Participants
Everyone in the record. Attendance and spellings follow the approved minutes; the dialogue CSV's renderings are noted where they differ. One of 739 CSV rows is Unidentified and 2 Multiple. The CSV often merges the presiding officer's words into rows labelled for Frank Sprague during the trust motions.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair; presided | Called the meeting to order, ran the agenda; asked whether the district can opt out of the YRBS; held the ad hoc committee proposal for a future action item. 102 CSV rows. |
| Heather Whitney | Chair | Absent (minutes). Her written questions to the student services director are in Exhibit C. |
| Frank Sprague | Member; Finance subcommittee chair | Moved all five trust withdrawals; questioned the out-of-district process, private-school obligations and unposted related-service jobs; read a statement disputing graduation as the goal of special education; moved several policies. Abstained on the assistant principal (minutes). |
| Arlene Hawkins | Member; Policy subcommittee chair | Amended the agenda; presented ten policy items; moved the nonpublic session (1:45:38); asked about speech and language and tier-two interventions; reported curriculum professional development. |
| Candace Crawford | Member; SRVRTC subcommittee chair | Spoke in citizens' comments about the Disnard art show; explained the withdrawals as reimbursement; opened the special education Q&A; moved the assistant principal ratification; announced the May 8 school-funding event. |
| William "Bill" Madden | Member | Asked whether the withdrawals had been through the finance committee and whether the bus purchase was authorized; asked what a "discriminatory concept" is; volunteered for the proposed ad hoc committee. |
| Loren Howard | Member | Seconded most trust withdrawals and the nonpublic motion; asked whether a committee member may second; reported contact with NH Listens about a public forum; spoke for keeping the YRBS with an opt-out. |
| Lilly Clark | Student board member | Student report (0:04:41): Puerto Rico trip, spring sports, Music in the Parks, prom. The CSV spells it Lily; the agenda and minutes use Lilly. |
| Miles Sheehan | Student board member | Not present; the chair greets Clark as "by yourself". |
| Noelle Kronberg | Board clerk | Called the roll and the nonpublic roll calls; flagged the incomplete nonpublic motion at 1:45:48. |
| Christopher Pratt | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Special education discussion; named the assistant principal candidate; answered on the YRBS opt-out. |
| Mary Henry | Business administrator | Presented the five trust withdrawals (0:28:33); answered on contracted services. |
| Michael McCosker | Director of Student Services | Presented Exhibit C by questions and answers (0:40:43–1:25:04). The CSV labels him "Mike McCosker"; the chair's "Mr. Costco" is the same person. |
| Jill Chastenay | SHS teacher, Youth & Government advisor | Presented the delegation (0:12:34). |
| Aubree Herzog, Noel Beauchaine, Carter Ryan | Students, Youth & Government delegation | Spoke about the program (names as printed in the agenda and minutes; the CSV renders "Aubrey" and "Noelle"). |
| Unidentified | Board member | The Abstain. at 1:47:44; the minutes record Sprague abstaining. |
Named but not present: Debra Beaupre, ratified as SHS assistant principal (minutes spelling; Pratt says "Deborah Beaupré"); Mrs. Lewis, Disnard principal; Steve (maintenance, scheduling the capital meeting); Miss Porter (offered to present on the YRBS); the transcript's "Andrew Belinsky", described as lead lawyer in the Claremont school-funding lawsuit (spelling not confirmed).
Agenda
Official agenda (CSB Agenda 5.7.25) with dispositions from the recording and the approved minutes.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:01 | I. Call to order, Pledge | Petrin presiding. |
| 0:00:30 | II. Roll call; consent agenda (agenda, 4.16.25 minutes) | Amendments at 0:00:43: item III.3 (FY2026 General Assurances) moved to the next meeting; GBCD struck from second read as "revised at our last meeting"; GBEB struck leaving GBEBB; the policy withdrawals (JICIB, JICKA) removed. Approved by objection at 0:02:02 ("Any objections ... Seeing none"), no motion or vote. |
| 0:02:02 | II.b Citizens' comments | Crawford, a board member, spoke "as a citizen"; Hawkins added remarks. No member of the public spoke. |
| 0:04:28 | II.c Student board member report | Lilly Clark. |
| 0:12:21 | III.1 SHS Youth & Government delegation (Exhibit A) | Presentation; no action. |
| 0:28:25 | III.2 Request for withdrawal from trust funds | Five motions, each moved by Sprague and seconded by Howard (minutes), voice votes, none opposed (0:37:37–0:40:15): $283,860.00 school bus capital reserve; $425,000.00 special education expendable trust; $1,350.41 capital improvements and school building repairs; $28,788.01 Claremont School District capital reserve; $150,000.00 building repair and renovation capital reserve "for FY24 roof expenditures". Total $888,998.42. |
| Deferred | III.3 FY2026 General Assurances (Exhibit B) | Removed from this agenda to the next meeting. |
| 0:40:33 | III.4 Director of Student Services presentation (Exhibit C) | Discussion only, by question and answer. |
| 1:25:07 | III.5 Subcommittee reports and policies | First reads: GBEB, read and then adopted on an amended motion at 1:42:26; GBEAB adopted (1:29:19); ACF adopted (1:30:31). Revisions accepted: EEAEA (1:31:54), EHB (1:33:11), JLF (1:34:36), GBEBB with "shall not socialize" (1:36:13), IJOC (1:38:05), JLIF with a floor amendment adding school-sponsored events (1:41:19). All voice votes, none opposed. |
| 1:45:32 | III.6 Nonpublic session, "91-A:3 (c)" (agenda) | Hawkins moves "under RSA 91-A colon three" with no paragraph or letter; Howard seconds; roll call, all yes. Minutes: in 8:15, out 8:26 p.m.; nonpublic minutes record "personnel recommendation & discussion and other personnel matters" and "minutes not sealed". |
| 1:46:44 | III.7 Ratification of assistant principal candidate | Crawford moves, Hawkins seconds; carried with one abstention (Sprague, per minutes). |
| 1:47:55 | IV. Other business: ad hoc communications committee; YRBS concerns (Exhibit D) | Discussion only; both to a future agenda. |
| 1:56:24 | V–VI. Future dates; adjournment | Sprague moves, Howard seconds; carried; 8:36 p.m. per minutes. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/16530 School Board 050725.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:43 | Agenda changes | Petrin: "I need to take item number three off. It's going to move to our next meeting." Hawkins: GBCD "was revised at our last meeting"; the policy withdrawals are removed. Adopted by objection. | OBS |
| 0:02:33 | Citizens' comments by a member | Crawford: "As a citizen, may I speak?" She praises the Disnard art show; Hawkins adds that three board members attended. | |
| 0:04:41 | Student report | Puerto Rico trip; the junior class raised "almost $15,000" for prom. Madden: "The students and the families of the students paid for the trip to Puerto Rico. It wasn't the taxpayers." | |
| 0:12:59 | Youth & Government | Chastenay: "We had seven students go down to Concord this year"; bills on school funding, minimum wage and CPR training; none reached the floor this year. The student governor reports passing nine bills and attending national conferences "completely free because of the YMCA." | |
| 0:28:33 | Why the trust withdrawals | Henry: the district is in deficit from out-of-district placements and contracted services. The $150,000 is "for fiscal year 24, expenses that we have already spent and did not recoup in that year. We've talked with our attorney and we've talked with our auditors, and this is an acceptable practice". Total "$888,998.42", leaving "$91,796.69"; "we need to get them back into our general fund. So that we can pay our bills." | OBS |
| 0:31:49 | Madden's questions | Madden: "I'm not sure what we're doing here." Henry: "the board has the right to withdraw money from their trust funds. That's how they're written." The buses were ordered "over a year ago"; "All of this is already expended"; the $425,000 offsets "that $1.4 million that we are short right now." Crawford: "we're reimbursing ourselves from our savings account, if you will, to our operating expenses." | OBS |
| 0:36:45 | Five votes | Each motion is read from the business administrator's May 6 memo and carried without opposition; the transcript renders the $425,000 motion as "withdraw. And 25,000" at 0:37:37. Sprague: "we will be making every effort as we move forward to replenish these accounts". | OBS |
| 0:40:43 | Special education: identification | McCosker has "20 pages of notes" answering board questions; districts must evaluate any suspected disability "ages two and a half through 22", including Claremont residents in private, charter or home settings; an IEP team always includes "a school psychologist" and the parent; "We have 60 days to have it done." | POS |
| 0:49:54 | Pushing back on services | McCosker: "I've been pushing back a lot on teams", above all on busing: "it's not a convenience thing." Pratt: IEPs are being checked to make sure "we're not over servicing". | |
| 0:56:30 | Out-of-district placement process | McCosker: "The process was kind of a mess"; the written procedure in Exhibit C was taken from Henniker because "we didn't have a clear policy that I can find anywhere." Sprague notes the form refers to the wrong SAU. Sprague: "It's our fault as the board for a lack of oversight. I mean, it's pretty clear that's what the auditors told us." | OBS |
| 1:04:55 | Private-school students | McCosker: for "Any student attending a private school within your jurisdiction", the district must carry out referrals; services come through the IDEA grant's equitable-services portion and are not IEP services. | |
| 1:06:20 | Contracted related services | Sprague finds no related-service jobs posted. Henry: three hires for July 1 will replace contracted services. McCosker: a contracted speech pathologist joining the staff cost "one one and a half to two times" her salary through her company. | |
| 1:15:05 | ESSER and services | Pratt: "Everyone was happy to have the s of money. But guess what? Those of us who are still here afterwards, it's going to be a curse too." | |
| 1:16:14 | Sprague's statement | "I'm going to disagree very strongly with you on what what the goal should be for special ed students." He wants "longitudinal and achievement behavioral data" and asks whether out-of-district placement "is this therapeutic or is it containment?" Pratt: "we don't want to use poverty and excuse, but it is a reality." | |
| 1:25:07 | Capital and finance subcommittees | Petrin plans quarterly Capital Improvement meetings. Sprague: a Finance purpose statement is drafted; the subcommittee meets "Tomorrow morning at 8:00". | |
| 1:26:39 | New policies on first read | GBEB (staff conduct): "So this is a new policy." and "So this is a first read tonight."; GBEAB: "it's a first read, but if you want to go for an adoption"; ACF: "It could be first read, adopted, whatever the preference of the board." GBEAB and ACF adopted that night; GBEB adopted later on an amended motion. | OBS |
| 1:34:47 | Can a committee member second? | Howard: "Am I allowed to vote or like second these motions even though I'm on the committee?" The chair moves to the vote without an answer. | |
| 1:35:07 | GBEBB social media | The policy committee hardened the new item 13 that afternoon: staff "shall not socialize with students outside of school on social networking websites"; adopted. | |
| 1:36:51 | IJOC volunteers | Madden: "So what is a discriminatory concept? What is that?" Hawkins: "I don't know, but it's in the Fair Labor Standards Act. I really can't answer that question, I don't know." Adopted. | OBS |
| 1:38:54 | JLIF amended on the floor | The off-premises language agreed at the SAU 6 meeting is missing from the draft; Pratt: "It's not our property to control." Hawkins reads in "any school sponsored event"; adopted as modified. | |
| 1:43:06 | Curriculum | Summer professional development in math pedagogy, three days of Responsive Classroom (required for new hires), and a Fitchburg State graduate course paid "under title two funding". | |
| 1:45:38 | Nonpublic motion | Hawkins: "I move that we move into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A colon three." Clerk: "The rest of it? No." Petrin: "You have a second." Roll call follows. Recording resumes at 1:46:21. | HIGH MED |
| 1:46:44 | Assistant principal | Petrin first calls it "Assistant superintendent", then "the principal at Stevens"; the clerk corrects. Crawford: "I'll make a motion to approve the recommended candidate." Carried; one Abstain. | HIGH |
| 1:48:17 | Public forum idea | Howard has contacted NH Listens about a moderated forum. Petrin: "we can't do that now because we're outside of the discussion and action items." | POS |
| 1:50:57 | YRBS without an opt-out | Petrin: "There was no opt out option for that." Pratt: "inadvertently, the opt out did not get sent out"; "the law says we need to the requirements say we have to send it out." He posted the whole survey after "the last board meeting with this came up". Hawkins: "the mistake in not allowing or sending out the opt out." | HIGH |
| 1:55:38 | Announcement; adjournment | Crawford announces a free school-funding event on May 8. Adjourned on Sprague's motion, Howard seconding. | |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer's aid. They are not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each names the rule it rests on, checked as it read on May 7, 2025, or is labelled an observation where no verified rule applies.
HIGH The motion to enter nonpublic session stated no exemption, and the ground later recorded does not fit a hiring
RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires the motion to "state on its face the specific exemption under paragraph II". On tape the motion is "under RSA 91-A colon three" (1:45:38); the clerk asks The rest of it? and is told No., and the vote proceeds (1:45:48). The agenda named 91-A:3 (c); the approved minutes write RSA 91-A:3(c), omitting paragraph II; the nonpublic form ticks II(c). The matter, per the nonpublic minutes, was "presentation of personnel recommendation & discussion and other personnel matters", followed in public by the vote on an assistant principal. Hiring is RSA 91-A:3, II(b), and discipline or compensation of an employee is II(a); II(c) protects the reputation of a person other than a member of the public body. Mitigation: the agenda gave notice of a nonpublic session under (c), a roll-call vote was taken, the session lasted eleven minutes, and the hiring decision was made in public. The nonpublic form also prints (c) as "other than a member of this board"; the statute reads "other than a member of the public body itself".
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a)–(c) (motion must state the specific exemption; roll call; grounds); CSB Agenda 5.7.25; approved and nonpublic minutes of 5.7.25.
HIGH The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was given at the high school without the parent opt-out notice, as the superintendent acknowledged
Pratt told the board the opt-out "did not get sent out" and that "the requirements say we have to send it out" (1:52:18); the minutes record "the opt out option was unintentionally left out". Two rules bear on it. RSA 186:11, IX-d, as it read in May 2025 (2024 codification), requires every district's survey policy to notify parents of a non-academic survey and its purpose, to "allow a parent or legal guardian to opt-out of the youth risk behavior survey", and to make such surveys available for parents' review at least 10 days before distribution. The federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment requires a district to notify parents directly of the dates of any survey containing items on protected topics such as sex behavior, illegal behavior or mental health, which the YRBS covers. Mitigation stated on tape: students were told verbally it was optional, the full survey was posted for parents afterward, and the superintendent said it will not recur. The 2025 amendments to IX-d (2025, 22:1 and 64:1) took effect after this meeting and are not applied.
Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-d, 2024 codification (source note 2024, 207:1; 235:1, 2) (notice, YRBS opt-out, 10-day review); 20 U.S.C. §1232h(b) and (c)(2)(B)–(C) (protected survey topics; direct parent notification); approved minutes 5.7.25, item IV.2.
MEDIUM Unsealed nonpublic minutes first reached the public share three months later
The nonpublic minutes record "minutes not sealed". Under RSA 91-A:3, III, minutes and decisions of a nonpublic session "shall be publicly disclosed within 72 hours of the meeting" unless sealed by a two-thirds recorded vote. The only public copy found sits in the district's Unsealed Minutes share, where Drive dates its creation to August 15, 2025, 100 days after the meeting, with a later modification in January 2026. A copy may have been available on request sooner; nothing in the record shows that. Graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH because the minutes exist, were never sealed, and the decision they concern was taken in public the same night.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III (disclosure within 72 hours unless sealed); Drive metadata for file 1Iz9wUQ0w84pNiGIzCLTCmMRAwzXWtdUX, read 2026-10-03.
OBSERVATION $888,998.42 drawn from five trust and reserve funds to pay bills already incurred, leaving $91,796.69
The business administrator's May 6 memo lists the balances: building repair and renovation capital reserve $169,763.42 to $19,763.42; school bus capital reserve $298,694.47 to $14,834.47; special education expendable trust $479,539.39 to $54,539.39; Claremont School District fund $31,447.42 to $2,659.41; capital improvements $1,350.41 to zero. Every withdrawal reimburses money already spent: buses ordered "over a year ago", $30,138.42 of FY25 repairs itemized in the memo, $425,000 of out-of-district tuition, and $150,000 of FY24 roof work. Two questions the record does not answer. First, authority: RSA 35:15, I has trustees hold capital reserve funds until the district votes to withdraw or has named agents to carry out the fund's objects; Henry says the funds are written so the board may withdraw, but the warrant articles naming the board as agents are in neither packet. Second, timing: the $150,000 reimburses a prior fiscal year's spending into FY25 cash to "pay our bills"; how that was recorded is a question for the audited FY25 statements. Also, the special education trust's remaining $54,539.39 sits against the up-to-$50,000 Maple Avenue fit-up the board authorized on April 16 and had not yet drawn. Mitigation: each motion was read with its fund and figure, the memo itemizes the smaller withdrawals, and Henry says counsel and the auditors approved the approach.
Sources: RSA 35:15, I (capital reserve funds held until the district votes to withdraw or names agents; read 2026-10-03, source note ends 2021, 105:2); Trust Fund Withdrawal 5-6-25_0001.pdf; Claremont School Board, April 16, 2025, flag 4.
OBSERVATION Minutes, nonpublic form and tape disagree on several seconds; the draft reached the public on the sixth business day
GBEB amended motion: minutes, seconded by Howard; tape, Sprague "I'll second that." (1:42:41). ACF: minutes, Petrin; tape, Hawkins answers the clerk "I did." (1:30:43). Leaving nonpublic session: approved minutes, Sprague moved and Howard seconded, matching the chair's statement at 1:46:32; the nonpublic form reverses them. RSA 91-A:2, II requires movers and seconders to be recorded, and they are; the question is which record is right. The draft minutes were last modified on May 14, the fifth business day, and were placed in the May 21 packet folder on May 15, the sixth; that is within a day of the five-day rule, and the earlier modification date suggests the draft existed in time.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (movers and seconders recorded; minutes within 5 business days); Drive metadata for file 185GtZL84f7_GYBQBMFoYMyzGJHhX85uG.
OBSERVATION Three new policies were adopted at their first reading, and the agenda was amended by objection
The agenda lists GBEB, GBEAB and ACF as "First Reads", and the policy chair introduced each as new to Claremont. GBEAB and ACF were adopted that night on the chair's invitation ("It could be first read, adopted, whatever the preference of the board"), and GBEB was read and then adopted on an amended motion at 1:42:26. Whether the district's policy on policy adoption requires two readings for a new policy was not checked for this page; the board's own agenda labelled them first reads, and on April 16 the board likewise adopted a GBCD revision listed as a first read. The consent agenda, with four amendments, was approved by asking for objections rather than by motion, although the agenda labels it "(vote required)".
Sources: CSB Agenda 5.7.25; approved minutes 5.7.25; Claremont School Board, April 16, 2025, flag 3. No statute is cited.
OBSERVATION Policy IJOC was adopted with a "discriminatory concepts" clause no member could explain
Asked what a discriminatory concept is, the policy chair answered "I don't know, but it's in the Fair Labor Standards Act" (1:38:29). It is not: the revised policy's own drafting note (the NHSBA sample in the packet) traces the clause to "the State human rights laws (RSA 354-A:31 & 32)" and to RSA 193:40, which New Hampshire enacted in 2021. The policy's FLSA reference is to its definition of a volunteer. On May 28, 2024 a federal district judge held those 2021 amendments unconstitutionally vague, as reported by InDepthNH; the status of the appeal on May 7, 2025 was not checked for this page. The board adopted a policy requiring volunteer training on a prohibition whose meaning it could not state and whose enforceability was in litigation.
Sources: i. Revision Policy IJOC_ Volunteers (packet); RSA 193:40; InDepthNH, May 28, 2024, "Federal Judge Strikes Down NH's 'Divisive Concepts' Law" (reporting, not law).
OBSERVATION Packet documents carry visible drafting defects, including text pasted from an AI chat tool
Exhibit C, the student services report, contains the line "Would you like an example of how RTI works in a real classroom setting?", source tags such as "Response to Intervention+7Understood+7IRIS+7", and several links ending "utm_source=chatgpt.com", which indicate passages copied from an AI chat session without editing. Its out-of-district procedure sends referral packets to "SAU 24 Student Services Administrator", the wrong SAU, which Sprague raised on tape (0:57:26); the procedure itself is labelled "Suggested as I have been unable to find an official SAU 6 policy". The business administrator's May 6 trust memo prints "Christopher Pratt, Interim Superintendent" on its letterhead a year after he was made permanent. None of this changes a figure the board voted on, and the report answers members' questions in useful detail (flag 9); it does bear on how much weight the narrative passages can carry.
Sources: Exhibit C- Student Services School Board Presentation 05.07.2025.pdf; Trust Fund Withdrawal 5-6-25_0001.pdf. No rule is cited.
POSITIVE Members' written special education questions were answered in a public exhibit with district data
Board members submitted written questions on cost, caseloads, referrals and out-of-district placement, and the director answered them in the posted packet: 478 students identified, caseloads by school, referral outcomes, contracted versus employed related-service staff, and Claremont's identification rates against the state's by category. The board then discussed it in public for 45 minutes (0:40:43–1:25:04). With special education named as the main driver of the year's deficit, publishing the questions and the answers is more than any rule requires. The defects noted in flag 8 are a separate matter.
Sources: Exhibit C; Dialogue/16530 School Board 050725.mp4.CSV.
POSITIVE The presiding officer held a new committee proposal for a noticed action item
Asked to form an ad hoc communications committee under Other Business, Petrin declined to act there: "we can't do that now because we're outside of the discussion and action items", and asked that it be placed on a future agenda as an action item (1:50:14). No statute bars a regular meeting from acting on an unlisted item; giving the public notice of an action before taking it is the better practice.
Sources: Dialogue/16530 School Board 050725.mp4.CSV; approved minutes 5.7.25, item IV.1.
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/16530 School Board 050725.mp4.CSV (739 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/16530 School Board 050725.mp4Input/Transcripts/16530 School Board 050725.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 264
Laws cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II: minutes within 5 business days; movers and seconders. (The start-time, end-time and minutes-author clauses served today are 2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025, and are not applied here.)
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a)–(c), III: nonpublic motion, grounds, disclosure.
- RSA 186:11, IX-d (2024 codification, in force on the meeting date): non-academic surveys, YRBS opt-out.
- 20 U.S.C. §1232h (Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment): protected survey topics; parent notification.
- RSA 35:15, I: capital reserve fund withdrawals.
- RSA 193:40: cited by the IJOC drafting note.