Participants
Names and attendance follow the agenda masthead and the approved minutes. Where the dialogue file or a speaker's own introduction renders a name differently, the row says so; one presenter's surname differs between her self-introduction and the minutes and is not printed as fact. Students named on the recording other than the student board members are not listed.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Chair | Presides; opens the $420,000 hearing (0:05:50); argues against postponement from the RSA on "contingency funds" (0:09:35) and the board's deliberative-session statements (0:10:27); dictates a contingent amendment that draws no second (0:30:40); introduces the draft by-laws and a two-year officer term (1:41:06); thanks Gallagher for her service (1:53:09). |
| Frank Sprague | Vice chair; Finance subcommittee chair | Moves the previous question on the postponement (0:24:22); asks about study halls and band in the proposed schedule (0:41:41); moves the eighth-grade trip (1:35:49); supplies the wording fix for policy ACN (1:40:05); Finance subcommittee to meet on ESSER (1:48:56). |
| Bonnie Miles | Member; Capital Improvement subcommittee chair | Asks for clarification of the $420,000 and $700,000 figures (0:11:46); seconds the postponement (0:18:54); arranges the Maple Avenue walk-through with Mr. Holt (1:46:48). Some of her words are merged into a row labeled for the chair (0:22:33). |
| Whitney Skillen | Member; Policy subcommittee chair | Arrived 6:31 p.m. (minutes). Supports the transfer because the capital reserve is "well funded" (0:35:08); asks about credits under the proposed schedule (0:48:22); moves policy ACN and amends her motion (1:39:05, 1:40:29); proposes a workflow for the Disruptive Behaviors policies (1:50:16). The minutes name her as seconder of the transfer motion and of the previous question. |
| Jennifer Gallagher | Member (last meeting); Curriculum subcommittee and ad hoc Disruptive Behaviors committee chair | Moves the $420,000 transfer (0:07:29); opposes postponement because "this board is not going to necessarily be here in two weeks" (0:14:53); folds the Disruptive Behaviors work into the Policy subcommittee (1:49:42); farewell (1:53:49). The dialogue file gives her the Second, okay. on the previous question (0:24:25). |
| Arlene Hawkins | Member | Reviewed the draft by-laws and reports an error: the by-laws' officer term conflicts with board policy's one year (1:42:12, 1:43:30). Abstained on the postponement (minutes). The minutes name her as mover of the contingent amendment that the recording gives to the chair (flag 5). |
| Candace Crawford | Member; SRVRTC Visioning representative | Asks what happens if the money is not moved (0:08:40); moves to postpone the vote two weeks to see whether the proposed budget passes (0:18:39); asks whether students who cannot pay can still go on the trip (1:34:13). The only vote for postponement (minutes). |
| Noelle Kronberg | School board clerk | Reads back the postponement motion (0:24:37), the contingent amendment (0:31:05), the main motion (0:32:50) and the trip motion (1:37:35); submitted the minutes. |
| Nicole Bouchard | Student board member | Reports on Bringing in the Bystander, theater and band, and student concerns about credits and diplomas under the proposed eight-period schedule (0:02:04). |
| Kylee Plummer | Student board member | Reports student concern about electives, the move "from 0.5 to 0.25" credits, and Newport tech-center travel under 45-minute periods (0:03:41). The dialogue file and the minutes spell her name Kylie; the agenda spells it Kylee. |
| Christopher Pratt | Interim Superintendent | Reports that paraprofessional and teacher coverage pay is already set by the collective bargaining agreements (0:36:42); answers questions on the proposed Stevens eight-period schedule (0:38:23 onward); thanks the prevention partners (1:27:49). |
| Mary Henry | Business Administrator | Explains the $420,000 transfer and the roughly $700,000 out-of-district tuition overrun (0:07:41, 0:12:59, 0:13:13); "I'm not an attorney" (0:14:21). |
| Unidentified | Stevens High School principal (unnamed) | Answers from a Stevens staff meeting that the schedule should be set by mid-May (0:39:54). No name is spoken. |
| Scott Blewitt | Prevention Coordinator, Youth CAN (West Central Behavioral Health) | Presents 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data and Youth CAN's Drug Free Communities work (0:54:13). Agenda and minutes spell the name Blewitt; the dialogue file has Blewett. |
| Turning Points Network prevention educator | Presenter | Self-introduced, as transcribed, as "Kerry Rochford" (1:04:21); the approved minutes print "Kari Rothford-Hague". The project has not settled the spelling. Presents dating-violence and sexual-violence survey data and the Healthy Relationships and Shine programs. |
| Taylor Lauck | Youth program specialist, TLC Family Resource Center | Presents TLC's youth events and vaping curriculum (1:12:55). The minutes spell the surname Lauck; the dialogue file has Luke. |
| Frank Romeo | Claremont Middle School administrator | Introduces the eighth-grade trip as "98% of this is grant funded" (1:29:44); says there is "always a way for any Claremont student" to go (1:34:54). Named on tape as Mr. Romeo; his title is not stated on the recording. |
| Mr. Kennedy | Claremont Middle School staff (first name not spoken) | Presents the trip itinerary and costs (1:30:22). |
Agenda
Official agenda items in order, with the time each is taken up on the recording and its disposition. Agenda wording is quoted from the agenda; motions and votes from the approved minutes unless the recording is cited.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:04 | I. Call to order, Pledge | Agenda 6:30 p.m. |
| 0:00:32 | II. Roll call | Read by the chair; minutes list all seven present, Skillen from 6:31 p.m. |
| 0:00:50 | II. Consent agenda: agenda; minutes of February 21, 2024 | No objection (0:01:09). Minutes: "no objections" on each. |
| 0:01:34 | Citizens' comments | None. |
| 0:02:04 | Student board member report | Both students report. |
| 0:05:50 | III. Public hearing: "Transfer of $420,000.00 from the Retained Fund Balance to offset taxation in fiscal year 2025 budget." | No public speakers (0:08:28). Minutes: "Jennifer Gallagher made a motion to transfer $420,000 from the Retained Fund Balance to be used for unanticipated special education costs to be transferred to the 2024 general fund, Whitney Skillen seconded". Postponement amendment by Crawford, seconded by Miles (0:18:39, 0:18:54); previous question moved by Sprague (0:24:22); amendment fails, minutes: "Voting for: Candace Crawford; voting against: Heather Whitney, Frank Sprague, Bonnie Miles, Whitney Skilen, Jennifer Gallagher; abstaining: Arlene Hawkins" (0:26:23). Contingent amendment, no second (0:31:51). Main motion carried by voice vote with no opposition (0:35:51). Flags 1, 4 and 5. |
| 0:36:15 | V. Superintendent report: a) Paraprofessional sub pay | Report only. Minutes: "There was no vote, no decision has been made" on the high school schedule. |
| 0:51:08 | VI.1 West Central Behavioral "Youth Can Presentation" (Exhibit B) | Presentation. |
| 1:29:12 | VI.2 Approval of Claremont Middle School 8th grade class trip to Boston (Exhibit A) (Vote) | Sprague moves (1:35:49; spoken as June 8, corrected to June 5); minutes: "Jennifer Gallagher seconded"; voice vote, "all voting in favor, approved" (1:37:41). |
| 1:38:24 | VI.3 Policy ACN, Nursing Mothers' Accommodations (adoption or first read) (Exhibit C) | Skillen moves adoption as presented (1:39:05), Sprague seconds (1:39:20); amended to add "endeavors to provide" (1:40:29); adopted by voice vote without objection, "No second read is required" (1:41:06). Flags 2, 5 and 8. |
| 1:41:06 | VI.4 Introduction of CSB By-Laws (Exhibit D) | Discussion only; the chair will share the document for comment and bring changes to the next meeting. Flag 6. |
| 1:46:29 | VI.5 School board subcommittees | Reports only. Flag 7. |
| 1:51:51 | VII. Other business; VIII. Future dates | Reminders on questions for the elementary principals (March 20) and the SRVRTC director (April); thanks to Gallagher. |
| 1:54:37 | IX. Adjournment | Motion to adjourn (Unidentified); minutes: "Consent adjournment". |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/15607 SchoolBoard030624.mp4.CSV). Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:02:04 | Student reports: the proposed schedule | Bouchard: concerns "about credits and the 27, 23 and 20 diplomas". Plummer: "There is a huge sigma around credits, switching from 0.5 to 0.25"; 45-minute periods "will take away from culinary, art, science, music, and all band classes"; Newport tech students would lose "three class blocks in the 45 minute schedule." | |
| 0:05:50 | $420,000 hearing opens | Chair: "the possible transfer of $420,000 from a retained fund balance, otherwise known as our contingency fund", moved "back to the 2024 General Fund for the purpose of funding unanticipated special education costs", to "increase the end of year budget surplus, which in extension would reduce the tax rate for the budget of 2025." Gallagher moves: "Like to make a motion to do what you just said, because I don't want to repeat it." | MEDIUM OBSERVATION |
| 0:07:41 | How the transfer works | Henry: about "$700,000" over on out-of-district tuition; moving the money "it's a revenue into the into this year allows you to spend it on those items", so that "420,000 will be added on as a fund balance", "Unassigned fund balance, which then goes off to offset the tax rate." Without the vote: "Could stay in your contingency fund." "You are not overspent in your budget currently. Your bottom line, you still have a surplus". | |
| 0:09:21 | Postpone two weeks? | Crawford asks to defer. Chair: "I did pull up the RSA related to contingency funds. And we just have a very limited. We can't assign these funds to anything. It has to be unanticipated expenses." Without acting now "we will not get the benefit of reducing the tax burden for the 2025." Not acting "would be a breach of faith with the public", given what was said at the deliberative session. Henry: "I'm not an attorney, so I can't really advise you what you should do, but can you wait two weeks and continue? You can." | MEDIUM |
| 0:14:53 | Gallagher's last vote | Gallagher: "this board is not going to necessarily be here in two weeks. So I don't think we should wait two weeks." Crawford: "I would like to wait for two weeks to see if, in fact, that that budget passes." Chair: "We necessarily cannot we can only use it for unintended expenses. So there will be no guarantee next year." | MEDIUM |
| 0:18:39 | Postponement motion and vote | Crawford: "I will make a motion to amend the original motion to put off the vote for two weeks." Miles: "I'll second that." Sprague: "I vote to move the question." The clerk reads the postponement as "The original motion be to transfer for $20,000" (as transcribed). Vote: "All in favor of amending the motion. Say I. I all opposed say nay. Nay nay." then "I abstain". Minutes: one for, five against, Hawkins abstaining. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:27:50 | Retained balance versus reserves | Skillen asks whether this is the capital reserve; chair: "It's just money that we had in the budget that in August, Miss Henry brought forth that it would be prudent for us to put this in a contingency fund if we had unintended expenses." "And nor can we move, monies from a contingency fund into those reserve funds." | MEDIUM |
| 0:29:25 | Contingent amendment | The chair, in a row labeled for her, words an amendment that "the 420,000 from the Claremont School Board contingency Fund be returned to the general fund only if the proposed 2025 budget, as presented by the school board presented, is passed by the voters." "Seeing no second. Yes. It's the amendment fails." The minutes record Arlene Hawkins as the mover. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:32:50 | Main motion and vote | Clerk: "a motion to transfer $420,000 from the retained fund balance to be used for unintentional, unanticipated special education costs to be transferred to the 2024 general fund." Crawford: "it sounds a little funky that we're moving it to cover the 700,000, since we can already cover the 700,000." Gallagher: "we can't use this for and $20,000 for anything else but unanticipated costs." Skillen: "I haven't heard a compelling reason to retain the fund balance and withhold it from the taxpayers". Vote: "All in favor of the motion as written? Say I, I any opposed seeing no opposition. The motion passes." | MEDIUM |
| 0:36:20 | Para and teacher sub pay | Pratt: "according to the the current CBA, educators receive their hourly rate in addition to $10 an hour if they're asked the sub", and covering certified teachers are paid "prorated by their salary", so no further proposal is needed. Chair, on the February 21 deferral: "We moved to have it go into effect on March of this." | |
| 0:38:02 | Stevens eight-period schedule | Pratt: students are registering now; "we're running with the eight period schedule to run it to see what it looks like. So we really have to come back in May before we say 100%." "Right now, I'd like to say we're 95% sure". Reasons: test scores, the dropout rate, gaps between semesters, and "a lot of even the behavior issues were coming up in the second half of the block." Sprague raises study halls and band. On credits: "they're really not losing any credits, actually increasing the time on instruction." The chair asks for a fuller agenda item later. | |
| 0:54:13 | Youth CAN: 2021 survey data | Blewitt: "what we're talking about tonight is data from 2021", with 2023 data due within months; the coalition is "awarded $125,000 each year for five years"; Stevens is below average on binge drinking; December compliance checks found "out of the, 35 alcohol retailers in Claremont, 31 did exactly what they were supposed to". | |
| 1:04:21 | Turning Points | On one survey question, "11% of students in Stevens High School have experienced that in the last year"; on lifetime sexual violence, "20%. That's 1 in 5 of our young people who have been impacted by this." Describes the Healthy Relationships project and elementary and middle-school work. | |
| 1:12:55 | TLC and the Shine curriculum | Lauck describes youth events for grades five through eight and a vaping curriculum; the Shine sexual-health curriculum requires parent and caregiver permission. Pratt thanks the three organizations. | |
| 1:29:44 | Eighth-grade Boston trip | Romeo: "I would say like 99% of this, 98% of this is grant funded." Kennedy: students planned the day in enrichment; a STEM day at "$17 per person" and a Red Sox matinee; "We about 115" students. Crawford asks about families who cannot pay; Romeo: "With always a way for any Claremont student to do just about everything we offer." Chair: "There's no dollar figure that's coming out of the budget" apart from a food-service breakfast. | |
| 1:35:49 | Trip motion and vote | Sprague: "I make a motion to approve the Claremont Middle School eighth grade class trip to Boston and Fenway Park on June 8th, 2024." Clerk: "a motion to approve. Eighth grade class trip to Boston and Fenway Park on June 5th." Voice vote; "Approval granted." Rain plan: free admission to the Museum of Science. | |
| 1:38:24 | Policy ACN adopted on one reading | Skillen: "the exact same policy that we have already adopted for the school board regarding nursing mothers accommodation", changed only for the district. She notes the first sentence "just kind of like, abruptly stops"; Sprague: "the district endeavors to provide a supportive environment." Adopted: "The policy is adopted. No second read is required." The exhibit's reference list cites RSA 275:78-83 and "42 U.S.C. 218d". | MEDIUM OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 1:41:06 | Draft by-laws | Chair: the by-laws "had to be adopted at the first meeting after the election"; "These bylaws were essentially cannibalized from the Manchester Board of Schools committee." Proposed change: chair and vice chair elected "for a term of two years", removable by "a two thirds majority, which would be five out of seven votes." Hawkins: board policy "says one year". Sprague: the document is "an instrument to really make transitions a lot smoother when new people come on." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:46:29 | Capital Improvement: Maple Avenue walk-through | Miles: Mr. Holt is available "Next week. Either Wednesday, Thursday or Friday" at 4:30. Asked how many can go, the chair: "no more than three, actually, because it would be considered", then "Posted on meeting. I guess." Wednesday is chosen; per the minutes Sprague and Crawford join Miles. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:48:56 | Other subcommittees | Finance meets "Tuesday in the morning" on ESSER. Policy: schedule to follow. Gallagher: "Disruptive behaviors committee is is kind of rolling in under policy." Skillen proposes that policy edits come in as downloaded drafts from the public policy site. SREB site visit at the end of March. | |
| 1:51:51 | Other business and farewell | Questions for the elementary principals to Chelsea; the chair and Pratt float ending principals' presentations "in light of the fact that we are now getting comprehensive reports from the principles", to be decided later. Gallagher: "So I will miss all of you." | |
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 March 6, 2024; 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 board was told retained fund balance could be spent only on unanticipated expenses; that limit belongs to a different paragraph of the statute
The agenda and the motion describe the $420,000 as "Retained Fund Balance" (agenda; minutes). From the chair's opening the money is also called "our contingency fund" (0:05:50), and the chair argued against postponing the vote from "the RSA related to contingency funds": "We can't assign these funds to anything. It has to be unanticipated expenses" (0:09:35), "we can only use it for unintended expenses. So there will be no guarantee next year" (0:21:07). Gallagher repeated it before the final vote (0:33:51). RSA 198:4-b has two separate mechanisms. Paragraph I is a contingency fund established "annually by an article separate from the budget" for "unanticipated expenses". Paragraph II is retained year-end unassigned general funds, capped at 5 percent of the net assessment, and it states no purpose limitation; what it requires is that "Prior to expending retained general funds, the school board shall hold a prior public hearing", with newspaper notice at least 7 days ahead. The board did hold the hearing. But the reason given for refusing a two-week delay rested on paragraph I's limit, which does not govern paragraph II money, and the postponement then failed one to five. The board was free to act either way; the defect is the legal premise it was given.
Sources: RSA 198:4-b, I and II(a)–(b) (2023 codification; source note ends 2020, 38:25, eff. Sept. 27, 2020); agenda, item III; approved minutes, item III
MEDIUM Policy ACN was adopted as "Required by Law" citing a state law not yet in force and a federal section that does not exist
The packet's policy ACN (Exhibit C) is headed "Category: Priority (Required by Law)" and lists as its authority "RSA 275:78-83" and "42 U.S.C. 218d", among others. The board adopted it on a single reading (1:41:06). RSA 275:78, the New Hampshire nursing-mothers section, carries the source note "2023, 191:20, eff. July 1, 2025": on March 6, 2024 it had been enacted but was not yet in force. The federal break-time requirement in force then was the PUMP Act, codified at 29 U.S.C. §218d (Pub. L. 117-328, Dec. 29, 2022); title 42 has no section 218d (42 U.S.C. §218 concerns the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health). The substance of the policy is consistent with the federal floor and in one respect exceeds it (flag 8), so the defect is in the citations a reader would use to check the policy, not in what the policy requires. Skillen described it as the same policy already adopted for the SAU board, so the same citations may sit in that policy too.
Sources: RSA 275:78 (source note: 2023, 191:20, eff. July 1, 2025); 29 U.S.C. §218d (PUMP Act); Exhibit C, policy ACN
MEDIUM The draft minutes reached the public share on the seventh business day
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting". Counting from Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the fifth business day was Wednesday, March 13 (the March 12 town election is not a holiday under RSA 288:1). The draft, filed in the March 20 packet, carries a Drive createdTime of March 15, 2024, seconds after the folder itself was created, and a modifiedTime three minutes later the same day; unlike the February 21 draft, nothing in the metadata shows it existed inside the window. This rests on Drive metadata only; a paper copy at the SAU office is not ruled out, which is why this is MEDIUM rather than HIGH.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2023 codification); RSA 288:1 (holidays); 3.6.24 draft minutes CSB meeting (1).pdf
OBSERVATION The newspaper notice the retained-funds hearing required is not in the record examined
RSA 198:4-b, II(a) requires notice of the time, place and subject of the hearing to "be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the relevant municipality at least 7 days before the meeting is held", that is by February 28, 2024. The hearing appears on the agenda, whose packet folder was created February 29. No newspaper notice is in the packet or the minutes, and no one mentions one on the recording. Notices of this kind are not normally filed in the packet, so this is a gap in what could be checked, not evidence that notice was missed.
Sources: RSA 198:4-b, II(a) (2023 codification)
OBSERVATION The minutes and the recording disagree on several movers, seconders and speakers
The minutes meet RSA 91-A:2, II's requirement to name movers and seconders, but several names cannot be matched to the recording. The transfer motion's seconder is an unnamed Second. in the chair's row (0:07:33); the minutes say Skillen. The previous question's seconder is labeled Gallagher in the dialogue file (0:24:25); the minutes say Skillen. The contingent amendment is worded by the chair in a row labeled for her (0:30:27 to 0:30:40); the minutes give it to Hawkins, who has three attributed rows all evening. On policy ACN the minutes say Gallagher raised the incomplete first sentence and seconded the amended motion; on the recording Skillen raises it (1:39:30) and the chair takes the change as a friendly amendment with no second heard (1:40:42). The minutes also record the final vote as "Voice vote taken on the amendment", though by then the amendments had failed and the vote was on the main motion (0:35:51). The minutes are the authoritative record; a reader checking them against the video should expect these differences.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2023 codification); approved minutes, items III and VI.3
OBSERVATION Two accounts of where the draft by-laws came from
The chair told the board the draft "were essentially cannibalized from the Manchester Board of Schools committee" (1:41:43); the approved minutes say "Taken and adapted from the NHSBA by-laws". The draft (Exhibit D, Exhibit D- Claremont School Board Rules and Procedures (1).pdf) carries appendices on the "Powers and Duties of the Board of School Committees", the name Manchester uses for its board, so the recording's account fits the document better, and the March 20, 2024 approved minutes say the district's attorney recommended the Manchester by-laws as the model. The chair also proposed two-year officer terms with removal by five of seven votes, which Hawkins noted conflicts with the board's one-year policy (1:42:51 to 1:43:30). The by-laws were not adopted until June 5, 2024, in a revised form.
Sources: Exhibit D, draft by-laws; approved minutes, item VI.4
OBSERVATION The walk-through was capped at three to avoid a board quorum, but three may be a quorum of the subcommittee
The chair limited the Maple Avenue walk-through to "no more than three" because more "would be considered" a meeting (1:47:46); the minutes read "No more than 3 can attend or it would be considered a quorum". Three of seven is below the board's quorum, so the limit works for the full board. The walk-through, though, was a Capital Improvement subcommittee activity with its chair (Miles), Sprague and Crawford attending, and when the board reread its subcommittee assignments on March 20, 2024, Capital Improvement was Miles, Sprague and Crawford, with Skillen stepping off. A subcommittee is itself a public body, and a quorum of it convened to discuss its business is a meeting. Whether the March 13 walk-through was noticed, and whether it involved discussion rather than a tour, is not in the record examined.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) ("or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto"); RSA 91-A:2, I (2023 codification)
POSITIVE The nursing-mothers policy pays hourly employees for nursing periods, which federal law does not require
Policy ACN, section C, provides that "A nursing mother who is an hourly employee will be paid during nursing periods", and section D requires a private place other than a bathroom in each building. Federal law requires reasonable break time and a non-bathroom space, but 29 U.S.C. §218d(b) says an employer "shall not be required to compensate an employee receiving reasonable break time" unless other law requires it. Paying for those periods goes beyond the federal floor in force on March 6, 2024.
Sources: 29 U.S.C. §218d(a)(1), (b); Exhibit C, policy ACN
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/15607 SchoolBoard030624.mp4.CSV (644 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/15607 SchoolBoard030624.mp4 (local copy of the recording)Input/Transcripts/15607 SchoolBoard030624.mp4.json (diarized transcript)Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 227 (video-to-document map)
Laws and rules cited on this page