Participants
Names follow the agenda masthead, the roll call and the minutes. Where the dialogue file labels a speaker differently, the row says so.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Chair | Arrives after the nonpublic session and reopens the meeting at 0:03:02; amends the agenda to drop the BEDH item and add a $3,000 gift (0:03:46); proposes a consent-agenda format (1:11:22); names the subcommittee slate (1:23:29); restates the roof motion as a friendly amendment (1:41:06); reports that two CCTV board seats are open (1:44:48). |
| Frank Sprague | Vice chair | Moves the April 5 minutes (0:04:53); asks how the high school defines a ninth grader (0:32:10); asks whether the literacy purchase is paid from the extraordinary needs grant (1:19:10); moves the original $350,000 roof motion (1:37:52) and seconds Horsky's amendment (1:41:05). Chairs the budget subcommittee. |
| Steven Horsky | Member; SAU 6 board chair | Opens the meeting and handles the nonpublic motion in the chair's absence (0:00:36, 0:01:00); questions both principals (0:30:34, 1:08:38); cautions that a consent agenda conflicts with existing policy (1:12:19); moves the literacy purchase (1:18:40); argues against a fixed roof figure (1:38:38) and moves the substitute that passes (1:42:48). |
| Arlene Hawkins | Member | Moves the nonpublic session and seconds the agenda and the literacy purchase (minutes; the voices are unlabelled on tape). Joins the policy subcommittee (1:25:05) and takes the NHSBA delegate seat (1:28:39). The minutes give her the Disnard fencing item at 1:48:46, which the dialogue file leaves Unidentified. |
| Bonnie Miles | Member | Seconds the $350,000 roof motion (1:38:10); urges speed because roofers book early (1:34:17); asks what happens to unspent reserve money (1:43:15). Named chair of the Capital Improvement Committee; takes the Disnard fencing item to the maintenance director (1:49:33). |
| Whitney Skillen | Member | Seconds the nonpublic motion (minutes); moves the amended agenda (0:04:24); asks Pratt for a trauma-informed program (0:30:04); reports the roof quote, "the overall cost was $350,000." (1:30:24); proposes a district Book Character Day (1:22:26); moves adjournment (1:49:50). Chairs the policy subcommittee. |
| Jennifer Gallagher | Member | Discloses that she works at Turning Points with the middle-school staff (1:05:50); moves from the policy to the curriculum subcommittee (1:24:12); seconds the roof substitute (1:43:09). |
| Hannah Petrin | Student representative | Listed on the agenda; not heard. No student report is given. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | ConVal lawsuit update (0:13:05); athletic-transportation waiver still under review by the insurer (1:10:44); explains that the roof figure is a budget proposal, not a bid (1:31:56), and recommends the capital reserve (1:36:37). |
| Mike Koski | Assistant Superintendent | Presents the literacy and ELA materials recommendation (1:14:33). |
| Stephanie Hurst | SAU 6 curriculum lead (the minutes name her; the dialogue file labels her "Stephanie") | Co-presents the literacy recommendation (1:15:38); credits the teacher pilot group (1:19:51). |
| Ben Nester | Director of Special Education | Calls both roll calls (0:01:22, 0:03:22); the district clerk seat was vacant in 2023. |
| Christopher Pratt | Principal, Stevens High School | Presents on restorative discipline and climate (0:15:23). His remark "We did a lot of work with it in Bellows Falls when I was superintendent there." (0:30:26) refers to a prior post outside Claremont; in April 2023 he is the high school principal and Michael Tempesta is superintendent. |
| Frank Romeo | Principal, Claremont Middle School | Presents on climate, student centers and needs (0:34:06). |
| David Irwin | Seventh-grade dean, Claremont Middle School (minutes; the dialogue file labels him David) | Reports on the student centers (0:49:27). |
| Sarah Ferland | School counselor, Claremont Middle School | Speaks on the counseling workload before and after the student centers (1:00:51). |
| Alex Hill | Computer teacher, Claremont Middle School (self-identified; not in the minutes) | Asks for safety and support for teachers who live in town (0:56:32). |
| Melissa Lewis | Disnard Elementary principal (dialogue-file label for one line; not in the minutes) | One line on a book giveaway (1:21:51). |
| Shawn McCarthy | Citizens' comments, Ward 1 (minutes spelling; the dialogue file has Sean) | Complains of parent pick-up parking at the community center and bus routing (0:05:31). |
| Andy Lafreniere | Citizens' comments, Ward 3 (minutes; the dialogue file gives only Andy) | Announces the NH School Funding Fairness Project presentation of May 25 and asks the board to be a host (0:08:32, 1:46:43). |
| Candace Crawford | Citizens' comments, Ward 2; former board member, not on the board at this date | Supports the May 25 presentation (0:10:58). |
| Unidentified | Board-table voices | The nonpublic mover and seconder, the voices at the return from nonpublic (0:02:11), two members praising the literacy pilot (1:19:32, 1:20:12) and the request for a funding-fairness presentation (1:48:29). |
Agenda
Items and wording from the posted agenda, 4.19.23 CSB Agenda.docx (3).pdf; dispositions from the recording and the minutes. The minutes renumber the items after the floor amendment.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | I. Call to order, pledge | Horsky calls the meeting to order; the minutes say the chair "was unable to attend the beginning of the meeting." |
| 0:00:55 | II-III. Roll call; nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II(c) | Horsky states the exemption on the record (0:01:00); Nester calls the roll, six Yes (0:01:22). Minutes: "Arlene Hawkins motions to move to non-public session; seconded by Whitney Skillen." The session is not on the recording. On return two unidentified voices say "Not seal the minutes." and "We discussed agreements." (0:02:11, 0:02:13); Horsky moves "a ten minute recess" to 6:25 (0:02:22). The minutes record no return, no vote and no decision. See flags 2 and 8. |
| 0:03:02 | IV-V. Return; general business | Chair reopens; roll call, all seven present (0:03:22). Agenda amended to remove item 5 (BEDH) and add a $3,000 gift as item 1; Skillen moves, Hawkins seconds (minutes), voice vote (0:04:30). April 5 minutes: Sprague moves (0:04:53), Skillen seconds (minutes), voice vote. Citizens' comments 0:05:02 to 0:12:46, three speakers; the chair asks twice for others. The student representative report is not given. |
| 0:13:05 | VI. Superintendent report: ConVal lawsuit update | Tempesta says his scheduled testimony was delayed and he cannot discuss particulars. |
| 0:14:38 | VII.1 (added) Gift of $3,000 | The chair thanks Adopt a Classroom; no motion or vote to accept. The minutes name the donor "Subaru of Claremont, Adopt a Classroom." See flag 3. |
| 0:15:23 | VII.1 SHS principal presentation | "Update on climate and culture, progress of Academic Centers, and Restorative Justice." (agenda). Discussion only. |
| 0:34:06 | VII.2 CMS principal presentation | "Update on climate and culture, progress of Academic Centers and success measurement tool" (agenda). Discussion only; Irwin, Hill and Ferland also speak. |
| 1:10:17 | VII.3 CMS athletic department transportation | Tempesta: the insurer has raised "some conflicts"; no recommendation yet (1:10:44). |
| 1:11:22 | VII.4 Consent agenda format (Exhibit A) | Discussion; the chair seeks consensus to try it. Horsky warns of conflicting donation policy (1:12:19). No vote. |
| Removed | VII.5 Second read and adoption of BEDH (Exhibit B) | Removed by the agenda amendment (0:03:46). The adopted policy's own history gives "First reading: May 17, 2023" and adoption September 6, 2023, so this agenda's "Second read" label does not match the policy's record. See flag 7. |
| 1:14:19 | VII.6 Purchase of literacy and ELA materials (Exhibit C) | Koski and Hurst recommend Fundations, Heggerty, Geodes and Wit & Wisdom. Horsky moves (1:18:40); "Arlene second" (1:19:02). The chair puts it as "to appropriate the adequate funding" for the materials (1:20:49); voice vote, carried. No amount stated. See flag 6. |
| 1:23:29 | VII.7 Subcommittee members and chairs (Exhibit D) | By consensus, no vote. Minutes: Capital Improvement, Miles (chair) and Skillen; Budget, Sprague (chair), Whitney, Horsky; Policy, Skillen (chair) and Hawkins; Curriculum, Gallagher and Whitney; SRVRTC Visioning, Miles and Sprague; Ad Hoc Parliamentary Procedure, Sprague and Whitney; NHSBA delegate, Hawkins. |
| 1:29:18 | VII.8 Appropriation of funds for SHS roof | Sprague moves $350,000 from the capital reserve, Miles seconds (1:37:52, 1:38:10); Horsky moves to strike the figure, Sprague seconds (1:40:40, 1:41:05); the chair offers "up to $500,000" (1:41:06); Horsky withdraws and moves "up to $500,000 from the Capital Reserve Trust Fund, with an RFP to go out of the minimum of three bids to be returned to the board for review" (1:42:48), Gallagher seconds; voice vote, carried (1:44:32). Minutes record the same sequence. See flags 4 and 5. |
| 1:44:48 | VIII. Other business | CCTV board appointments; Lafreniere returns on the funding-fairness host request (1:46:43); Disnard fencing (1:48:46). |
| 1:49:37 | IX-XI. Future dates, closing, adjournment | Skillen moves to adjourn (1:49:50), Gallagher seconds (minutes), voice vote. The agenda lists the SAU 6 meeting as 5.13.23; the minutes correct it to 5.11.23. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/15028 SchoolBoard041923.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:36 | Opening without the chair | Horsky: "So I've been asked to facilitate the beginning of the meeting." The motion is stated as "under RSA 91 a three paragraph two section C which is matters which if discussed in public would likely adversely affect the reputation of any person other than a board member of the school board itself" (0:01:00); a member asks for a roll call and Nester calls six names, all Yes (0:01:22). | POSITIVE |
| 0:02:11 | Return from nonpublic | The tape jumps from crosstalk to "Not seal the minutes." and "We discussed agreements." (unidentified, 0:02:13). Horsky: "To make a motion to have a ten minute recess based off." / "To 625 for the regular start of the main presentation." (0:02:22). No vote on sealing and no decision is audible. | MEDIUM |
| 0:03:46 | Agenda amended | Whitney asks to remove item 5 "just to kind of tighten it up a little bit" and to "add the acceptance of a gift of $3,000, facilitated by adopt a classroom to be item number one." | MEDIUM |
| 0:05:31 | Citizens' comments: pick-up traffic | McCarthy: parents waiting for middle-school pick-up "take over the parking lot" at the community center (0:05:42); buses detour through Chase and Chestnut Streets; his inquiry at the Broad Street office went unanswered (0:07:15); next he will go to the police department (0:07:32). | |
| 0:08:32 | Citizens' comments: school funding | Lafreniere: the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project will give "a Claremont specific presentation on May 25th at the Claremont Community Center at 6:30 p.m." (0:09:53); he asks the board to be listed as a host (0:10:21). Crawford, a board member "30 years ago" when the district sued the state, urges attendance (0:10:58). | |
| 0:13:05 | ConVal lawsuit | Tempesta: "I was scheduled to testify tomorrow. I just got word that that's delayed." He notes that plaintiffs now include districts outside the "so-called" property-poor belt, naming Windham (0:13:44, 0:14:13). | |
| 0:14:38 | $3,000 gift | Whitney: "is there anyone here to speak on behalf of that? No." The board is "just going to be expressing our thanks to adopt a classroom"; "So we're just giving a shout out to adopt a classroom." (0:15:08). No motion. | MEDIUM |
| 0:15:23 | Stevens High School climate | Pratt describes house recognition cards (579 responses, Red House 53%, 0:23:20) and student panels. Out-of-school suspension days fell from two 424 to 277, in-school days from 178 to 46 (0:25:55); truancy days from 385 to 269 (0:26:50). Ninth graders hold "almost half of the detentions" (0:24:21). He says Stevens' reputation is not borne out by the data (0:25:30). | |
| 0:30:04 | Questions to Pratt | Skillen asks for a trauma-informed program to review; Pratt cites prior work "in Bellows Falls when I was superintendent there" (0:30:26). Horsky asks whether the high school is "adequately funded and supported overall" (0:31:43). Whitney asks about recovering Covid academic losses (0:32:57). | |
| 0:34:06 | Claremont Middle School climate | Romeo reports aggregate figures: in-school suspensions 183 days and out-of-school 385 this year, up from last year, which he attributes to a larger team "addressing everything that's coming our way" (0:37:55, 0:38:30); 58 bullying intakes, 48 investigated (0:40:35); 96 counselor emergency referrals in 125 days (0:41:16); eligibility failures down from 30 to 11 (0:43:44); out-of-district placements five last year, two this year (0:44:36). | |
| 0:49:27 | Student centers | Irwin: students sent out of class for disciplinary reasons decreased after the centers opened (0:49:49), and he reads student notes of thanks (0:50:19). | |
| 0:55:31 | Romeo: what the school needs | "there's a great deal of verbal abuse that people take over the phone, voicemails, emails continuously." "If this is not a safe environment for them to come to, we're going to lose teachers." (0:56:00). Hill asks that teachers "feel like we can live in the town and be safe in the town." (0:57:10). Romeo: "I need a late bus. We need a late bus." (0:59:14) and a special-education behavioral program (1:00:26). | |
| 1:00:51 | Counselor's account | Ferland: last year the counselors were "running from one fire to the next" (1:01:39); a rapid-response call "could take 2 to 3 hours" and left "one counselor with approximately 400 students" (1:02:14). Gallagher discloses she works at Turning Points with the CMS staff (1:05:50). | |
| 1:08:38 | Repeat suspensions | Horsky asks how many students with long combined suspensions have been recommended "for possible further consequence up to expulsion" (1:09:06); Romeo answers without detail to avoid identifying students (1:09:28). | |
| 1:10:17 | Athletic transportation waiver | Tempesta: the insurer's statement shows "some conflicts"; full update later (1:10:44). | |
| 1:11:22 | Consent agenda | Whitney wants consent items to "proceed a little bit more quickly with our more mundane activities, including accepting donations." Horsky: existing policy requires board votes on donations, "it conflicts with the policy" (1:12:19). Skillen asks what a consent agenda would contain (1:13:18). | |
| 1:14:33 | Literacy materials | Koski: after nearly a school year of advisory and curriculum subcommittee meetings and pilots, "we've finally come to giving a recommendation for a purchase." (1:14:46); a summer prep and fall launch (1:15:07). Sprague: "are we paying for this through the extraordinary needs grant that came from the state?" (1:19:10); the transcript records "okay, okay. Yes." with no figure. Horsky moves (1:18:40); carried by voice vote (1:20:49). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:23:29 | Subcommittees seated | The chair proposes the slate she arranged "informally"; Gallagher moves to curriculum (1:24:12); Whitney steps off capital improvement and joins budget (1:25:28, 1:25:57); Hawkins takes the NHSBA delegate seat (1:28:39). The chair asks each chair to set a meeting schedule and "parameters" (1:28:43). | POSITIVE |
| 1:29:18 | SHS west-wing roof | The chair: Skillen and Miles "had met with our operations manager" about the roof, "which is actively leaking, which represents roughly 8400ft²." Tempesta: the document "is a budget proposal okay. So it's not it didn't go out for RFB." (1:31:56); "I think it's the third roof in about three years or so." (1:32:15); "all I'm doing is reiterating everything that the capital committee said." (1:32:34). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:32:51 | Capital reserve | Tempesta: "it's $350,000 to make a motion to put that from the reserve, 500,000 that we've had in the reserve." The trustee must see minutes: "They have to see the minutes that this was the will of the board to do that. This money cannot be accessed except by a structured public vote like this" (1:36:59); "It cannot be released any other way. That's what got the board into trouble in the past other years go." (1:37:21). Whitney asks about backfilling by a later warrant article (1:36:12). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:37:52 | Roof motions | Sprague: "begin the process of releasing 350,000 from our capital reserve fund in order to replace the roof, the West wing." Horsky: "if the guy comes back to me at $420,000 and says, and I found this structural issue" he would rather pay for the better-prepared bid (1:39:39); he wants no figure until "firm final bids" (1:39:03). The substitute "up to $500,000" with three bids passes (1:42:48, 1:44:32). Miles: "So the remaining money, let's say the whole thing costs 375. What? The money just goes right back in." Tempesta: "The money never comes out." (1:43:15, 1:43:26). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:44:48 | CCTV board appointments | Whitney: Alex Herzog says the board will be "appointing two members" to the CCTV board; "The school board does that on a yearly basis". He supplied "the name of an individual that is currently serving on the board" and no other candidate has applied; terms end May 31; applications through City Hall (1:45:23, 1:45:48). The minutes record the same. | |
| 1:46:43 | Funding-fairness host request | Lafreniere: "we're not necessarily talking about more money. We're talking about a better." / System. He asks whether the board can be listed as a host; Whitney: "I can put it on the agenda for next meeting." (1:47:50). | |
| 1:48:46 | Disnard fencing | A member (Hawkins per the minutes) reports two openings in the Disnard schoolyard fence, one "right to the street", and asks the Capital Improvement Committee to look at it (1:49:05). Miles will raise it with the maintenance director (1:49:33). | |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer's aid, not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each one cites the rule it rests on as that rule read on April 19, 2023; check the recording and the primary source before relying on any of them. Severity: HIGH, a likely breach of a binding rule or a missed statutory deadline; MEDIUM, a probable process gap or control weakness; OBSERVATION, notable with no confirmed rule; POSITIVE, practice beyond the legal minimum. This page carries no HIGH flag.
MEDIUM The draft minutes reached the public share on the tenth business day, and the board then postponed approving them
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting" (statute). Five business days after Wednesday, April 19 ran to Wednesday, April 26, 2023. The draft in this meeting's packet folder was created on Drive at 13:09 UTC on May 3, 2023 (9:09 a.m. Eastern), with a modified time one minute earlier, so the file metadata gives no sign the document existed sooner. That is the tenth business day. The May 3 agenda then carries "Meeting minutes from April 19,2023 postponed until the next meeting." (agenda). The superintendent had told the board at 1:43:51 that the capital-reserve trustee needed "the active minutes" before releasing roof money. At the May 3 meeting the chair explained that the person who usually takes the minutes had been away on vacation (see the May 3 page). Further mitigation, which sets this at MEDIUM under the project's severity rule rather than HIGH: the minutes exist, are complete and name every mover and seconder, and a paper copy may have been available at the SAU office earlier; Drive is one place of inspection, not the only one.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; five business days); draft minutes, created May 3, 2023; May 3, 2023 agenda
MEDIUM The public record of the nonpublic session stops at the motion: no return, no sealing vote, no decision, and no nonpublic minutes found
RSA 91-A:3, III requires that "Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session shall be publicly disclosed within 72 hours of the meeting" unless sealed by a recorded two-thirds vote "taken in public session" (statute). On tape, after the session, an unidentified voice says "Not seal the minutes." (0:02:11), which if it reflects the board's choice makes the nonpublic minutes public within 72 hours. The public minutes record the motion and roll call and then go straight to "6:25 PM Return to the regular scheduled meeting.", the agenda's own clock time, with no account of the return, of any vote on sealing or of any decision. No nonpublic minutes for April 19 are among the files MAP.md lists for this meeting's folder or the May 3 folder, and searches of these Drive shares are unreliable for negatives, so this is "not found", not "does not exist". A second fragment, "We discussed agreements." (0:02:13), sits beside a motion limited to reputation matters under II(c); RSA 91-A:3, I(c) confines a nonpublic discussion to the matters in the motion, but an unattributed four-word fragment cannot establish what was discussed, and this page draws no conclusion from it. MEDIUM, not HIGH: the motion was properly made, and the record does not show whether minutes were kept and released by another route.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(c) and III (2022 codification; 72-hour disclosure, sealing in public session); April 19 minutes
MEDIUM A $3,000 gift was added to the agenda at the meeting and thanked, but no vote accepted it
At 0:03:46 the chair amended the agenda to add "the acceptance of a gift of $3,000"; at 0:14:38 she asked whether anyone would speak, and the board only expressed thanks. No motion or vote followed, and the minutes record none ("Chair Heather Whitney thanks Claremont Subaru for Adopting a Classroom." (minutes)). As RSA 198:20-b read on this date, before 2023, 38:1 raised the threshold to $20,000 on July 18, 2023, a gift under $5,000 needed no hearing, but "the school board shall post notice of the funds in the agenda and shall include notice in the minutes" and "The acceptance of unanticipated funds under this subparagraph shall be made in public session of any regular school board meeting." (statute). The minutes give notice; the posted agenda did not, because the item was added from the floor; and no act of acceptance appears. Two caveats: 198:20-b governs only where the district has adopted the paragraph I enabling article, which this record does not show, and Horsky said at 1:12:19 that district policy also requires board votes on donations. The donor is named "adopt a classroom" on tape and "Subaru of Claremont, Adopt a Classroom" in the minutes.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(b) (2022 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1)
OBSERVATION The board voted to draw up to $500,000, about the whole capital reserve, without the record showing its authority to direct the withdrawal
Under RSA 35:15, I the trustees hold a capital reserve "until such time as the town, district or county shall have voted to withdraw funds from such capital reserve fund or shall have named agents of the town, district or county to carry out the objects designated" (statute). A school board can therefore direct a withdrawal only if the district meeting named it agent to expend for that fund. Nobody at the table identified the warrant article that did so, and the minutes describe the board as "appropriating up to $500,000.00 from the Capital Reserve Trust Fund", appropriation being the voters' act. The superintendent put the reserve at "500,000 that we've had in the reserve" (1:32:51), so the cap equals the fund. The motion sequence was also loose: Sprague's $350,000 motion, seconded by Miles, was never withdrawn or voted, and the substitute passed on a voice vote (1:44:32). In mitigation, the board required an RFP with at least three bids returned to it for review, and the May 3 minutes report the bids out with a public opening on May 22, 2023. The fund's establishing article and its stated purpose (RSA 35:15, V limits spending to that purpose) would settle the question.
Sources: RSA 35:15, I and V (2022 codification; source note ends 2021, 105:2); April 19 minutes; May 3 minutes (bid opening)
OBSERVATION The roof recommendation came from two of three Capital Improvement Committee members, and no committee meeting record was found
The chair said the item was brought by Skillen and Miles, "who had met with our operations manager" (1:29:18), and the superintendent described his remarks as "reiterating everything that the capital committee said." (1:32:34). Skillen and Miles were two of the committee's three members before tonight's reshuffle (1:25:28), a quorum of the committee. RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) makes "any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body" of a public body a public body itself, and a meeting under RSA 91-A:2, I is "the convening of a quorum of the membership of a public body" to discuss or act on its business. Whether the members met together, or each spoke separately with the maintenance director (Skillen describes reaching out to him herself at 1:30:24), the record does not say; no notice or minutes of a committee meeting were found, and the subcommittee Drive folders were reported empty when the project checked them on 2026-08-29. Exhibit D, circulated at this very meeting, tells subcommittees to post notice and minutes on the SAU 6 website.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (committees and subcommittees are public bodies); RSA 91-A:2, I (meeting defined); Exhibit D
OBSERVATION The literacy materials were approved with no cost and no funding source on the record
The motion as the chair put it was "to appropriate the adequate funding to purchase the materials required for the new Ela, Ela program and curriculum." (1:20:49). No figure was stated by the presenters, in the motion or in Exhibit C, which describes the selection process but carries no price. The only reference to funding is Sprague's question whether the purchase comes from "the extraordinary needs grant that came from the state", answered off-microphone (1:19:10). The minutes record "a motion to approve the ELA program" without an amount. No rule verified for this page requires a dollar figure in such a motion; the point is that a reader of the public record cannot tell what the board committed. The May 3 agenda lists an "Update on Extraordinary Need Grant" for May 17, the meeting for which no minutes have been found.
Sources: Exhibit C (Wit & Wisdom package); April 19 minutes
OBSERVATION The district's documents disagree with each other on the BEDH reading and on a future meeting date
The agenda lists "Second read and adoption of BEDH Method of Public Participation at Board Meetings." The adopted policy's own District Policy History reads "First reading: May 17, 2023" and "Second reading/adopted: September 6, 2023" (policy document). Either an earlier reading was not counted in the policy history, or this agenda mislabelled the item; it was removed tonight in any case (0:03:46). On May 3 the chair listed a first read of BEDH as a future agenda item (see the May 3 page), which agrees with the policy history. The agenda also lists the SAU 6 meeting as 5.13.23; the minutes correct it to 5.11.23, the date the SAU 6 board met. Neither discrepancy changes an outcome; both affect anyone reconstructing the record from documents alone.
Sources: April 19 agenda; Policy BEDH as adopted September 6, 2023
POSITIVE The nonpublic motion stated its exemption on the record and passed on a named roll call, and the minutes name every mover and seconder
RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires the motion to "state on its face the specific exemption" and a roll-call vote (statute). Horsky read the II(c) ground aloud before the vote (0:01:00) and Nester called each member by name (0:01:22); the minutes record the mover, the seconder and each Yes. Throughout, the minutes name the mover and seconder of every motion, as RSA 91-A:2, II has required since January 1, 2019. This sits beside flag 2: the entry into the session was handled well, and the exit is what the record lacks.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b); RSA 91-A:2, II
POSITIVE The chair's subcommittee guidance treats every subcommittee as a public body with posted notice and minutes
Exhibit D, attached to the subcommittee item, states that subcommittees "are meetings open to the public and are subject to New Hampshire's Right to Know Law", that notice must be posted 24 hours ahead on the SAU 6 website, and that minutes must be "available for public inspection on the SAU 6 website within 5 days of the meeting." (Exhibit D). Calendar days are a shorter window than the statute's five business days. The chair also asked each subcommittee to set a regular schedule and accountability to the board (1:28:43). One defect in the document: it cites "RSA 91-A:II", a chapter and paragraph with no section number; the notice rule is RSA 91-A:2, II.
Sources: Exhibit D, Claremont School Board Subcommittees; RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, II
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/15028 SchoolBoard041923.mp4.CSV (588 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/15028 SchoolBoard041923.mp4 (local copy of the recording)Input/Transcripts/15028 SchoolBoard041923.mp4.json (diarized transcript)Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 193 (video-to-document map)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- State, as codified for the meeting date (2022 codification): RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, I and II; RSA 91-A:3, I(b), I(c), II(c) and III; RSA 35:15, I and V; RSA 198:20-b, I and III(b)
- Mentioned for dating only: 2023, 38:1 (RSA 198:20-b threshold raised to $20,000, eff. July 18, 2023); 2023, 188:1 and 189:1 (RSA 91-A:2 and 91-A:3 amended eff. Oct. 3, 2023, after this meeting)