Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. There are no minutes to check spellings against; names follow speakers' own introductions, how they are addressed on tape and the project roster, and the participation cell says which. Students are not named on this page, and neither is the resigning employee, whose name the transcript garbles.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Brian Rapp | Chair | Calls the meeting to order (0:00:15) and runs every vote; in the roll as transcribed "Brian wrap" (0:00:53). Volunteers again for the bargaining subcommittee (2:41:18) and asks for an inventory of past security spending. |
| Chris Irish | Vice chair | The mayor refers to "vice chair Irish" (0:39:08). Asks that the chair call Claremont's representatives on behalf of the board, presses for an accounting of past technology spending (2:20:15) and security cameras (2:29:26), and asks about a board role at graduation and senior night. |
| Frank Sprague | Member | In the roll (0:00:53); thanked as Frank by the superintendent (0:12:17). Moves the field trip and the calendar, joins the bargaining subcommittee (2:41:33), and says he is working at Newport this year (2:33:44). |
| Patrick Adrian | Member | Addressed as Patrick by the superintendent (0:42:25); calls himself "the English guy" (2:12:15). Asks why so few students use dual enrollment, presses the mayor on a governor's visit, and asks for principals' building wish lists. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | In the roll (0:00:53); recognized as Michelle (1:14:34). Starts a motion on the kindergarten bill that is withdrawn for a consensus (0:44:21); reports on Heart of Claremont flower boxes in citizens' comments (0:56:07). The dialogue file's attribution of some rows to her is medium-high confidence, and a few rows labeled with her name are a teacher's (see Jill Chastain). |
| Rebecca Zullo | Member | In the roll (0:00:53). Says "I am an occupational therapist" (2:25:34) and asks what classroom tools technology still needs. |
| Michael Petrin | Member | Not named in the roll or elsewhere on the recording; attendance not established. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent's report: trauma-informed outreach, River Valley dual credit, extended learning opportunities, the accreditation letter and SB 191. Presents the resignation, bargaining, June meeting and calendar items. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Not named on this recording; identified in the dialogue file with medium confidence. Speaks on the technology curriculum, building-needs process, calendar alignment with Newport (2:48:53) and staff contracts. |
| Michael O'Neill | Business administrator, SAU 6 | Asked by the superintendent, "Mike, can I ask you" (0:22:00); spelling follows the project roster. Explains the food service RFP delay and presents the capital improvement plan. |
| Josh Malloy | Director of Instructional Technology | Introduced by the superintendent (1:30:15). Presents the district's technology history and plan. |
| Charlene Lovett | Mayor of Claremont (citizens' comments) | Introduced by the superintendent as transcribed "Charlene Levitz here, former state rep" (0:38:47); addressed as Mayor (0:52:25). Celebrates the accreditation, reports SB 247's House schedule and hands out advocacy cards. |
| Nancy Lewis | Social studies teacher, Stevens High School; centennial educator at Saint-Gaudens | Introduced by the superintendent (0:57:16). Presents place-based education with Saint-Gaudens and Youth and Government with her students. |
| Kirsten Burlingame | Education and interpretation ranger, Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park | "So I'm Kirsten Burlingame, and I'm an education and interpretation ranger at Saint-Gaudens" (1:00:15). Describes the middle school summer camp and teacher workshop. |
| Don Dexter | Education and outreach specialist, Sullivan County Conservation District | Introduces himself as transcribed "Don Dexter's" (1:02:55); spelling unverified. |
| Jill Chastain | Teacher, Stevens High School; Youth and Government co-advisor | Introduced by Lewis as "my colleague Jill Chastain" (1:16:46). Several of her rows are labeled Michelle Pierce in the dialogue file (for example 1:18:14). |
| Students | Student representative; three Youth and Government students | The student representative reads the Stevens report (0:03:17); three students describe Youth and Government (1:21:47 to 1:25:44). Not named on this page. |
| Unidentified | Various | 248 of 1018 dialogue rows (24.4%) are unidentified, most of them a mixed cluster of interjections and ayes, and including several members' motions and seconds. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda survives. The chair says "So we have an agenda" (0:01:02) and the superintendent refers to the packet and colored handouts; the items below are reconstructed from the chair's transitions. No vote tally is recorded on tape for any motion; each passed on a voice vote with no audible opposition.
| Taken up | Item | What was said and done |
|---|
| 0:00:15 | Call to order; Pledge; roll call | "Call the Claremont School Board meeting to order." |
| 0:01:02 | Agenda, amended | The food service presentation is dropped; added are a resignation, a collective bargaining subcommittee, the Bluff field trip and the June 7 meeting date (0:01:11, 0:01:44). "We accept the agenda as amended." (unidentified mover); seconded; voice vote (0:02:18). |
| 0:02:18 | Minutes of April 19 | Motion and second not separately audible; voice vote with one Abstain (0:03:09), voice not identified. |
| 0:03:13 | Student representative's report | No action. |
| 0:06:29 | Superintendent's report | Includes the food service RFP delay and SB 191; the board's consensus on calls to legislators (0:44:39). See flag 2. |
| 0:45:39 | Citizens' comments | The mayor, then Pierce for Heart of Claremont. Closed at 0:56:37. |
| 0:57:15 | Discussion: Saint-Gaudens and the National Park Service | Place-based education partnership. No action. |
| 1:16:41 | Discussion: Youth and Government | Advisors and students report. No action. |
| 1:27:47 | State House poster contest | Two district students advance. No action. |
| 1:30:10 | Fiscal year 2019 budget presentation: capital improvements, technology, security | O'Neill's capital plan while Malloy sets up, then Malloy's technology presentation and a security discussion. No action. |
| 2:37:41 | Action: resignation | The Claremont Middle School assistant principal. Unidentified mover: "Letter with regrets." I second (unidentified). Voice vote (2:39:11). |
| 2:39:20 | Action: Bluff Elementary School annual field trip | Sprague: "I move that we accept." Seconded; voice vote (2:39:49). |
| 2:40:10 | Collective bargaining subcommittee | Rapp volunteers; Irish: "I'd like to see you guys do it again." Frank Sprague is the second member (2:41:33). No vote taken. |
| 2:41:51 | June 7 meeting | Moved to Monday, June 5, at 6:30 with "just food service on the agenda" (2:45:51). No formal vote. |
| 2:46:19 | Action: 2017-18 district calendar | Sprague: "I move, we accept this calendar as presented." Seconded; voice vote (2:50:48). |
| 2:50:55 | Other business | Staff contracts; an error in the newspaper notice of the SAU 6 board meeting; reminders. |
| 2:54:09 | Adjournment | "We have a motion to adjourn. Do we have a second? All in favor?" |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/9073 SchoolBoard050317.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 |
|---|
| 0:06:31 | Trauma and resilience | The superintendent describes community screenings of the films Resilience and Paper Tigers and promises members a checklist of adverse childhood experiences. | |
| 0:10:10 | Dual credit with River Valley | "Students are able to take any course at River Valley Community College catalog that does not have a prerequisite." Irish: his daughter "was the first and unfortunately, I think since 2014, I think still the only Stevens student to take advantage of this" (0:14:15). | |
| 0:17:24 | Scheduling committee | The schedule "has to be affordable"; "we're not going to be handcuffed to an A, B schedule" (0:18:17); "the collective bargaining agreement is being put aside" (0:19:29); closure expected in February 2018 (0:20:02). | |
| 0:22:00 | Food service RFP delay | O'Neill: the RFP's section 22.2 lets oral presentations be scheduled only "subsequent to the receipt of proposals and prior to the award" (0:22:09); "which I just think is is ridiculous" (0:22:32). He later says "the law does not allow them" to present first (0:23:05). "May 23rd is a closed date." (0:23:45) | |
| 0:25:20 | Extended learning opportunities | Tech-center plumbing and heating students placed with local employers. Sprague asks that the board see the students' culminating presentations (0:27:48). Irish: the district lost a coordinator position for this work years ago (0:28:28). | |
| 0:29:59 | Accreditation | "we received a document dated April 25th, 2017 from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and they have indicated that Steve's High School has met the requirements for accreditation and is hereby granted accreditation." Sprague: the visiting committee left no facility deficiencies (0:31:08). | |
| 0:32:03 | SB 191, full-day kindergarten | "The Senate in March passed Senate Bill 191" to fund the governor's targeted full-day kindergarten plan. Claremont "could benefit by $300,000 to support full day kindergarten, which we are now funding ourselves" (0:34:55). He names the two Republican representatives for Claremont, "Francis Gauthier and John O'Connor" (0:33:37), and says the House meets the next day (0:37:03). | OBS |
| 0:38:04 | Who calls Concord | Irish: "I would like to see the board ask the chairman to make those phone calls on our behalf"; individually "It kind of crosses that line" (0:38:21). Pierce: "I'd like to make a motion that." Voices: "We can't." (0:44:36) Irish: "I think we've got a consensus." (0:44:39) Chair: Consensus (0:44:41). | OBS |
| 0:38:47 | The mayor on lobbying | "vice chair Irish has also served on the state House as well" (0:39:08). Speaking "both as a board and individually is important" (0:39:24). | |
| 0:45:46 | Citizens' comment: the mayor | On the accreditation: "We've had accreditation with we were on probation then we were there, was on warning". The renovation: "We got no assistance from the state for that renovation." (0:46:53) SB 247 is on the House consent calendar after a committee vote "with a 19 to 1 vote" (0:49:19); she hands members cards to sign for their representatives (0:50:08). | |
| 0:52:25 | A governor's visit | Adrian asks the city to invite Governor Sununu: "He's never been to Claremont." (0:53:01) The mayor is preparing "a good itemized agenda" to get on his calendar before the state budget is final (0:53:42). | |
| 0:57:57 | Saint-Gaudens partnership | A middle school summer camp funded by "a grant through the Wellborn Ecology Fund and last summer for $5,000" (1:09:54), costing $130 with scholarships, transportation and lunch (1:10:28); a first high school art exhibit at Saint-Gaudens on May 19 (1:01:55); and an August workshop for K-5 teachers. Dexter says a CCTV videographer, as transcribed "Gary Dickerman from Claremont Community Television", films such events (1:16:03). | |
| 1:16:46 | Youth and Government | Lewis: "every year I've come and begged permission to take Stevens High School's best and brightest lawmakers. And every year you've granted us permission." (1:17:10) Students describe bills on the opioid crisis, the business profits tax and cosmetic animal testing. | |
| 1:35:43 | Capital improvement plan | O'Neill: debt service on the 2015 high school renovation runs "2015 to 2034"; the Johnson Controls energy project is paid from energy savings (1:36:31). Roofs: "$100,000 a year, consistently for 13 years, to basically get $2 million worth of roofs repaired" (1:37:10); "about $515,000" saved against the original estimate by continuing on schedule (1:39:15). | |
| 1:40:04 | Roof contractor | "Most Melanson and company, most of it. I mean, I put them out to bid" and "in the interest of full disclosure, I work with Melanson all over the state and several other districts" (1:40:07). On Maple, "he came in about $40,000 less" (1:40:20). "I've already hired them to do the roof here at the tech center next year for the same price as last year's." (1:40:30) The tech center roof "is going to cost 150,000", paid with "year end surplus" (1:42:30). | OBS |
| 1:44:09 | Bid notices | RFPs go in the newspaper and "on the school's website"; for the middle school painting "we reached out to six different painters on the list of painters" (1:44:23), and contractors may ask to be added to the list. | POS |
| 1:45:12 | Building needs and security fixes | Adrian asks for principals' wish lists; LeClair describes how needs are filtered before the budget (1:48:30). O'Neill: middle school doors must now open inward, "So that's $60,000 worth of doors." (1:48:26) The security plan goes "on a separate warrant article" (1:51:35). | |
| 1:52:11 | Technology presentation | Malloy: an online rating gives the community "a three out of ten" against eight and nine nearby (2:01:41). "The technology plan expired in 2016." "We're flying without a technology plan." (2:05:49) He invites a board member to join a Future Ready planning team (2:07:37). | OBS |
| 2:14:12 | Wireless access | "we need more of them"; access points in each room are "Highly recommended" (2:15:29). "about 60% of our, of our work orders are related to wireless access issues" (2:26:31). LeClair: a vertically aligned K-12 technology curriculum is being implemented this year (2:17:19). | |
| 2:20:15 | Where did the technology money go? | Irish: "So before we're asked to spend another million, what have we done with the million we've already had?" (2:20:47) The superintendent: in 2011-12 a high school computer took 12 to 15 minutes to boot, and warrant articles paid to catch up (2:21:46). | OBS |
| 2:28:45 | Security cameras | Irish: at the middle school "there are no cameras there other than the high school" (2:29:26). Malloy: the security warrant article "was the 120" for the middle school and this building and "wasn't for internal cameras" (2:31:49). Irish: "If I had known we didn't have cameras, I would have fought like crazy to not do that one article for the phone systems" (2:32:20). O'Neill: the plan put communication systems ahead of cameras (2:33:16). | OBS |
| 2:37:45 | Resignation | The middle school assistant principal "has accepted a position in another district" (2:37:45); the position has been posted (2:38:43). Accepted with regrets. | |
| 2:40:15 | Bargaining team | The teachers' association wants to start bargaining soon, which the superintendent calls "unprecedented"; "Traditionally, it's been two members" (2:40:33). Rapp and Sprague. | |
| 2:41:55 | June meeting moved | "June 8th is the graduation of the class of 2017. June 7th is senior night." The board settles on Monday, June 5, "Perfect. 630." (2:45:53) | |
| 2:46:21 | 2017-18 calendar | "two full professional development days and five early release days" (2:46:48), supported by the teachers' association; vacations aligned with Newport for shared tech-center students (2:48:53); "Up to 30 hours are built in" for delays and snow days (2:50:29). | |
| 2:51:57 | SAU 6 meeting notice error | A member reports that the newspaper ad for the SAU 6 board meeting "on the 11th was listed as Monday of 11th, not Thursday", and a correction has been requested. The date was right; the weekday was wrong. | |
| 2:52:22 | Reminders | Irish: "Phone calls to John and Francis about the state stuff", a press release on the accreditation, and a plaque for the renovation committee. | |
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 3, 2017, 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 four votes, the capital and technology figures and the accreditation announcement, and a quarter of its rows are unidentified, so several movers and seconders cannot be named. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force for 2017, required minutes that "shall include the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description" of the subject matter, "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 meeting had an agenda and a packet (0:01:02, 0:06:31), and the board approved its April 19 minutes on tape (0:02:18 to 0:03:09), so minutes were being produced. The 2017 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 (2016 codification, in force for 2017; source note ends 2016, 29:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017)
OBSERVATION The board took a position on pending legislation by consensus, without a motion or vote
During the superintendent's report, a member asked that "the board ask the chairman to make those phone calls on our behalf" to Claremont's two representatives on SB 191 (0:38:21). Another member began a motion, members said it could not be made (0:44:21 to 0:44:38), apparently because the item was not an action item, and the chair accepted a consensus instead (0:44:39, 0:44:41). The decision was real: the board was to speak through its chair on a bill in front of the House the next day, and a member listed the calls among the evening's follow-ups (2:52:22). RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to record "final decisions"; a consensus has no mover, no second and no count, so the public record of who supported it is the recording alone. Declining to take a formal vote on an item not on the agenda is a defensible instinct, and nothing verified for this page bars a board from asking its chair to advocate. The point is that the decision was made without the record a vote would have created.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification: minutes include "a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions")
OBSERVATION A $150,000 tech center roof: contractor engaged by the business administrator, funding from year-end surplus, no board vote on tape
The business administrator said he had "already hired" Melanson to roof the tech center "for the same price as last year's" (1:40:30), that the job "is going to cost 150,000" against a plan of $100,000 a year, and that "we have the ability with year end surplus to pay for that this year" (1:42:30). He also said the tech center roof "was passed through a warrant article" (1:38:31). He disclosed that he works with the same contractor "all over the state and several other districts", described it as the low bidder each time, and gave a $40,000 saving on the Maple roof (1:40:07, 1:40:20). No contract or bid result came before the board on this recording. RSA 32:8, in force in 2017, bars a school board from paying "for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated by the legislative body for that purpose" except under RSA 32:9-11; if the warrant article appropriated less than the contract price, the difference would need a recorded transfer under RSA 32:10. The record does not give the warrant article's amount, the bids, or who signed the contract, and this page verified no statute requiring a school district to bid such work. The disclosure of the business relationship was made openly on camera.
Sources: RSA 32:8 (2016 codification; source 1993, 332:1); RSA 32:10, I (2016 codification; text in force until Aug. 15, 2017)
OBSERVATION No technology plan since 2016, and members could not trace past technology and security spending
The new technology director told the board "The technology plan expired in 2016" and "We're flying without a technology plan" (2:05:49). Members then asked what the district had received for "the million we've already had" (2:20:47), and a member said he had believed past spending put cameras in the schools, but "there are no cameras there other than the high school" (2:29:26); the latest security warrant article went largely to phone systems (2:31:24, 2:32:20). The chair asked for an inventory of what security money had bought (2:34:43). No rule verified for this page requires a district technology plan, so this is an observation. It matters for oversight: the board was being asked to approve more technology and security spending without a current plan or a reconciliation of past warrant-article spending, and members said so on the record.
Sources: Cablecast: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 5-3; Dialogue/9073 SchoolBoard050317.mp4.CSV (rows 668, 725 to 727, 766 to 812)
POSITIVE Construction and service bids advertised and sent directly to local contractors
The business administrator described advertising requests for proposals in the newspaper and on the school website, sending the current middle school painting job to "six different painters on the list of painters", and inviting any contractor to ask to be added to the list (1:44:09, 1:44:23). He also described quotes from several roofers on the Maple roof (1:40:20). This page verified no statute requiring a New Hampshire school district to bid this kind of work, so open solicitation of this kind goes beyond the verified minimum. Whether the tech center roof followed the same process is the question in flag 3.
Sources: Cablecast: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 5-3; Dialogue/9073 SchoolBoard050317.mp4.CSV (rows 557 to 590)
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 5-3 (show 9073; 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/9073 SchoolBoard050317.mp4.CSV (1018 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9073 SchoolBoard050317.mp4Input/Transcripts/9073 SchoolBoard050317.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 32Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9073 SchoolBoard050317.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2016 codification (source note ends 2016, 29:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; the text in force for all of 2017): minutes content, including final decisions, and five-business-day inspection
- RSA 32:8, 2016 codification (source 1993, 332:1): no payment beyond an appropriation except under RSA 32:9-11
- RSA 32:10, I, 2016 codification (source note ends 2004, 113:1): transfers between appropriations and transfer records