Participants
Everyone heard or recorded as present. Names follow the agenda and the draft minutes; where the dialogue file labels a person differently, the label is noted.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Board chair | Presided; made the motion to enter nonpublic session on the recording (the minutes give it to Hawkins); read counsel’s advice on the vacancy and Frank Sprague’s letter into the record; seconded both reinstatement motions and voted for reinstatement; ruled that an abstention is a non-vote. |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair | Moved acceptance of the $16,000 grant (per the minutes); twice moved to reinstate Frank Sprague; volunteered for the superintendent and business administrator search committee; asked for a plain-language meeting on “what happened financially”. Called “Michael Patron” in the roll call. |
| Arlene Hawkins | Board member; Policy Subcommittee chair | Moved the nonpublic session (per the minutes and the nonpublic form); per the minutes seconded the forensic-audit motion; opposed reinstatement on process and precedent; seconded the motion to appoint Don Lavalette; read the by-law on abstentions and the NHSBA recommendation aloud; moved the policy items. |
| Candace Crawford | Board member; Finance Subcommittee chair | Moved the bus sale, the forensic audit, the $17,000 tuition rate and the motion to reopen vacancy applications; explained how inflated revenue estimates left past tax rates short; asked whether Sprague had volunteered; voted against reinstatement. |
| William “Bill” Madden | Board member | Questioned timekeeping controls, the McKinney-Vento transport cost and NEASC’s scope; doubted an open-ended forensic audit, then proposed the friendly amendment returning the contract to the board; said reinstatement “looks like a back room” and voted for it; reported the SchoolCare premium outlook. His response to the opening roll call is not audible; the minutes record all present. |
| Loren Howard | Board member | Seconded the grant, the bus sale, the tuition rate and the reopening motion; moved to appoint Don Lavalette; abstained on the reinstatement, which carried it; reported on the NHSBA delegate assembly. |
| Frank Sprague | Former member; reinstated at this meeting | Not heard on the recording. His letter asking to be reinstated was read into the record at 2:11:20. |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Took the minutes remotely, per the chair at 0:00:33; rendered “Miss Noel Cronenberg” in the transcript. Matt Angell served as in-person clerk. |
| Kerry Kennedy | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent’s report: advisory committee meeting November 14, class sizes at Maple and Disnard, Dale Chenette as CMS principal for the rest of the year, the grant manager posting, due-process training, the SNAP-pause food response; presented the $16,000 grant. |
| Matt Angell | Senior Comptroller / Interim Business Administrator, SAU 6 | Called the roll and both nonpublic roll calls; presented positive pay, the bus sale, the tax-rate adjustment, the trust-fund withdrawal, the request for a forensic auditor, the tuition rate and the property item; described his backlog of audits and corrective action plans. Rendered “Mr. Angel” in the transcript. |
| James “Jim” O’Shaughnessy | District counsel, Drummond Woodsum | Present in the nonpublic session (nonpublic form); announced the former business administrator’s termination at 1:05:55 and confirmed the employment records are public. Most of his statement is labeled “Donald” in the dialogue file. |
| Jeff Small | Director of Technology | Presented the district-wide software inventory, including privacy-agreement checks and the difficulty of pricing formerly grant-funded tools. |
| Courtney Porter | Mental health coordinator / social work | Described the SNAP-pause response and the Safe and Supportive Schools grant; per the minutes, “all of the mental health supports she has brought in to the district are grant funded”. |
| Melissa Lewis | Principal, Disnard Elementary | Said Disnard’s numbers had risen since the reported figures as families moved in. |
| Dr. Michael Herrington | Principal, Stevens High School | Said the Program of Studies was being revamped around career pathways and would come to a later meeting. Labeled “Mr. Harrington” by the chair on the recording. |
| Gary Merchant | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 | Asked the board to reopen the vacancy search to more applicants. |
| Amanda Barton | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 | Asked whether the tax increase needed a March vote, for restructuring updates on the agenda, and for work on retaining teachers. |
| Rod Beaton | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 | On restructuring communication and the loss of the CMS music program. |
| Rebecca (surname not settled; see footer) | Citizens’ comments — Ward 1; SREA representative for CMS | A district teacher and parent, on CMS staffing, nursing coverage and consistency of leadership. Labeled “Rebecca” in the dialogue file; the draft minutes print “Rebecca Vinduska”. |
| Michelle Beaton | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 | On CMS staffing and leadership. Labeled “Michelle” in the dialogue file; named from the minutes’ order of speakers. |
| Cassandra Edwards | Citizens’ comments — Ward 3; Disnard SREA representative | On class sizes after the Bluff consolidation. |
| Michelle Springer-Blake | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 | On staffing, communication, special education and restructuring. Labeled “Michelle” in the dialogue file; named from the minutes’ order of speakers. |
| Don Lavalette | Ward 2 resident; applicant for the vacant seat | At citizens’ comments (rows labeled “Donald”) defended the vacancy process as transparent; on the vacancy item told the board to choose between the two applicants or leave the seat empty. Nominated by Howard; the motion failed 3–3. The draft minutes spell him “Lavallette”; the approved December 3 minutes spell him “Lavalette”. |
| Kevin Tyson | Applicant for the vacant seat | Spoke on his volunteering and the mission of EdOpt, his employer; at the end of the meeting suggested Google Forms rather than email for public input. Kevin Tyson maintains this project; see the footer. |
| Matt Bean | Ward 1 resident | Spoke against reinstatement and for Lavalette; cut off by the time limit. Rendered “Matt Beam” in the transcript. |
| John Cloutier | State representative; Ward 1 | Introduced the Claremont House delegation and offered its help. |
| Camron Lownie | Ward 2 resident | Spoke against reinstatement; asked after the vote that the next sentence of the by-law be read. The draft minutes spell him “Cameron Lowney”. |
| Sherry Williams | Ward 1 resident | Asked the board to set politics aside and choose between the two applicants. |
Named on the record but not present or not heard: Chelsea Weatherford (acting interim HR manager, listed on the agenda), Lieutenant Eaton of the New Hampshire State Police, an employment attorney at Drummond Woodsum (“Sarah Freeman” on the recording, “Sarah Freidman” in the minutes), Dale Chenette, and Taylor Trudeau (SHS music teacher). The dialogue file labels 97 of 1,329 rows Unidentified, mostly short responses and voice votes.
Agenda
Items as posted in “CSB Agenda 11.5.25.pdf”, the only document in the packet folder, with the time each was taken up and its disposition from the draft minutes and the recording.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:06 | I. Call to order | “6:30 PM Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance.” |
| 0:00:51 | II. Roll call; a. Consent agenda | Minutes: “Roll call taken by Matt Angell, all present”. Agenda amended by adding Madden’s SchoolCare update, removing policy JICI (adopted October 15) and removing item III.2 (alternative programs to Bluff) at the interim superintendent’s request; consent approval. |
| 0:03:07 | II.b Citizens’ comments | “Please reference CSB Policy BEDH- Public Comment & Participation at Board Meetings.” Eight speakers per the minutes, from Gary Merchant at 0:03:41 to Don Lavalette at 0:22:16. The chair announced that residents could also speak on agenda items before votes (0:05:30). |
| 0:23:18 | II.c Superintendent’s report | Professional development, due process, class sizes after the Bluff integration, the technology audit. The $16,000 grant was accepted on Petrin’s motion, Howard seconding, by unanimous voice vote at 0:58:37. |
| 1:26:18 | II.d Financial update | SchoolCare withholding; positive pay; sale of three buses to the highest offers (Crawford, Howard; unanimous at 1:29:50); tax-rate adjustment; past trust fund withdrawals (1:34:11); forensic auditor authorized (Crawford; seconder per the minutes Hawkins; unanimous at 1:43:10); tuition rate $17,000 (Crawford, Howard; unanimous at 1:54:41). |
| 1:56:07 | II.e Follow-up items | Whistleblower posting; the 2024 federal grant letters, quick-linked from the agenda; staff compensation posting; who hired the school psychologist interns; Director of Student Services search (no candidates); where to find the FY26 budget data. |
| 1:04:09 | III.1 Nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II(k) | Taken early, per the minutes “due to legal counsel involvement and cost”. Minutes: Hawkins moved, Petrin seconded, roll call all in favor, in at 7:35 p.m.; Crawford moved to return, Howard seconded, back at 8:08 p.m. Nonpublic minutes: tuition rates discussed, “No vote taken during non- public”, and a counsel non-meeting. Counsel then announced the business administrator’s termination in open session at 1:05:55. See flag 2. |
| 2:02:45 | III.2–3 Alternative programs; SHS Program of Studies | Item 2 struck. The Program of Studies was not ready; no vote. |
| 2:05:20 | III.4 Masonic Temple and Bluff School | Agenda: “Sale of any property would require voter approval via warrant article on Voting Day, March 2026”. Board consent at 2:07:19 for the administration to gather data for December. |
| 2:07:19 | III.5 Search committee | Madden and Petrin volunteered for the superintendent and business administrator search committee. |
| 2:09:42 | III.6 Vacant School Board Seat | “(Discussion, Vote or Consensus)”. Motion to appoint Don Lavalette failed 3–3; motion to reopen applications failed 3–3; motion to reinstate Frank Sprague carried 3–2 with Howard abstaining (2:53:14). Detailed on the vacancy discussion page. |
| 2:59:03 | III.7 SchoolCare; subcommittee reports | Premiums expected to rise 9.5–35%. Policy: EHAG to second read; ADB, JFABD, JLF, DK and JLDBB from first read to adoption; BG, JED, JEDA, JIA and JHB withdrawn; all by unanimous voice vote. |
| 3:10:24 | IV. Other business | Petrin’s request for a financial summary meeting; Angell’s audit and corrective-action backlog; Howard on the delegate assembly and CMS music; Hawkins on SNAP support; Tyson on Google Forms. |
| 3:17:49 | VI. Adjournment | Adjourned without objection. The agenda’s time was 8:30 p.m. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics with the moment each is taken up. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:03:51 | A resident asks the board to reopen the vacancy search | Gary Merchant: “I stand before this board as a concerned community member about the current process for filling the vacancy on the board. The board remains evenly split between two candidates.” At 0:04:16: “I respectfully ask the board to open the search to additional applicants from the community”. | MEDIUM |
| 0:06:42 | Taxes, restructuring and teacher retention | Amanda Barton: “are the voters still going to need to vote on this increase in March?” At 0:07:48 she asked the board to consider how to “keep our really great teachers here”, suggesting a contractual bonus. | |
| 0:11:07 | Staffing at the middle school | Rod Beaton, on the music teacher who left: “He lost a, I think, 15,000 out of his salary or something when band and music were cut.” A Michelle of Ward 2 at 0:16:58: “No answers, no leadership, no consistency.” Cassandra Edwards at 0:19:10: “We're exhausted.” | |
| 0:22:16 | An applicant defends the process | Don Lavalette (labeled “Donald”): “We had four strong candidates. Three of them showed up. We narrowed the field down. And to suggest that it wasn't transparent, it's not only wrong, it's just insulting.” | |
| 0:27:42 | Class sizes after the Bluff consolidation | Kennedy: Maple first grade “55 students for an average of 18.3”; at 0:30:03, “there's 303 students at Maple. And the class average size is 20.2. Again pretty industry standard.” Edwards corrected from the floor at 0:31:39 that two Maple second-grade rooms have 12 and one has 23. | |
| 0:49:44 | A $16,000 grant for a middle-school wellness coach and food | Kennedy: “it's $10,000, from Dartmouth and $6,000 from New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.” Asked whether a hearing was needed, the chair at 0:57:55: “No, it's under 20.” Accepted unanimously at 0:58:37. | |
| 1:04:09 | Into nonpublic early, to save counsel’s time | Whitney: “And I make the motion. We can just say that the reason why I'd like to do this is because we get build [billed] by the 15 minute increments. So this is because our nonpublic will include our attorneys.” The motion names “RSA 91, dash a colon three two K”. Roll calls both ways by Angell. | MEDIUM |
| 1:05:55 | Counsel announces the business administrator’s termination | Counsel (labeled “Donald”), at 1:06:03: “Terminated by mutual agreement between the saw [SAU] and the business administrator. Her contract of employment was through June 30th, 2027. We were able to negotiate a termination that was effective yesterday.” At 1:06:27: “The details of the agreement are in a termination. Separation agreement and release. That document will be on file at the Sao [SAU].” | POSITIVE |
| 1:06:42 | Are the records public? | “Are the records related to her employment? Public under the right to know law?” Counsel: “Yes they are.” The dialogue file gives the question to the chair; the draft minutes give it to Arlene Hawkins. | POSITIVE |
| 1:28:40 | Three buses sold for scrap | Angell: “Bus one, they are offering $1,100, bus three they're offering $1,800 and bus for they're offering $1,400.” At 1:29:24: “These are not road where the vehicles anymore.” | |
| 1:31:38 | Why past tax rates never covered the voted budget | Crawford: “In the past, some of those anticipated revenues were either artificially set higher than real. Therefore, the money raised through taxes in the past wasn't enough to cover the budget that was voted on”. At 1:32:51: tuition revenue ran “around 250,000 per 200, 250,000 per year. Last year, the amount that was stated on the miss 2524 [MS-25/MS-24] was set at 780,000, which was artificially inflated by 500,000.” The chair at 1:34:05: “And this was this was wrong. Right.” | OBSERVATION |
| 1:34:11 | A capital reserve withdrawal made without the required vote | Angell: “One of the the the one of the funding sources was the building improvement and maintenance capital reserve fund. That particular, capital reserve fund required voter approval to withdraw the funds.” At 1:34:39: “The prior business administrator said that the board was authorized her to withdraw the money out of the account.” At 1:35:00: “It was $150,000.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:35:39 | Which withdrawal, and for what | Whitney: “All these trust funds, these were liquidated to offset the special ed.” Crawford at 1:37:11: “we were told incorrectly that we could just vote. And we in fact, needed the district vote to do that.” Angell at 1:37:20: “I'm not saying that the funds were used for the Masonic Temple.” At 1:38:22: “the letter doesn't to the trustees doesn't specify what the funds were being used for.” At 1:38:38: “I've got to clarify exactly what you're saying.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:38:56 | State Police ask for a forensic auditor | Angell: “I am speaking with law enforcement.” At 1:39:18: “Lieutenant Eaton has asked the school board to hire a forensic auditor. And I'd like to get permission from the school board to hire one.” Madden at 1:40:20 doubted an open-ended engagement; Angell at 1:41:22: “I will bring the contract here for your approval.” The agency, at 1:41:54: “That's the Hampshire State Police?” Hawkins at 1:42:25: “There's no question that we should do a forensic audit. It's coming from the state police.” | POSITIVE |
| 1:45:15 | McKinney-Vento transport at about $500 a day | Angell: “It's about $500 a day.” At 1:45:39: “McKinney Vento is a federal law that requires us to transport homeless students from the shelter that they're in to the school of record.” At 1:46:08: “under New Hampshire law we can't net the number. So you're going to see the gross expenditure.” | |
| 1:49:19 | “No internal controls” | Madden: “The prior administration lied to us habitually.” He asked whether NEASC accreditation reviews internal business processes; Angell at 1:49:06 said it is a review of curriculum practices. A board member’s characterization, recorded as such. | |
| 1:53:09 | A $17,000 high-school tuition rate, set in public | Angell: “I gave the school board a low on a high amount and we recommended 17,000, a year for or per student for the high school.” Whitney at 1:53:53: “the 17,000 is just for regular education expenses.” Unanimous at 1:54:41. | MEDIUM |
| 1:56:54 | Federal compliance letters the board never saw | Whitney: “these were, letters sent to the administrative team regarding withholding of federal funds from the Claremont School District that were addressed only to the administrative team, and the information was not presented to the board.” At 1:57:29: “There are quick links on the agenda that was posted”. | MEDIUM |
| 2:02:06 | Vendor detail in the budget | Angell: “I can't publish detailed vendors information.” At 2:02:19: “So but I can't let them take copies of it.” Residents may review the manifests at meetings. The page records the statement; no rule was verified here that bars copies of a manifest. | |
| 2:05:41 | Masonic Temple and Bluff School | Angell: “We can either sell them or we can find an organization to lease them in.” At 2:06:07: “in both cases we need voter approval.” | |
| 2:10:07 | Counsel’s advice on the vacancy, read by the chair | “he said the Laurie [law] directs the board to fill the vacancy and he provided the RSA, which is RSA 671 colon 331 [671:33].” At 2:10:42: “If the board does not feel the fill the vacancy at its next meeting meeting, there is a risk that the City Council votes to fill it”. At 2:11:04: “He also said that the law that he cited is not a controlling law.” | MEDIUM |
| 2:21:46 | How the letter came to be written | Asked by Crawford whether Sprague volunteered, the chair: “I called Mr. Sprague personally”; at 2:22:04, “And then he sent me a letter.” | MEDIUM |
| 2:33:02 | Residents object to reinstatement | Matt Bean: “we had a process and we have two people. We have Mr. Lava and we have Mr. Tyson who came out of that process”. Camron Lownie at 2:37:38: “It is the most smoke filled room thing I can imagine.” Speakers’ characterizations. | |
| 2:38:59 | The other applicant speaks | Kevin Tyson: “Seemed like a backroom deal as it was going down, but I stuck with the process. I am not a professional educator.” At 2:39:53: “We are not in the business of getting people out of schools. We are in the business of getting information to parents.” This speaker maintains this project; see the footer. | |
| 2:43:49 | Three motions, two deadlocks, one abstention | Howard: “I'd like to make a motion to appoint Don to the school board.” It failed 3–3 (2:50:47). Crawford’s motion to reopen applications (2:51:31) failed 3–3 per the minutes. Petrin at 2:52:49: “there is no set process to to assigning someone to the vacant school board seat”. The reinstatement vote at 2:53:14; Howard at 2:53:22: “I'm going to abstain”. Crawford at 2:55:50: “So that means that the motion passes 3 to 2.” | MEDIUM |
| 2:58:09 | The NHSBA recommendation, read at a resident’s request | Hawkins: “Abstaining in an effort to avoid public accountability for such decisions or to force a tie vote, is counter to members public duty.” Not in the draft minutes. | |
| 2:59:59 | SchoolCare premiums | Madden: “the premiums are expected to go up between 9.5% and 35%”. | |
| 3:11:19 | Audits and corrective action plans stacking up | Angell: “the audits have been scheduled to begin the week after next. Okay, I'm not ready.” At 3:11:50: “I have to do all the corrective action plans for the audits that have been are about to be filed.” At 3:12:14: “And then the state has given me another set that I have to file corrective action plans for.” A financial summary meeting “probably going to end up being in January” (3:12:57). | MEDIUM |
| 3:17:02 | Google Forms for public input | Tyson, answering Petrin’s idea of emailed questions: “Don't use email.” He suggested Google Forms so responses can be aggregated. | |
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; an Observation rests on no confirmed rule.
MEDIUM $150,000 left a capital reserve fund on the board’s authority, which the interim business administrator said required a district vote, and the letter to the trustees states no purpose
At 1:34:11 Angell told the board that the building improvement and maintenance capital reserve fund “required voter approval to withdraw the funds,” that the trustees’ documentation shows the prior business administrator telling them the board had authorized the withdrawal (1:34:39), and that the amount was $150,000 (1:35:00). Crawford accepted the point at 1:37:11: “we were told incorrectly that we could just vote. And we in fact, needed the district vote to do that.” RSA 35:15, I provides that the trustees hold capital reserve funds “until such time as the town, district or county shall have voted to withdraw funds from such capital reserve fund or shall have named agents of the town, district or county to carry out the objects designated”; ¶V confines expenditures to “the purposes for which said fund was established or as amended”. Angell added at 1:38:22 that the letter to the trustees does not say what the money was for, which leaves no record tying the withdrawal to the fund’s purpose.
Graded MEDIUM, down from HIGH on the page first published in August, for three reasons. The record does not show whether the district ever named the board as agents to expend from this fund, which is the second route RSA 35:15, I allows. The board did not settle which withdrawal was which: the chair said at 1:37:57 that the fund Angell described was “liquidated to offset unanticipated special education expenses in May,” and the approved December 3, 2025 minutes amend these minutes to read “Expendable funds from trust were used to offset special ed costs”, which describes an expendable trust fund rather than a capital reserve fund. And Angell said at 1:38:38 that he still had to clarify it. The trustees’ letter and the withdrawal records are not in the packet. What stands is the interim business administrator’s statement, accepted by the finance chair, that a withdrawal was made on a representation of authority the board did not have.
Sources: RSA 35:15, I and V (trustees hold capital reserve funds until the district votes to withdraw or names agents; expenditures only for the fund’s purpose; source note ends 2021, 105:2, eff. Aug. 30, 2021; text read 2026-09-25); draft minutes, 11/5/25; approved minutes, 12/3/25 (the amendment to these minutes).
MEDIUM The nonpublic session’s stated ground, its contents and its minutes do not line up
The board entered nonpublic session at 1:04:09 under RSA 91-A:3, II(k), “Consideration by a school board of entering into a student or pupil tuition contract”, with roll calls both ways as ¶I(b) requires. Four points need a reviewer’s attention. (1) Fit of the ground. The nonpublic minutes record that Angell “discussed tuition rates” and his recommendation on a rate “to be set by Board”. What the board then did at 1:54:41 was set a general rate for incoming high-school students, not approve a contract with another district. (2) Publication before approval. If (k) did apply, the agenda’s own printing of it says that a contract “shall be made public prior to its consideration for approval by a school district, together with minutes of all meetings held in nonpublic session”. The rate was approved about fifty minutes after the session; the nonpublic minutes reached the public share a week later. (3) What else happened inside. The chair gave the reason for going in early as counsel’s billing (1:04:09), and the nonpublic form records a “non-meeting & district legal counsel” held during the session, with the chair’s question whether that was permissible and counsel’s answer that it was. Consultation with counsel is excluded from the definition of a meeting by RSA 91-A:2, I, but ¶I(c) of 91-A:3 confines what is discussed in the session to the matters in the motion, and the only matter in the motion was (k). (4) Seventy-two hours. No motion to seal was made; the form’s sealing block is blank. RSA 91-A:3, III then requires the minutes to be “publicly disclosed within 72 hours of the meeting”. From a meeting that ended at about 10:21 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, that ran to Saturday, November 8. The form was filed in the district’s Unsealed Minutes share on Wednesday, November 12, at 4:28 p.m.
The attribution of the motion also differs: on the recording the chair says “And I make the motion” and an unidentified voice seconds (1:04:40); the draft minutes and the nonpublic form record Hawkins moving and Petrin seconding. Mitigation, and it is real: the minutes were released rather than sealed, they record “No vote taken during non- public”, the rate itself was debated and voted in open session, and the termination was announced in open session immediately afterwards. Graded on the mitigated limb. This project cannot see the SAU 6 website as it stood in November 2025, so earlier publication there cannot be ruled out.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), I(c), II(k), III (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023); RSA 91-A:2, I (consultation with legal counsel is not a meeting); 11.5.25 CSB nonpublic minutes unsealed (scanned handwritten form; quoted as legible; Drive creation time 2025-11-12, 4:28 p.m.); CSB Agenda 11.5.25, which prints the text of II(k).
MEDIUM The vacant seat was filled on three votes of a six-member board, by reinstating the member who resigned it, over the process the board had set
RSA 671:33, II(a) provides that “The school board shall fill vacancies occurring on the school board” and that if “the remaining members are unable, by majority vote, to agree upon an appointment, the selectmen of the town or towns involved shall appoint”. Counsel’s advice, read at 2:10:07, was that the board should fill the seat at this meeting or risk the city council doing so. The board’s application process had produced two applicants and a 3–3 tie on October 1. On November 5 it tied 3–3 twice more, on Lavalette (2:50:47) and on reopening applications (2:51:31), before Petrin’s motion to reinstate Frank Sprague carried 3–2 with Howard abstaining (2:53:14). The chair disclosed at 2:21:46 that she had telephoned Sprague and asked whether he would serve. Whether three votes of six remaining members is agreement “by majority vote” under the statute, or whether the board’s by-law counting “members present and voting” governs, is an open question this page does not resolve. The motion handling (a first motion deferred without a vote, a tie announced before the negative hands) and the by-law texts are set out on the vacancy discussion page. Mitigation: the whole item was in open session, both applicants and four other residents spoke, and the draft minutes record each member’s vote on all three motions by name.
Sources: RSA 671:33, II(a) (source note ends 2021, 42:1 and 91:318; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 21:28, I (“selectmen” may mean the mayor and aldermen of a city); Claremont School Board By-Laws (adopted copy), rule 2.07; draft minutes, 11/5/25.
MEDIUM The draft minutes give no start or end time, a content requirement in force since August 22, 2025
RSA 91-A:2, II, as amended by 2025, 112:1, requires minutes to include “the start time and end time of the meeting, and name of the person who produced the minutes”. The draft names its author. It prints the agenda’s scheduled headings (6:30 PM call to order, 8:30 PM adjournment) and records clock times only for the nonpublic session. The meeting ran nearly two hours past the noticed adjournment: working from the minutes’ 7:35 p.m. and 8:08 p.m. against the recording (1:04:09 and 1:05:15), it ended at about 10:21 p.m. The derivation is this page’s. Mitigation: the draft was begun at the meeting and a PDF copy reached the next packet folder on the fifth business day (November 11 being a legal holiday), and it names the mover and seconder of every motion.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025; mover and seconder clause 2018, 244:1); RSA 288:1 (November 11 a legal holiday); draft minutes, 11/5/25; draft CSB meeting minutes 11.5.25.pdf (filed 2025-11-13, 8:19 a.m.).
MEDIUM Federal non-compliance letters went to administrators and did not reach the board
At 1:56:54 the chair reported the result of a records request for the 2024 letters about withheld federal grant funding: Letters of Non-Compliance of April and August 2024, a Letter of Compliance of October 2024, and the FY23 ESEA programmatic monitoring closeout. In her words they were “addressed only to the administrative team, and the information was not presented to the board.” 2 CFR 200.303 requires a recipient to maintain effective internal control over federal awards, including taking prompt action when noncompliance is identified. A finding that stays with staff and never reaches the governing board is a control weakness of that kind. At 3:12:14 the interim business administrator described corrective action plans still to be filed for the audits and for “another set” from the state. Mitigation: the board surfaced the letters itself and quick-linked them from the posted agenda. This page has not read the letters, so nothing is said about their merits.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.303 (internal control over federal awards); CSB Agenda 11.5.25 (lists the four documents); draft minutes, 11/5/25.
OBSERVATION Past tax rates rested on revenue estimates the district did not receive, by the finance chair’s account
Crawford said at 1:31:38 that past anticipated revenues were “artificially set higher than real”, and gave tuition revenue as the example at 1:32:51: about $250,000 a year in practice, entered at $780,000. Angell said at 1:30:26 that the rate was rising “because the estimated revenues are being projected closer to the actual.” These are statements on the record, not audit findings, and they concern closed prior years; no verified rule is cited, so this is an observation.
Sources: draft minutes, 11/5/25; the October 15, 2025 page for the earlier discussion of the rate.
POSITIVE Counsel announced the termination in open session, named the separation agreement, and confirmed the records are public
Immediately after the nonpublic session, counsel told the public at 1:06:03 that the former business administrator’s contract ran “through June 30th, 2027,” that the termination was effective the previous day, and at 1:06:27 that the terms are in a “Separation agreement and release” to be kept on file at the SAU. Asked at 1:06:42 whether the employment records are public under the Right-to-Know law, he answered “Yes they are.” RSA 91-A:4 gives every citizen the right to inspect governmental records; naming the document and where it is held, unprompted, goes beyond that minimum.
Sources: RSA 91-A:4, I (right to inspect governmental records); draft minutes, 11/5/25.
POSITIVE A forensic audit was authorized in public at the State Police’s request, with the contract to come back for approval
No statute required this engagement. Angell named the requester and the subject in open session (1:39:07, 1:39:18); Madden’s objection was heard; the motion was amended on the floor so the contract returns to the board before signing (1:41:32), keeping the spending decision with the body whose orders the treasurer pays under RSA 197:23-a. The vote was unanimous at 1:43:10. The draft minutes record Hawkins as seconder; on the recording the words “I second” at 1:39:44 are attributed to the chair.
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer pays out only upon orders of the school board); draft minutes, 11/5/25.
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, I and II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); RSA 91-A:3, I(b), I(c), II(k), III (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023); RSA 91-A:4, I
- District money: RSA 35:15, I and V; RSA 197:23-a
- Vacancies: RSA 671:33, II(a); RSA 21:28, I
- Holidays: RSA 288:1
- Federal: 2 CFR 200.303
- Board rules: Claremont School Board By-Laws, rule 2.07 (adopted copy)