Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Spellings follow the agenda; no minutes exist to check them against. Unidentified voices stay unidentified.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Arlene Hawkins | Chair, SAU 6 board (Claremont member) | Presides. Reads the positions update (0:07:58) and the business administrator's contract terms (0:14:59); questions the employee health plans (0:17:46); reads the consultant and TMS costs (0:23:05, 0:25:05); reports on the audits and asks for the forensic-audit authorization (0:47:19). |
| Rocco Ruggeri | Vice chair (Unity member) | Corrects the Unity board's meeting day (0:49:44); reports no update on Unity's SAU move (0:50:47); says there will be no public hearing for the former business administrator (0:51:25); moves to adjourn (0:53:04). |
| Shannon Popescu | Member (Unity) | Answers the roll (0:01:23). Seconds the contract motion per the chair (0:22:36). Asks whether Unity's SAU payments will fall with the vacancies (0:43:44). |
| Candace Crawford | Member (Claremont) | Seconds the nonpublic motion per the chair (0:06:27). Questions severance (0:10:12) and the health-insurance share in the contract (0:16:24, 0:20:24). Asks for supervisor sign-off on employee self-service changes (0:42:16). Moves the forensic-audit authorization (0:48:37). |
| Heather Whitney | Member (Claremont board chair) | Asks about recruiting for vacancies (0:09:45). Moves to accept the business administrator's contract (0:22:10). Asks whether TMS can build procedures (0:28:25) and about system controls (0:40:23) and special-education compliance (0:51:54). |
| Frank Sprague | Member (Claremont) | Asks how the operational review will gather data and warns against "more layers of bureaucracy" (0:30:51, 0:31:25). Asks for an electronic copy of the financial report (0:39:53). Seconds the forensic-audit motion (0:48:57). |
| Loren Howard | Member (Claremont) | Questions the TMS communications hours and cost (0:32:08, 0:33:10). |
| Michael Petrin | Member (Claremont) | Seconds the August 21 and September 11 minutes motions when the chair names him (Mr. patron, Mr. pitcher; 0:03:41, 0:05:05). Answers the nonpublic roll call (0:06:52). The dialogue file suggests, without confirming, that several unattributed motions are his. |
| Krystal Davis | Member (Unity) | Answers the roll (Crystal Davis here., 0:00:56). Spelled Krystal on the agenda. |
| Matt Angell | Interim Business Administrator, SAU 6 | Calls both roll calls (0:00:56, 0:06:38). Explains the 457 plan request (0:14:09). Gives the financial update: dual authorization, positive pay, ACH, employee self-service, SAU revenues and expenditures (0:34:27 to 0:38:42). |
| Kerry Kennedy | Interim Superintendent | States she kept her prior health plan (0:21:08); says the district is working with its special-education attorney on compliance (0:52:47). |
| Unidentified board members | Members | Make most motions and seconds; one says I didn't read it. of the June 12 minutes (0:02:24). The diarizer merged these voices with the business administrator's; the dialogue file leaves them unidentified. |
Named but not present: Mary Henry, former business administrator; Michael Campo, the district's auditor (Mr. Campo, 0:46:55); TMS, the consulting firm; an unnamed special-education consultant. No member of the public attended (0:05:53).
Agenda
Items from SAU6 School Board Agenda 11.13.25.pdf; agenda wording is quoted from that document. Dispositions are from the recording only, since no minutes exist.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:03 | I. Call to order, pledge | Agenda: "6:30PM Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance". Roll call by Angell (0:00:56); quorum declared (0:01:29). |
| 0:01:29 | II. Minutes | Agenda: "Minutes - Amendments/Corrections/Final Approval - 6.12.25; 8.21.25; 8.26.25; 9.4.25; 9.11.25". Voted one at a time by voice: June 12 approved after one member says they did not read them and the chair counts six (0:02:56); August 21 approved as corrected, Petrin seconding (0:03:33); August 26 approved (0:04:16); September 4 approved with two abstentions (0:04:48); September 11 approved with three abstentions (0:05:15). No tally is announced for any. See flag 2. |
| 0:05:15 | II. Agenda approval | Chair: "The agenda was emailed to you today. I apologize for the lateness of getting it." Approved, "It's unanimous." (0:05:53). See flag 6. |
| 0:05:53 | II. Citizens' comments | Agenda: "Citizens Comments - per policy BEDH". "As there are no citizens present in the audience at this time. I close citizens comments and they may be reopened later." |
| 0:06:20 | III.1. Nonpublic session | Agenda: "Non-Public meeting Session RSA91-A:3, II(a)". Motion "to move into nonpublic session for RSA 91 a colon three two a", second by Crawford per the chair (0:06:27); roll call (0:06:38); in at 0:07:04; roll call on return (0:07:23). No motion to seal is heard. See flag 1 and flag 7. |
| 0:07:58 | III.2. SAU positions update | Agenda: "SAU Positions Update (Discussion) Arlene Hawkins, chair", listing dismissals, resignations, positions added, the student-services consultant and "Contracted Services - TMS". Includes the business administrator's modified contract, approved by voice vote on Whitney's motion, Popescu seconding per the chair (0:22:10, 0:22:36). See flag 4 and flag 5. |
| 0:34:12 | III.3. Financial update | Agenda: "Financial Update - (Discussion) Matt Angell, Interim BA". Report only. See flag 8. |
| 0:46:55 | III.4. Update on financial audits | Agenda: "Update on Financial Audits (Discussion) Arlene Hawkins, chair". Motion by Crawford to include SAU records in the forensic audit "as needed", Sprague seconding (0:48:37, 0:48:57); voice vote, no objection heard (0:49:06). |
| 0:49:06 | V. Future dates | The agenda lists "SAU meeting in February - audit reports", "Claremont School Board Meeting- Wed, Nov 18, 2025" and "Unity School Board Meeting - Tues, Dec 9, 2025". Corrected on the floor: Claremont on Wednesday, November 19 (0:49:53); Unity on Wednesday, December 10 (0:49:44); next SAU 6 meeting February 12 (0:50:21). |
| 0:50:32 | VI. Other business | Agenda: "Update on Unity SAU move". Ruggeri: "There's nothing to update at this time." (0:50:47). Ruggeri on the former business administrator (0:51:25); Whitney on special-education compliance (0:51:54). |
| 0:53:04 | VII. Adjournment | Ruggeri moves; voice vote; Meeting adjourned. (0:53:12). |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/16976 SAU6-111325.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:01:29 | Five sets of minutes | Chair: "I know there was an issue last time with being able to open up those minutes, so they were posted on the web page." On June 12 a member says I didn't read it. and "I don't have enough information." (0:02:24, 0:02:26); chair: "I know they were posted the last minute, so I understand that." (0:02:29). Two abstentions on September 4 and three on September 11, which the chair says "don't affect the vote" (0:05:15). | MEDIUM |
| 0:06:20 | Nonpublic session | Motion under "RSA 91 a colon three two a" [RSA 91-A:3, II(a)]; roll call (0:06:38); "We're moving into nonpublic at this time." (0:07:04). Next words on the recording: "You need a roll call vote, sir." (0:07:23). | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 0:07:58 | Dismissal and resignations | "The dismissal former business administrator Mary Henry was dismissed by mutual agreement as of November 3rd." "She received payment for unused vacation leave as required, and there was no other severance pay." (0:08:28). Resigned: assistant superintendent, grants manager, director of student services, HR director and coordinator; "I just found out our technology director has resigned." (0:09:11). Curriculum director eliminated September 4. | POSITIVE |
| 0:10:57 | Realignments and temporary hires | "The realignments are all interim until June 30th." Director of student services interviews pending "a review by the d o" [DOE] (0:11:33). Fixed-term data-entry and health-insurance reconciliation positions; "The person reconciling our health insurance has already saved both Claremont and Unity approximately $800,000" (0:13:12). | |
| 0:13:51 | Business administrator's contract | Angell asks approval for a 457 plan, which "has to be offered to everyone" (0:14:09). Chair reads terms: "the total salary employer contribution will not exceed 125,000 for fiscal year 2026", 135,000 for FY2027, four weeks' paid time off not paid out (0:14:59); "a single health plan insurance at a 10% employee match"; at will (0:15:31); "his contract has an expiration date set in stone of June 30th, 2027." (0:15:54). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:16:24 | Employee health plans | Crawford: the interim business administrator is offering "to pay a larger share, a larger proportion of your health insurance than the rest of the staff" (0:17:12). Chair: plans with 5 to 15% shares were offered to SAU employees and "that was never authorized by this board" (0:17:46); "unauthorized went to Blue Cross Blue Shield and at 5%" (0:18:52); "Our attorney told us that if everybody did what they were supposed to, it would be cost negative." (0:19:55). Crawford: there is action from the nonpublic "we just couldn't get out of"; chair: "That's going to come up later." (0:21:05). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:21:08 | Interim superintendent's plan | Kennedy: "I just had the school care that I had before, I didn't switch, I refused to switch." Chair: contracts for SAU staff will reflect a greater share "because my understanding is our health care costs have gone up over 14%" (0:21:49). | |
| 0:22:10 | Contract approved | Whitney moves "to accept the contract that was presented by Miss Hawkins" through "June 30th, 2027" (0:22:30); chair: "Okay, Shannon." for the second; "All those in favor? Okay. Oppose. Abstentions." (0:22:36). No count announced. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:23:05 | Student-services consultant | Credentials read (0:23:34); "her charges are $140 per hour for remote contact", $1,500 for a full day, $750 for less than three hours; "Her bill for September was $5,650." (0:24:10). | |
| 0:25:05 | TMS contracts | Superintendent mentoring "is $1,500 a month"; "We have received two invoices for a total of $3,000." (0:25:38). Communications: "$1,622.85 in October. It was 23.69 hours, for a total of $3,671.95. I added them up. I hope they're correct. The total is $4,294.80." (0:27:13). Operational review "to identify what happened" waits on the audits; "$175 an hour when it begins." (0:27:53). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:28:25 | Procedures and the review | Whitney: "we hired qualified people into these positions and tasks them with developing these things, it seemed like that just never seemed to happen". Sprague: "it's really going to take transformational leaders" (0:31:25). Howard: communications "become the biggest cost with them so far" and "I'm not seeing that much of an increase in terms of value and communication to the public." (0:33:10, 0:33:33). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:34:27 | Payment controls | "So far we implemented, dual, like, I want to say authorization for any bank transactions for all three school districts." Positive pay "now active as of last week" (0:34:55); unmatched checks rejected if not decided by noon (0:35:19); ACH for vendors (0:35:51); payroll reconciliation procedures "hasn't been done for Claremont" yet (0:38:06). | POSITIVE |
| 0:38:26 | SAU budget to date | "Year to date are $801,343." Expenditures "year to date 859,000", encumbrances 932,000, operating budget "805,000 or 31%" (0:38:42). Report emailed during the meeting at Sprague's request (0:39:53). | |
| 0:40:23 | Controls on data entry | Whitney asks about forced compliance steps; Angell: a seniority list took "a half a day" for missing data (0:41:14). Crawford asks who signs off self-service changes; Angell: "The system generates a change log." "It doesn't." (0:42:45); the electronic PAR form "it's still a manual process" (0:42:52). | |
| 0:43:44 | Unity's share; separation | Popescu asks whether vacancies lower Unity's SAU payments. Angell: "Claremont paid more than unity" and recalculation must wait "until January or February" (0:44:22). Chair on moving Unity's data out after July 1; Angell: "It's your data you can have all the years." (0:46:29). | |
| 0:46:55 | Audits; forensic audit | Campo's firm "is currently reviewing the FY23 unity report"; the SAU FY23 draft "hopefully will be sent next week" (0:47:19). Forensic audit, "the current area of focus is stipends", may "spill over into the saw and into unity" (0:47:59). Crawford's motion carries by voice (0:48:37, 0:49:06). | |
| 0:49:06 | Next SAU meeting | "because the audits won't be ready until February, I'm thinking we'll hold off until February for the next essay [SAU]." | |
| 0:51:25 | No hearing for former BA | Ruggeri: "there is no public hearing in this, Henry, because of the termination agreement." | |
| 0:51:54 | Special-education compliance | Whitney asks about compliance "because of lack of credentials"; Kennedy: "we're working with our special education attorney to make sure with anything with the Department of Education is compliant" (0:52:47). | |
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 November 13, 2025, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM No minutes of this meeting, public or nonpublic, have been found eleven months on
The SAU 6 board is a public body whose minutes must be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting" and must name the movers and seconders and, since August 22, 2025, the start and end times (RSA 91-A:2, II). The board went into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) (0:06:20 to 0:07:23); no motion to seal is heard on the recording, and under RSA 91-A:3, III nonpublic minutes must be disclosed within 72 hours unless sealed by a recorded two-thirds vote taken in public session. No minutes of either kind were found. The search was two-stage, following the SAU 6 practice of filing a meeting's minutes in a later packet: this meeting's folder 12. SAU6 11.13.25 (the agenda and drafts of June 12, August 21 and September 4 only); the later SAU 6 folders 13. SAU6 4.9.26 (agenda, public notice, one contract PDF) and 14. SAU6 5.28.26 (agenda, calendar draft), as recorded in MAP.md; the Claremont Meeting Minutes share, which MAP.md records holds no SAU 6 file in any year; and a Drive title search for 11.13.25, which returned only this meeting's folder. The April 9, 2026 agenda leaves "Approval of Minutes:" blank. Searches of this Drive are known to under-report, so this is "not found", not "does not exist". Graded MEDIUM, not HIGH, under the project's severity rule: the meeting was noticed, packeted and televised, and only the minutes are missing. Without minutes, the business administrator's contract vote and the forensic-audit vote have no written record of mover, seconder or result beyond this recording.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes contents; five business days); RSA 91-A:3, III (nonpublic minutes within 72 hours unless sealed); RSA 91-A:1-a, VI (public body); 4.9.26 SAU6 Board Agenda
MEDIUM The board approved two sets of minutes that were not in the packet, and one member had not read the June minutes
The agenda lists five sets of minutes for approval; the meeting's folder holds drafts of only three (June 12, August 21, September 4). The August 26 draft sits in the September 11 folder; MAP.md records no minutes of any kind for September 11, 2025 in either share. The chair said the minutes "were posted on the web page" because of an earlier problem opening them, and "I know they were posted the last minute" (0:01:29, 0:02:29). One member said I didn't read it. of the June minutes (0:02:24); two members abstained on September 4 and three on September 11 (0:04:48, 0:05:15). The record cannot show what text the board approved for September 11, or whether it exists where the public can see it. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to be open to inspection within five business days; minutes of September 11 approved two months later and not found in any district share are the gap. MEDIUM rather than HIGH because the chair states they were posted on the SAU web page, which this project could not inspect as it stood in November 2025.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes open to inspection within five business days); Drive folder 12. SAU6 11.13.25
OBSERVATION The chair's total for two months of TMS communications services is $1,000 short
The chair read September's communications charge as $1,622.85 and October's as $3,671.95, then said "I added them up. I hope they're correct. The total is $4,294.80." (0:27:13). The two figures sum to $5,294.80. Howard's point that communications had become "the biggest cost" of the three TMS services (0:33:10) holds either way, and is stronger on the correct sum, which exceeds the $3,000 invoiced for superintendent mentoring by $2,294.80. No TMS contract or invoice is in the packet, so the reader cannot check the hourly rate (the figures imply about $155 an hour) or the terms.
Sources: the recording at 0:25:05 to 0:27:53; SAU6 School Board Agenda 11.13.25 ("Contracted Services - TMS")
OBSERVATION The interim business administrator's contract was approved by voice on terms read aloud; no document was posted and the 457 plan was not separately decided
The chair read the terms: compensation not to exceed $125,000 for FY2026 and $135,000 for FY2027, four weeks' paid time off not paid out, a single health plan with a 10% employee share, at-will employment, ending June 30, 2027 (0:14:59 to 0:15:54). Whitney moved "to accept the contract that was presented by Miss Hawkins", Popescu seconded, and the chair called ayes, opposed and abstentions without announcing a count (0:22:10 to 0:22:36). The contract is not in the packet. Angell had said the arrangement depended on a 457 deferred-compensation plan that "has to be offered to everyone" and that "I need approval of this board" (0:14:09); no separate motion on the plan is heard. Reading the terms aloud is to the board's credit; the open points are which document was approved and whether the 457 plan was authorized. The compensation discussion likely took place in the preceding nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), with the vote in public, which is the statute's pattern.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, II(a) (compensation of a public employee); Drive folder 12. SAU6 11.13.25 (no contract)
OBSERVATION The chair says SAU employee health plans were changed without board authorization
The chair said three plans with employee shares of 5 to 15% were offered to SAU staff and "that was never authorized by this board", that a move to Blue Cross Blue Shield at 5% was "unauthorized", that counsel had told the board the change would be cost-neutral, and that the year-end SAU overruns were "extraordinary" (0:17:46 to 0:19:55). She said the business administrator is investigating. These are the chair's characterizations; no plan document, board vote record or year-end SAU figure is in the packet, and no statute is cited for who must approve an SAU benefit plan. The documents that would settle it are the SAU board minutes for the period of the change and the SAU year-end budget report.
Sources: the recording at 0:17:37 to 0:20:19
OBSERVATION The agenda reached members and the public share on the day of the meeting
The chair said "The agenda was emailed to you today. I apologize for the lateness of getting it." (0:05:15). Drive metadata dates the agenda PDF in the packet folder to 8:26 a.m. Eastern on November 13, about ten hours before the 6:30 p.m. start; the folder itself was created at 2:48 p.m. on November 12. RSA 91-A:2, II requires notice of the time and place posted at least 24 hours ahead, excluding Sundays and holidays, in two appropriate places, one of which may be the body's website; it does not require the agenda to be posted that early. Whether a compliant notice was posted elsewhere cannot be determined from these shares, so this is an observation. The agenda also printed the wrong weekdays for the next Claremont and Unity meetings, corrected on the floor (0:49:44, 0:49:53).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (24-hour notice); SAU6 School Board Agenda 11.13.25.pdf
POSITIVE The nonpublic motion named its exemption and was taken by roll call, and the separation terms were stated in public
The motion to enter nonpublic session cited RSA 91-A:3, II(a), matching the agenda, and was decided by roll call (0:06:20 to 0:07:04), as RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires. Back in public, the chair stated that the former business administrator left "by mutual agreement as of November 3rd", received unused vacation pay and "no other severance pay", and that her termination records are public under RSA 91-A on written request (0:07:58, 0:08:28). She also read the cost of every outside consultant and contract service. Stating separation and contractor costs on the record goes beyond what the statute requires.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and II(a)
POSITIVE New payment controls: two-person authorization and positive pay on all three entities' bank accounts
Angell reported dual authorization for every bank transaction across SAU 6, Claremont and Unity, and positive pay "active as of last week", under which the bank rejects any check not on the uploaded manifest file unless approved by noon (0:34:27 to 0:35:19). He also reported new payroll reconciliation procedures for Unity and the SAU, not yet for Claremont (0:38:06), and acknowledged that self-service leave changes still lack a supervisor sign-off (0:42:45, 0:42:52). These are controls beyond any statutory minimum; the limits he named are recorded alongside them.
Sources: the recording at 0:34:27 to 0:42:52
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/16976 SAU6-111325.mp4.CSV (380 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/16976 SAU6-111325.mp4Input/Transcripts/16976 SAU6-111325.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 283
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:1-a, VI: public body
- RSA 91-A:2, II (as amended 2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025): 24-hour notice; minutes contents including movers, seconders, start and end time; five business days
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), III (2023, 189:1): nonpublic motion and roll call; compensation exemption; nonpublic minutes within 72 hours unless sealed by two-thirds recorded vote in public session