Participants
Names and roles follow the agenda and the draft minutes; wards are as each speaker stated them. Where the dialogue file labels or renders a person differently, the rendering is noted.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Board chair | Presided; read the three letters of intent; voted for Tyson; moved to table the appointment; read the special-legislation resolution and the donation list; moved the calendar change and the custodial reallocation; described late audits back to 2016. |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair | Seconded the Tyson nomination and voted for him; opposed tabling; seconded the calendar motion and the billing-specialist motion; reported the Claremont Savings Bank and Mascoma gifts; asked for a metal-detector agenda item. Rendered “Mr. Peterson” and “Mr. Patron” in the transcript. |
| Arlene Hawkins | Board member; Policy Subcommittee chair; SAU 6 Board chair | Seconded the Lavalette nomination, the tabling motion and the resolution; asked the state loan’s interest rate and that draws come to the board; conditioned her support for the representation letter on the disclaimer; per the draft minutes, moved the three special-education policies. Rendered “Hopkins” in the roll call. |
| Candace Crawford | Board member; Finance Subcommittee chair | Moved the Lavalette nomination and voted for him; called the loan fund “a payday loan” and voted for it; worked the tuition estimate aloud; moved to authorize the representation letter, Madden for the SchoolCare council, and the billing-specialist position. |
| William “Bill” Madden | Board member | Moved the Tyson nomination and voted for him; opposed tabling; asked for an executive summary on every document; asked about volunteer substitutes and whether the whistleblower information had gone out; named SchoolCare council representative. |
| Loren Howard | Board member | Asked both candidates whether they would run in March and voted for Lavalette on that basis; voted to table; reported his appointment to the CCTV board of directors; introduced the NHSBA resolutions for a vote on October 15. Rendered “Lauren” in the transcript. |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Not present; the chair announced her maternity leave at 0:00:36. |
| Kerry Kennedy | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Added the Bluff staff reallocation to the agenda; gave the superintendent’s report; presented the calendar change and SREA memorandum of agreement and both staff reallocations. Rendered “Carrie” in places. |
| Matt Angell | Senior Comptroller / Interim Business Administrator | Gave the financial update and the FY2022 audit summary; said the DOE-25 and MS-25 were still to be filed; asked for the resolution and for authority to sign the representation letter with a disclaimer. Rendered “Angel”. |
| Patrick O’Hearn | Human Resources Director, SAU 6 | Called the roll; named as acting clerk for the resolution’s certification (“Patrick O’Hara” in the transcript); presented the SchoolCare invitation; said the whistleblower information had not been distributed and that a poster hangs in employee break rooms. |
| James O’Shaughnessy | District counsel, Drummond Woodsum | Cited RSA 671:33 for the board’s appointment authority; advised that the tie meant the board had failed to appoint; explained the proposed loan fund; warned against unpaid volunteers doing paid work. The draft minutes spell him “O’Shaughnessey”. |
| Michael Campo | Partner in charge of the audit, Plodzik & Sanderson | Said the FY2022 report is a draft awaiting the legal letter; set out the plan for FY2023–2025; explained the SchoolCare assessment and the pension-liability figure. Introduces himself as “Mike Campos”; the firm is rendered “plastic and Sanderson”. |
| Don Lavalette | Applicant for the vacant seat, Ward 2 | Answered the board’s written questions; said he would run in March; “The school board has one employee.” Received three votes. The draft minutes spell the name “LaVallee”; the approved December 3 minutes and later records use Lavalette. |
| David Putnam | Applicant for the vacant seat, Ward 2 | Withdrew during his presentation and endorsed Lavalette. |
| Kevin Tyson | Applicant for the vacant seat | Answered the board’s written questions; described co-founding Education Options; answered questions on it from the chair, Hawkins and Crawford. Received three votes. Mr. Tyson maintains the project that produces these pages; see the footer. |
| Gary Merchant | Citizens’ comments, Ward 2 | Urged a forensic audit with the state; asked who was business administrator in FY2022; raised a point of order on whether the board must appoint. |
| Eric Abbey | Citizens’ comments, Ward 3 | Asked about supports after the Bluff closure, questioned blaming special education for the deficit, and asked whether contracts were being reviewed. |
| Derek Ellerkamp | Citizens’ comments, Ward 2 | Challenged the board’s authority to appoint and asked why the public could not question the candidates; later asked that financial reports be posted before meetings as worksheets. Name as labeled in the dialogue file (“Derek Eller, camp” in the transcript). |
| Leslie Peabody | Citizens’ comments, Ward 1 | Asked about free lunch at Disnard and who does Medicaid billing; asked for Bluff transition details now. |
| Nick Koloski | Citizens’ comments, Ward 3 | Asked for a chance to respond after presentations; asked for answers on the removed metal detectors and on the Maple Avenue building purchase. |
| Sherry Williams | Citizens’ comments, Ward 2 (as stated) | Asked for a return to a regular schedule and for the numbers behind the deficit figure. |
| Chris Cogswell | Citizens’ comments, Ward 3 | Spoke to the community about students’ circumstances: “I’m frankly tired of just hearing bad news.” |
| Rebecca (surname not stated) | Citizens’ comments, Ward 1; Claremont Middle School teacher | Described her science classes; asked that the emergency meetings continue in public and that agenda items get comment time. |
| Camron Lownie | Citizens’ comments, Ward 2; Disnard teacher | Argued comment should follow the agenda updates, not precede them. |
| Bradley Moulton | Citizens’ comments, Ward 3 | Raised the one-bus-stop rule for parents with shared custody; asked to sit down when he ran past his time. |
| Hope Damon | Citizens’ comments; State Representative, Sullivan District 8 | Urged families to file free and reduced meal applications because they affect state adequacy aid; offered to check community eligibility for Disnard and Maple Avenue. |
Named but not present: Mary Henry (Business Administrator), Michael Koski (Assistant Superintendent), Jeff Small (Director of Technology), Michelle Herrington (SRVRTC, who compiled the donation list), Commissioner of Education Caitlin Davis and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (met by the interim superintendent). 149 of 1,362 rows are labeled Unidentified, most of them short responses and voice votes.
Agenda
Items as posted in “Amended-CSB Agenda 10.1.25 (3).pdf”, with the time each was taken up and its disposition. Votes and names are from the draft minutes unless stated.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:02 | I. Call to order & Pledge | “6:30 PM Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance.” |
| 0:01:21 | II. Roll call | Called by O’Hearn. Draft minutes: all six present, “Absent: None”. |
| 0:01:38 | II.a Consent agenda | Item 9 added at the superintendent’s request (draft minutes: “staff reallocation at Bluff”); approved without objection at 0:02:39. Draft minutes: “Approval of minutes: No minutes to approve”; “Approval of Manifest: Not addressed at this time”, though the chair said at 0:01:38 that Angell would review it. See flag 7. |
| 0:03:40 | II.b Citizens’ comments | “Citizens comments will be open for a minimum of 30 minutes.” Eleven residents and a state representative; closed at 0:38:13. |
| 0:38:18 | II.c Interim Superintendent’s report | Middle-school staffing and a possible outside agency for the nurse post; the Bluff move; meetings with the Commissioner, the community college chancellor and Senator Shaheen; policy GBEB on social media; salaries to be posted. Questions on the psychology interns deferred to October 15. |
| 0:47:50 | III.1 Appointment of New Board Member (Discussion/Vote) | Exhibits A and B; letters of intent read by the chair. Crawford moved Lavalette, Hawkins seconded; Madden moved Tyson, Petrin seconded. Show of hands at 1:35:18–1:35:50: 3–3 (Lavalette: Crawford, Hawkins, Howard; Tyson: Whitney, Petrin, Madden). Tabled to the first November meeting at 1:49:16, 4–2 (Madden and Petrin opposed). |
| 1:49:39 | III.2 Calendar change due to Bluff closure; MOA with SREA | Exhibits G and H. One motion (Whitney, seconded Petrin): close elementary schools October 7–8 and all schools October 9–10, and approve the MOA. Carried at 2:00:44, all in favor. The lost learning time must still go to NHDOE. |
| 2:01:57 | III.3 Donation acceptance | Policy KCD. The SRVRTC list read aloud; none reached the $20,000 hearing threshold and no cash gift exceeded $2,500, so no acceptance vote. Petrin added the bank gifts at 2:06:53. |
| 2:08:43 | III.4 CCTV Board of Directors (Discussion/Vote) | Exhibit I. Howard reported his appointment to CCTV’s board; the chair said it is an at-large seat, not a board designee. No vote. |
| 2:09:42 | III.5 FY2022 Draft Audit Report / Financial Update | Exhibit C. Financial update; special-legislation resolution adopted unanimously at 2:41:41 (Whitney, seconded Hawkins); FY2022 audit from 2:49:38; authority to sign the management representation letter (Crawford, seconded Madden) carried at 3:14:39. |
| 3:19:16 | III.6 SchoolCare Membership Council representative | Madden named (Crawford, seconded Whitney), all in favor at 3:23:48. |
| 3:24:08 | III.7 2025 NHSBA Delegate Assembly | Exhibits D, E and F. Vote deferred to October 15. |
| 3:27:23 | III.8 Subcommittee reports | Capital Improvement, Curriculum and SRVRTC: no meetings. Finance: first meeting scheduled. Policy: IHBAB, IHBAA and IHBAM adopted on first read, all in favor at 3:32:18 (draft minutes: Hawkins moved, Howard seconded; the dialogue file labels the motion Whitney). |
| 3:33:18 | III.9 Reallocation of existing staff (added) | Bluff secretary post reopened as billing specialist pending review of the job description (Crawford, seconded Petrin), carried at 3:37:24. Bluff custodian split 0.5 Disnard / 0.5 Maple Avenue (Whitney, seconded Crawford), carried at 3:40:35. Both stated to be budget neutral. |
| 3:41:56 | IV–VI. Other business, future items, adjournment | Budget update and metal detectors for future agendas; Hawkins announced the SAU 6 meeting Monday at 6:00 with an NHSBA attorney; whistleblower information not yet distributed (3:43:32). Adjourned without objection at 3:44:38. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics. Quotations are from the dialogue transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:36 | No clerk | “our clerk is not able to be with us this evening. She is, blessedly, on maternity leave. So we’re going to have to ask one of the administrative staff, and that will be you, Patrick”. | MEDIUM |
| 0:08:23 | A resident challenges the appointment | Ellerkamp: “Isn’t that an elected position?” and “Are they going to be open to questions from the public?” (answer: No). Counsel at 0:09:03: “six hours. 67133 [RSA 671:33]. The board is, responsible for appointing people if there’s a vacancy on the board.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:18:22 | Comment timing | Rebecca: “We need to continue with the emergency meetings. You need to continue to allow it as open as public.” Lownie at 0:20:14: “I think that putting public comments before the agenda updates is silly. It leads to less informed comments”. | |
| 0:21:08 | Free and reduced meals | Rep. Damon: “if you qualify, Claremont will get substantially more education funding from the state.” | |
| 0:29:14 | Forensic audit request; late audits | Merchant: “I urge the school board to collaborate with the state of New Hampshire to carry out a forensic audit.” Whitney at 0:30:17: “We did have audits back to 2016. And there are repeat findings even as far back as 2016.” At 0:31:09: older audits “had been in a box in the office … and had never been brought forward to the board.” | HIGH |
| 0:44:08 | Salaries to be posted | Kennedy: “We are going to be sharing every employee what salary, what position, what insurance”. | |
| 0:47:50 | Appointment process explained | “we provided questions that were generated by the board. And since this was also presented publicly, comments that were sent to board members from community members were are going to be incorporated into the questions” (0:48:49). The chair read all three letters. At 0:51:02 the CSV attributes to the chair a passage that is Lavalette’s letter being read aloud. | POSITIVE |
| 0:54:07 | Lavalette | Answered each written question. To Crawford at 1:08:29: “The school board has one employee.” Howard later cited Lavalette’s confirmation that he would run in March (1:36:25). | |
| 1:11:10 | Putnam withdraws | “So I decided I’d better put my name in so that you would have a person in case no one else did put their name in.” At 1:13:55: “I think you’ll be well served if you choose him.” | |
| 1:15:02 | Tyson | Described his civic roles and co-founding Education Options, “a 501 C three volunteer organization”. Asked by Howard about March at 1:27:45: “I have not made up my mind.” The chair at 1:28:19 relayed community concern that “the purpose of you joining the board would be to disrupt public education”; Tyson: “Nothing could be further from the truth.” Crawford at 1:32:24 raised the organization again; Tyson: “You’re wrong. You’re mistaken.” | POSITIVE |
| 1:34:42 | Nominations and the 3–3 vote | Crawford moved Lavalette (Hawkins second); Madden moved Tyson (Petrin second). At 1:35:50: “Raise your hand. Three. We have a tie vote.” Howard at 1:36:25: his vote turned on Lavalette “confirming that he would be running again in March”. Madden at 1:38:38: “I think we need fresh blood from the private sector”. Crawford at 1:40:48: Lavalette “made a more persuasive argument in support of public education.” | OBSERVATION |
| 1:44:14 | Counsel: the board has failed to appoint | “at this point the board has failed to appoint somebody. So neither appointment passes. And under the under the state statute it’s RSA 67133 [671:33].” At 1:45:27: “there’s no authorization in state law to hold a special election.” At 1:46:35: “It doesn’t provide guidance on process.” | OBSERVATION |
| 1:47:48 | Tabled to November | Whitney moves to “lay upon the table to the first meeting in November”. Petrin at 1:48:45: “the longer we wait, the less we need to fill the spot.” Carried at 1:49:16, two opposed. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:56:54 | Bluff closure calendar | Motion to “close all elementary schools for October 7th and eighth and closed all schools, including Claremont Middle School and Stevens High School, for the ninth and 10th of October.” Madden at 1:59:19: “Can we get an executive summary? Everything that comes before the board, please?” | |
| 2:01:57 | Donations read into the record | “none of these donations. The dollar amount reaches the threshold of requiring a public hearing, which is $20,000.” Petrin at 2:06:53: Claremont Savings Bank’s “$100,000 to the Stevens High School Alumni Association”; at 2:07:54: “the Mask [Mascoma] Savings Bank also gave $15,000.” | POSITIVE |
| 2:08:43 | CCTV board seat | Howard: “I threw. My hat. In the ring for the CCTV board.” Whitney at 2:09:10: “I think it’s a at large position”; no vote. | |
| 2:09:49 | The size of the hole | “There’s $5.8 million available from the budget that we can use to try to pay down the deficit”. SchoolCare assessment at 2:11:07: “$868,000”. At 2:12:38: “So I’m trying to work this $5 million down to 1.9 million by the end of the year.” At 2:12:48: “This is fiscal year 25. We overspent the operating budget by $1.6 million.” At 2:14:11: the cash balance should be “between 3 and $6 million”; he expected to end October at $180,000. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:15:28 | State filings still outstanding | “I need to file the end of your reports to the state. The Doe 25 and the miss 25 [MS-25]. … it’s the miss 24 is the estimated revenues.” At 2:15:52: “I need to get that to the Dre [DRA] really in the next week or two. And so that the city can set your tax rate timely.” | HIGH |
| 2:23:43 | Resolution for special legislation | “be it resolved that the Claremont School Board formally requests the General Court to assist the district through the establishment of a Claremont School District Adequacy Revolving Loan Fund.” Angell at 2:25:23: up to the first state aid payment, “about 3.3 million or more.” Crawford at 2:25:39: “I mean, it is a payday loan.” Angell at 2:26:12: “Currently, there’s no mechanism to carry debt beyond the end of the fiscal year.” Counsel at 2:27:10: “The concern is not about carrying a deficit. It’s about not having any cash on hand.” Crawford at 2:39:47: “I’m going to vote in favor of the resolution because I don’t have a choice.” | OBSERVATION |
| 2:49:38 | FY2022 statements, “four years behind” | “These are going to be the fiscal year 2022 financial statements. And yes, they are with four years behind.” Campo at 2:50:19: “We are waiting on the legal letter to finalize it. So. So what you see is a draft.” At 2:50:38: “because Claremont School District expends greater than $750,000 of federal awards” the auditors must also report on internal control and compliance. | HIGH |
| 2:51:15 | The findings | “For the public, it’s about 16 pages of findings.” Headings read aloud include “Cash handling, weaknesses”, “failure to perform regular reconciliations”, “Inadequate record retention”, “unsubstantiated balances” and at 2:52:21 “Reimbursement submissions to the State of New Hampshire Department of Education were not traceable to the general ledger or grant funds”. At 2:59:13: material weaknesses are “comments one through 15 and 18”. | HIGH |
| 2:54:01 | How the auditors will finish | Campo: “If it didn’t exist, we were going to act as though it didn’t exist at all. We were done waiting”; FY2023 onward to be audited as one period from July 1, 2022. At 2:57:10: “We do 230 audits a year. We have a very small pocket of clients that aren’t done within six months of the close of the fiscal year.” Angell at 2:58:44: “please expect similar comments in fiscal years 23 through 25”. | HIGH |
| 3:00:38 | A surplus that was not there | “In the audit, it’s showing us a deficit of $198,888. … Available, $1.2 million was returned to the taxpayers.” At 3:01:04: “So your tax your tax bill was artificially reduced.” At 3:01:39: “The estimated revenues used to set the tax rate were overestimated.” Crawford at 3:02:14: tuition estimated at $790,000, “In fact, we only got 291,000.” | MEDIUM |
| 3:03:37 | How a board should catch it | Campo: “there hasn’t been monthly reporting a budget to actual.” At 3:05:32: reports “should come off of your general. Software. Because that can’t be manipulated.” Whitney: “We were getting Excel documents.” At 3:06:10: “the 2016 audit wasn’t completed until 2019”. | MEDIUM |
| 3:12:57 | Management representation letter | “this document sets the date of the audit report. And we can’t issue a final report until I sign this document.” At 3:13:45: “under the authority of the Claremont School Board, Mr. Angel did not prepare in preparation or maintenance of the accounting records for the period under orders [audit].” Hawkins: “As long as you keep that disclaimer in there.” Carried at 3:14:39. | MEDIUM |
| 3:14:52 | Federal grant monitoring | Whitney: the state’s Bureau of Federal Compliance last audited the district in 2023–24, and Claremont “has not been selected to be audited next year.” Angell at 3:17:19: July and August cash reconciled for Unity, “So Claremont is going to follow quickly to.” | |
| 3:18:58 | Post the reports first | Ellerkamp: “Can you post the financial reports online before that meeting so we can all take a look at it?” An unidentified voice: Sure. | |
| 3:33:18 | Bluff staff reallocations | Secretary to billing specialist for “Medicaid billing, special ed billing”; Hawkins at 3:35:27: “Having the opportunity to receive additional special education funds in is really paramount”. Custodian split at 3:39:30. Hawkins at 3:40:24: “no one’s losing a position through this reality.” | |
| 3:43:18 | Whistleblower information | Madden: “Patrick was going to send out. A whistleblower.” O’Hearn at 3:43:32: “I, I don’t believe that was done.” At 3:44:24: “in employer break rooms, there’s a whistleblower poster.” | |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer’s aid. They are not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on, as in force on October 1, 2025; an Observation rests on no confirmed rule.
HIGH The FY2022 single audit was presented in draft two and a half years after its federal due date, with FY2023 to FY2025 not begun
Fiscal year 2022 ended June 30, 2022. A non-federal entity that expends $750,000 or more in federal awards in a year (the threshold for a year of that vintage) must have a single audit, and the reporting package is due the earlier of 30 days after the auditor’s report or nine months after the end of the audit period: for FY2022, March 31, 2023. The district’s own packet document, “FY 22 Financial Statement and Single Audit Update”, states that the district “has expended greater than $750,000 of federal awards” and that the FY2022 statements and single audit carry a “Disclaimer of Opinion”, with findings 2022-001 to 2022-015 and 2022-18 rated material weaknesses. On October 1, 2025 the report was still “a draft” awaiting the legal letter (2:50:19), and FY2023 to FY2025 had not started (2:50:04). Among the findings read aloud: grant reimbursements to the Department of Education “were not traceable to the general ledger or grant funds” (2:52:21). The chair added that the 2016 audit was not completed until 2019 (3:06:10). State law adds no firm deadline here: RSA 21-J:19 is permissive as to timing. Mitigation: the auditor expected no material changes, and set out a plan to audit FY2023 onward as one period and to proceed on the records available.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (due the earlier of 30 days after the auditor’s report or nine months after period end); 2 CFR 200.501 ($750,000 threshold; $1,000,000 only for fiscal years beginning on or after Oct. 1, 2024); FY 22 Financial Statement and Single Audit Update.pdf; Exhibit C- 9-30-25 CSD Revised Draft FY2022 Audit report.
HIGH The FY2025 financial reports due September 1 were still unfiled on October 1
The interim business administrator said at 2:15:28 that he still had to file “The Doe 25 and the miss 25” and the MS-24, and at 2:15:52 that he needed to get them to the DRA “in the next week or two” so the city could set the tax rate. RSA 198:4-d, as in force on this date, requires each school district’s annual financial report to be “submitted on or before September 1 of each year”, and contains no extension provision. RSA 21-J:34, V separately provides that “School districts shall submit financial reports on or before September 1 of each year”, and ¶III requires the report revising estimated revenues “by September 1”. The October 15 draft minutes record the MS-25 and DOE-25 presented for board signatures that night, about six weeks after the deadline. Mitigation: the officer volunteered the delay in open session, had arrived after the year he was reporting on, and was rebuilding records that the FY2022 audit describes as unreconciled.
Sources: RSA 198:4-d (annual financial report by September 1; 2025, 141:401, eff. July 1, 2025; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 21-J:34, III and V (2007, 182:2, eff. Apr. 1, 2007; text read 2026-09-25); Financial Update 10.01.2025.pdf; 10.15.25 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes.docx.pdf.
MEDIUM The representation letter was signed with a disclaimer because no current officer can vouch for the FY2022 records
The management representation letter is management’s written assurance to the auditor, and it dates the audit report (3:12:57). Angell added a line stating that he did not prepare or maintain the accounting records for the audited period (3:13:45); the board authorized him to sign on that basis at 3:14:39, Hawkins conditioning her support on the disclaimer. The disclaimer is candid and the board was right to insist on it. What it records is that nobody now at the district can affirm the completeness of its FY2022 records, the same condition the findings describe. Federal awards require internal control giving reasonable assurance of compliance. Angell told the board to expect similar comments for FY2023 to FY2025 (2:58:44). No verified rule governs who may sign such a letter; the citation is to the control condition it evidences.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.303 (internal control over federal awards); CSD Revised Rep Ltr.pdf.
MEDIUM FY2022 revenue estimates used to set the tax rate were overstated, and fund balance that did not exist was used to lower it
The audit puts FY2022’s unassigned general fund balance at a deficit of $198,888 (3:00:38). The packet document says the district “used $1,285,606 of fund balance to reduce the tax rate” on its FY2022 MS-24 (Angell said “$1.2 million” on the recording) and that estimated general fund revenues “have been overstated”. Crawford read one line: tuition estimated at $790,000, received $291,000 (3:02:14). The auditor said the pattern has been “a condition in this school district. Going back to the teens” (3:04:36) and that there had been no monthly budget-to-actual reporting (3:03:37). Estimated revenues reach the state on the report RSA 21-J:34, III requires, and they drive the tax rate. Recorded as a control failure rather than a confirmed violation: the estimates were made by officials no longer in post, and whether any was unreasonable when made is not settled by this record. Monthly reporting and reports drawn straight from the accounting system were adopted going forward (3:18:35).
Sources: RSA 21-J:34, III (report revising estimated revenues); FY 22 Financial Statement and Single Audit Update.pdf; Exhibit C- 9-30-25 CSD Revised Draft FY2022 Audit report.
MEDIUM The minutes were weeks late, omit the actual times and the minute-taker, and leave out the resolution they were to carry
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes open to inspection within five business days (here, by Wednesday, October 8, 2025) and, from August 22, 2025, “the start time and end time of the meeting, and name of the person who produced the minutes.” The October 15 draft minutes record “Approval of minutes: No minutes to approve”; the October 1 draft surfaced in the November 19 packet folder and was approved as amended on December 3. The draft gives only the agenda’s scheduled times (“VI. 8:30 PM Adjournment”), though the recording runs past three and a half hours, and names no minute-taker. The motion read at 2:23:11 provided that a copy of the resolution “be included with the minutes of this meeting”; the draft does not include it and points instead to “Exhibit E-NHSBA-2025 Proposed Resolution”, which is the NHSBA delegate-assembly packet. Graded under the mitigated limb: minutes exist, the clerk’s leave was announced on the record (0:00:36), and on October 15 the district advertised for a paid transcriber to complete past minutes.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); draft CSB Meeting Minutes 10.1.25.docx.pdf; 10.15.25 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes.docx.pdf; 12.3.25 Approved CSB Minutes.
OBSERVATION After counsel advised that the tie passed the appointment to the city council, the board tabled it to November
RSA 671:33 has the remaining members fill a school board vacancy and, where they are unable by majority vote to agree, gives the appointment to the selectmen; RSA 21:28, I lets “selectmen” mean the mayor and aldermen of a city. With all six members present and voting 3–3, counsel advised at 1:44:14 that the board “has failed to appoint” and the decision fell to the city council, while acknowledging at 1:46:35 that the statute gives no guidance on process. The board then voted 4–2 to lay the matter on the table until November (1:49:16), Petrin preferring to send it to the council. No verified provision says when the council’s authority attaches or bars the board from voting again. The board filled the seat on November 5, 2025 by reinstating Frank Sprague (see the November 5 vacancy page).
Sources: RSA 671:33, II and II(a) (2021, 42:1); RSA 21:28, I (2008, 183:1); Exhibit B- Candidate Process.pdf; draft minutes.
OBSERVATION The manifest was announced for review and never taken up
The chair said at 0:01:38 that Angell would review the manifest with the board; the draft minutes record “Approval of Manifest: Not addressed at this time.” Under RSA 197:23-a the treasurer pays district money only on orders of the board or of two or more members it empowers. The October 15 draft minutes also record the manifest “Not addressed”, in the same meeting that listed the people authorized to sign under policy DGA. Whether designated members were signing between meetings is not answered by this record.
Sources: RSA 197:23-a; draft minutes; 10.15.25 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes.docx.pdf.
OBSERVATION The board asked the legislature for a loan fund against future adequacy aid to bridge a cash gap
The resolution adopted at 2:41:41 asks the General Court to create a Claremont School District Adequacy Revolving Loan Fund, advancing cash “in anticipation of state adequacy payments as provided in RSA 198, colon 41 and 42” (2:24:14). The Claremont Savings Bank loan expires April 17 (2:25:53), the October cash balance was projected at $180,000 against a normal $3 to $6 million, and counsel framed the goal as avoiding an August 15 conversation about whether school can open (2:27:28). Crawford called it “a payday loan” and voted for it. No verified rule governs a district’s borrowing against future adequacy aid, and the RSA 198 sections named in the resolution were not verified for this page.
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; Financial Update 10.01.2025.pdf.
POSITIVE The appointment was conducted entirely in public, including the uncomfortable parts
The board’s questions were published in the packet as Exhibit A; the chair read all three letters aloud; each candidate answered at the podium and then took questions from members in open session. The chair disclosed a letter of support from a former member and put the community’s objections to a candidate to him directly (1:27:53–1:28:19). Counsel answered a resident’s challenge to the board’s authority by statute on the spot (0:09:03). Nominations were moved and seconded, the vote was by show of hands, and each member stated reasons. Public questions to candidates were not allowed, and the chair said why.
Sources: Exhibit A- 10.1.25 New Candidate Questions-Claremont School Board (1).pdf; Intent to Serve Letters; RSA 671:33.
POSITIVE Every donation was listed on the agenda and read into the record
For gifts under $20,000, RSA 198:20-b, III(b) requires the board to “post notice in agenda and include notice in meeting minutes.” The full SRVRTC donation list was attached to the agenda and to the draft minutes, and the chair read each entry aloud at 2:01:57–2:06:01, stating the $20,000 hearing and $2,500 acceptance thresholds under policy KCD as she went. Petrin added the larger bank gifts to the alumni association (2:06:53–2:07:54). That puts donor, program and amount on the public record at the time of receipt, in a district whose audit found unsupported balances.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(b) (2023, 38:1, eff. July 18, 2023); Amended-CSB Agenda 10.1.25 (3).pdf; draft minutes.
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.
Laws and rules cited on this page
- Right-to-Know: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025)
- Financial reporting: RSA 198:4-d (2025, 141:401, eff. July 1, 2025, the version in force on this date); RSA 21-J:34, III and V; RSA 21-J:19 (permissive as to audit timing)
- School money: RSA 197:23-a; RSA 198:20-b, III(b)
- Vacancies: RSA 671:33; RSA 21:28, I
- Federal: 2 CFR 200.501; 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1); 2 CFR 200.303