Claremont School Board & City Council, Joint Meeting, November 15, 2016

Participants

Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. Names follow the speaker attribution in the dialogue file and the project's 2015-2023 roster; city officials' surnames rest largely on the ASR and the participation cell says where. There are no minutes to check spellings against.
Name	Role	Participation
Brian Rapp	School Board chair	Opens the meeting, reads the school board roll, runs the citizens' forum and hands the business items to the mayor (0:09:10). Asks about screening programs for young children (1:48:16). Addressed by the mayor as "Chair wrap" [Rapp] (2:33:17).
Michelle Pierce	School Board member	Asks whether adult lead exposure can be measured (1:20:14), about mobile testing, landlord training (1:45:28) and generational transmission, and reports work with Cory LeClair on a poverty initiative (2:22:55).
Frank Sprague	School Board member	"Frank. Frank Sprague, school board." (1:29:37); connects lead exposure to persistent behaviors seen in special education meetings.
Patrick Adrian	School Board member	Asks about lead in soil (1:15:17), proposes that the delegation be asked to pledge support for the lead legislation (1:54:58), and seconds the adjournment.
Dr. Alex Herzog	School Board member	Welcomed in the roll call as "Our new member, Alex Herzl" (0:01:50). No other speech is attributed to him.
Chris Irish	School Board vice chair	The chair says Irish "did have a meeting up in Dartmouth"; the transcript reads "won't be coming in later", which may be "will be". He is not heard on the recording.
Brent Ferland	School Board member	Absent: "Brant Ferland, not here." (0:01:33).
Charlene Lovett	Mayor of Claremont	Explains how the lead discussion began, introduces guests, leads the budget item and the next steps, and asks that school communications to councilors go through the council clerk (2:16:16). Transcribed "Mayor Leavitt".
Victor (surname not established)	City councilor	"Yes, my name is Victor." (1:32:31); recalls leaving house painting when lead rules arrived. The only transcribed council roll answer reads "Victor Bertram here." (0:01:02); the surname is unverified.
Carolyn Towle	City councilor	Recognized as Carolyn (1:25:26); asks what case management means for the schools. Councilor Pope refers to "counselors told" [Councilor Towle] (2:21:06). Identification rated medium confidence in the attribution report.
Councilor Pope (first name not stated)	City councilor	Reports on the vocational-opportunities group and says "since I'm also a teacher here" (2:20:30).
Guy Santagate	City manager	Notes the missing council quorum (0:01:14), introduces city staff, describes the city's lead-pipe replacement and a $500,000 loan application, and calls the school funding cuts "disgraceful or unconstitutional" (2:03:31). Surname from the ASR ("Santiago", "Santa gate").
Middleton McGoodwin	Superintendent, SAU 6	Explains the origin of the adequacy change and defends the district's budget record; closes with the football team's championship game.
Michael O'Neill	Business administrator, SAU 6	Gives the stabilization grant figures (2:00:42) and the count of affected towns (2:15:31). Introduced as "Michael Neal".
Cory LeClair	SAU 6 administrator (assistant superintendent per the project roster)	Asks how the Claremont lead statistics are compiled and ranked (1:36:40), and says no new poverty committee is needed, only better communication (2:25:10).
Gail Gans	Guest presenter, NH Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program	"So I am Gail Gans. I am a health promotion advisor and a child development specialist" (0:12:58). Presents and answers questions for about an hour and a half.
Peter Wright	CEO, Valley Regional Hospital	Introduced by the mayor (ASR "Peter Ryan"); says Medicaid covers the test and the hospital is "100% committed" to a joint screening effort (1:49:33).
Katie (surname not stated)	Claremont-Newport Healthy Homes Committee	Introduced by the mayor as having worked in the program (0:11:54); notes the tenant disclosure requirement and the need for follow-up and confidentiality in any screening.
John Cloutier	State representative, Ward 1 (citizens' forum)	"I'm John, cloudier from ward one" [Cloutier] (0:01:50); announces the bill-filing deadline and his bill on the DMV move.
Bernie Folds	Resident, Ward 3	"I'm Bernie." "Folds at Ward three citizen" (1:23:33); asks about bone testing and later points out the council's lack of a quorum (2:14:42). Surname from the ASR.
Unidentified	Various	135 of 654 dialogue rows (20.6%), including the documentary and YouTube clips played during the presentation, several questioners, a former city councilor (2:10:11) and the speaker on the "Zillow effect" (2:28:55).

Order of business (reconstructed)

No agenda survives in the district's shares. The mayor refers to a written agenda ("As you can see from the agenda", 1:56:53); the list below is reconstructed from the transitions on the recording.
Taken up	Item	What was said and done
0:00:18	Call to order, Pledge, roll calls	Council roll largely untranscribed; city manager notes no council quorum (0:01:14); school board roll read by the chair (0:01:33).
0:01:50	Citizens' forum	State Representative John Cloutier. Closed at 0:09:10.
0:09:19	New business: lead screening and prevention	Mayor's introduction; presentation by Gail Gans (0:12:58 to 1:07:09); questions to 1:53:58. Consensus that each governing body will develop its own policies and that the two will draft a joint letter of support. No vote.
1:56:13	Break	"if we could take a quick break ten minutes". Not recorded.
1:56:53	City and school budgetary considerations	The Franklin and Northfield coalition on the stabilization grant; business administrator's figures; agreement to seek a December meeting with the legislative delegation, dates to be set by the chair, the mayor, the superintendent and the city manager (2:14:12). No vote: We won't vote. On anything. (2:15:29).
2:16:43	Other city concerns and committees	City health insurance, the community profile, the vocational, marketing and poverty efforts.
2:33:49	Adjournment	"I'll make a motion. We adjourn." Second by Adrian. The chair: "The school board. We have a quorum so we can." (2:33:55).

Discussion timeline

Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/8761 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint111516.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. Figures in the presentation are the presenter's and were not checked against the state's surveillance reports.

Chronological topics with the most concrete material first.
Time	Topic	What was said	Flags
0:01:14	No council quorum	City manager: "I want to point out that lacks a quorum. I believe that lack of quorum. I'm sorry. Is there a quorum of the five? Just make a note of that."	OBS
0:02:23	Citizens' forum: Rep. John Cloutier	The bill-filing period "is open yesterday and will go until December 2nd." He invites requests from the city and the school board, suggests a joint meeting with the four Claremont representatives and Senator Martha Hennessy, and will file a bill so that the Executive Council cannot again move the DMV "from Claremont to Newport" without notice. The city manager mentions a school funding meeting in Franklin (0:07:04).
0:09:19	How the lead discussion began	The mayor: the Department of Environmental Services told the city that water is "not the primary source of lead poisoning"; the goal is "100% screening of children 0 to 6 years of age". City staff, Valley Regional Hospital and the Healthy Homes Committee are present; judges and the police chief were invited.
0:13:22	Scale of the problem	Gans: "New Hampshire has between 800 and 1000 poisonings each year" and "that's twice the national average." "Claremont has long since been on New Hampshire's top eight high risk communities." Children in Claremont should be tested at one and two, "And that's not happening in Claremont at the rate that it should."
0:15:52	Documentary and history	Clips from a documentary the transcript calls misled and a YouTube video on Dutch Boy advertising. Gans: "like 99% of the elevated blood leads of the poisoning comes from lead paint." (0:20:26), not water.
0:31:33	Reference levels and state rules	The CDC lowered its reference level from 10 to 5 micrograms per deciliter in 2012. Under New Hampshire's rules, a family gets a letter at 5 to 9.9; only at 10 "Then our public health nurses go out" and a lead inspector tests the home (0:32:39).
0:34:46	Effects on the brain and later life	Reduced myelination, fewer neurons and impaired dopamine function in the frontal lobe; the CDC paper on educational interventions; a state report puts the added crime cost at "almost $9 million." (0:43:12).
0:44:36	Sources of exposure	"60% of our housing in New Hampshire was built before lead was banned in residential paint." Friction surfaces, soil, mother to fetus, and renovations: one in three poisoned children had renovations in the prior six months. The federal renovation, repair and painting rule requires certification for paid work; "in New Hampshire, we don't regulate our contractors."
0:52:38	Testing rates	From the 2014 surveillance report: "37% and 15% of the five year olds that year who would be going into kindergarten had an elevated blood lead." "Claremont is a universal community." Statewide "in 2014, 26% of our one year old in New Hampshire were not tested" and "70% of a 70% of our two year olds were not tested." A point-of-care analyzer gives results in three minutes (0:57:20).
0:59:01	Legislation	Senator "Dan Felts" [Feltes] "introduced Senate Bill 135 a year and a half ago. It was signed last July by Governor Hassan." According to Gans it notifies families from 5 to 9.9, protects affected families from eviction, and set targets of 85% testing at one and two. Draft legislation for January would make New Hampshire "a universal testing state" (1:00:56).
1:01:52	Rochester, New York	A superintendent's TED talk: "41% of the children in the special education programs in Rochester, New York" had elevated blood lead. Action steps include testing, educating providers, rental inspections at tenant changes and checking contractors' certification at permit time; "Currently, New Hampshire has no regulation that requires that our child care centers be lead paint safe."
1:07:42	City water and code enforcement	Santagate: some states inspect at a change in tenancy; New Hampshire, "a state that prides itself and live free or die", resists. On water, "We are applying for $500,000 loan grant that we expect to get this year" to finish replacing known lead lines (1:09:36); private service lines are the owner's.
1:13:00	Costs and questions	The analyzer is "Give or take about $2,500, the test kit." Questions on adult exposure (a blood test reflects the last 4 to 6 months), soil, raised garden beds, and the tenant disclosure pamphlet: "it's still a law that if you're renting, you need to give this to tenants." (1:19:24).
1:25:33	What case management means for schools	Towle asks; Gans describes the public health nurse's role at 10 and above. Sprague: lead history would let teams treat persistent deficits "instead of a behavior" as brain injury: "So it becomes a TBI instead of a behavioral." Gans urges keeping blood lead results on a child's health record.
1:33:59	Claremont's numbers	Gans: over three of the last five years "You had over 50 children with elevated blood leads", then "30, maybe 30 plus" as testing fell. A board-side speaker: Public Works tested all school water last spring "And they only found one area which they thought it was the bubbler" (1:35:55). LeClair asks how the list of high-risk communities is ordered; Gans agrees it is alphabetical.
1:48:16	Screening in the schools	Rapp asks about funding to screen children under six. Peter Wright: "Most of the kids that are six and undercover through the Chip program through Medicaid, and they pay for the test." The barrier is getting families to come and consent.
1:54:10	Next steps on lead	The mayor: "I think it would be wise at this point if the school board would start doing the work of, you know, how they want to address this within the school system and policies and all that." Adrian proposes asking the delegation to pledge support; the mayor proposes a joint letter from the district and the city.
1:57:32	The Franklin and Northfield coalition	The mayor: Franklin's city manager says "the best that they can do right now for FY 2017 is to request the legislature that they freeze this" reduction in school funding.	OBS
2:00:14	Stabilization grant figures	O'Neill: "Lamont's portion of that stabilization grant was 6,282,807." [Claremont's]; "So we take a 4% reduction in that stabilization grant each year, which is $251,312 per year", cumulative: "So in four years we're down a million." Adequacy this year "was down $400,000 in total".	OBS
2:02:53	Where the change came from	The superintendent: "Dover was one of the leaders that felt that they were not receiving their fair share of adequacy", and their argument "prevailed in court, hence the legislation." Santagate: "Pick the word disgraceful or unconstitutional." The superintendent: "over a five year period, the average increase was less than 2%. And that included a $12.5 million bond for the renovation." (2:08:16).	OBS
2:12:38	A December meeting with the delegation	The mayor proposes a December joint meeting on the lead bill and the funding freeze. Agreed without a vote: "So let's say, the chair myself, and Superintendent Goodwin and, Mr. Santiago, we all worked together with possible dates with the delegation".	OBS
2:14:42	Quorum raised again	Bernie Folds: "for the entire joint meeting, a quorum of the city council is not present." The city manager: "I pointed out earlier, there was no quarrel." [quorum]. O'Neill: "There's 178 are affected out of 245." towns, or 72.6% (2:15:50).	OBS
2:16:16	Communications between the bodies	The mayor: "I would request because of 91 a issues that it go to our, council clerk, Miss Russell, and she can get it to the council members." The chair: "Typically through Doctor Goodwin."	POS
2:16:43	City costs and the community profile	City health insurance "went up 23.1%." The city tax rate: "It's $41.41." In the state's community profile "currently our top employer is the school district. The city of Claremont is the seventh on the list."
2:19:45	Committees from the earlier joint meeting	The mayor sees no need for a separate poverty committee. Councilor Pope reports on the vocational group's visits to the career and technical center advisory councils. Pierce describes a poverty initiative drafted with LeClair; LeClair: "I don't I don't necessarily see the need for additional meetings." but asks both bodies to recognize poverty's effect on the school budget.
2:26:52	Marketing the schools	The mayor gave area realtors a fact sheet drafted with the district because "they cannot break down this perception that the school district is a bad school district". An unidentified speaker describes the "Zillow effect": a listing shows that Stevens "has a D in Claremont Middle School has a D minus."
2:31:38	Closing	The superintendent announces the Division III football championship at UNH, "the first time in decades, decades that we're going for a state championship."

Items flagged for review

These flags are a reviewer's aid, not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each one names the rule it rests on, as that rule read on November 15, 2016, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. This was a meeting of two bodies; flags about records concern the school board side only, because the city's records were not inspected.

MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes for the school board side 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 school board had a quorum (0:01:33) and its members took part in discussion that ended in a plan for a joint letter and a December meeting with the legislative delegation, so RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force in 2016, 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 mayor refers to a written agenda (1:56:53) and handouts are distributed, so the meeting was noticed and papered, and the city side's records, which this page did not inspect, may document the session. What is missing from the district's shares is any public copy now.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2015 codification; source note ends 2008, 303:4, so in force through 2016)

OBSERVATION A joint meeting without a council quorum: the council could not act, and nothing was voted

The city manager noted at the roll call that the council "lacks a quorum" (0:01:14), and a resident said near the end that "for the entire joint meeting, a quorum of the city council is not present." (2:14:42). The city charter provides "a city council of nine (9) councilors" and that "A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business", so five were needed; four council voices are identified on the recording. RSA 91-A:2, I defines a meeting as "the convening of a quorum of the membership of a public body". The school board side was a meeting of the board; the council side, strictly, was not a meeting of the council. Members recognized the limit: We won't vote. On anything. (2:15:29). The one outcome, a December meeting with the delegation to be scheduled by the officers (2:14:12), was agreed by consensus, which suits a body that could not act. No rule appears to be engaged; the point is that the city side's participation carried no authority.

Sources: Claremont City Charter, secs. 16 and 21 (copy of undetermined date; nine councilors, majority quorum); RSA 91-A:2, I (2015 codification; meeting means the convening of a quorum)

OBSERVATION The stabilization grant cut is set by statute; the figures given are consistent with it

The business administrator said Claremont's fiscal 2012 stabilization grant of $6,282,807 is being reduced 4% a year, $251,312 a year, cumulatively over 25 years (2:00:42), and the superintendent attributed the change to Dover's lawsuit and "the legislation" that followed (2:02:53). RSA 198:41, IV(d), as amended through July 18, 2016, provides that from fiscal 2017 each municipality receives a percentage of its fiscal 2012 stabilization grant, "96 percent for fiscal year 2017", reduced by 4 percent of the 2012 grant each year after. Four percent of $6,282,807 is $251,312, so the arithmetic matches the statute. Whether the reduction followed from a court ruling, as the speakers said, is not something this page verified; the freeze the coalition sought would require an amendment to that paragraph.

Sources: RSA 198:41, IV(d) (2016 codification; source note ends 2016, 85:9, eff. July 18, 2016)

POSITIVE The mayor routed communications between the two bodies through the council clerk, citing the Right-to-Know Law

Asked how material should pass between the school board and the council, the mayor asked that anything for councilors go to the council clerk "because of 91 a issues", and the school board chair said its communications go "Typically through Doctor Goodwin." (2:16:16, 2:16:34). RSA 91-A:2-a, I and II required public bodies to deliberate "only in meetings" and provided that "Communications outside a meeting, including, but not limited to, sequential communications among members of a public body, shall not be used to circumvent the spirit and purpose of this chapter". Sending shared material through staff to every member, instead of member to member, is a practical guard against that kind of serial deliberation.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2-a, I-II (2016 codification; source note 2008, 303:4, eff. July 1, 2008)

Appendix: source files

Official and public sources

Cablecast: JOINT MEETING- CITY COUNCIL & SCHOOL BOARD 11-15-16 (show 8761; 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.
City of Claremont: the council's notice, agenda and minutes for this joint session were not inspected. Nothing on this page is a finding about them.

Project files

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

Dialogue/8761 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint111516.mp4.CSV (654 attributed rows; the basis of this page)
Input/Videos/8761 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint111516.mp4
Input/Transcripts/8761 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint111516.mp4.json
Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 18
Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/8761 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint111516.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)

Laws and rules cited on this page

RSA 91-A:2, I and II, 2015 codification (in force until Jan. 1, 2017): meeting means the convening of a quorum; minutes content and five-business-day inspection
RSA 91-A:2-a, I-II, 2016 codification: deliberation only in meetings; outside communications not to circumvent the chapter
RSA 198:41, IV(d), 2016 codification: stabilization grant at 96 percent for fiscal 2017, reduced by 4 percent a year
Claremont City Charter, secs. 16 and 21 (copy of undetermined date): nine-member council, majority quorum