Participants
Everyone heard or addressed on the recording, grouped by body. There are no minutes to check spellings against; names follow the recording and the project's 2015-2023 roster, and where a name rests on a single transcribed mention the participation cell says so. People shown in the documentary film are not listed.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Brian Rapp | Chair, Claremont School Board (co-presiding) | Calls the meeting to order (0:00:00) and runs citizens' comments; the mayor refers to "Chair Wrap" [Rapp] (0:01:11). Calls the break and the adjournment vote. |
| Rebecca Zullo | School board member | Recognized as Rebecca (0:19:04); thanks the first commenter, asks how Green Dot reaches children, and presses for action plans: "I just want to start doing and stop talking." (2:42:15). |
| Patrick Adrian | School board member | Recognized as Patrick (0:19:28); responds to the commenter on the city budget, asks about mandated training, and speaks on generational poverty. |
| Michelle Pierce (probable) | School board member | Labeled Unidentified in the dialogue file. Speaks for the board about the i-Ready data discussed "last night" (1:20:24, 1:20:27) and later speaks from her family's own experience, urging people who are struggling to come forward (2:14:35). Identified as Pierce on the project's corrections ledger (probable); a TLC clinician later addresses her as Michel (2:35:04). |
| Charlene Lovett | Mayor (co-presiding) | City announcements on lead and the budget; runs the scheduling of the next joint meeting; proposes a plan for the poverty discussion (2:21:56). |
| Allen Damren | City councilor | Recognized as "Councilor Damron" [Damren] (2:37:46); asks that sustainability be part of any plan. Says he started "in the district in 1995" (2:38:01). |
| Councilor (name not established) | City councilor | Recognized by the mayor by a first name transcribed Nicole (2:28:28); asks how the district connects families with services. Not identified on the roster. |
| Unidentified councilor | City councilor | Owns a restaurant and bar and describes liquor-license training (1:12:37); later recognized as a councilor (2:44:19). May be the same person as the row above; not established. |
| Ryan McNutt | City Manager | Asks whether courts could require bystander training (1:14:39) and proposes a city web page on homelessness (2:42:27). |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Speaks on kindergarten lead screening, bullying and the district's role in early childhood. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Answers on kindergarten lead screening (0:07:26); a Green Dot trainer; presents the homelessness film and district data (1:26:01, 1:58:26). |
| Jason Benware | Citizens' comments (Spruce Avenue) | "My name is Jason. Ben. Where?" [Benware] (0:10:02); ward not stated. Criticizes a district lead-screening letter and the City Council's budget vote. The project roster records him as a school board member from March 2018; here he speaks as a resident. |
| Bernie Fulton (spelling unverified) | Citizens' comments, Ward 3 | "Bernie Falta, Ward three" (0:15:22); "Bernie Fulton, Ward three" (1:08:11). Responds to Benware and asks which other communities are in the Green Dot study. |
| Kristen Parks | Vice president of programs, Green Dot, etc., Inc. | Self-identified (0:22:20, 0:22:51); presents the Green Dot bystander program. |
| Deb (surname not established) | Director, Turning Points Network | Self-introduction transcribed "I, Lawson, the director of Turning Points Network" (1:03:54); the surname is not reliable and is not printed. |
| Judge (first name Jack) | Judge, guest presenter | Addressed as judge and referred to as Jack (2:01:21); presents on childhood poverty from the bench. Surname not stated on the recording. |
| Melanie Williams | TLC Family Resource Center | Named by the judge (1:47:50); speaks on home visiting: "78% of the families that we're serving right now are struggling with finances in some way" (2:36:34). |
| Unidentified | Various | 184 of 665 dialogue rows (27.7%), including the film's audio, audience questions and a council-side speaker on community outreach (2:26:20). |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda survives in the district's shares. The mayor refers to "Next on the agenda item" (0:21:39) and the chair to a "725 start for our next discussion" (1:17:51); the items below are reconstructed from the presiding officers' transitions.
| Taken up | Item | What was said and done |
|---|
| 0:00:00 | Call to order, pledge, roll call | Roll call requested; not audible. |
| 0:01:09 | Announcements | The mayor on lead and the city budget; the board and staff on kindergarten lead screening. |
| 0:09:50 | Citizens' comments | Jason Benware; Bernie Fulton, Ward 3. Responses by the mayor, Zullo and Adrian. |
| 0:21:39 | Green Dot presentation | Kristen Parks, with Turning Points Network and the assistant superintendent. No action. |
| 1:18:13 | Next joint meeting | Set for Thursday, September 28, 2017; agenda to include the lead-screening update and i-Ready growth data (1:19:43, 1:19:57). No formal vote. |
| 1:24:47 | Homelessness and childhood poverty | Film excerpt, the judge's remarks and district data; discussion. No action. |
| 2:45:26 | Adjournment | "Grab a motion to adjourn." (2:46:06); mover and seconder not audible; "All in favor?" (2:46:10). |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/9170 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint062217.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 |
|---|
| 0:01:11 | Lead | The mayor distributes the state's lead surveillance report: "We were notified this morning from the state that we have yet another child who has been poisoned by lead in our city" (0:02:03). Training dates follow, and the state has asked Claremont for a conference panel because "we are the community leading the state in this initiative" (0:04:44). | |
| 0:05:49 | City budget | "the City Council did pass the budget on June 14th, and it does have a 17 cent increase on the tax rate." | |
| 0:06:30 | Kindergarten lead screening | The mayor offers help with screening, including organizations willing to buy "another lead test unit". LeClair: kindergarten screening "starts the Tuesday after Labor Day" (0:07:26), and some records arrive without the screening listed. | |
| 0:10:02 | Citizens' comments: Benware | On the district's letter: "I think that the the policy that you wrote specifically the last paragraph in that policy is very poorly written" (0:10:36). He reads it: "The high levels of special education, crime and mental health" ... "suggests there has not been enough lead screening assessments of children at an early age" (0:18:07). To the council: "you put all the tough decisions on the school board" (0:13:47). | |
| 0:15:22 | Citizens' comments: Fulton | On the library appropriation: "if you can get a group of people to pile into a meeting ... you can usually trigger some action"; "a democracy is run by those who show up" (0:16:49). | |
| 0:17:10 | Responses | The mayor asks whether anyone will address the school board policy; a voice answers No. (0:17:14). Zullo thanks Benware (0:19:09); Adrian: "I don't feel that I was a school board member feeling thrown under the bus" by the council's vote (0:20:03). | |
| 0:22:51 | Green Dot | Parks: "the University of New Hampshire has funded Claremont and Keene County, or communities to have the green Dot program evaluated" (0:23:12); the two were chosen as geographically and demographically similar (0:55:28). LeClair: "The Turning Points Network and the Claremont School District are partners" (0:56:54). Deb: "Green Dot has proven to reduce violence by as much as 40% on college campuses" (1:04:58). | |
| 1:14:39 | Can training be required? | McNutt asks whether courts could require it; Parks: "It violates green dot policy" (1:15:33), though a state can mandate a different bystander training (1:16:32). | |
| 1:18:13 | Next joint meeting | The mayor: "We want to follow our schedule of quarterly meetings." September 28 chosen (1:19:43). Agenda: the lead-screening results and i-Ready data, framed by the mayor as "how are we promoting the school district as a key element of economic growth in the city" (1:20:52); the meetings are to last "2.5 hours at the most" (1:24:38). | |
| 1:26:01 | Homelessness film | LeClair: the district "is one of six recipients of a McKinney Vento sub grant"; the filmmaker is named as "Diane Nylon" (1:27:05) [likely Diane Nilan, unverified]. The film shows students and families, some from Claremont (1:45:30). | |
| 1:47:11 | The judge on childhood poverty | "30 years ago, we had the second highest level of childhood poverty" (1:48:48); "30 years later, we have the second highest level of childhood poverty in the state" despite "millions, if not tens of millions of dollars on economic development" (1:49:05). He asks both bodies to put "a report on childhood poverty" on their agendas regularly: "I'm not asking for money" (1:57:40). | |
| 1:58:26 | District data | LeClair: the New Hampshire housing wage "is $43,865"; a teacher must be "on step nine" to exceed it ("Step nine is $43,932", 1:58:57). Free and reduced-price rates run from "bluff elementary, 70%" to "Stevens High School 40%" (1:59:44). "156 of them were identified as homeless" of "about 1753 students"; the count is lower because "in December of 2016, December 10th to be exact, and McKinney Vento law changed" (2:00:53). | POS |
| 2:03:43 | What is not tracked | LeClair: about "10% of our population in our schools who have had one or more parents incarcerated"; removals from home, kinship care and court placements are not tracked systematically (2:04:42). The district plans to survey middle- and high-school students on adverse childhood experiences, "Working within the regulations around administering surveys" (2:08:14). "50% of our fifth graders did not, start with us" (2:08:43). | OBS |
| 2:14:03 | A board member's own account | A school board member, probably Pierce, speaks from her family's own experience and urges people who are struggling to "come out and talk" to their representatives, school board and city council (2:14:35). | |
| 2:17:06 | Discussion | Adrian on gentrification and poverty. An unidentified speaker asks state and local representatives to attend such meetings (2:20:26). The mayor proposes three steps: understand the problem, identify barriers, create action plans (2:21:56 to 2:22:46). | |
| 2:28:31 | Connecting families to services | A councilor asks how the district connects families beyond its own programs. LeClair: "some times the issues are so insurmountable that the staff that we have in place just isn't enough" (2:29:38). The superintendent: the state budget supports full-day kindergarten at "80% of the cost" (2:31:21); "it's our job" (2:32:16). The judge: "many folks, if not most are working poor" (2:34:08). | |
| 2:38:01 | Sustainability | Damren: earlier programs "went away because no one had really talked about and put into concrete terms" how to sustain them (2:38:37). McNutt proposes a city web page on homelessness and the solutions generated (2:42:27). | |
| 2:45:26 | Close | The mayor will map out next steps and send them "to the city manager, chair, rep [Rapp], and the superintendent". Next meeting September 28 at 6:00 (2:45:52). | |
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 June 22, 2017, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. This was a meeting of two public bodies; the school district's records were checked through MAP.md and the city's were not inspected.
MEDIUM No agenda, packet or minutes of this joint meeting survive in the school district's shares
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. On the school side, the recording is the only public account of the meeting. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force in 2017, required each public body to keep 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 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 was announced at the school board meeting the night before, where members were told the agenda was in their packet (show 9171), the mayor works from an agenda (0:21:39), and the chair cites a scheduled start time for the second presentation (1:17:51). The only action taken was adjournment. The City Council keeps its own notice, agenda and minutes through the city clerk; this page did not inspect them and makes no finding about the city's records.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification, in force for 2017; source note ends 2016, 29:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017)
OBSERVATION Neither body's quorum can be confirmed from the recording
A meeting under RSA 91-A:2, I is the convening of a quorum of a public body, and a joint meeting is two bodies, each with its own quorum. The roll call is not audible (0:00:06, 0:01:03). On the school side, three members are identified and a fourth is probable, against a seven-member board whose quorum is four; on the city side, the mayor, one named councilor and at least two other councilors are heard, against a nine-member council. The city charter, in a copy of undetermined date, provides for nine councilors and that "A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business". Each body's minutes would record who attended. No business other than adjournment was transacted, so the point affects the record, not the validity of any action.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I (2016 codification: meeting means the convening of a quorum); Claremont City Charter §§16, 21 (copy of undetermined date); City of Claremont, City Council page (nine seats)
OBSERVATION A planned student survey on adverse childhood experiences falls under a parental-consent rule that changed in 2017
The assistant superintendent said the district intends to learn "how many of our students, at least at the middle school and high school, have experienced adverse childhood experiences", "Working within the regulations around administering surveys" (2:08:14). RSA 186:11, IX-d governs non-academic surveys. The 2016 codification required notice, review "at least 10 days prior to distribution", and a way for a parent to "opt out of the non-academic survey or questionnaire". The 2017 codification, which reflects three 2017 chapters effective June 16, June 24 and September 16, 2017, provides that "no student shall be required to volunteer for or submit to a non-academic survey or questionnaire" without "written consent of a parent or legal guardian", with an exception for the CDC youth risk behavior survey. Which of those chapters made the change is not isolated here, so whether written consent applied on the meeting date is unverified; it applied to any survey given from September 16, 2017 at the latest. An adverse-childhood-experiences questionnaire is non-academic. This is flagged so a reader can check, when the survey was given, which rule governed it and how consent was obtained.
Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-d (2016 codification: opt-out); RSA 186:11, IX-d (2017 codification: written consent)
POSITIVE The district explained a lower homeless count by a change in the federal definition rather than claiming improvement
Reporting 156 students identified as homeless out of about 1,753, the assistant superintendent said the number was lower "primarily because in December of 2016, December 10th to be exact, and McKinney Vento law changed", so that students awaiting foster care are no longer counted (2:00:53 to 2:01:46). U.S. Department of Education guidance confirms that the Every Student Succeeds Act removed "awaiting foster care placement" from the McKinney-Vento definition effective December 10, 2016 for states without a covered statute. Telling a public meeting that a falling number reflects a definition, not progress, is the kind of data candor that lets a reader trust the next figure.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Education for Homeless Children and Youths Non-Regulatory Guidance (July 2016, updated Aug. 2018): ESSA §9105(b) effective dates
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: CITY COUNCIL & SCHOOL BOARD MEETING - 6-22 (show 9170; 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 City Council's notice, agenda and minutes for this joint meeting were not inspected for this page (city clerk's records).
- Related meeting: Claremont School Board, June 21, 2017 (the meeting "last night").
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9170 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint062217.mp4.CSV (665 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9170 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint062217.mp4Input/Transcripts/9170 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint062217.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 36Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9170 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint062217.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, I and II, 2016 codification (source note ends 2016, 29:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017): meeting defined by a quorum; minutes and five-business-day inspection
- Claremont City Charter §§16, 21 (copy of undetermined date): nine councilors; majority quorum
- RSA 186:11, IX-d, 2016 codification (source note ends 2016, 14:1; 84:2) and 2017 codification (adds 2017, 9:1; 22:2; 251:1): non-academic surveys
- U.S. Department of Education EHCY non-regulatory guidance (2016, updated 2018): removal of "awaiting foster care placement" from the McKinney-Vento definition