Participants
Names follow the agenda masthead, the minutes and the candidates' own introductions. Where the dialogue file and the minutes disagree on who spoke, the row or flag 2 says so.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Chair | Presides throughout. Reads RSA 671:33 and the appointment procedure (0:25:48–0:30:19); nominates Kevin Tyson (0:53:10); leads the free-and-reduced lunch item (0:58:02); proposes recognitions of staff in the superintendent's report (2:01:24). |
| Frank Sprague | Vice chair | Times the candidates; moves to allow one follow-up question per member per candidate (0:30:39); asks Tyson about the Free State Project (0:49:23); seconds Tyson's nomination (0:55:33); links falling application counts to outsourced food service (1:05:29). Votes against Crawford's appointment (minutes). |
| Arlene Hawkins | Member; SAU 6 board chair | Amends the June 21 minutes (0:01:21); asks about the Visioning Committee contract (0:13:18); moves the cetirizine addition (0:24:28); seconds Crawford's nomination (0:53:04); presses on the consultants (1:34:40, 1:57:22); reports on HR director Angela Vivian (1:53:16). |
| Bonnie Miles | Member | Nominates Candace Crawford (0:52:02); asks about special-education manifestation in discipline (1:43:25); offers her experience for the subcommittee (1:45:25). Identified by elimination: no one names her on this recording. |
| Whitney Skillen | Member | Asks for the nurse's view on other allergy medicines (0:22:45); suggests a table at the Second Saturday event (1:04:14); questions the consultant's scope and cost (1:27:59, 1:32:40). The chair calls her Miss Gillan (0:22:45). |
| Jennifer Gallagher | Member (one-year seat) | Seconds the cetirizine motion (minutes); suggests the Back to School Festival (1:04:56); proposes and is asked to chair a disruptive-behavior subcommittee (1:44:21, 1:45:51); relays the complaint about the letters of interest (1:49:39); proposes an opening affirmation (1:59:50). |
| Candace Crawford | Applicant, Ward 2; appointed 4–2 | Reads prepared answers: her service on this board, budget experience, the Tech Center Visioning Committee (0:39:45–0:43:52). After the appointment, speaks from the floor on free-and-reduced numbers (“it's like $8,500 per student”, 1:13:12). To be sworn in later by the moderator (0:30:19). |
| Kevin Tyson | Applicant, Ward 2; nominated, not appointed | Reads prepared answers: requirements-engineering experience, his approach to board teamwork, and student achievement and the structure of the school program as his two issues (0:44:37–0:48:58); answers Sprague and the chair on the Free State Project (“I am not here to tear down the government schools”, 0:51:01). Maintainer of this project; see the footer. |
| David Bailey | Applicant | Hannaford evening manager, parent of two sons in the district, former school bus driver; priorities teacher pay and trades programs (0:32:51–0:37:44). Not nominated. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent's report: listening session, two ESSER-funded buses, driver training (0:03:04, 0:10:21); the communications consultant (1:20:57–1:31:16); supports the subcommittee approach (1:38:54). |
| Mary Henry | Business administrator (started early July 2023) | Free-and-reduced applications and the October 1 count (0:04:27–0:07:50); asks for time to bring a plan (1:09:00); defers the fiscal management plan to October (1:58:22, 1:59:00). |
| Ben Nester | Director of special education | Asks how much grant money is available for outreach (1:27:30); offers to bring court and juvenile-justice contacts to the table (1:42:12); estimates English-learner numbers (1:51:43). |
| Unidentified | Board-table crosstalk | 19 short rows in the dialogue file, mostly single words; the second on the cetirizine motion is one of them, and the minutes name Gallagher. |
| Named, not present | Staff and others referred to | Matt Upton, district counsel (advised on the process); Veronica Januszewski, supervising nurse (Exhibit A); Allison St. Aubin and Eric Zengota (consultants, minutes spellings); Shaun Laplante, CMS athletic director (minutes spelling); Angela Vivian, HR director; state representatives Gary Merchant and Hope Damon; Tracy Pope, moderator; Chelsea Weatherford, who drafts the minutes. |
Agenda
Items and wording from the posted agenda (created on Drive Friday, July 14, 2023); dispositions from the recording and the minutes.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:07 | I. Call to order and pledge | Agenda 6:30 p.m. Called to order by the chair; the minutes give 6:30 p.m. |
| 0:00:48 | II. General business | Roll: the call and the members' answers fall inside one transcript row; the minutes list Whitney, Sprague, Miles, Skillen, Gallagher and Hawkins present. Consent agenda (agenda approval; June 21, 2023 minutes): Hawkins adds her request for a master district calendar to the minutes (0:01:21); with no other request the chair declares the consent agenda approved (0:01:43); no vote was taken. Citizens' comments opened at 0:01:43; no speaker (flag 4). |
| 0:02:46 | III. Superintendent report | a. Listening session on NHDOE standards with Fred Bramante, September 7 (0:03:04, 0:14:39). b. Staff transitions: deferred (minutes). c. Free-and-reduced documentation: Mary Henry (0:04:27). d. CMS fall sports transportation: two ESSER-funded buses and drivers in training (0:10:21); the chair relays the request to reinstate the transportation waiver (0:19:26), set for August 2. Hawkins asks about the Visioning Committee contract; the superintendent says it is signed (0:13:18). |
| 0:21:50 | IV.1 Cetirizine (Zyrtec) on the over-the-counter list | Agenda: “Approval for Cetirizine (Zyrtec) to ‘over the counter’ medication list (vote required)”. Hawkins moves (0:24:28), seconded (minutes: Gallagher); voice vote, “Passes unanimously” (0:25:25). |
| 0:25:25 | IV.2 Board vacancy, appointment to March 2024 | Agenda: “Nomination and appointment of Claremont School Board member to serve until March 2024 per RSA 671:33,II”. The chair reads the statute and the process (0:25:48). Sprague moves one follow-up question per member per candidate, the chair seconds, voice vote passes (0:30:39, 0:31:34). Candidates in order: Bailey (0:32:51), Crawford (0:39:45), Tyson (0:44:37). Nominations: Miles nominates Crawford (0:52:02), Hawkins seconds (0:53:04); Whitney nominates Tyson (0:53:10), Sprague seconds (0:55:33). Hand vote on Crawford 4–2 (0:57:06): yes Hawkins, Miles, Skillen, Gallagher; no Whitney, Sprague (minutes). Crawford appointed. |
| 0:58:02 | IV.3 Free-and-reduced lunch documentation | Discussion only. The chair on relief aid and the Berlin district's application drive (0:59:00, 1:00:38); suggestions for Second Saturday and the Back to School Festival (1:04:14, 1:04:56); Henry asks to return with a plan at the next meeting (1:09:00, 1:18:37). |
| 1:18:46 | IV.4 Claremont School Board Facebook page | Discussion; tabled until Allison St. Aubin can present (1:35:53). See flag 5. |
| 1:36:23 | IV.5 Disruptive Behaviors Retreat | No date set. Subcommittee formed by consensus with Gallagher as chair (1:44:21, 1:45:51). See flag 3. |
| 1:46:10 | IV.6 Self-evaluation retreat | Set for Wednesday, October 11, 2023 (1:47:57), 5 to 8 p.m. (1:48:32), in the Teal room (1:48:39); the minutes say the Teal Lantern at the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center. |
| 1:49:08 | V. Other business | Letters-of-interest complaint (1:49:39, flag 1); website translation label (1:51:04); HR director to report to the SAU 6 board (1:53:16, 1:54:49); meeting the new SAU office staff (1:55:33); consultants (1:57:22). |
| 1:57:40 | VI. Future dates and agenda items | Handbooks next, then staff nominations; fiscal management plan moved to October (1:58:22, 1:59:00); an opening affirmation (1:59:50) and staff recognitions (2:00:47). The minutes add the CMS transportation waiver vote and a budget update. |
| 2:01:51 | IX. Adjournment | By consent, without a vote; no time in the minutes. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/15205 SchoolBoard071923.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:48 | Roll and consent agenda | Roll answered in one row (Gallagher. Present.). Hawkins asks that the June 21 minutes record her request for “a master district calendar for the board and for the public” (0:01:21). Consent agenda declared approved (0:01:43). | |
| 0:01:43 | Citizens' comments | Opened; Hawkins and the chair note that the audience cannot hear (0:02:08, 0:02:13); no speaker. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:03:04 | Listening session | Fred Bramante of NHDOE to visit on September 7 with an admin session and a public session at Stevens. The chair describes the state's ten-year standards review (0:15:17); Sprague, who says he implemented competency-based grading at Stevens, objects to calling it more complicated (0:18:31). | |
| 0:04:27 | Free-and-reduced applications | Henry reports a meeting with state representatives on bundling assistance programs: “October 1st is our number” (0:07:50). Only new applications count toward October 1, not carried-over eligibility (0:09:04). | |
| 0:10:21 | Buses and drivers | “we have two new busses coming our way to federal money” (ESSER); two drivers in training at no cost to them (0:12:30). | |
| 0:13:18 | Visioning Committee contract | Hawkins asks the status of the consultant contract and payment; the superintendent says it is signed and data is being gathered in a shared spreadsheet. | |
| 0:19:26 | CMS transportation waiver | Athletic director Shaun Laplante (minutes spelling) asks to reinstate the waiver; “95% of the folks got those waivers into me” in the spring. Put on the August 2 agenda (0:21:40). | |
| 0:21:50 | Cetirizine motion | Skillen asks for the nurse's view on other allergy medicines (0:23:17); Hawkins moves the nurse's request (0:24:28); passes unanimously (0:25:25). | |
| 0:25:25 | Vacancy: statute and process | The chair reads the statute and the counsel-reviewed process; the board “wanted a process that would not discourage further community members from coming forward” (0:27:24); “we cannot pick a name randomly” and a candidate “must win by majority” (0:27:57, 0:28:19); hand vote in alphabetical order, first majority wins (0:29:33). | POSITIVE |
| 0:30:39 | Follow-up questions | Sprague's motion for one follow-up question per member per candidate passes by voice vote (0:31:34). | |
| 0:32:51 | David Bailey | Five years in Claremont, two sons in the district, a former school bus driver; priorities teacher pay (“I really think we should concentrate on teacher contracts in the pay”, 0:35:43) and trades programs. The chair asks about evening availability (0:38:16). | |
| 0:39:45 | Candace Crawford | Prior board service, budget experience (“I believe Steve Horsley provided that skill to the board”, 0:42:00, [Horsky]), and the Tech Center Visioning Committee as her priority (0:42:56). No questions. | |
| 0:44:37 | Kevin Tyson | Reads his answers in a different order: requirements engineering as his skill (0:44:41); teamwork, “I do not abandon the team when the team goes wrong” (0:47:49); student achievement and the structure of the program as his issues (0:48:13). Refers to his interviews with Sprague and Hawkins (0:46:39, 0:47:02). | |
| 0:49:23 | Questions to Tyson | Sprague asks what Free State Project membership means to him (0:49:23); Tyson describes a local community with a monthly dinner (0:49:57). The chair asks whether the movement's ideas about public education conflict with the role (0:50:31); Tyson: “what I want to do is transform education in Claremont” (0:51:01). | |
| 0:52:02 | Nominations | Miles nominates Crawford: “She's very involved in the community itself” (0:52:07); Hawkins seconds. Whitney nominates Tyson, citing his conduct as an interviewer of candidates and “viewpoint diversity” (0:53:40–0:55:24); Sprague seconds (0:55:33). Miles thanks all three candidates (0:56:06). | |
| 0:57:06 | Hand vote | “that is our 4 to 2 vote”; Crawford appointed. The chair invites the other candidates to stay. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:58:02 | Free-and-reduced strategy | The chair: low enrollment “has a direct negative impact on the resources that are available to our district”; Berlin's superintendent used principals' phone calls and $25 gift cards (1:00:38, 1:01:08). Sprague: “a heck of a coincidence in my mind” that application counts fell after lunch service was subcontracted (1:07:49). Henry: “we're not going to send out forms because no one's going to return them” yet, and asks for time to plan (1:09:10). Hawkins on home visits and an English-only Translation label (1:10:41, 1:11:36). | |
| 1:12:33 | Crawford from the floor | Now appointed, Crawford relays state representative Gary Merchant's view that the new budget weights free-and-reduced counts and suggests short-term data-entry help (1:13:44). Hawkins asks whether the data manager can shed PowerSchool; the superintendent says it is moving back to the buildings (1:15:34). | |
| 1:18:46 | Facebook page and consultant | The chair reopens the tabled Facebook question. The superintendent describes Allison St. Aubin's audit, ESSER outreach money and Eric Zengota's freelance work (1:21:18, 1:22:19, 1:23:45); members ask cost and scope (1:27:59, 1:29:26); tabled (1:35:53). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:36:23 | Disruptive behaviors | The chair recalls the retreat commitment (1:36:46); outside participants would include the police chief and county attorney (1:38:04). Nester offers court contacts (1:42:12); Miles raises special-education manifestation (1:43:25). Gallagher proposes a subcommittee and is asked to chair it (1:44:21, 1:45:51). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:46:10 | Self-evaluation retreat | October 11, 5 to 8 p.m.; the chair says the SAU 6 chair could facilitate (1:49:08). | |
| 1:49:39 | Letters of interest | Gallagher's complaint; the chair says the letters were attached the Wednesday before (1:49:56); Hawkins found only the names (1:51:04). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:53:16 | HR report | Hawkins: vacancies down “from 40 down to 28”; the HR director to report to the SAU 6 board (1:54:49). | |
| 1:57:40 | Future items | Fiscal management plan deferred; Henry cites audit work (1:58:22). Gallagher proposes an affirmation; the chair asks the public to send staff recognitions (2:01:24). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:01:51 | Adjournment | By consent. | |
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 July 19, 2023, or says that no rule is relied on; 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 or MEDIUM flag.
OBSERVATION The three letters of interest reached the public packet folder the morning after the appointment vote
Late in the meeting Jennifer Gallagher reported a complaint that only the candidates' names were public, not their letters (“I received a complaint regarding our process of appointment”, 1:49:39). The chair answered that “the letter of intent was attached to the school board agenda on the Wednesday before this Wednesday” (1:49:56) and then that if it was not public “it was absolutely an oversight” (1:50:49); Arlene Hawkins said she had found “the listing of just the three names” (1:51:04). Drive metadata supports the complaint. In the 16. CSB 7.19.23 folder, Exhibits A, E, F and G were created on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, and the agenda on Friday, July 14; the three letters (Exhibits B, C and D) were created on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at about 11:11 a.m. Eastern time, roughly 15 hours after the vote. Metadata cannot exclude an earlier copy that was later removed, but the superintendent's own explanation at the next meeting points the same way: the letters were not attached “because we didn't get those redacted in time” (show 15228; see the August 2, 2023 page; the August 2 minutes record “an issue redacting the personal information on each letter of intent prior to the meeting”). No statute requires a board to post its packet, and the letters were public records open to inspection on request under RSA 91-A:4, I, so this is an observation rather than a rule-based finding. Its weight is practical: the public heard each candidate's five-minute statement but could not read the letters, which the chair cited in nominating Tyson (0:54:10, 0:54:43). Disclosure: one of the three letters is Kevin Tyson's, the maintainer of this project.
Sources: RSA 91-A:4, I (public records open to inspection); Drive metadata for the folder's files (appendix); the August 2, 2023 minutes.
OBSERVATION The approved minutes describe the appointment vote and two other items differently from the recording
On the recording the chair calls a single hand vote, on Candace Crawford, as the procedure she had read out provided (“The first nominee to win the majority vote will fill the vacant seat”, 0:29:33); she counts “that is our 4 to 2 vote” after hands for and Against. Against. (0:57:06). No vote on the second nominee was taken. The minutes name the four members voting to appoint Crawford (Hawkins, Miles, Skillen, Gallagher) and then record “Heather Whitney and Frank Sprague voting for Kevin Tyson” (minutes). The tally and the outcome are right; the description of the two dissents is not what happened on tape, where they voted against Crawford. Two smaller differences: the minutes put Frank Sprague on the new disruptive-behavior subcommittee, while on the recording it is the voice the dialogue file labels Bonnie Miles who offers her experience (“I've had extensive experience similar to Ben's”, 1:45:25) and Sprague is not heard volunteering; and the minutes give the “Translation” website point and the proposal to meet the new SAU office staff to Bonnie Miles, where the dialogue file has Arlene Hawkins raising both (1:51:04, 1:56:18). The dialogue file's labels are machine diarization corrected by hand, so the minutes may be right on the last two; the first is a matter of what vote was called. The board approved these minutes without change on August 2, 2023.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes must record final decisions and who moved and seconded); approved minutes 10. CSB meeting minutes 7.19.23.docx.pdf.
OBSERVATION A new disruptive-behavior subcommittee was formed by consensus, with its membership left unclear
Gallagher proposed “a disruptive behavior subcommittee meet with Ben and then the court players and then report back to the board” (1:44:21); the chair asked her to chair it (1:45:51) and asked Chelsea to post it on the web page. No motion or vote was taken, and the record does not settle the members (see flag 2). Under RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) a public body includes “any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof” (statute), so once the subcommittee meets it carries the notice and minutes duties of RSA 91-A:2, II. On August 2 it had not yet met (August 2, 2023 page). This is noted so its later meetings can be checked against those duties.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, II.
OBSERVATION Citizens' comments opened while the room could not hear the board, and closed without a speaker
The chair opened citizens' comments at 0:01:43. In the next half minute Hawkins said “I wonder if they can hear the people” (0:02:08) and the chair asked “Can you hear those folks in the audience?” (0:02:13); the transcript then reads No, not at all before a sound adjustment. The chair moved to the superintendent's report at 0:02:46 without a public speaker. RSA 189:74 requires a board to “provide the opportunity for the public to comment” (statute) and sets a period of no less than 30 minutes; whether that is a floor on the opportunity or on elapsed time is not settled by the text, and nobody on the recording asked to speak and was refused. No rule-based finding is made.
Sources: RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022).
OBSERVATION An ESSER-funded communications consultant was engaged for a website audit before the board had heard of her
The superintendent said the district had met with Allison St. Aubin (minutes spelling) about contract work and that “This is all of using Esser money that is already written for grants for outreach” (1:22:19); asked how much was in the grant he said “I believe about 10,000” (1:27:35). Her written audit was in the members' hands that night, and he described freelance writer Eric Zengota (minutes spelling) as paid on a contract at “an hourly rate and he invoices” (1:23:45). Members asked what Zengota had been doing (“I don't know if anybody else fully understands what he's been doing with this role”, 1:34:40) and whether there were “any other consultants” (1:57:22). The board tabled the item until it could hear from St. Aubin (1:35:53). The record does not show the procurement method, the contract or the ESSER budget line for either engagement; those are the documents that would settle whether board approval or federal procurement documentation was required. No rule is cited because none was verified against those facts.
Sources: the recording; approved minutes item IV.4. No statute or regulation is relied on.
OBSERVATION The fiscal management plan under policy DA slipped from July to October while the business office worked on audits
The chair said the business administrator's presentation of a financial management plan was, on the board's calendar, “supposed to happen in July” (1:57:40). Mary Henry, two weeks into the job, said “I've been really focused on getting audits done” (1:58:22) and offered “October I'll say October” (1:59:00). The agenda lists the item as “Presentation of Fiscal Management Plan per Policy DA” (agenda). Policy DA's text was not in the packet and was not read for this page, so no deadline in it is asserted. The remark about audits is the business administrator's characterization; which audits were outstanding is not stated on this recording.
Sources: the recording; the agenda's Future Agenda Items. Policy DA not reviewed.
POSITIVE The vacancy was filled in public, on published questions, by a named hand vote
The chair read the governing statute into the record (0:25:48), whose ¶II reads “The school board shall fill vacancies occurring on the school board” and whose ¶II(a) provides that appointees “shall serve until the next district election” (statute); she then stated the term as “until the March 2024 election” (0:29:33), which matches. She summarized advice from district counsel Matt Upton on what the board could not do, among them “We cannot rank choice vote” (0:27:57). The three written questions (Exhibit F) and the process memo (Exhibit E) were posted to the public folder on July 12, a week ahead. Each candidate spoke in public for five minutes and took follow-up questions under a motion Sprague moved and the chair seconded (0:30:39, 0:31:34). Nominations were made with stated reasons and seconds, and the vote was by show of hands; the minutes name the mover and seconder of each motion and nomination and the four members voting yes, as RSA 91-A:2, II requires for motions. RSA 671:33 itself requires none of the published questions, the candidate presentations or the named vote. The process departed from the July 11 memo, which called for voice votes on nominations and appointment, but the chair announced the changes before the item began and invited motions to modify them (0:28:19).
Sources: RSA 671:33, II and II(a) (source note ends 2021, 42:1 and 91:318; in force on July 19, 2023); RSA 91-A:2, II; Exhibits E and F.
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: Claremont School Board Meeting 7/19/23 (Claremont Community Television (CCTV) / Claremont Community Media Center (CCMC); title as MAP.md records it)
- Drive packet folder 16. CSB 7.19.23 (created June 29, 2023), 11 documents:
CSB Agenda 7.19.23.docx (3).pdf (created July 14, 2023)Exhibit A- Addition to Med List Claremont School Board Agenda 7.19.23 (1).pdf (created July 12, 2023)Exhibit B- C. Crawford letter of interest- school board position (1).pdf (created July 20, 2023, after the meeting; flag 1)Exhibit C- D. Bailey Letter of Interest- School board position.pdf (created July 20, 2023)Exhibit D-Letter of interest School board seat- K. Tyson.pdf (created July 20, 2023)Exhibit E- New Board Member Appointment Process 7.11.23.pdf (created July 12, 2023)Exhibit F-School Board Candidate Question for 7.19.23.pdf (created July 12, 2023)Exhibit G- FRL Trend 2012-2023 Comparison.pdf (created July 12, 2023)Exhibit H- fy2024-adequacy-grants-explained-november-15-2022.pdf (NHDOE explainer)Exhibit I- estimate-fy-24-adequacy-aid-by-muni-11.15.22.pdf (NHDOE estimate)draft Claremont School Board meeting minutes 6.21.23.pdf (approved tonight, with Hawkins's addition)
- Minutes:
10. CSB meeting minutes 7.19.23.docx.pdf (2023 Meeting Minutes share); draft draft CSB meeting minutes 7.19.23.docx (1).pdf in packet folder 17. CSB 8.2.23.
- Related pages: Claremont School Board, August 2, 2023 (the superintendent's explanation of the letters); Claremont School Board, March 1, 2023 (the CCTV candidate interviews)
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/15205 SchoolBoard071923.mp4.CSV (755 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/15205 SchoolBoard071923.mp4 (local copy of the recording)Input/Transcripts/15205 SchoolBoard071923.mp4.json (diarized transcript)Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 199 (video-to-document map)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- State: RSA 671:33, II and II(a); RSA 91-A:2, II; RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:4, I; RSA 189:74. The sentences relied on were in force on July 19, 2023; RSA 91-A:2 was later amended (2023, 188:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023; 2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025), and the mover-and-seconder sentence dates from 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019.