Participants
Everyone heard on the recording. Introductions are transcribed with garbled names; this page uses the project roster's spellings and keeps the transcribed form in the participation cell. Floor speakers are named as they introduced themselves. There are no minutes to check spellings against.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather (surname not stated) | Temporary moderator | Chosen by the meeting when the elected moderator did not arrive ("We'll have Heather sworn in", 0:01:42); sworn by the clerk. Reads the warrant and every article, runs each vote, and closes with her own view of the budget. Says she was "happy to step in for Tom" (1:31:01). |
| Matt Upton | School district attorney | Introduces himself as "Matthew up to the school district attorney" (0:04:40). Opens the meeting, proposes and conducts the election of a temporary moderator, and explains the purpose of the first session. |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk | Introduced as "Gary Woodland, Island School District clerk" (0:04:37). Records the mover's name and administers the moderator's oath. |
| Richard Seaman | Chair, Claremont School Board | "Richard Seaman, chairman of the school board" (0:04:24); the moderator later says "as Mr. Seeman spoke in favor" (0:51:14). Moves Articles 1, 2 and 6 and speaks for the budget ("my eighth budget") and for the background-check article. |
| Chris Irish | School board member | Introduced as "Chris Harris." (0:04:14). |
| Rebecca (Becky) Ferland | School board member | "Becky Furlan, school board member." (0:04:17). Seconds Articles 5 and 8, and moves and speaks for Article 7, security upgrades. |
| Brian Rapp | School board member | "Brian Rapid, school board member." (0:04:19). |
| Brent Ferland | School board member | His introduction is clipped (0:04:21); identified by the project's attribution report from his remarks. Speaks for the paraprofessionals' and secretaries' articles and says he sat at the secretaries' bargaining table. |
| John (surname not established) | School board member | Introduced as John. then "Naps, school board member." (0:04:22); the surname is unverified. Moves Article 4 and speaks for it as a negotiator, and speaks for Article 7. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Introduced as "McGowan, superintendent of schools." (0:04:27). Gives the budget presentation with the principals. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant superintendent, SAU 6 | "Corey LeClaire, assistant superintendent of schools." (0:04:29). Answers the question on Common Core costs. |
| Chris (surname as transcribed, Beso) | Director of special education, SAU 6 | "Chris Beso, director of special Ed." (0:04:32); spelling unverified. |
| Michael O'Neill | Director of business and finance | "Michael O'Neill, director of business and finance." (0:04:34). Explains the cost items of each agreement, the roofs and the expendable trust. |
| Dan Sherry | Principal, Maple Avenue School | "Good evening, Dan Sherry, principal, Maple Avenue School." (0:12:49). Presents grade 1, 2 and 4 math results. |
| Melissa Lewis | Principal, Disnard Elementary School | "I'm Melissa Lewis from the Desert Elementary School." [Disnard] (0:14:32). Presents kindergarten literacy results. |
| Paulette Fitzgerald | Principal, Claremont Middle School | Invited by name (0:22:26). Reports on intervention, discipline referrals and attendance. |
| Patricia (Pat) Barry | Principal, Stevens High School | Introduced as "Pat Berry." and "Principal of Stephens High School." (0:25:46). Reports PSAT and Accuplacer results and plans for a community service day. |
| Patrick Adrian | Voter | Moves the election of a temporary moderator; gives his name to the clerk, transcribed "Patrick. Adrian Woodward." (0:01:24). The project roster records him sworn to the school board on March 16, 2016, so he speaks here as a voter. |
| Charlene Lovett | Mayor of Claremont | Heard as "Charlene. Mayor." seconding the ground rules (0:07:36); speakers later thank "Mayor Leavitt" [Lovett] for work on the background-check bill. |
| Cynthia Howard | Floor speaker, Ward 2 | "Cynthia Howard." "Ward two." (0:51:31). Speaks against the operating budget and asks about Common Core costs and the expendable trust. |
| Jason Tatum | Floor speaker, Ward 2 | Transcribed "Jason T2 Ward." (0:55:57); surname from the project's attribution report, which relies on a later recording. A teacher in another district; speaks for the budget's summer curriculum work. |
| Liza Draper | Floor speaker, Ward 3 | "Liza Draper, and I am a resident of Ward three." (1:01:48). Speaks for the paraprofessionals' article. |
| West (as stated) | President, Claremont Association of Paraprofessionals | "My name is West and I am the president of the Claremont Associations of Paraprofessionals." (1:03:03). Whether West is a first name or surname is not clear. Speaks for Article 3. |
| Tracy Pope | Floor speaker, Ward 2 | "Tracy Pope, Ward two." (1:17:02). Asks what happens to the background-check money if the state bill passes; seconds adjournment. |
| John Cloutier | Floor speaker, Ward 1; state representative | Transcribed "Claudia Ward one" (1:18:21); says he serves "as one of Claremont's representatives in the New Hampshire House of Representatives". Spelling follows the project's attribution report. Speaks on HB 346 and SB 152. |
| David Putnam | Voter | Named by the moderator as the mover of adjournment (1:32:50). |
| Unidentified | Various | 97 of 466 dialogue rows (20.8%), mostly ayes, seconds and the Pledge. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No posted warrant or agenda survives online; the warrant was read aloud and the order below follows the recording. Each article was moved, seconded, debated and carried by voice vote to go to the ballot. No amendment was offered.
| Taken up | Item | What was said and done |
|---|
| 0:00:21 | Election of a temporary moderator | The district attorney proposes that "you folks who represent the district tonight elect a temporary moderator until such time as our moderator arrives." Patrick Adrian moves; seconded; carried by voice vote (0:01:33). The clerk administers an oath "until March 5th, 2016" (0:03:09). |
| 0:03:31 | Pledge of Allegiance and introductions | Board members and administrators introduce themselves. |
| 0:04:46 | Explanation of the session and ground rules | The attorney explains the first session; the moderator reads the rules (written amendments signed by mover and seconder, three-minute comments, Robert's Rules "as may be interpreted by the moderator"). Motion to accept the rules, seconded by the mayor; carried (0:07:47). |
| 0:07:52 | Minutes of the 2015 annual meeting | After a mix-up over the year: "Move to accept the minutes from the annual school District meeting of February 4th, 2015." Seconded; carried (0:08:37). |
| 0:08:46 | Budget presentation | Superintendent and four principals. |
| 0:42:40 | Reading of the warrant | Two sessions, dates and polling places; "The final vote of all warrant articles shall be conducted by the official ballot at the second session." |
| 0:44:19 | Article 1, election of officers | A moderator, clerk and treasurer for one-year terms; three board members, two for three years and one for one year. "Motion to approve article one." (Seaman); carried. |
| 0:45:01 | Article 2, operating budget | "totaling $34,131,283"; default budget "$34,422,886"; includes the administrators' cost item of $38,890. Moved by Seaman; speakers Seaman and O'Neill for, Cynthia Howard against, Jason Tatum for. "The ayes have it." (0:57:30), with nays heard. |
| 0:57:35 | Article 3, paraprofessionals' agreement | "$129,750 for the 20 1617 fiscal year". Speakers for: O'Neill, Brent Ferland, Liza Draper, the association president. Passes. (1:05:31). |
| 1:05:35 | Article 4, maintenance and custodial agreement | $9,109. Moved by John; O'Neill and John speak. Passes (1:09:34). |
| 1:09:42 | Article 5, secretaries' agreement | $9,803. Seconded by Becky Ferland; O'Neill and Brent Ferland speak. "Motion passes." (1:13:05). |
| 1:13:08 | Article 6, expanded background checks | $20,000. Moved by Seaman; Tracy Pope's question; John Cloutier on the legislation. "The vote passes." (1:21:38). |
| 1:21:41 | Article 7, security upgrades | "$121,000". Moved by Becky Ferland, seconded by Seaman; Ferland and John speak. Passes (1:24:43). |
| 1:24:43 | Article 8, Maple Avenue roof | "$100,000". Seconded by Becky Ferland; O'Neill speaks. "And it passes." (1:27:28). |
| 1:27:28 | Article 9, building repairs and maintenance expendable trust | "$100,000" added to the trust. Cynthia Howard's question; O'Neill answers. "And it passes." (1:31:01). |
| 1:31:01 | Closing remarks and adjournment | The moderator's closing statement; adjournment moved by David Putnam, seconded by Tracy Pope (1:32:50). |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/8162 SchoolBoardDeliberative020316.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. Wording from the warrant is the warrant as read aloud on the recording.
Chronological topics with the most concrete material first.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:21 | No moderator | The attorney: "We're in a bit of a dilemma right now." He cites "State law RSA 6716" as allowing the district "to elect a temporary officer" (the number as transcribed does not match a provision this page could verify) and asks the meeting to elect a temporary moderator. He then calls for the second, discussion and the vote himself. The moderator later says she was "happy to step in for Tom" (1:31:01). | MED |
| 0:04:46 | Purpose of the session | The attorney: "There are a number of articles here on the ballot tonight that cannot be amended, specifically those dealing with the collective bargaining agreements." The moderator's rules require amendments in writing and limit comments to three minutes. | |
| 0:09:09 | Superintendent's opening | "school budgets are much more than just numbers". He presents results as the measure of the budget and invites the principals forward. | |
| 0:12:49 | Elementary results | Sherry describes pre-assessment, targeted instruction and post-assessment in about three weeks as part of the school's work with the state as a focus school; first graders scored 98% combined on place-value skills, and "The consultant has never seen numbers like that out of first graders so early on". Lewis: kindergartners meeting the literacy benchmark rose from "41% of our kindergartners at the beginning of the year" to "72% of our kindergartners have met benchmarks." at midyear. | |
| 0:22:54 | Middle school | Fitzgerald: a daily 45-minute intervention block; "93% of our sixth graders had no discipline referrals" in the first half of the year; weekly attendance reviews. | |
| 0:25:59 | High school | Barry: the juniors' PSAT mean "was 1074, which is higher than both the state and the national mean score averages", with 97% meeting the reading and writing benchmark and 73% the math benchmark. Four field hockey players were named to a national academic squad; she reads their names, which this page does not reproduce. A community service day is planned for April 15, and Accuplacer math scores rose over the semester. | |
| 0:31:38 | Budget and tax rate | Over five fiscal years, excluding the 5.8% bond year, increases total "less than 2%, 1.9%". Administration cut "a little under $1 million" between December and January; "the budget as of tonight has increased one quarter of 1%, little under $79,000." About $19,000 funds "over 450 days of page [paid] summer time for teachers to work on developing curriculum". Operating budget tax impact "$0.11 per 1000"; all articles "$0.49 per thousand". Removing the adequacy-aid cap would cost Claremont "over $400,000 less", a $350,000 revenue drop and about half a dollar on the rate, for "almost a dollar increase" overall (0:39:54). | |
| 0:36:15 | Background-check article | The superintendent hopes SB 152 will pass and make the article moot, calling it "article eight"; on the warrant as read it is Article 6. | |
| 0:42:40 | Warrant reading | "First session Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 at 6:30 p.m." and "Second session Tuesday, March 8th, 2016, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m." The moderator reads that articles "whose wording is not prescribed by law, may be amended, but not finally voted upon at the first session." | OBS |
| 0:45:01 | Article 2 as read | "totaling $34,131,283." "Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $34,422,886". The administrators' agreement is inside it at "$38,890.", and "A favorable vote in this article shall be considered not only the approval of the proposed operating budget for the 1617 fiscal year, but also the approval of the cost item". | POS |
| 0:47:22 | The chair for the budget | "This is my eighth budget that I have done." The board met on two Saturdays; the budget absorbs "a 4.5% increase in health care costs". | |
| 0:50:19 | Administrators' cost item | O'Neill: "the wage increase costs would have been 52,758, but that was offset by $13,860 in health insurance savings", a net he gives as 38,890. (Those two figures subtract to $38,898.) | |
| 0:51:36 | Against the budget | Cynthia Howard: "the poverty rate, that stands at 13.4% in Claremont as in comparison to the state level of 9.2%"; enrollment is falling while spending rises; professional development "for 59,000 roughly" should be paid by teachers; plan for the $350,000 revenue loss. LeClair: "Common core is a set of standards. That's all it is." with no specific budget cost. | |
| 0:55:58 | For the budget | Jason Tatum, an educator in another district: summer curriculum work "is where you get the biggest bang for your buck." | |
| 0:59:00 | Paraprofessionals' cost item | O'Neill: the district paid 50% of their insurance against an average of 85 to 90% for other units; the share moves to 65/35; "The net impact, the wage increases was 91,569, the health cost increases, 38181 for a total of 1297 50". This total differs from the $143,449 given when the board ratified the agreement on January 9. | OBS |
| 1:00:16 | Speakers for the paraprofessionals | Brent Ferland: "the professionals are kind of the unsung heroes". Liza Draper: they serve "some of our neediest students". The association president: "Claremont, Paris are some of the lowest paid paraprofessionals in the state of New Hampshire."; she pays "approximately $1,500 a month towards my insurance", and of about 110 paraprofessionals "Only 20 receive their health insurance from Saw six." Before she speaks, voices are heard saying "So they need to allow." and "Her to vote." (1:02:51); no vote on her speaking is taken. | |
| 1:06:49 | Maintenance and secretaries | Maintenance: "out of the 12 people in the bargaining unit, 11 are at the top step"; wage cost 29,683 less $20,574 in health savings gives "a net increase of only 9109." John: the unit was "very responsive when we negotiated with them." Secretaries: net 9803 after health concessions; Brent Ferland: "When I was sitting at the table with the secretaries union". | POS |
| 1:13:47 | Background checks | Seaman: in New Hampshire "there is a filter put on and the information doesn't actually get back to the superintendent"; the $20,000 assumes "about a cost of $100" per check and returns to taxpayers if unused. O'Neill to Tracy Pope: unspent money lowers the next year's tax levy; returns have "fluctuated between 1.2 million and $500,000". John Cloutier: HB 346, co-sponsored with "Representative Andrew Hearn" [O'Hearn], was killed in the Senate, and SB 152 from "Senator David Bouton" [Boutin] is alive. | |
| 1:22:16 | Security upgrades | Becky Ferland: "the elementary schools are just as critical and so as the middle school." John: last year's article failed; this is "just a first step, initial phase" of a multiyear plan. | |
| 1:25:37 | Roofs | O'Neill: a 2014 roof assessment put last year's roof at about $160,000, done for $100,000; Maple Avenue is "proposed at 165. 750 in the report" and can be shingled for $100,000; all roofs, about $1 million by the report, for "about 500, $600,000" in yearly pieces. | |
| 1:28:07 | Expendable trust | O'Neill: established last year with $100,000 as a reserve against emergencies; the 2016-17 budget "includes about $240,000 for building improvements". To Cynthia Howard he calls it "the Capital Reserve Fund", though the article as read is an expendable trust; no tax-rate impact because the same amount was raised last year. | |
| 1:31:01 | The moderator's closing | "I always believe that the moderator should be unbiased." Then: "But I do want to say one thing" and "sometimes we have to invest in order to move forward. It's just my opinion. And I get to do that now." She urges a vote on March 8. | 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 February 3, 2016, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. A deliberative session is a meeting of the voters, so school-board rules (public comment periods, nonpublic sessions, roll calls) do not apply to it.
MEDIUM No minutes or posted warrant for this session 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 clerk "shall keep a true record of all the doings of each meeting" under RSA 197:20, and RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes open to inspection within five business days. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the recording shows the clerk keeping that record: the meeting accepted "the minutes from the annual school District meeting of February 4th, 2015" (0:08:22). The statute of the time did not require online posting, and the shares do not reach back to 2016. Without the minutes, the record of who spoke rests on the transcript, where several names are garbled.
Sources: RSA 197:20 (2015 codification; source note ends 1963, 120:5); RSA 91-A:2, II (2015 codification)
MEDIUM The district's attorney, not the clerk, presided over choosing a temporary moderator
With the moderator absent, RSA 197:20 provides that the clerk "shall act as moderator of any meeting until a moderator pro tempore shall be chosen". The clerk was present, but the district's attorney opened the meeting, proposed the election, and called for the second, discussion and vote (0:00:21 to 0:01:42); the clerk took the mover's name and administered the oath. The attorney cited "RSA 6716", which does not match the provision on point. The meeting itself chose the temporary moderator by voice vote, as the statute contemplates, no one objected, and the irregularity lasted under two minutes before any warrant business. It is graded MEDIUM, not HIGH, because the choice was the voters' and no article was acted on under the attorney. The clerk's oath ran "until March 5th, 2016" (0:03:09), a date that matches neither this session nor the March 8 ballot.
Sources: RSA 197:20 (clerk acts as moderator until a moderator pro tempore is chosen); RSA 671:33, III (2015 codification: in a vacancy "the school district clerk shall serve as moderator")
OBSERVATION The paraprofessionals' cost item on the warrant is $13,699 less than the figure given at ratification
When the board ratified the paraprofessionals' agreement on January 9, the business administrator gave its total cost as $143,449, including $42,241 for the insurance change and $38,206 for added work days. Article 3 as read here asks for "$129,750", made up of $91,569 in wages and $38,181 in insurance (0:59:42). The added days are not mentioned. The record does not explain the change, which may have come at the January 19 budget hearing (not in this corpus). Under RSA 273-A:3, II(b) only the cost items go to the voters, so the warrant figure is the one that counts; the point is that the two public statements of the cost do not match.
Sources: January 9, 2016 meeting page; RSA 273-A:3, II(b)
OBSERVATION The presiding officer gave her opinion on the budget before adjourning
After all nine articles had been acted on, the temporary moderator said "I always believe that the moderator should be unbiased" and then urged that "sometimes we have to invest in order to move forward. It's just my opinion." (1:31:22, 1:32:05). Her remarks came after the business ended and did not affect any vote at this session, but the ballot vote was five weeks away and the recording was broadcast. No statute verified for this page forbids it; it is noted because the presiding officer's neutrality is what the voters rely on.
Sources: Cablecast: SCHOOL BUDGET DELIBERATIVE SESSION 2-3-16
OBSERVATION Motions to approve articles that go to the ballot regardless
Each article was taken up on a motion "to approve" or "to accept" and carried by voice vote, beginning with the election of officers in Article 1 (0:44:43). Under RSA 40:13, VI, as it read in 2016, "All warrant articles shall be placed on the official ballot for a final vote, including warrant articles as amended by the first session", so these votes decided nothing; the first session's power is to explain, debate and amend. The moderator did read the warrant's statement that the final vote is by ballot (0:43:45). A viewer could still take "the ayes have it" on Article 2, with nays heard, as approval of the budget.
Sources: RSA 40:13, IV and VI (2015 codification; source note ends 2014, 190:1-3, 8-10, eff. Sept. 9, 2014)
POSITIVE Each cost item explained, and the budget article told voters it carried a contract
The business administrator broke down every collective bargaining article into wage cost, insurance savings and net figure before the vote (0:50:19, 0:59:00, 1:06:49, 1:10:52), and board members who sat at the bargaining table said so (1:08:17, 1:11:51). Article 2's text stated the administrators' $38,890 and that a favorable vote also approves that cost item (0:46:07). Folding a contract into the budget limits the voters' choice (see the January 9, 2016 page), but this disclosure tells them what they are approving. The session also fell inside the statutory window, the first and second Saturdays after the last Monday in January (January 30 to February 6, 2016).
Sources: RSA 40:13, III (2015 codification); January 9, 2016 page, flag 2
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: SCHOOL BUDGET DELIBERATIVE SESSION 2-3-16 (show 8162; run time from the Cablecast API not retrieved, the API returned 403 on 2026-10-02)
- Google Drive: no warrant, rules sheet, packet 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/8162 SchoolBoardDeliberative020316.mp4.CSV (466 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/8162 SchoolBoardDeliberative020316.mp4Input/Transcripts/8162 SchoolBoardDeliberative020316.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 4Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/8162 SchoolBoardDeliberative020316.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 197:20, 2015 codification (1963, 120:5): clerk keeps a true record; acts as moderator until a moderator pro tempore is chosen
- RSA 671:33, III, 2015 codification (source note ends 2013, 114:1): vacancy in the office of moderator
- RSA 40:13, III, IV and VI, 2015 codification (source note ends 2014, 190:1-3, 8-10): first-session window, conduct, all articles to the ballot
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2015 codification (source note ends 2008, 303:4): minutes
- RSA 273-A:3, II(b) (source note ends 2013, 244:1): cost items to the legislative body
- Context only: RSA 189:13-a (criminal records checks), whose 2016 codification's source note ends "2016, 117:1, eff. July 19, 2016", the amendment the project's anchors identify as SB 152. Not law on the date of this session.