Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part. Names follow the project's dialogue file and its per-meeting attribution report; no minutes exist online to check spellings against. Where the recording gives only a first name, the page does too, and surnames that come only from the project roster are marked. No citizens' comment period is on the recording.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Richard Seaman | Chair | Presided. Addressed only as Richard on this recording; the surname comes from the project roster (medium confidence). Pressed for clarity on grading and transcripts, asked for the cost of field lights, walked the board through the warrant articles and read each aloud, and argued against the petitioned tax cap. |
| Rebecca (Becky) Ferland | Board member | Questioned diploma credit tables and the loss of the library paraprofessional; voted no on the first budget motion and explained why (1:55:43); moved not to recommend the tax cap; asked to be excused from the February 4 deliberative session. |
| Bob | Board member | First name only on this recording (surname unverified; the 3/4/15 roll call is heard as Robert Peacock). Said he served on the city council around 2008-2009. Challenged the early childhood program as a subsidized business; voted no on the first budget motion and opposed the bus article; moved most warrant articles and policies. |
| John | Board member | First name only; surname not on record. Asked about community service hours, electives and night-game lights; seconded the first budget motion; asked for a legal opinion on whether every bargaining unit's cost items can go on separate warrant articles. |
| Brian Rapp | Board member | First name on the recording; surname from the project roster (medium confidence). Moved the first budget motion; raised whether acting on the bus drop-off policy would disregard a resident's hearing request. Seat on the March 2015 ballot. |
| Richard (surname unverified) | Board member | A second member named Richard, recognized by the chair. The dialogue file labels him Richard Madigan, a surname heard only once, in an ASR rendering on the 3/4/15 recording; treat it as unverified. Voted no on the first budget motion, then said he misunderstood the grant funds (1:54:45) and moved the second, successful motion. Seat on the March 2015 ballot. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Presented the strategic restructuring list and the budget "$14,516 less than the current fiscal year"; introduced the restraint and seclusion policy and a resident's hearing request under what he called EDI 204.01. |
| Cory LeClair | SAU 6 administrator | Title not stated on this recording. Reported on the reporting-student-achievement steering committee, the early childhood program's finances and athletics reductions. |
| Michael O'Neill | Business Administrator, SAU 6 | Explained revenue offsets, fund balance, the composition of the $33,959,382 warrant figure and a DRA form that printed doubled numbers; gave the default budget figure. |
| Patricia Barry | Principal, Stevens High School | Addressed as Pat; surname from the project roster (medium confidence). Presented the 2015-16 program of studies and agreed to return it for approval on February 4. |
| Michelle Johnson | Director, early childhood education program, SRVRTC | Answered enrollment questions (24 children, 2 to 3 year waiting list). |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk / recording secretary | Addressed as Mary; surname from the project roster. Called the roll votes and answered procedural questions on readings. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted in any district share, so this list is reconstructed from the chair's transitions on the recording. The chair refers to "the public's agenda" and the superintendent to the "Second page of your tonight's agenda", so a written agenda existed. Items before the program-of-studies presentation are not on the recording. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:00 | Stevens High School program of studies 2015-16 | Discussion. Approval deferred to the February 4 meeting so corrections could be made (0:49:35). |
| 0:50:02 | Early childhood education program update | Informational; no vote. |
| 1:14:04 | 2015-16 strategic restructuring recommendations | Draft eight of the reduction and addition list; informational. |
| 1:37:41 | FY2015-16 budget | First motion (Brian, second John) to approve $33,959,382 failed on a roll call whose tally is not audible. Second motion (Richard; second attributed by the chair to Brian) passed on a roll call at 2:11:01. |
| 2:11:49 | Warrant articles 3 to 8 | Recommended by voice vote: paraprofessionals' cost items $92,370 (one abstention), security upgrades $101,000, bus $95,000 (Bob opposed), Disnard roof $100,000, new building repairs and maintenance expendable trust. Petitioned tax cap (article 8): voted "not recommend". |
| 2:22:00 | Default budget | Figure stated by the business administrator; no vote. |
| 2:22:59 | Gift: winter jackets from Mill Travel | Accepted (moved Richard, second Brian), voice vote. |
| 2:24:49 | Policy JKAA, restraint and seclusion | Passed on second reading (motion Bob, second Brian); returns for third reading. |
| 2:26:56 | Transportation policy (bus drop-off) | Superintendent asked the board to pause pending a resident's hearing request; passed on second reading (motion Bob, second John). |
| 2:34:05 | Transportation procedures for bus accidents | Passed on second reading by voice vote. |
| 2:35:24 | Other business; adjournment | Ferland excused from the February 4 deliberative session; seats on the March 10 ballot noted; adjourned by voice vote. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, taken from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:00 | Program of studies | The recording opens mid-sentence as Barry walks through the redesigned document: career and college tracks condensed "into these two, four, six, seven boxes", a transition toward a 4x4 block schedule, a college-preparatory English sequence, and new courses including forensic science. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:08:43 | Diploma credits; library staffing | Ferland found the diploma tables inconsistent (credit counts that do not add to 27), which Barry accepted. On the library media center, Ferland: "I believe that there needs to be a para in that library media center." Barry: the description "was written by Jane prior to the budget as it currently stands" and would need revisiting if the paraprofessional position is cut. | |
| 0:17:53 | Community service hours | Members debated when students should complete community service; Brian: "Why don't we make it 24 sophomore year?" The chair asked Barry to revisit it. | |
| 0:25:21 | Grading, transcripts, perception | The chair asked how competency grading is explained to colleges. LeClair reported that a steering committee has a draft reporting-student-achievement document, targeting final approval in March. Brian said an outside listing of the district was wrong because "they list the average teacher salary at $70,000 a year"; Richard: "It's only 68." The superintendent argued for a part-time communications effort. | |
| 0:49:00 | Program of studies: timing | Barry offered to correct the diploma requirements and circulate the document electronically. The chair: "Can it wait till the fourth for a final approval?" Barry: "It can. I'd rather get it right." | |
| 0:50:02 | Early childhood education program | LeClair: the early childhood program "is running approximately cost to neutral", excluding heat, space and maintenance because "they are housed in this building"; projected FY15 revenue "roughly around $186,000". She recommended adding two preschool slots (18 to 20) for about $17,000 more revenue. | |
| 0:59:03 | Is the program a business? | Bob: "You're saying we're actually running the business out of the Claremont School District?" and later "we're running a business and taxpayers are subsidizing that". Brian answered that the figures show "The taxpayers aren't subsidizing it even when it's running in the summer." Johnson reported 24 children and a waiting list "2 to 3 years long". | |
| 1:11:29 | Program budget vs revenue | Bob: "it says it's budgeted for 344,487" against revenue of "Only 186,000. That leaves a deficit of 158,000." LeClair said budget lines had been inaccurate and that removing the high school teacher's position explains most of the gap; she said many such lines have been cleaned up for FY16. | |
| 1:14:04 | Strategic restructuring, draft eight | Superintendent: the recommended FY2015-16 budget "at this day is $14,516 less than the current fiscal year", while implementing full-day kindergarten; "This can't be an annual event, not of this magnitude." LeClair described athletics reductions (a JV program folded into varsity; $10,000 for field lights). The chair asked to confirm the city's lighting charge (discussed as $110 an hour). | |
| 1:27:22 | Revenue and tax impact | O'Neill: a $250,000 FY15 fund balance return is assumed; the "tax rate impact is proposed to be $0.55 on the operating budget"; increased adequacy aid helps. The superintendent put the FY16 adequacy increase at "$444,000". | |
| 1:33:50 | Outsourcing RFPs | Bid opening for maintenance/custodial, food service and transportation was moved to January 30; one custodial response in hand. John urged care because the employees affected have "dedicated the majority of their careers" to the district. | |
| 1:37:41 | Budget motion: what number? | The chair first stated the motion as "$31,094,382". O'Neill explained that the warrant figure adds food service ($650,000) and grants ($2,215,000) to the general fund, giving "$33,959,382", and that the DRA's new form "said 65 million. Everything's doubled." He warned the board was "running against the post in January"; the superintendent: "26th is when the last date of postal warrant." | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 1:49:15 | Separate articles for all unions? | John: "I would like a legal opinion" on whether every bargaining unit can be on a separate warrant article; "All employees should be treated equally if they're going to work for the school district." He said it would not affect this year. | POSITIVE |
| 1:50:28 | First budget roll call fails | "Motion made by Brian, seconded by John". Only Bob's No, no. is audible. The chair then asked the no voters to explain. Bob: the cuts do not go deep enough, with a tax rate "at $41 and something". The superintendent: "I've come in with a level funded budget 14,000 to the good." Richard: "Had I truly understood that, I probably would have voted the other way." Ferland: "I don't have a problem with the the 31,094,382" but objected to cutting "a para and a teacher". | OBSERVATION |
| 2:10:29 | Second budget motion passes | Richard: "That we accept the proposed budget as presented." The roll call is heard only as John's Yes. and an unidentified "Yes and yes." The chair: "what we've done here is put together a budget that will go in front of our voters." | OBSERVATION |
| 2:11:49 | Paraprofessional contract article | The chair read the article: "Shall the Claremont School District vote to approve the cost item included in the collective bargaining agreement reached between the Claremont School Board and the Claremont Association of Paraprofessionals", estimated increase $92,370 for 2015-16. Recommended on Bob's motion with one abstention. | POSITIVE |
| 2:13:51 | Security, bus, roof, trust | Security upgrades $101,000; bus $95,000 (Bob opposed); Disnard roof $100,000, where O'Neill said the earlier $137,000 estimate could be done for $100,000 or less and that he chose a lapsing article so savings return; a new building repairs and maintenance expendable trust "per RSA 19820-C" [198:20-c]. | POSITIVE |
| 2:19:03 | Petitioned tax cap (article 8) | The chair read it as adopting "the provisions of RSA 325 B" [32:5-b] with a cap of "more than 0% 3/5 majority vote is required", and argued it penalizes returning one-time revenue: "you're better off to keep it and spend it than you are to give it back". Ferland moved not to recommend; passed. | POSITIVE |
| 2:22:00 | Default budget | O'Neill gave the default figure in fragments the transcription renders as 30, 411 and 41138 50, and said it is "$160,000 higher". The exact figure cannot be recovered from the transcript. | |
| 2:22:59 | Gift of jackets | A thank-you note for "children's winter jackets valued at $560" donated for SAU families in transition was read and the gift accepted. | |
| 2:24:49 | Restraint and seclusion policy | Superintendent: "This is a, a new RSA, of September 2014." Passed on second reading; the clerk confirmed it comes back for a third. | POSITIVE |
| 2:26:56 | Resident's hearing request; bus drop-off policy | The superintendent said a resident had asked for a hearing "Per EDI 204.01" [Ed 204.01] and asked the board "to reconsider having further deliberation on the transportation policies" until then. The chair said he had invited the resident several times and asked "should we be putting off this kind of a safety measure". Brian: "I just want to make sure we're not doing something that we're not supposed to against statute." The policy passed on second reading. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:34:05 | Bus accident procedures | Superintendent said the protocol was checked with the ambulance company and "comes from the New Hampshire School Board Association". Passed on second reading. | |
| 2:35:24 | Deliberative session; election | Ferland asked to be excused from the February 4 deliberative session. The chair: "Brian, you're an open position. Richard is an open position and Andrew is with Justin on an interim basis. So there are three positions". The last clause is unclear in the transcript. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on January 21, 2015. Several provisions cited below were later amended, and each flag cites the text as it then read. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. 6 flags follow, ordered by severity.
OBSERVATION Two roll-call votes on the budget cannot be tallied from the recording
The first motion to send $33,959,382 to the voters was put to a roll call at 1:50:28; only Bob's No, no. is audible. From the explanations that follow, Bob, Richard and Becky Ferland voted no, and the motion did not carry. The second motion passed on a roll call at 2:11:01, of which only John's Yes. and an unidentified "Yes and yes." can be heard. So the public record available online cannot show how each member voted on the most important vote of the budget season. In 2015, RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to include "names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions"; the minutes, if located, would settle the tallies. The explanation round the chair invited after the failed vote is itself a good practice: each no voter said on the record why.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2015 codification; source note ends 2008, so in force in January 2015).
OBSERVATION Members were unsure what figure they were voting on, and the state form printed doubled numbers
The chair stated the motion at 1:38:00 as "$31,094,382", the general fund. The business administrator then explained that the warrant figure is "$33,959,382" once food service and grant funds are added (1:42:27 to 1:43:11), and that the Department of Revenue Administration's new form "said 65 million. Everything's doubled." (1:46:57); the chair clarified that the board was approving the proposed column, not the printed current-year figures. One member who voted no said afterwards that "Had I truly understood that, I probably would have voted the other way" (1:54:45). No rule is cited here; the point for a reader is that the amount on the ballot was settled only after a failed vote and a second explanation, and that a state form error was known the night the budget was adopted. Whether the form was corrected before posting is not in any available record.
Sources: No statute verified; this is an observation from the recording.
OBSERVATION The board advanced the bus drop-off policy while a resident's requested hearing on it was pending
At 2:26:56 the superintendent reported that a resident had asked to meet the board under EDI 204.01 (the transcript's rendering of the state board rule Ed 204.01), that the state education department's counsel said "the statute supports this", and asked the board to pause "further deliberation on the transportation policies". The chair said he had invited the resident "several times" to explain his concerns and that the policy extended a safety measure to second graders (2:29:39). Brian questioned whether proceeding would be "against statute" (2:32:22); the superintendent read the rule as requiring a hearing with the opportunity to appeal, not a halt. The board passed the policy on second reading, leaving a third reading, and the superintendent said he would schedule the hearing (2:33:43). The text of Ed 204.01 as it stood in January 2015 was not verified for this page, so what it required is the superintendent's characterization.
Sources: No rule text verified; Ed 204.01 is cited as the superintendent described it.
OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes are posted online, and the recording starts mid-meeting
MAP.md records that neither district Drive share holds anything before July 2022 (checked 9/26/26), so this page rests on the recording alone. That is a limit of what the district posts online, not by itself evidence that records were never made. The recording opens in the middle of the program-of-studies presentation (0:00:00), so the call to order, roll call, agenda approval, any minutes approval and any citizens' comments are missing from the public video as well. In 2015, RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting". The limb of the project's missing-records rule applied is the online-availability observation; nothing on the recording shows a statutory lapse.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2015 codification); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 1.
POSITIVE The budget and warrant were settled before the posting deadline, and every article, including the petitioned tax cap, got a public recommendation vote
The staff identified the posting deadline correctly on the record: "26th is when the last date of postal warrant" (1:40:51). In the SB 2 process then in force, RSA 40:13, II-a(d) required that "Warrants under RSA 39:5 and RSA 197:7 and budgets shall be posted and copies available to the general public on or before the last Monday in January", which in 2015 was January 26. The board adopted its budget five days ahead. It then read each warrant article aloud and voted its recommendation separately (2:11:49 onward). The paraprofessional article was framed, as RSA 273-A:3, II(b) contemplates, as approval of "the cost item included in the collective bargaining agreement", and a member asked for a legal opinion so that all units would be treated alike (1:49:15). The petitioned article to adopt a local tax cap under RSA 32:5-b was debated in public and voted "not recommend" rather than passed over. Reading articles aloud and recording a position on each lets voters see the board's reasoning before the deliberative session.
Sources: RSA 40:13, II-a(d) (text in force from Sept. 9, 2014 until the 2018 amendments); RSA 273-A:3, II(b) (cost items to the legislative body; unamended since 2013); RSA 32:5-b (local tax cap; 2015 codification, source note ends 2013).
POSITIVE The board took up a restraint and seclusion policy to implement the 2014 amendments, though it was still on second reading four months after they took effect
The superintendent presented policy JKAA as implementing "a new RSA, of September 2014" (2:24:49). RSA 126-U:2, as amended by 2014 N.H. Laws ch. 324, effective September 30, 2014, requires that "Each facility and school shall have a written policy and procedures for managing the behavior of children" describing how and when seclusion or restraint is used; the seclusion limits in RSA 126-U:5-a took effect the same day. The board passed the policy on second reading, and the clerk confirmed a third reading would follow (2:26:37). Adopting a policy modeled on the statute is the right step. The timing caveat is that on January 21, 2015 the district's policy was not yet adopted, almost four months after the requirement took effect; whether an earlier policy covered the ground is not in any available record.
Sources: RSA 126-U:2 (2015 codification; source note "2014, 324:4, eff. Sept. 30, 2014"); RSA 126-U:5-a (seclusion; eff. Sept. 30, 2014).
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 7313, "CLAREMONT SCHOOL BOARD 1/21": Claremont Community TV. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- No Drive material: neither the Claremont nor the SAU 6 share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (MAP.md, checked 9/26/26). No agenda, packet, warrant, budget form, policy text or minutes were located.
- Related page: March 4, 2015 (the next recorded meeting).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/7313 SchoolBoard012115.mp4.CSV (915 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/7313 SchoolBoard012115.mp4Input/Transcripts/7313 SchoolBoard012115.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/7313 SchoolBoard012115.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 1
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on January 21, 2015. RSA 91-A:2, II (notice and minutes; 2015 codification). RSA 40:13, II-a(d) (SB 2 posting deadline; text in force Sept. 9, 2014 to 2018). RSA 273-A:3, II(b) (cost items to the legislative body). RSA 32:5-b (local tax cap). RSA 126-U:2 and RSA 126-U:5-a (restraint and seclusion; 2014 amendments).
- Administrative rule named on the recording, not verified. Ed 204.01 (as described by the superintendent).