Claremont School Board, March 4, 2015 | Tuition rates and the Stevens renovation

Participants

Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Names follow the project roster where the recording gives only a first name; where a surname rests on the roster or a single transcribed mention, the participation cell says so. There are no minutes to check spellings against.
Name	Role	Participation
Richard Seaman	Chair	Calls the meeting to order and runs every item. The superintendent answers his question with "if I may, Richard" (0:30:50). He says he has been on the board "going on seven years" (0:55:03) and describes busing "in our districts" in Vermont, from Bridgewater to Woodstock (0:46:11). Surname from the project roster, which records Seaman as chair in 2015. Directs that renovation payments be held until March 18.
Rebecca (Becky) Ferland	Member	Addressed as Becky (0:49:47, 1:20:34); surname from the project roster. Moves approval of the February 18 minutes, argues that Cornish and Unity students should be recruited to Stevens, thanks the renovation team, and agrees to serve on the ribbon-cutting committee.
Richard (surname transcribed "Madigan")	Member	Recognized as Richard by the chair (0:18:03, 1:16:19). Neal Ward refers to "Richard Madigan" (1:07:16), the only surname heard; the spelling is unverified. Says he has served a one-year term and is running again (1:03:29). Seconds the resignation acceptance and opposes paying the contractor before the work is finished.
Bob (Robert; surname not established)	Member	Addressed as Bob and Robert (0:52:12, 1:37:31). The one audible roll-call name is transcribed "Robert Peacock" (0:00:13); the spelling is unverified and this page does not adopt it. Abstains on the February 18 minutes, moves acceptance of the principal's resignation, and asks for mailed packets and monthly financial statements.
John (surname not established)	Member	Recognized as John (0:26:00). Points out that the field-trip request is not on the agenda, questions the food-service allocation in the tuition calculation, proposes busing tuition students from Unity, and says he served on the renovation oversight committee.
Middleton McGoodwin	Superintendent, SAU 6	Superintendent's report: the March 2015 annual report, a communications meeting with a real-estate agent and the city manager, and educator-effectiveness work under the federal ESEA flexibility waiver. Proposes lowering the tuition rate and presents the Bluff principal search timeline.
Michael O'Neill	Business administrator	Introduced as "Michael Neil" (0:21:27); spelling follows the project roster and is unverified. Presents the tuition calculations and enrollment history.
Cory LeClair	SAU 6 administrator (title not stated on this recording)	The chair refers to "after Corey raises her question" (1:20:34). Reports that a neighboring superintendent said its students do not come to Claremont because of the tuition, and asks about the punch-list dates.
Mary Woodman	Clerk (recording secretary)	Asked to take the roll (0:00:01); name from the project roster.
David Putnam	Ward 2 resident; former board member; presents the renovation reports	Self-identified, "Ward two" (0:15:26). Speaks in citizens' comments to endorse Neal Ward, recalls the board's earlier tuition work and a former agreement with Unity, and presents the renovation status: "We have a remaining balance of $534,588.38."
Neal Ward	Citizens' comments, Ward 1; school board candidate	"My name is Neal Ward. Live in Ward one." (0:12:20). A retired dentist, he describes his family's history and his commitment to public education, and speaks again in the candidate introductions.
Student, Stevens High School Youth and Government Club	Citizens' comments	Asks permission on behalf of the club's advisors to take the delegation to the YMCA Youth and Government program in Concord, April 10-11. The self-introduction is transcribed in a form that cannot be relied on, so no name is printed here.
Unidentified	Various	60 of 563 dialogue rows (10.7%) are short fragments, aye votes and crosstalk.

Order of business (reconstructed)

No agenda survives. The chair says "We do have an agenda that was sent out" (0:00:47); the items below are reconstructed from his transitions.
Taken up	Item	What was said and done
0:00:01	Call to order and roll call	"Mary, can we do roll call?" Only one name is audible. The chair reports one expected absence.
0:00:47	Agenda	"No motion to approve the agenda as presented. Second." (unidentified voice; the motion is evidently to approve). Voice vote; the transcript then reads "One opposed. And that will be our work." which may be the chair's call for opposition. No dissent is otherwise heard.
0:01:02	Minutes of February 18	Ferland moves "To accept the minutes from your 18th?" (0:01:26); second by Richard (0:01:29). Voice vote; "Bob abstains." (0:01:38).
0:01:51	Important dates	Election Tuesday, March 10: Ward 3 votes at the school, Wards 1 and 2 at the middle school, polls 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
0:04:02	Student representative's report; superintendent's report	No student representative present. Superintendent's report follows.
0:12:02	Citizens' comments	Neal Ward, David Putnam, and a Stevens student asking approval of a field trip. The trip request is held for the March 18 agenda.
0:20:02	Action item: resignation acceptance	Bluff Elementary School principal. Bob: "I make a motion. We accept his resignation would be regrets." [with regret]; second by Richard; carried by voice vote.
0:21:18	Action item: Claremont School District tuition rates	Discussion only; the chair asks for a competitive analysis and tuition-student counts for March 18. No vote.
1:02:54	Discussion: school board candidates introduce themselves	Neal Ward and member Richard speak.
1:08:04	Stevens High School renovation update	Putnam's report; the chair directs that payments be held until a March 18 update. No motion.
1:27:38	Bluff Elementary School principal search timeline	Presented by the superintendent. No vote.
1:30:54	Claremont School District 2015-16 budget	Transcribed "Claremont School District 20 1516 budget". The superintendent proposes a short editorial on the budget. No vote.
1:33:09	Other business	Packets and financial statements; file formats.
1:37:22	Adjournment	"Can we get a motion to adjourn? No. Move. Thank you. And a second. Seconded by Robert. All in favor?"

Discussion timeline

Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording. Quotations are as transcribed; bracketed words are corrections, with the transcript's wording kept where the correction changes sense.

Chronological topics with the most concrete material first.
Time	Topic	What was said	Flags
0:01:51	Election and Vermont town meeting	The chair urges residents to vote on March 10 and describes attending Vermont town meetings "for the towns that are in my school district" the day before.
0:04:25	Superintendent: annual report and communications	The March 2015 annual report should go on the website as well as on paper. He met a real-estate agent and the city manager (transcribed "Guy Sanjay") on February 20 about regular releases of information, and says editorials carry "quite a bit of misinformation about our budget": "our budget next year is a little under $15,000 less than this year."
0:08:25	Educator effectiveness model	Administrators and the three districts' education associations met the NH Department of Education and NEA-NH to build "a educator effectiveness model in place, per the Elementary Secondary Education Act flexibility waiver", with a possible single document for the SAU and a pilot.
0:10:17	Reporting failures as well as successes	Richard asks that the communications plan cover what the district "failed at". The superintendent: "if you use data effectively, you're not embarrassed by it."
0:12:02	Citizens' comments: Neal Ward and David Putnam	Ward, a school board candidate and retired dentist, describes being "the first person in the history of my family to graduate from high school". Putnam, Ward 2: "So I am endorsing Neil".
0:16:08	Citizens' comments: Youth and Government trip	A student asks permission for the club's two-day mock legislature in Concord ("April 10th and 11th, not the fourth and the fifth"), chaperoned by two advisors and YMCA staff. The superintendent endorses it. John: "This isn't on the agenda." The chair: "why don't we look then to to put it on the agenda as an action item for the 18th of March", adding "We just need to properly worn [warn] it".	POS
0:20:16	Bluff principal resigns	The superintendent reports the resignation of the Bluff Elementary School principal, completing his second year, who is taking a position in the Lebanon School District. Accepted with regret.
0:22:00	Tuition calculation, full cost	O'Neill: the calculation "mirrors the Doe 25" [DOE-25]. FY2013-14 high-school expenditures of $11,469,913, less $1,058,263 of food service, tuitions, transportation and equipment, give adjusted costs of about $9,887,850; divided by an average daily membership of 528.31, "the actual per pupil cost for Stephens High School for 1314 came out to 18716."
0:23:44	Tuition calculation, adjusted	Removing one-to-one aides, prescribed special services, school-board and SAU costs (total reductions $2,530,646) and adding back field trips gives $16,995, "about a 9% reduction". O'Neill: "This is a model that I that I've used recently somewhere else". About 50% of the cost is local taxes, roughly $9,358 per pupil (0:28:31).
0:30:50	Why lower the rate	The superintendent: "Newport was 15,000. They dropped a 135." [to $13,500]. The aim is enrollment, not revenue: a lower rate could bring 10 to 15 students and over $100,000 at no cost to taxpayers. John proposes busing from Unity and warns of Cornish's withdrawal talk.
0:40:43	Talks with Unity before the board knew	The superintendent: "I started to have some initial discussions with the the Unity School District trying to plant the possibility of unity children coming to Stephens versus elsewhere", "without the Claremont School Board knowing". Later: "Well, I brought it up actually without without talking to any of you." (0:58:39).	OBS
0:41:55	A floor for the rate	The chair: Hanover charges 18,000; "9358, which is what our taxpayers are paying" is the floor, and "every dollar above it is offsetting a dollar of tax". O'Neill on separate rates for different districts: "I think you probably feasibly could. But, you know, I'm not sure that's a good idea."
0:54:01	A neighbor's cap	LeClair reports a call with the superintendent of a nearby district (transcribed "Leinster", probably Lempster): "our kids don't typically go to Claremont because our tuition is higher than what their rate is." She suggests surveying regional caps.
0:55:44	Capacity and fixed costs	Putnam: "You need to know when it begins to cost you money." O'Neill's enrollment figures: high-school average daily membership "In 0405, high school is at 696.9", 619.78 in 2009-10, 528 in 2013-14 (0:59:47); an earlier figure is transcribed both "25%" and "75%".
1:00:28	Tuition revenue and the bond	The chair: "we are receiving $630,000 of tuition. And that is basically a dollar on our tax rate." O'Neill gives the renovation bond payment as "895,000." John: "13,000 tuition rate. We need 68 students to pay for our bond."
1:02:54	Candidate introductions	Richard, running after "a one year term", cites the 1983 report A Nation at Risk ("far too much fluff in the curriculum") and proposes tracking Stevens graduates since 1995: "Let's tell those stories." Neal Ward adds that candidate questionnaires appeared in local papers.
1:11:18	Renovation money	Putnam reads the owner's representative's report: contract "just under $11 million", payments "just under 10,500,000", "We have a remaining balance of $534,588.38." About $104,000 of work remains, "99% done". The architect and representative "recommend paying the last request for 289,000 right now" but not releasing it "until after June 3rd 15" [Putnam later says "It's only three more days after the 15th", which fits March 15]. A 100% performance and payment bond backs the work.	OBS
1:16:50	Payment hold	Richard: "I'm not interested in giving them a dime until the project is the way I want it to be." The chair: "I'd like to hold any payments until we get an update at our board meeting on the 18th of March." Putnam: the contractor is "on schedule"; the original completion date was April (1:19:16).	OBS
1:23:47	Walk-through and celebration	LeClair suggests members tour the high school before March 18. Putnam proposes a four-to-six-person committee for a May open house, says the governor has agreed to attend, and asks Ferland to serve: "Sure."
1:27:43	Bluff principal search	A search committee of residents, staff and parents, with parent and faculty forums; the superintendent expects to introduce the new principal in the first week of May and says the in-house process "saves the district quite a bit of money not having a consultant".
1:30:57	Budget editorial	The superintendent plans a short editorial: "I believe there is a perception that the budget is out of control." He says the default budget is meant to be lower than the proposed budget and becomes larger after years of reductions.
1:33:09	Packets and financial statements	Bob asks for mailed packets and "once a month financial statement, which I only see twice since I've been on the board." O'Neill: "You normally do that the first Monday, the first meeting of the month." The chair: "I believe the last time that we received it consistently was when Alan was the business officer." Richard asks that all material come as PDF.	OBS

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 March 4, 2015, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.

MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting survive in any district share

MAP.md records no Drive material: the district's shares hold no year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023. The recording is the only public account of the tuition discussion, the renovation balance and the resignation vote. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force in 2015, required minutes including "names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions", "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting". This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the record mitigates the gap: the board approves its February 18 minutes on tape (0:01:02) and the chair says the agenda "was sent out" (0:00:47), so minutes and agendas were being produced. The 2015 statute required minutes to be open to inspection, not posted online. What is missing is any public copy now.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2015 codification; source note ends 2008, 303:4)

OBSERVATION The superintendent opened tuition talks with Unity before raising the idea with the board

In his own words, the superintendent began "some initial discussions with the the Unity School District" about Unity students attending Stevens "without the Claremont School Board knowing" (0:40:43), and "brought it up actually without without talking to any of you" (0:58:39). He presented the rate change to the board only after those contacts, and said he could not claim Unity's support. No rule verified for this page governs informal contacts of this kind, and he was candid about them on the record. A tuition rate, and any tuition agreement, is the board's decision; the record shows the board taking up the question afterward.

Sources: Cablecast: CLAREMONT SCHOOL BOARD 3/4; Dialogue/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4.CSV (rows 200 and 336)

OBSERVATION Hold on a $289,000 contractor payment was directed by the chair, not voted

The owner's representative and architect recommended approving the contractor's last payment request of $289,000 while holding its release (1:14:27). The chair then said "I'd like to hold any payments until we get an update at our board meeting on the 18th of March" (1:17:25). No motion was made and no vote taken, so the record does not show a board decision either to approve or to withhold the payment. With $534,588.38 left on a contract of just under $11 million, the hold was a real lever, as the chair himself said ("our leverage", 1:18:26). Whether the payment was approved, and when, would be in the March 18 minutes, which are not available.

Sources: Cablecast: CLAREMONT SCHOOL BOARD 3/4; Dialogue/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4.CSV (rows 405 to 433)

OBSERVATION Board members were not receiving regular financial statements

Bob said he had seen a monthly financial statement only twice since joining the board (1:33:09); the business administrator said the statements are "normally" presented at the first meeting of the month, and the chair said they last arrived consistently under a previous business officer (1:35:33). A board that sets a $33 million budget without regular expenditure reports has limited means to see overspending early. No statute verified for this page sets a monthly reporting duty, so this is an observation about oversight practice. The business administrator agreed to resume the reports.

Sources: Cablecast: CLAREMONT SCHOOL BOARD 3/4

POSITIVE A request made in public comment was held for a properly noticed agenda

When a student asked during citizens' comments for approval of a field trip, a member pointed out "This isn't on the agenda." (0:18:59) and the chair put it on the March 18 agenda as an action item (0:19:15), checking first that the April date allowed it. The 2015 Right-to-Know Law required notice of a meeting's time and place, not an itemized agenda, so the board went beyond the statutory minimum in declining to act on business the public had not been told about.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2015 codification: notice "of the time and place")

Appendix: source files

Official and public sources

Cablecast: CLAREMONT SCHOOL BOARD 3/4 (show 7408; run time from the Cablecast API not retrieved, the API returned 403 on 2026-10-02)
Google Drive: no packet folder, agenda or minutes. MAP.md: "neither share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (checked 9/26/26)." Not searched again for this page, per the run instructions for meetings with no Drive material.

Project files

Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.

Dialogue/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4.CSV (563 attributed rows; the basis of this page)
Input/Videos/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4
Input/Transcripts/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4.json
Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 2
Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/7408 SchoolBoard030415.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)

Laws and rules cited on this page

RSA 91-A:2, II, 2015 codification (source note ends 2008, 303:4, eff. July 1, 2008): notice of time and place, minutes content, five-business-day inspection