Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Spellings follow the agenda and approved minutes; where the dialogue file differs, both are shown. Students are not named on this page.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Candace Crawford | Chair | Presides. Adds the eighth-grade trip (0:00:55); counts CMS core openings (0:24:11); questions the Masonic Temple spending (0:38:05); answers on the mentor stipend (0:45:34); reads Broadrick's report (0:47:13); says there will be no superintendent evaluation this year (1:55:34); sets a single July meeting on July 21 (1:58:52). |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair; SRVRTC subcommittee chair | Seconds the food-service motion (the chair: "Mr. Peterson seconded", 1:16:57); reports SRVRTC goals (1:30:38). The minutes also record him seconding the May 6 minutes and the seal. |
| Heather Whitney | Member; reconfiguration ad hoc chair | Asks about charter-school funding (0:13:52); presses for a staffing map and an Ed 306 floor (0:21:05); questions property assessments and the size of the inherited deficit (0:40:09, 0:42:15); asks about special-education transportation costs (1:05:51); moves FA and IHBH (1:36:29, 1:38:26); argues urgency for adopting priority policies (1:51:00). |
| William Madden | Member; Capital Improvements chair | Capital Improvements report (1:31:08); asks about the student-information-system presentation (2:03:17). The minutes credit him with the $110,000 transportation question that the dialogue file labels Lavalette (1:12:16) and with seconding the vote to dissolve the communications subcommittee. |
| Loren Howard | Member; Policy subcommittee chair | Questions whether the bus item needs a motion (1:03:16); seconds the bus motion (1:05:30); notes private-equity ownership of vendors (1:04:39, 1:19:50, 1:25:17); moves the food-service contract (1:16:38) and, per the minutes, votes against it; presents FA, IHBH, IHCD, JLCJA and EBCH (1:35:35 to 1:54:54); reads policy BGAA's waiver clause (1:48:36). |
| Don Lavalette | Member; Policy and Finance subcommittees | Corrects the May 6 minutes (0:01:50); asks about Riverview students at the tech center (0:19:38); prefers quality to filling vacancies (0:29:26); asks about the former superintendent's mentor stipend (0:45:02); questions bus-driver pay (0:59:18); moves the trip, RFQ, nonpublic session, assurances, IHCD, JLCJA and EBCH; lists future items (2:00:22). |
| Brian Rapp | Member; Policy and Capital Improvements subcommittees | Asks why openings are not posted (0:28:05); relays a contractor's account of Masonic Temple funding (0:38:48); moves to keep transportation in-house (1:05:15); asks whether Fresh Picks delivered its promised extras (1:17:01); objects to adopting JLCJA without a second reading and votes no (1:44:28, 1:54:30); moves the seal (1:28:43); moves adjournment (2:05:01). |
| Noelle Kronberg | School board clerk | Calls the rolls (0:00:36, 1:27:40, 1:28:28, 1:28:54); confirms no member voted against the earlier policies (1:54:07). |
| Kerry Kennedy | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Introduces the music department (0:03:11); truancy and attendance-officer report (0:16:28); special-education parent council (0:17:19); acting principals (0:18:18); CMS openings and internal postings (0:25:03, 0:30:56); graduation dates (0:50:25). |
| Matt Angell | Senior Comptroller / Interim Business Administrator | Monthly finance report (0:32:12 to 0:37:40); bus, food-service and photo contract reports (0:52:26, 1:14:32, 1:21:04); broker RFQ (1:25:58). |
| Taylor Trudeau | Music teacher, Stevens High School | Presents the music department's year (0:03:41); students perform. |
| Hope Damon | State representative | Reports on open-enrollment bills and a bill sending state fiscal reports to board members; answers on charter-school funding (0:10:16 to 0:15:59). |
| Arlene Hawkins | Ward 3; former board member and Policy chair | Explains from the floor why policies have been adopted on one reading (1:46:09). |
| Butler Bus Service representative | Vice president of operations | Says Butler would partner with Claremont either way (0:57:49). The minutes name him "Emo Chenoweth"; the dialogue file leaves him unidentified. |
| Students | Stevens music students; a Ward 3 speaker announcing the musical | Woodwind quintet performance (0:07:38); show announcement (2:03:54). Not named on this page. |
| Unidentified | Various | Including the mover of the May 6 minutes (0:02:38; minutes: Rapp) and the second on the photo contract (1:24:32; minutes: Rapp). |
Named but not present: Dr. Timothy Broadrick (report dated May 21, read by the chair), Scott Maple (attendance officer), Courtney Steele and Nicole Boynton (acting CMS principal and assistant principal), David Irwin (acting Maple Avenue principal; transcript "Mr. Erwin"), and Christopher Pratt (the former superintendent, named in the stipend question).
Agenda
Items from 5.20.26 CSB Meeting Agenda; agenda wording is quoted from that document. Dispositions from the recording, checked against the approved minutes. The chair added the eighth-grade trip as the first action item and moved the music recognition ahead of citizens' comments.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:03 | 1. Call to order | Pledge; roll call, all present (0:00:36). |
| 0:00:47 | a. Consent agenda | Agenda: "Approval of Minutes: 5/6/26" and "Approval of Manifest". The trip is added (0:00:55). Corrections to the May 6 minutes: the floor-plan maps are struck and Lavalette's uniform remarks clarified (0:01:50, 0:02:13). Motion "As amended?" (0:02:38); Lavalette is heard seconding (0:02:41); voice vote (0:02:42). Minutes: "Brian Rapp made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, Michael Petrin seconded the motion". The manifest is not mentioned on the recording. |
| 0:03:05 | d. Superintendent's report: music recognition (moved up) | Music department presentation and performance. |
| 0:09:57 | b. Citizens' comments | One speaker, Representative Hope Damon, followed by board questions (0:13:52 to 0:16:08). |
| 0:16:13 | d. Superintendent's report | Truancy report, parent council, acting principals, departures; Riverview and staffing questions. |
| 0:32:00 | d. Finance update | Agenda: "Monthly update" with the 5/20 Financial Update Documents folder, and "Stipends update" with Copy of Stipends for SB meeting.xlsx. No vote. |
| 0:47:13 | Follow-up items | Agenda: "Memo from Superintendent Designee Tim Broadrick", on athletic uniforms and the "State Board waiver and last week of school details". Read by the chair. |
| 0:50:50 | Added item: eighth-grade trip | Lavalette moved, Howard seconded (0:51:25); carried by voice vote (0:51:52). The trip is funded by the $15,000 Byrne Foundation gift accepted February 4. |
| 0:52:24 | 1. Bus contract (vote) | Rapp moved "that the district continues on with the current service and we'll deal with potential outside contracts at a later date." (1:05:15); Howard seconded (1:05:30); Lavalette: "I'm going to vote. No." (1:05:39). Voice vote, carried (1:14:12). Minutes: "Voice vote taken, all present voting in favor". See flag 4 and flag 8. |
| 1:14:25 | 2. Food service contract (vote) | Howard moved to approve Fresh Picks (1:16:38); term "a two year contract with three when you're, you know, all periods" (1:16:44); Petrin seconded (1:16:57). Voice vote, one No (1:20:40); "Six one carries." (1:20:41). Minutes: "Loren Howard voting in opposition and all others in favor". See flag 1. |
| 1:20:41 | 3. School photo contract (vote) | Motion and second (1:24:23, 1:24:32; minutes: Howard and Rapp); voice vote, carried (1:25:37). Three-year Lifetouch contract. |
| 1:25:44 | 4. Sale of property RFQ (vote) | Lavalette moved (1:26:24), Howard seconded (1:26:26); carried (1:26:56). |
| 1:26:56 | 5. Non-public session, RSA 91-A:3, II(d) | Agenda: "Non-Public RSA 91-A:3,II(d) Sale of Property". Lavalette moved (1:27:22); Rapp gave the citation (1:27:26); roll call, all yes (1:27:40). Minutes: in at 7:57 p.m., out at 8:20 p.m. Return on a second roll call (1:28:28). Rapp: "To seal for six months." (1:28:43); Lavalette is heard seconding (1:28:46; minutes: Petrin); roll call, all yes (1:28:54). Minutes: "Minutes sealed until November 20, 2026". See flag 2. |
| 1:29:03 | 6. General assurances (vote) | Lavalette moved to authorize the chair to sign (1:29:24), Howard seconded (1:29:26); carried (1:29:31). |
| 1:29:48 | 7. Subcommittee reports | Purpose statements; the ad hoc communications subcommittee dissolved on Lavalette's motion (1:33:29), carried (1:34:55), with Howard to continue as the board's contact with NH Listens. Policy: FA adopted (1:37:24); IHBH revised and adopted (1:39:46); IHCD adopted (1:42:14); JLCJA adopted 6-1, Rapp opposed (1:54:28, 1:54:30); EBCH adopted on second reading (1:55:22). See flag 3. Superintendent evaluation: none this year (1:55:34). |
| 1:56:36 | IV. Other business; V. Future dates | Board community engagement; May 28 SAU 6 meeting; July 21 the only July meeting (1:59:25); future items (2:00:22 to 2:03:17). |
| 2:04:57 | VI. Adjournment | Rapp: So moved. (2:05:01). Minutes: 8:59 p.m. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/17373 SchoolBoard052026.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:01:50 | May 6 minutes corrected | Lavalette: "You had put in their maps to be attached, and I didn't see him in the minutes." The clerk: "We discussed not attaching the." (0:02:00); "I do know there are other things that still need to be attached. I didn't have those documents." (0:02:06). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:03:41 | Music department | Trudeau: "We had six students, as you might have seen, make the New Hampshire All-State Festival this year" (0:04:01); first-place ratings for choir, percussion, musical theater and band, a best-overall choir award and the festival's professionalism award (0:05:10). A woodwind quintet plays (0:07:38). | |
| 0:10:16 | Representative Damon | "Senate Bill 101 was tabled, and it will not come off the table at this point in the term. House Bill 751 is in a committee of conference" (0:10:22); a vote on June 4 (0:10:54); "there's a pretty strong consensus that open enrollment is not good for Claremont." (0:11:45). A bill she filed at Whitney's request to send state fiscal reports to board members "is passed both chambers" (0:12:14, 0:12:50). | |
| 0:13:52 | Charter-school funding | Whitney asks about a charter school opening in Newport. Damon: "the sending or the district of residence doesn't receive adequacy aid for that student"; the charter's funding is "around $10,000 per student per year." (0:14:22); it "comes from the education trust fund of the state" (0:15:24); "Claremont would still be responsible for any special education costs" (0:15:59). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:16:28 | Truancy and attendance | Since his rehire in December the attendance officer "has made over 300 home visits" and over 700 since March 2025; "Currently, we're at just over 5% of our population who are considered truant." (0:16:59). The special-education parent council's last meeting of the year (0:17:19). | |
| 0:18:18 | Acting principals; departures | Acting CMS principal and assistant principal named; "Mr. Blunt is not going to be with us for the rest of the year" at Maple Avenue, and the assistant principal steps up (0:18:52); two staff departures on Friday (0:19:19). | |
| 0:21:05 | Staffing for the fall | Whitney asks for "a very clear staffing map" by school, net vacancies after the reconfiguration, and "what is our floor to open school and be 306 requirements?" (0:22:41, 0:23:15). The chair's count for CMS: of six English and six math positions, three openings each; social studies and science two of three each (0:25:09, 0:25:47). Whitney: Claremont has entered years with "anywhere between 30 and 5050% attrition rate" (0:26:33). Rapp: "Posted don't necessarily have to hire." (0:28:34). Kennedy: openings: "They're currently only posted internally." because "according to the CBA. We have to post them internally first before we post them externally." (0:30:54, 0:30:56); external posting "tomorrow" (0:31:47). Lavalette: "I'm less concerned with the vacancies and more concerned with the quality." (0:29:26). | |
| 0:32:20 | Finance report | Inflation 3.3% in March and 3.8% in April. "Our cash balance as of the evening of May 7th at the bank was $5,905,486." (0:32:47); the city remits taxes on a schedule under "RSA 194, section five through seven." (0:33:27). Of the $5 million deficit, "I'm estimating what's remaining of that $5 million to be approximately $1 million." (0:34:24). Revenues through April $37,336,000 with $2,378,000 (5.99%) to collect; expenditures $27,806,000; encumbrances $11,907,000; $4,265,000 (10.74%) remaining (0:34:58). Student services cut purchase orders to offset out-of-district placements (0:35:33). About ten hours of audit work left before the auditors' next list (0:36:25). | |
| 0:36:44 | Surplus property | The charter school that viewed Bluff chose a Newport property. Masonic Temple carrying cost "$438,354": purchase about $255,000, closing $3,755, and "improvements made to the property for just over $160,000" including a ramp, fire alarm and sprinklers, with "unpaid architectural fees for 18,900. And we're right now reviewing whether that architect wants to be paid or not." (0:37:13). The chair: "the board voted to spend 50,000 for that. And how could more money be expended than we authorized?" (0:38:05); Angell: "I wasn't here to control that." (0:38:31). Rapp says a contractor told him money "set aside for building maintenance" was used (0:39:05). Angell: Bluff is assessed at over $3 million but will sell "for much, much less" (0:40:55); "I don't think you're going to get $438,000 for the Masonic Temple." (0:41:58). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:42:15 | How big was the inherited deficit? | Whitney lists "unexpected invoices of over 900,000 that came in that weren't on the ledger", an "$800,000 assessment from school care that we weren't expecting", and "roughly $800,000 a year" in health payments "for employees that were no longer on the rolls" (0:42:48, 0:43:07). Angell: "the deficit could have been bigger because of some of the surprise invoices" but it was absorbed in the same appropriation (0:44:36). | |
| 0:45:02 | The former superintendent's mentor stipend | Lavalette: a constituent asked whether the "Christopher Pratt that's listed there says SRV RTC mentor $20,000" is the superintendent "and who approved it." The chair: a first-year stipend to mentor the tech-center director and carry the certification was approved, "I thought it was 10,000, but it could have been 20,000." (0:45:34); the second year "was actively not approved" (0:46:14). The packet's stipend sheet lists "SRVRTC Mentor" at 10,000 for him, with the approval column blank. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:47:13 | Broadrick's report | A four-year uniform replacement cycle including Unified teams (0:47:51); the State Board granted the waiver: "we did receive the waiver." (0:48:55). Maple and Disnard students finish Thursday, June 11; CMS and Stevens Friday, June 12; a teacher work day Monday, June 15 (0:49:25 to 0:49:35). His written report records the State Board vote as 6-1. Graduation June 11 at 6 p.m. (0:50:25). | |
| 0:50:50 | Eighth-grade trip | "It's out of state travel, and the board needs to take action proactively to approve this trip." (0:51:25). Carried. | |
| 0:52:26 | Student transportation | Two bids, Butler and First Student; when the district's own figure did not compare, "I found out that special education costs were buried in the regular Ed, calculation." (0:53:19). Totals: district "$1,971,619", Butler "$2,011,500", First Student regular education only (0:53:51). "Right now there are about 20 people who order transportation." (0:54:21); seven special-education providers to be consolidated (0:54:56, 1:13:42). A McKinney-Vento route costs "$110,000 for a student" (1:07:50); Angell paid $54,000 in his last district (1:12:35). "You have to do this anyways for state reporting, because we need to be accurately reporting our special education costs and we're not." (1:08:37); "that accounting is wrong." (1:09:23). | MEDIUM |
| 0:59:18 | Bus-driver pay | Lavalette compares a teacher's top step for next year (73,627) with "Last year we paid a bus driver 7480375" (0:59:18); "it's hard for me to swallow paying a full time bus driver higher than the top step" (0:59:46). The chair: drivers became full-time during Covid (1:00:22). | |
| 1:14:32 | Food service | Fresh Picks, "owned by an equity firm called Watson's" (1:14:32); the state required a rebid because of the Bluff closure (1:15:01); six known providers were solicited and "our current provider was our only company that provided a proposal." (1:15:51). The food-service fund "is in deficit for 560,000", this year's operating deficit $130,000 (1:18:55). Howard: "it's really sad that this was like our one of our only options." (1:20:10); Angell: "I think our deficit position scared away that one vendor." (1:20:25). | MEDIUM |
| 1:21:04 | School photos | Three quotes; all use the same photographers and two use Shutterfly, which owns Lifetouch (1:21:53). Each school receives "a commission check, and that check goes into a principals fund" (1:22:31); "It doesn't go through the operating budget. It actually goes into like the student activity fund." (1:24:06). Lifetouch scored 87, Barksdale 77, the third 69 (1:22:43). Howard: "They are all owned by Apollo Global Management." (1:25:17). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:25:58 | Broker RFQ; nonpublic session | An RFQ to select a commercial broker; commission to come from the proposals (1:26:35). Nonpublic session on the sale under II(d); after return, Rapp: "To seal for six months." (1:28:43); roll call, all yes (1:28:54). No reason for the seal is stated. | MEDIUM |
| 1:31:33 | Communications subcommittee dissolved | Howard: "I don't really know what the function of it should be." (1:31:42). Whitney asks that the minutes show "the board agrees that Mr. Howard can speak on behalf of the board" (1:34:25). Carried. | |
| 1:35:35 | Policies adopted at first presentation | FA (facilities planning), brought back from May 6, adopted (1:37:24); IHBH (extended learning) "a revision" adopted (1:39:46); IHCD (advanced courses, grade nine allowed with principal approval) adopted (1:40:18, 1:42:14); JLCJA, missing for years, moved for adoption (1:43:46). Rapp: "So don't we have to send it to second reading?" (1:44:28); Lavalette: "If so, we violated it a million times. Right?" (1:45:02); "And according to our lawyer, we don't need policies. Right." (1:45:33). Hawkins: "Technically, Brian, you're absolutely correct. Two reads to adoption." (1:46:09). Howard reads policy BGAA's clause on "unusual or unexpected urgency" and that "the meeting minutes to reflect the nature of circumstances." (1:48:36). Rapp: "You're giving an excuse to just steamroll over." (1:50:14); "I did not catch the right to adopt it. I thought it was first reading." (1:54:11). Adopted 6-1. | MEDIUM |
| 1:55:34 | No superintendent evaluation | The chair: "we will not be doing a, an evaluation of Miss Kennedy" this year; the goal "was to survive" (1:56:07). | |
| 1:58:52 | Future dates | "So we're saying July 21st, so July 21st will be the only meeting in July for the board." (1:59:25). | |
| 2:00:22 | Future agenda items | Lavalette: an overview of the Academy after the concerns raised May 6; district cell phones; whether sports are cut; "what's the chain of custody for the money" in team fundraising (2:01:24); exit interviews for families who leave (2:01:49). Whitney asks whether any BCBA, behavior-technician or certified positions were eliminated (2:02:37). | |
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 May 20, 2026, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM The food-service contract was approved for a two-year term; federal rules cap the term at one year with up to four renewals
Asked the term, the business administrator said "it's going to be a two year contract with three when you're, you know, all periods" (1:16:44; the ASR's three when you're is evidently three one-year), and the minutes record Howard's motion "to approve the contract with Fresh Picks for 2 years with 3 one year continuations", carried 6-1 (1:20:41). For a school food authority contracting with a food service management company, 7 CFR 210.16(d) provides that the contract "shall be of a duration of no longer than 1 year" and that renewal options "may not exceed 4 additional years". The five-year total matches; the two-year first term does not. The contract documents in the packet's sub-folder were not opened, so the signed instrument may use a compliant one-year term; the motion as minuted does not. The single proposal followed a solicitation of six providers and a statewide notice (1:15:18).
Sources: 7 CFR 210.16(d) (one-year term; renewals not exceeding four years; last amended 88 FR 57845, Aug. 23, 2023); 5.20.26 approved minutes
MEDIUM Property-sale nonpublic minutes sealed for six months with no statutory finding stated
The board met in nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(d) on the sale of property and, on return, voted by roll call "To seal for six months." (1:28:43, 1:28:54); the minutes record "Minutes sealed until November 20, 2026". RSA 91-A:3, III permits withholding beyond 72 hours only by a recorded two-thirds vote in public session and only where disclosure would likely affect a person's reputation, "render the proposed action ineffective", or pertain to terrorism. For a pending sale the second ground is the natural one, but neither the motion nor the minutes states it. The same gap appears in the May 6 seal. Graded MEDIUM as a documentation gap under a binding rule.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, II(d) and III (property exemption; sealing requires a 2/3 recorded vote and a stated basis)
MEDIUM Three policies adopted at their first presentation and a fourth over objection, without the minutes recording the urgency the board's own policy requires
IHBH and IHCD were adopted the first time they came to the board, FA two weeks after a withdrawn tabling motion, and JLCJA on first reading over Rapp's objection (1:39:46, 1:42:14, 1:37:24, 1:54:28). Rapp said he did not realize earlier motions were for adoption (1:54:11); the former policy chair said "Technically, Brian, you're absolutely correct. Two reads to adoption." (1:46:09). Howard read the waiver clause of the board's policy-adoption policy (named on tape as BGA and BGAA): for "unusual or unexpected urgency" the board may waive the second-meeting limitation, and "the meeting minutes to reflect the nature of circumstances." (1:48:36). The minutes record Howard's view that JLCJA was an emergency "because there has not been a policy"; they record no circumstances for FA, IHBH or IHCD, and they name the governing policy as BGEA in an unfinished sentence. Howard also said the policy calls for public comment on proposals, which skipping the second reading forecloses (1:47:11). This is a board rule, not a statute, so the grade is MEDIUM at most.
Sources: 5.20.26 approved minutes (policy votes); Claremont School Board policy BGAA, waiver clause as read aloud at 1:48:36
MEDIUM Special-education transportation has been booked as regular education, so the district says its special-education cost reporting is wrong
The staff report states: "I investigated how we are budgeting and found that our accounting for student transportation is not accurate. The regular education line includes both regular education and special education." Its table shows $1,730,019.46 for regular and $241,600.00 for special education, while Butler priced the special-education work at $1,017,000. On tape Angell said "we need to be accurately reporting our special education costs and we're not." (1:08:37) and that segregating the costs in the general ledger is summer work (1:06:30). The NH Financial Accounting Handbook's chart of accounts separates these costs by function, and district special-education expenditures feed state reporting, including catastrophic-aid claims under RSA 186-C:18. Graded MEDIUM because the Handbook ranks as "other guidance" under Rev 1102.03; the total transportation figure is said to be right (1:09:32). The minutes also record the bus vote as unanimous although Lavalette announced a No (see flag 8).
Sources: Staff Report - Award of Student Transportation (May 15, 2026); NH Financial Accounting Handbook (chart of accounts); Rev 1102.03 (Handbook as other guidance); RSA 186-C:18 (special-education aid)
OBSERVATION Masonic Temple improvements ran to about three times what the chair says the board authorized, with $18,900 in architect fees unpaid
The chair said the board voted $50,000 for improvements and about $150,000 was spent: "how could more money be expended than we authorized?" (0:38:05); Angell put improvements at "just over $160,000" with "unpaid architectural fees for 18,900" whose payment is under review (0:37:13). Rapp relayed a contractor's statement that building-maintenance money was set aside (0:39:05). RSA 32:8 bars a school board from paying or agreeing to pay money "for any purpose for which no appropriation has been made"; if the work was charged to an appropriated maintenance line, that statute may not be breached even though the board's own authorization was exceeded. The record does not show which accounts paid, who approved the excess, or when. An unpaid bill for services received is a liability whether or not the architect presses it.
Sources: RSA 32:8 (no expenditure without an appropriation; 1993, 332:1), gc.nh.gov; GASB 34, ¶79 (modified accrual)
OBSERVATION A stipend to the former superintendent as tech-center mentor: $10,000 on the district's sheet, $20,000 per a constituent, and no approval for the second year
The packet's Copy of Stipends for SB meeting.xlsx lists "PRATT, CHRISTOPHER A" with "SRVRTC Mentor" at 10000 and nothing in its "How it was approved" column. Lavalette relayed a figure of $20,000 from another document (0:45:02). The chair said a first-year stipend was approved for mentoring the director while she held a provisional license, "I thought it was 10,000, but it could have been 20,000", and that the second year "was actively not approved" (0:45:34, 0:46:14); the minutes say it "is being looked into". RSA 197:23-a allows the treasurer to pay only on orders of the board or of members it empowers. Whether a second-year payment was made, and on what order, is not in this record.
Sources: Copy of Stipends for SB meeting.xlsx; RSA 197:23-a (payment only on board orders)
OBSERVATION Photo-vendor commissions go to principals' funds outside the operating budget
Angell said each school's commission check "goes into a principals fund" used for students' boots, hats and gloves, and "It doesn't go through the operating budget. It actually goes into like the student activity fund." (1:22:31, 1:24:06). Under GASB 84, activity the district controls is governmental, not fiduciary, so these receipts belong in the district's financial statements even when they bypass the budget. The minutes list the "Closure of Bluff School Student Activity Funds" for June, and Lavalette asked about the "chain of custody" for team fundraising (2:01:24). Nothing here shows an error; the audit's treatment of these funds would.
Sources: GASB 84 (fiduciary activities; district-controlled student activity funds are generally not fiduciary)
OBSERVATION The minutes record a unanimous bus vote after a member announced he would vote no, and differ from the recording on two seconders and a date
Lavalette said "I'm going to vote. No." during the bus motion (1:05:39); the minutes record "Voice vote taken, all present voting in favor" (1:14:12 for the vote). On tape Lavalette seconds the May 6 minutes (0:02:41) and the seal (1:28:46); the minutes name Petrin for both. The minutes date the teacher work day "Monday June 13"; Broadrick's report and the chair say Monday, June 15 (0:49:35). RSA 91-A:2, II requires the names of the members who made or seconded each motion; a misnamed seconder is a defect in that element. The board approved these minutes later; the recording is the better source on these points.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (movers and seconders recorded; as amended 2025, 112:1); Claremont Board Report - May 21 2026.pdf
OBSERVATION The state representative's account of charter-school funding matches the statute
Asked by Whitney about a charter school opening in Newport, Representative Damon said the resident district does not receive adequacy aid for a student who enrolls there, that the charter's per-pupil funding comes from the education trust fund, and that Claremont "would still be responsible for any special education costs" (0:14:22, 0:15:24, 0:15:59). RSA 194-B:11 provides that the State pays a state-authorized chartered public school adequacy under RSA 198:40-a "plus an additional grant of $4,900", and that the "resident district shall have the responsibility, including financial responsibility" for special education in the child's IEP. Her "around $10,000" is an approximation the statute's per-pupil components can produce; it is not a statutory figure.
Sources: RSA 194-B:11 (chartered public school funding; resident district's special-education responsibility; note ends 2025, 141:81, 82, eff. July 1, 2025)
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/17373 SchoolBoard052026.mp4.CSV (852 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/17373 SchoolBoard052026.mp4Input/Transcripts/17373 SchoolBoard052026.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 303
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II (as amended 2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025): minutes contents, movers and seconders
- RSA 91-A:3, II(d), III (note ends 2023, 189:1): property exemption and sealing
- RSA 32:8: no expenditure without an appropriation
- RSA 197:23-a: payment on board orders
- RSA 186-C:18: special-education aid
- RSA 194-B:11: chartered public school funding
- 7 CFR 210.16(d): food service management company contract term
- Rev 1102.03 and the NH Financial Accounting Handbook
- GASB 34, ¶79; GASB 84
- District rules: Policy BGAA (policy adoption, as read aloud); Policy BEDH (cited on the agenda).