minutes ("Meeting called to order by Moderator, Tracy Pope") and on the Rules of Procedure; her own one-year seat is on Article 1. On tape: opens the session (0:00:18), reviews the rules (0:03:08), reads the secret-ballot requesters' names (0:12:38), runs the ballot (1:19:03), and closes the session (1:43:41). All her rows are labeled unidentified in the dialogue file.
Michael Petrin
School board chair
Introduces the board (0:01:46). The minutes credit him with moving the November 3, 2022 minutes and with moving the question on the amendment; both voices are unidentified on tape (0:05:50, 1:17:37). Transcribed "Michael Patron" and "Chairman Peter".
Heather Whitney
Vice chair; Ward 3 voter
Reads Article 2 (0:10:09) and speaks against the amendment: "what you seem to think was just a hasty, off the cuff vote was most likely not that." (0:34:07).
Steven Horsky
Board member; Ward 2 voter
Against the amendment: "Very simply, everybody thinks that we're coming in here with an ax" (0:35:06). Transcribed "Even asking". The minutes name him as seconder of the minutes and of the reconsideration motion.
Whitney Skillen
Board member
Reads Article 1 per the minutes (0:06:48, unlabeled on tape). Transcribed "Whitney School" in the introductions.
Bonnie Miles
Board member
Leads the pledge at the moderator's invitation (0:00:18).
Frank Sprague
Board member; Ward 2 voter
From the floor, answering Lovett: the paraprofessional positions are budgeted but unfilled: "we have the money. We just don't have the people" (0:56:10). Transcribed "Franks great". The minutes name him as mover of the motion to restrict reconsideration and do not list his floor turn.
Michael Tempesta
Superintendent, SAU 6
Presents the warrant and the grade-shift rationale (0:15:06, 0:27:04); calls the "4 to 7 positions" estimate "extremely conservative" (0:28:55, 0:29:17); on special education staffing: "I know of no other district that is in" compliance this year, he says (0:55:21).
Richard Seaman
Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations
Director of Technology; Director of Special Education; district attorney
Introduced by the superintendent per the minutes. Small is thanked for coordinating the technology (0:02:33).
Patrick Adrian
Voter, Ward 1
Moves the amendment (named as mover in the minutes; the speaker says "Speaking as a former school board member", which fits Adrian's 2016 to 2017 service per the project roster): "It is a poison pill, in my opinion." (0:30:49). Probably also the Ward 1 speaker on the second round (1:12:01), who argues it is "not just the money, but we need to give them the support", as Adrian said on January 17; the minutes list him last among speakers in favor.
Joshua Lambert
Voter; former board member
Seconds the amendment in writing: "Joshua Lambert second did it." (0:32:49, read by the moderator). The minutes agree.
David Putnam (probable)
Voter, Ward 2
Third speaker against, matching the minutes' order (Whitney, Horsky, Putnam): calls the January 17 cut "a reckless move" yet opposes the amendment because the contract matters most (0:37:18, 0:38:26).
Michelle Beaton
Voter, Ward 2
Transcribed "Shelby in Ward two" and addressed as "Michelle. Michelle." (0:40:17, 0:41:04); the minutes list her among those speaking to neither side. Says the restructuring "was never discussed in any of those meetings" of the restructuring committee (0:41:49).
Arlene Hawkins
Voter, Ward 3
Against the amendment while opposing the restructuring: "Restructuring is not woven into this budget." (0:44:54).
Andy Lafreniere (probable)
Voter, Ward 3
Fifth speaker against, matching the minutes' order (after Hawkins): "the restructuring plan that's being talked about is not complete, and it's not part of the vote tonight." (0:46:14). Identification by order only.
Scott Pope
Voter, Ward 2
Asks which default the voters face, $37,342,948 or $36,342,948 (0:50:48); addressed as "Mr. Polk" and "Mr. Paul" (0:51:32, 0:52:52). Listed as neither side in the minutes.
Marion Lovett
Voter, Ward 2
Asks whether reduced special education staffing keeps the district in compliance (0:53:18); Sprague answers "what Marion just said" (0:55:54). The minutes spell Marion; the January 17 minutes Mary.
Wadsworth (first name unsettled)
Voter
For the amendment: "This restructuring is the dumbest idea of ever." (1:01:05). Self-identifies on tape as "John Wadsworth" with a ward that is not clear (1:00:16); the minutes print "Shawn Wadsworth- Ward 3".
After the session is closed, asks whether the default will change now that Article 2 was amended (1:44:44).
Andy Bernier
NH School Funding Fairness Project
Speaks after the close, with the moderator's leave, on the Claremont school-funding decisions (1:48:46). Not the same person as the minutes' Andy Lafreniere.
Hope Damon
NH state representative, resident of Croydon
After the close, urges a get-out-the-vote effort, citing Croydon's restored budget (1:51:15).
Agenda
Items from Agenda 2.8.23; agenda wording is quoted from that document. Dispositions from the recording and the approved minutes.
Agenda: "Call to Order for the Deliberative Session". Board introduced (0:01:46); rules reviewed (0:03:08); the moderator announces a written request for a secret ballot on Article 2 (0:04:34).
III. Article 1: election of school district officials
Read (0:06:48): moderator, district clerk and treasurer for one year; three board members (two three-year, one one-year). No speakers; "forwarded to the ballot as presented" (0:07:24). The minutes' list of offices omits the district clerk.
Read by Whitney (0:10:09); presentations; amendment to add $1,000,000 moved and seconded (0:29:47, 0:32:49); debate; question moved (1:17:37); secret ballot; amendment carried 41 to 27 (minutes). Article 2 goes to the ballot at $38,345,312.
Proponents five minutes, debate two; amendments "must be in writing, presented to the moderator" (0:03:49); "If there are no amendments, the article is automatically passed on to the ballot as presented. There is no vote necessary." (0:04:34). The printed rules end with a voter's right to a counted vote that the statute does not provide.
"When I read your name, please confirm that you were present and you signed the request." The moderator reads the names (partly garbled in the transcript) and explains row-by-row balloting (0:13:13).
"totaling $37,345,312. Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $36,342,948"; Note A: "$1,002,364" in the first year of the teachers' agreement (0:11:19).
Seaman: the $1,000,000 "is put in as a lump sum number here" (0:19:33); the proposed budget is "a reduction of $794,540" from FY23 (0:20:25); total rate $23.19 (0:23:40).
"The only difference between the proposed budget, the default budget is the Sri negotiated teacher contract for the $1,002,364"; the default rate is down $1.74 (0:24:31).
Tempesta on turnover ("22%, 14%, it's 17%", 0:25:41) and the grade shift; "about 20% turnover of teachers every year for the past two decades" (0:28:22).
"to move to increase the proposed school district operating budget for 2023 2003 for school year by the amount of $1 million" (the transcript renders the figures as "$37,345,812" and "$38,345,812"). "It is a poison pill, in my opinion." (0:30:49). The cut came with no plan: "there is no way to cut $1 million from but that." (0:31:32).
Whitney: "It's a misperception that no conversations had occurred." Horsky: "We're looking at a way to condense and make it more efficient" (0:35:39). Putnam (probable): "I felt that it was a reckless move" yet "I'm not in favor of of this amendment" (0:37:18, 0:38:26).
Pope: the January 17 default "was 37 million." and now 36 million; "that would actually be a $2 million difference" (0:51:23). Seaman: "The reason why the default budget was reduced after the million dollars was taken out of the budget was because there were positions that were eliminated" (0:52:11).
Lovett asks about least restrictive environment staffing. Tempesta says compliance is an issue in Claremont (0:55:13). Sprague: the positions are budgeted but unfilled (0:56:10).
"I feel the second cut of $1 million was done in a questionable manner. I also feel somewhat held hostage". Wadsworth: "We need to give the teachers a chance, pay them the money they deserve." (1:00:43). A Ward 2 speaker argues the Title I/II and ESSER shifts alone cover most of the million (1:02:21).
A Ward 1 speaker (probably Adrian) says three board members had backed the higher figure minutes before the cut (1:12:14). An unidentified speaker: "the budget should be passed whether or not it has $1 million added to it" (1:15:34).
"That a moderator. I'd like to move the question." Voice vote on closing debate (1:18:48); ballot procedure (1:19:39): "a yes vote would be to add the million dollars back" (1:21:01). The transcript is silent from 1:35:11 to 1:43:19; the minutes: "41 in favor and 27 opposed. The amendment passes."
Seaman: the board "can change or alter the default legend up until the printing of the ballot" (1:45:55) and "Really ask the board to consider revising the default budget so that the difference between the two helps preserve the vote." (1:46:53).
Bernier on school-funding disparity and the Claremont decisions; Damon on turnout: "Just really trying to get out the vote is probably what's going to make the difference" (1:52:34).
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 February 8, 2023, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. A deliberative session is a meeting of the voters under RSA 40:13, not a school board meeting: there is no roll call, quorum, board public-comment period or nonpublic session to assess, and the rules on board meetings do not apply.
MEDIUM The Rules of Procedure misstate how a voter can challenge a vote
The handout the moderator reviewed (0:03:08) ends: "any voter who doubts the accuracy of any non-counted vote may require the Moderator to determine a vote by a counted show of hands or counted standing vote." RSA 40:13, IV makes RSA 40:4-b govern the first session, and 40:4-b gives that remedy to a group, not one voter, and a different remedy: a declared non-ballot vote questioned "immediately and before any other business is begun ... by 7 or more of the voters present" must be retaken "by secret 'yes-no' ballot." The sheet also omits RSA 40:13, IV(a) (articles whose wording is prescribed by law may not be amended) and IV(c) (no amendment may eliminate an article's subject matter; changing a dollar amount is allowed). No vote on the recording was challenged, so the misstatement affected nothing this night; it misinforms voters about their rights at every session that uses the sheet, and the project has found the same sheet in 2024.
OBSERVATION Three explanations of the default budget, and advice to set it for the vote margin
Seaman gave the session three accounts of the $36,342,948 default. First, that "The only difference between the proposed budget, the default budget is the Sri negotiated teacher contract" (0:24:00). Second, answering Pope, that the default fell $1,000,000 "because there were positions that were eliminated" (0:52:11), which is the RSA 40:13, IX(b) test ("salaries and benefits of positions that have been eliminated in the proposed budget"). Third, after the moderator had closed the session, that the board should "consider revising the default budget so that the difference between the two helps preserve the vote" (1:46:53). RSA 40:13, XI(b) does let the governing body adjust the default before the ballots are printed, but only "acting on relevant new information" and on an amended default budget form; the default's amount is fixed by IX(b), not by the margin between the two figures. Whether the board later changed the default is not in this record; the default budget form is in neither the February 1 nor the February 8 packet. See the February 1 page, flag 1.
OBSERVATION The decisive tally and most speakers' names are in the minutes only
The transcript has no rows between 1:35:11 and 1:43:19, the balloting and count, so the moderator's announcement of 41 to 27 is not in the transcript; whether it is audible on the video was not tested. Most podium name-and-ward announcements were also lost, leaving 254 of 352 rows unidentified. The minutes fill both gaps, but they list floor speakers by position rather than in order, omit Frank Sprague's floor turn (0:55:45), list the Article 1 offices without the district clerk the warrant includes, and place the session in the Gymnasium where the notice and warrant say Auditorium. RSA 40:4 requires the moderator to "make a public declaration of every vote passed"; nothing suggests that was not done, and the minutes record that the moderator "reads the results from the secret ballot". The observation is about the public record: for this session the approved minutes, not the recording, are the source of the result and of who spoke.
POSITIVE The secret ballot was requested and run as RSA 40:4-a requires
The moderator announced at the outset that she had "already received a request for secret ballot" on Article 2 (0:04:34), confirmed in the room that each signer was present (0:12:38), and conducted the amendment vote by written yes-no ballot with registered-voter cards checked at the box (1:19:56). RSA 40:4-a provides that "5 voters who are present may make a request in writing prior to a vote" and that "the moderator shall conduct the vote by secret 'yes-no' ballot." Unlike the school board's own secret ballot on January 17, this one is lawful: RSA 91-A:2, II excepts school district meetings from its secret-ballot bar.
POSITIVE The SB 2 calendar was met, and the draft minutes were posted within five business days
RSA 40:13, III places the first session "between the first and second Saturdays following the last Monday in January"; in 2023 that window ran February 4 to 11, and February 8 falls inside it. The warrant, signed January 23 to 25, reached the packet folder on January 27, before the last-Monday-in-January posting date of RSA 40:13, II-a(d) (January 30); the public notice is dated January 18. The draft minutes reached the session folder on February 14, the fourth business day after the session, within RSA 91-A:2, II's five business days, which apply because RSA 91-A:1-a reaches the legislative body of a school district.
RSA 40:13, II-a(d), III, IV, IX(b) and XI(b), 2022 codification (last amended 2019, 192:2): SB 2 calendar; first-session conduct and amendment limits; default budget definition and adjustment
RSA 40:4: moderator's duties, including public declaration of votes
RSA 40:4-a (source note ends 2006, 117:1): secret ballot on written request of 5 voters
RSA 40:4-b (1971, 524:1): vote questioned by 7 or more voters retaken by secret ballot
RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d): public bodies include the legislative body of a school district
RSA 91-A:2, II, 2022 codification (source note ends 2018, 244:1): secret-ballot exception for school district meetings; minutes within five business days