Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Spellings follow the agenda and approved minutes. On this recording the dialogue file and the approved minutes credit several questions to different members; both are given (see flag 4). Unidentified voices stay unidentified.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Chair | Presides. Recalls the $16,000 rate: "we had talked about 16,000 a year ago" and it "was the recommended amount from the superintendent at the time" (0:03:20); puts the amended motion (0:04:12). On the NHSBA resolutions: "Number 17 and 18. But I 100% sure I'm going to be an outlier." (0:29:56). Reports the DMG summit invitation (0:41:58) and the revised exploratory ad hoc report (0:43:20). The dialogue file also gives her the credit-recovery questions at 0:09:46, 0:10:52, 0:11:34, 0:20:55 and 0:23:24, and the friendly amendment at 0:03:39; the minutes credit others (see Hawkins and Miles). |
| Frank Sprague | Vice chair; chair, Finance subcommittee; NHSBA delegate | Moves to accept the tuition agreement (0:02:53): "There's no amount." (0:03:20). Presents the NHSBA resolutions (0:25:51): "for really for the first time, I can't find any of these that I don't agree with with the recommendation of the school Board Association." (0:28:30). Says he is not on the Policy subcommittee (0:35:53). The dialogue file also gives him the competency explanation (0:16:19), "We paid for summer school through a grant, and grants don't pay for food." (0:20:48) and the question on seniors (0:21:31); the minutes credit the first two to Mr. Koski and the third to Michael Petrin. |
| Candace Crawford | Member; chair, Capital Improvements and SRVRTC subcommittees | Questions the summer-school outreach: "If you've got a potential of 136 and only half of them enrolled, I think there's a big opportunity to get more kids." (0:13:19). Asks about resolution 18's 2002 date (0:31:03). Reports a culinary concession at a bike race arranged after the joint meeting (0:36:37) and 70 students signed up for a Mikros demonstration (0:39:22). |
| Arlene Hawkins | Member; Curriculum and Policy subcommittees; chair of the SAU 6 board | Adds to the policy report that members must read policies before meetings (0:35:03); offers to attend the DMG summit (0:42:35). The approved minutes credit her with the friendly amendment on the $16,000 rate and with four credit-recovery questions that the dialogue file labels as the chair's. The dialogue file gives her the Tech Center video suggestion at 0:44:49, which the minutes credit to Bonnie Miles. |
| Bonnie Miles | Member; SRVRTC subcommittee | Answers the roll as Bonnie Myles (0:00:34). No row of the dialogue file is labeled for her. The approved minutes credit her with the breakfast question (0:20:39) and the suggestion to show the Tech Center's student video elsewhere (0:45:02); the diarizer in this era merges her voice with Arlene Hawkins's. |
| Michael Petrin | Member; chair, ad hoc Communications subcommittee | Seconds the tuition motion (So patrons seconding, the chair's recognition, 0:03:03; minutes). Reports for the communications subcommittee: "Frank has done the lion's share of the work" and describes a communications matrix (0:40:45). Agrees to send a draft (0:44:28). |
| Whitney Skillen | Member; chair, Policy subcommittee | "We had a meeting today to prepare some policies to bring to the next meeting" and another set for next Wednesday (0:34:43); three or "Maybe four." policies (0:35:40, 0:35:43). Will attend the DMG summit (0:42:40). |
| Noelle Kronberg | School board clerk | Reads the roll (0:00:34), identified by function; submitted the minutes. |
| Marjorie Erickson | Chair, Unity School Board | Asks where the board stands on the draft "for Claremont to be the Unity Anchor School" (0:02:01); "our mutual lawyer drafted it" (0:02:44); "we had talked about 16,000 for a tuition" (0:03:05). |
| Amelia "Mimi" Rhines | Stevens High School counselor; summer school coordinator | Presents the summer credit-recovery program (0:05:34): 136 students invited for 234 credits (0:08:17), 128 credits recovered and 28 students recovering more than one (0:08:40); ESSER staffing ends (0:09:13); "I'm the only school counselor." (0:13:39). The agenda and minutes name her Amelia Rhines. |
| Michael Koski | Assistant Superintendent | Not recognized by name or heard identifiably on the recording; the chair relays a message from him at 0:00:43. The approved minutes record him explaining competency-based recovery and the grant funding of summer school. |
| Unidentified | Crosstalk | Overlapping offers of a second (0:02:57); a pre-gavel fragment and closing thanks. |
Named but not present: Superintendent Christopher Pratt; Michelle Herrington, the Tech Center's leader (Michelle Harrington; "the director" to Crawford, "the assistant director" in the minutes); a new career counselor introduced only as "Jennifer"; City Councilor Brian Zutter (Brian Souter; the minutes print "Mr. Zutter"); Nancy Merrill, city economic development director; Matt Upton, the NHSBA delegate assembly's moderator; the summer-school teachers, named by first name and not repeated here.
Agenda
Items from CSB Agenda 10.2.24 (1).pdf; agenda wording is quoted from that document. Dispositions from the recording, checked against the approved minutes.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:02 | I. Call to order, pledge | Agenda: "6:30 PM Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance". |
| 0:00:34 | II. Roll call | Read by the clerk; all seven present. |
| 0:00:43 | Consent agenda: agenda; minutes of September 18, 2024 | Agenda: "Consent Agenda (vote required)". Item III.3 removed for the superintendent's absence; minutes accepted as written. "Is there any objection from the board? Seeing no objection, the consent agenda is approved." (0:01:08). No vote taken. |
| 0:01:08 | Citizens' comments | "Seeing no citizens looking to comment. Citizens comments are closed." Minutes: "Citizens Comments-none". |
| 0:01:39 | III.1 Claremont/Unity Anchor School Agreement (Discussion/Vote), Exhibit A | Sprague moved to accept the tuition agreement (0:02:53); Petrin seconded (0:03:03). A friendly amendment added "an amount of $16,000 for the duration of this tuition contract" (0:03:39). Voice vote: "Any opposed? Seeing no opposition passes." (0:04:36). Minutes: "Frank Sprague made a motion to accept the agreement, Michael Petrin seconded"; "Arlene Hawkins made a friendly amendment"; "Voice vote taken, all present voting in favor". See flag 1. |
| 0:04:58 | III.2 SHS Credit Recovery Program (Discussion) | Rhines presents; questions. No vote. See flag 5. |
| Removed | III.3 Affinity LED Lighting Efficiency Upgrade (Discussion) | Removed at the consent agenda because the superintendent was absent (0:00:43). |
| 0:25:40 | III.4 NHSBA Proposed Resolutions (Discussion/Vote), Exhibit B | Decided by consent, no motion: "We can do that by consent. It doesn't need to be a motion." (0:33:31). The delegate will follow the NHSBA board's recommendations; the chair's opposition to resolutions 17 and 18 is noted. Minutes: "The consent of the Board is to go along with Frank Sprague's recommendation". |
| 0:34:17 | III.5 Sub-Committees | Capital Improvement: "Nothing to report." (0:34:24). Finance: nothing since the joint meeting (0:34:30). Policy: met that day (0:34:43); see flag 2. Curriculum: nothing (0:36:28). SRVRTC (0:36:31). Ad hoc Communications (0:40:39). |
| 0:41:58 | IV. Other Business: DMGroup Summit (Exhibit C); Revised Exploratory Ad Hoc Subcommittee Report (Exhibit D) | Two members to attend the February 5 to 7, 2025 summit in New York, cost included in the district's DMG contract (0:41:58); minutes: "Whitney Skillen and Arlene Hawkins have agreed to attend". The revised report is for information; "the content of of the report really didn't change." (0:43:20). |
| 0:44:06 | V. Future dates and agenda items | Next meeting "week after next on Wednesday": policies, and a draft communications matrix (0:44:28). |
| 0:46:26 | VI. Adjournment | "Is there any opposition to adjourning the meeting?" No opposition (0:46:33). Minutes: "Consent adjournment at 7:16pm". |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/16049 SchoolBoard100224.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:43 | Superintendent absent; LED item struck | "I did hear from Mr. Kosky that Mr. Pratt is unable to attend tonight. So we will be eliminating the number three item agenda." | |
| 0:02:01 | Unity's tuition agreement | Erickson: "The draft proposal for Claremont to be the Unity Anchor School?" was presented "within the last year"; "our mutual lawyer drafted it" (0:02:44). | MEDIUM |
| 0:02:53 | Motion and the missing rate | Sprague: "Tell me a motion that we accept this tuition agreement." Erickson: "we had talked about 16,000 for a tuition. I don't since it's been a year. I don't know where we are now with that." (0:03:05). Sprague: "There's no amount." (0:03:20). Chair: "It was agreed. It wasn't that there was no amount. But we had talked about 16,000 a year ago". | MEDIUM |
| 0:03:39 | Friendly amendment and vote | "We'll have a friendly amendment amendment to include an amount of $16,000 for the duration of this tuition contract." Question put: "the tuition amount of 16,000 per year for the duration of the agreement, say I." (0:04:12). "Any opposed? Seeing no opposition passes." The chair: "I've already made the modification in my copy." (0:04:36). | MEDIUM |
| 0:05:34 | Summer school, July 10 to August 8 | Mornings, Monday to Thursday; eight teachers in English, math, science and digital technology. Students with a recovery-eligible grade are automatically invited; students with an F need a teacher's recommendation (0:07:23). | POSITIVE |
| 0:08:17 | Results | "We had 136 students invited to come to summer school to recover a total of 234 credits". "We recovered a total of 128 credits." "we had 28 kids who recovered more than one credit." (0:08:40). Snacks from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation grant (Brand on the transcript). | POSITIVE |
| 0:09:13 | ESSER ends for summer school | "this was the last summer of the summer school staff funding coming from Esser funds. So starting next year will have to be in the Stevens High School budget". At the end Rhines asks the board to fund it (0:25:18); the chair asks whether it will be "built into the budgeting process" (0:25:25). | |
| 0:10:24 | A C-minus ceiling | "the highest grade you can get in summer school is a C minus A 70, which is our minimum passing grade." Honors failures recover without the weighting (0:10:47). Grading follows the school-year rubric (0:11:04). | |
| 0:12:06 | Outreach and attendance | Invitations go by email with at least three reminders (0:12:19). Asked how many came, Rhines gives an average of 66 the first week and "I hundred and 60 were invited" (0:12:52), which conflicts with the 136 she gave earlier. Crawford: "only half of them enrolled" (0:13:19); Rhines: "I'm the only school counselor." (0:13:39). Crawford suggests a notice with report cards (0:14:18). | |
| 0:15:45 | Why attendance falls | Crawford: "So week two that we're only 41. And by week five only eight students". Rhines: "Because once you pass summer school you don't have to come back." (0:15:59). A board voice explains that a student recovers only the failed competency (0:16:19); the dialogue file labels it Sprague, the minutes credit Mr. Koski. | OBS |
| 0:20:39 | No meals at summer school | Asked whether students get breakfast: "We paid for summer school through a grant, and grants don't pay for food." (0:20:48). Snacks are provided (0:21:06). The question is the chair's in the dialogue file and Bonnie Miles's in the minutes. | OBS |
| 0:21:31 | Seniors who miss graduation | A senior can be short one English credit and "It seems like a pretty steep" penalty; Rhines: "And they do not graduate. They did not walk." (0:21:49); the counseling team tracks seniors from the spring (0:22:34). | OBS |
| 0:25:40 | NHSBA resolutions | Sprague, the delegate, on the association's purpose: "the first thing that comes out of my mouth is that they lobby in Concord on our behalf." (0:27:49). Resolution 14 would bar dues for lobbying; NHSBA recommends against it (0:28:30). The chair opposes 17 (gun-free zones) and 18, which "makes sure that the, the, the dollars go only to public schools." (0:30:11). | POSITIVE |
| 0:31:03 | Resolution 18's history | Crawford asks why it cites 2002; Sprague asks if it is the date of Claremont II; Crawford: "Claremont two was 19927. It was that one was 93 and two was 97." (0:31:49). Hawkins reads it as a 2002 resolution amended to say public education (0:32:00). | |
| 0:33:31 | Decided by consent | "We can do that by consent. It doesn't need to be a motion." Sprague: "So you've made my job a lot easier." (0:33:34). | |
| 0:34:43 | Policy subcommittee met that day | Skillen: "We had a meeting today to prepare some policies to bring to the next meeting, and we're going to have another meeting next week on Wednesday". Sprague: "I was listed as a member of that subcommittee, but I am not on that subcommittee." (0:35:53). | MEDIUM |
| 0:36:37 | Tech Center | Crawford met "the new career counselor, Jennifer"; a councilor at the joint meeting asked the culinary program to run concessions at a two-day bike race, "all the money that's generated will go back into the program." (0:37:52); "they had 70 students sign up for this demonstration tomorrow" by Mikros (0:39:22). Chair: "We we thank Michelle Harrington for, like, knocking it out of the park in just a few weeks." (0:40:11). | |
| 0:40:45 | Communications matrix | Petrin: "Frank has done the lion's share of the work doing some research"; a matrix of audience, purpose and frequency. A draft promised for the next meeting (0:44:28). | |
| 0:41:58 | DMG summit in New York | An invitation "for two school board members if they would like to attend a summit next year, February 5th through seventh in New York City", included in "what the the district has paid for for this consultation". Hawkins: "there's a board meeting that Wednesday evening, though." (0:42:55). | |
| 0:43:20 | Revised exploratory ad hoc report | Revised after the September 12 SAU 6 meeting; "the content of of the report really didn't change." For members' information. | |
| 0:44:49 | The Tech Center video | A member suggests running the student video "when you walked into that North Street building" (0:45:02); Crawford: its purpose is to recruit Stevens students (0:45:28). The dialogue file labels the member Hawkins; the minutes, Bonnie Miles. | OBS |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer's aid, not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each one names the rule it rests on, as that rule read on October 2, 2024, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM A tuition contract approved with its rate left blank, filled in by a floor amendment that conflicts with the contract's own escalator
Exhibit A, the draft Unity tuition agreement posted with the agenda, carries a DRAFT watermark and reads at ¶4(a): "Claremont shall charge Unity a base tuition rate of________. The base tuition shall be adjusted each year based upon the percentage increase in the Claremont School District's approved operating budget." Sprague moved acceptance, then said "There's no amount." (0:03:20). The figure came from memory of a meeting about a year earlier (0:03:20), and the amendment fixed it as "16,000 per year for the duration of the agreement" (0:04:12), which on its face displaces the annual adjustment; the motion does not say whether $16,000 is per student or in total. The exhibit has further defects that went unmentioned: its term runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026, so it was approved three months into its own term; ¶4 has no subparagraph (b); the numbering runs 1 to 16, then 27, 21 and 22; and ¶2 sends approval to "the NH Department of Education" while ¶22 says the State Board of Education "pursuant to RSA194:22". RSA 194:22 makes the state board the approving body. The vote itself was properly moved, seconded and recorded. Graded MEDIUM as a control weakness in a multi-year financial commitment, not as a violation of a stated rule.
Sources: Exhibit A, Unity-Claremont Tuition Agreement (draft), ¶¶2, 4(a), 22; RSA 194:22 (tuition contracts; approval by the state board); approved minutes 10.2.24, item III.1
MEDIUM The Policy subcommittee met the day of this meeting and planned another; no notice or minutes of either were found
Skillen: "We had a meeting today to prepare some policies to bring to the next meeting, and we're going to have another meeting next week on Wednesday" (0:34:43). A subcommittee of a school board is a public body under RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d), which ends "or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto", so each meeting needed posted notice and minutes under RSA 91-A:2, II. The board's agenda lists dates only for Finance subcommittee meetings, and no Policy subcommittee notice or minutes for October 2024 were found in this meeting's packet, the October 16 packet, or a Drive title search for the period; a search negative is not proof that none exists. Graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH because the record mitigates it: the subcommittee's work was reported in public session and its policies came to the full board.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (subcommittees are public bodies); RSA 91-A:2, II (2024 codification; notice and minutes)
OBSERVATION The draft minutes were dated within the five-day window but reached the public share two business days later
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting", which made October 9, 2024 the deadline. The draft's Drive file was created on October 11, 2024 in the October 16 packet folder, the seventh business day; its modified date is October 9, so the document existed by the deadline. Drive dates show when the public could read the minutes online, not whether a copy was available at the SAU office, so this is recorded as an observation.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2024 codification; 5 business days); DRAFT CSB meeting minutes 10.2.24 (Drive createdTime 2024-10-11; modifiedTime 2024-10-09)
OBSERVATION The minutes and the transcript disagree on who spoke for about a third of the meeting's questions
The approved minutes credit Arlene Hawkins with the friendly amendment (0:03:39) and with the questions on credit recovery, grading, grades above a C-minus and students who stop attending (0:09:46, 0:10:52, 0:11:34, 0:23:24); the dialogue file labels all of them as the chair's. The minutes credit Bonnie Miles with the breakfast question (0:20:39) and the video suggestion (0:45:02); the dialogue file has no row for Miles. They credit Michael Petrin with the question on seniors (0:21:31), and Mr. Koski with the competency and grant explanations (0:16:19, 0:20:48); the dialogue file labels those Sprague, and Koski is never recognized on the recording. The minutes also say Sprague "has found a matrix" for the communications subcommittee, while the speaker on tape credits Frank in the third person and says he found it himself (0:40:45), and one minutes line stops mid-sentence: "Michael Petrin noted that he is listed as". The project's notes record that on this recording the chair's voice moves between diarizer clusters and that Miles and Hawkins merge, so the minutes may well be right; neither source settles it. Minutes are not required to name questioners, so this is an observation; it matters because the minutes are the official record of who said what.
Sources: approved minutes 10.2.24, items III.1, III.2, III.5; Dialogue/16049 SchoolBoard100224.mp4.CSV
POSITIVE Program results reported with numbers, and a delegate's instructions settled in public with dissent on the record
The credit-recovery report gave invitations, credits sought, credits recovered and weekly attendance (0:08:17, 0:08:40, 0:15:45), and members pressed on the half who did not enroll (0:13:19). Before the NHSBA delegate assembly the board reviewed the proposed resolutions in open session, and the chair's opposition to resolutions 17 and 18 was noted rather than voted down (0:29:47, 0:29:56); the minutes record it. Neither practice is required by statute.
Sources: approved minutes 10.2.24, items III.2 and III.4; Exhibit B, 2024 Proposed Resolutions
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/16049 SchoolBoard100224.mp4.CSV (356 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/16049 SchoolBoard100224.mp4Input/Transcripts/16049 SchoolBoard100224.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 239
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 194:22 (RL 138:21): tuition contracts; approval by the state board
- RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d): public bodies include subcommittees
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2024 codification (source note ends 2023, 188:1): notice; minutes; five business days