Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part, as named in the project's dialogue file. Where the dialogue file leaves a voice Unidentified, this page does too.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Chris Irish | Vice chair, presiding | Presided. Answered the resident on the Claremont decision (0:19:26); proposed a dedicated meeting with legislators (0:33:43); questioned conference travel (1:31:45); objected to the Owls restructuring as possibly "an end run" (1:53:56); raised that the CCTV appointment had not been warned (2:06:16) and voted against it (2:13:02). |
| Patrick Adrian | Member | Asked when behavioral-needs costs heard in a nonpublic session would be discussed publicly (0:33:14); asked about head lice notices (0:43:39); raised larger or county districts (1:27:53); asked how the restructured programs would be designed (1:57:17); moved to enter nonpublic session (2:14:44, 2:15:01). Also credited with agenda remarks at 0:03:16 on the superintendent's answer (0:03:32). |
| Frank Sprague | Member | Moved the agenda (0:04:13), the June 21 minutes (0:04:29), the nominations (1:59:00), the MOU amendment (2:00:33), the policies (2:00:57, 2:01:19, 2:04:07) and the CCTV appointment (2:12:48); seconded the nonpublic motion (2:15:01); asked why the funding case was not in the courts (0:30:19); called the situation "an absolute crisis" (1:26:21). |
| Michael Petrin | Member | "how long are we going to sit back and wait?" (0:26:42); on head lice (0:56:16); on staff interest in the CCTV seat (2:10:32). Answered the roll as Patron here (0:01:05). |
| Brian Rapp | Chair | Absent (0:01:16). |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Absent (0:01:16). |
| Rebecca Zullo | Member | Absent (0:01:16), reading Becky as Zullo; see Board composition. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Proposed the agenda changes, including the CCTV action and the nonpublic session (0:01:33 to 0:02:31); report on home schooling and a student service project (0:04:44 to 0:09:58); on state funding (0:20:48 to 0:22:31, 0:26:48, 0:39:00); defended the head lice protocol (0:40:47 to 0:42:59); presented the nominations (1:43:26 to 1:45:12), the MOU amendment (1:59:15), the surveys policy (2:01:45) and the CCTV nominee (2:05:10); stated the nonpublic exemption (2:14:47). |
| Michael O'Neill | Business administrator, SAU 6 | On grants in cost per pupil (0:14:29); the online lunch application system (1:06:37 to 1:07:19); a "$20,000 investment in the middle school" kitchen (1:10:53); carrying over the security article (1:43:05, 1:43:16). |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk | Called both roll calls (0:01:01 to 0:01:13, 2:15:23 to 2:15:39); reminded the board of the CCTV item (2:04:55); explained how the CCTV vacancy was advertised (2:07:37, 2:13:57). |
| Janine Riley (spelling unverified) | School nurse, Stevens High School | Introduced by the superintendent (0:02:04); answered on head lice practice (0:44:17 to 1:00:24): "on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the top priority, it's a one." (0:49:53). |
| Scott (surname heard as Sean) | Vice president of operations, Abbey Group (food service contractor) | Described the point-of-sale system and online lunch applications (1:07:38 to 1:10:50). |
| Unidentified | Abbey Group food service representative | Introduced the new food service director and the farm-to-school connection (1:01:29 to 1:06:05); on free and reduced application rollover (1:11:49, 1:16:38 to 1:16:46). The dialogue file separates this voice from the nurse's cluster by override; a few rows are less certain. |
| Jason Benware | Citizens' comments, Ward 1 | Self-introduced as transcribed "My name is Jason Benoit. I live in Ward one" (0:11:19); compared Claremont's cost per pupil with the state average and with Franklin (0:11:39 to 0:15:27) and asked about the school funding case (0:17:10 to 0:20:43). The dialogue file also assigns him an audience question on head lice (0:57:18) on voice-cluster continuity only. He joined the board in March 2018 (project roster). |
| Unidentified | Seconds and short fragments | 57 of 705 rows (8.1%), including several seconds that the dialogue file could not separate between Petrin and Adrian. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted online, though the board worked from a 116-page packet (0:04:44) and amended the agenda at the table. This outline is reconstructed from the presiding officer's transitions. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:23 | Call to order; pledge; roll call | Vice chair Irish presiding; four present (0:01:01 to 0:01:13); three absences noted (0:01:16). |
| 0:01:26 | Agenda | Superintendent added action on the CCTV board of directors and a nonpublic session "for RSA 91-A colon three Roman numeral two C" (0:01:33), moved the head lice discussion up, and added a nomination and a resignation (0:02:04, 0:02:31). Motion Sprague (0:04:13); approved, voice vote (0:04:19). |
| 0:04:19 | Minutes of June 21, 2017 | Motion Sprague (0:04:29); approved, voice vote (0:04:38). The board had not met in July (1:57:38). |
| 0:04:38 | Superintendent's report | Home schooling letter; a middle school community service project; a Strine football game honor (0:10:24). |
| 0:11:01 | Citizens' comments | Jason Benware (Ward 1) on cost per pupil and school funding; became a board discussion of the state funding case and a proposed meeting with legislators, to 0:40:23. |
| 0:40:47 | Discussion: head lice policy | Superintendent and the high school nurse; no change to the protocol; no vote. |
| 1:00:34 | Discussion: food service update | Abbey Group; new director; online free and reduced applications. No vote. |
| 1:17:30 | Discussion: education finance, "New Hampshire headed to a rural crisis" | Members on costs and the budget; fiscal year 2019 budget meetings moved up for action at the next meeting (1:41:07). No vote. |
| 1:41:28 | Recognition; security update | State Department recognition of Stevens High School; the security upgrade RFP under the $141,000 article (1:42:19 to 1:43:16). |
| 1:43:26 | Nominations and resignation | Superintendent's nominations, including a pre-K program director, a grade 2 teacher, a high school math teacher, a middle school art teacher and a social studies and special education position funded from a vacated position; a resignation from the Owls program. Motion Sprague to accept the nominations and the resignation "with regret" (1:59:00); approved, voice vote (1:59:11). |
| 1:59:15 | Amendment to the school board and SREA memorandum of understanding | Lets the high school scheduling committee consider schedules other than an A/B schedule (1:59:53). Motion Sprague (2:00:33), second (2:00:35); approved (2:00:38). |
| 2:00:38 | Policies, second read: board member conflict of interest; school lunch program meal charges | Moved first to a third read (2:00:57), then changed to final approval with the third reading waived (2:01:19); approved, voice vote (2:01:29 to 2:01:35). |
| 2:01:41 | Policy, first read: nonacademic surveys and questionnaires | Moved to second read, motion Sprague (2:04:07); voice vote (2:04:13). |
| 2:04:15 | Future agenda items | Strategic plan, elementary handbooks, budget meetings, the pre-K program and the Alt and Owls restructuring for August 16. |
| 2:04:55 | CCTV board of directors appointment | Reappointment of the incumbent to seat 5 (2:05:10, 2:05:46). Motion Sprague (2:12:48); approved, voice vote, Irish opposed (2:13:00 to 2:13:02). |
| 2:14:39 | Nonpublic session | Under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) (2:14:47). Motion Adrian, second Sprague (2:15:01); roll call Adrian, Petrin, Sprague, Irish all yes (2:15:23 to 2:15:40). The recording ends. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, taken from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:01:33 | Agenda changes | McGoodwin: "we need to make a take action on the CCTV board of directors." "I also would recommend at the end of this meeting we go into a non public for RSA 91-A colon three Roman numeral two C." | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 0:04:44 | Home schooling | McGoodwin: "this agenda has 116 pages." A letter to families considering home schooling; "We follow the state statute." "The law has now changed." (0:05:06). | |
| 0:11:19 | Citizens' comments: cost per pupil | Benware: "We are $917 higher at the elementary level. We are $2,101 higher at the middle school level" and "$2,451 higher at the high school level" (0:12:08); "we're over $2.5 million, sort of over where the average is." (0:13:06). O'Neill: grants are "about $3 million a year that goes into that number." (0:14:29). | |
| 0:16:51 | An answer promised | McGoodwin: "I'd like to respond to your questions at the next school board meeting." Delivered on August 16 (see that page). | |
| 0:19:15 | The school funding case | Benware: "And Mr. Connor, who's our lawyer, I assume he's doing something about it as well." Irish: "the reason we had the Claremont decision, because the legislature never lived up to their end of the bargain." (0:19:26). McGoodwin: "This is the City of Claremont issue." (0:20:48); "Our budget last year went up $76,000. The tax rate went up $0.11." (0:22:31). | |
| 0:26:17 | Members press for action | Petrin: "how long are we going to sit back and wait?" (0:26:42). Sprague: "We are engaged in the New Hampshire Supreme Court now as a district over contract language. So why can't we engage with the Supreme Court over this?" (0:30:29). McGoodwin: "I've had two meetings with Tom Kinnear." (0:39:00); the attorney's surname is transcribed both as Connor and Kinnear. | |
| 0:32:26 | A nonpublic discussion to be made public | Adrian: "Then we had a nonpublic in the public's purpose was so that the principals could, could be able to kind of speak to us directly" (0:33:01); "now, once that was said, we felt that this what we were hearing overall, this needed to be discussed publicly" "So when are we going to talk about this publicly?" (0:33:14). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:33:43 | A meeting with legislators | Irish: "I think we should have this on an agenda as an action item." (0:34:01); invitations to state representatives and the governor (0:39:39 to 0:39:58); "We'll make sure we publicize the heck out of it." (0:40:23). | |
| 0:40:47 | Head lice policy | McGoodwin: "This policy was implemented in 2005. Actually that's wrong 2013. It was implemented in 2015."; "our protocol is the norm." (0:41:15). Riley: "on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the top priority, it's a one." (0:49:53). Adrian: "the board member who requested this wasn't isn't here tonight." (0:52:07). | |
| 1:00:37 | Food service transition | McGoodwin: parents should "feel at ease that their private business is not going to be public banter" (1:01:20). The new food service director "graduated from your high school." (1:04:41). | |
| 1:06:37 | Online lunch applications | O'Neill: "It cuts down on the on the, on the time that it sits around and cuts down on who sees it." (1:06:54). Scott: "Everybody's treated the same way. Nobody knows who's free or reduced." (1:09:08). | |
| 1:10:53 | Kitchen equipment | O'Neill: "We did need to make a $20,000 investment in the middle school." Sprague asked whether food service proceeds could reimburse it; O'Neill: "As long as we have sufficient surplus to do that." (1:11:29). | |
| 1:18:41 | Education finance | Sprague: "Our our tax rate is astronomical. We cannot sustain this." (1:22:51); "This year it's got to be personnel" (1:23:31). O'Neill: "our budget has gone up less than 1% in the past two years." (1:39:32). | |
| 1:27:53 | District size | Adrian: "We have a district to have a district with only 1700 students. As part of the problem." | |
| 1:31:45 | Conference travel | Irish: "we sent two people to Colorado for power school training. That way, over 88,000 plus." (figure as transcribed). O'Neill: grant awards can require national conferences (1:33:59). | |
| 1:35:59 | Strategic plan preview | McGoodwin: "you haven't seen the strategic plan. We're not discussing it publicly." "So stay tuned for that in mid-August." (1:36:21). | |
| 1:42:19 | Security upgrades | McGoodwin: "I can't discuss it publicly, but the bids have been closed"; the article to "raise 141,000 for the purchase of of security upgrades". O'Neill: "it was not voted as a non lapsing warrant" (1:43:05). | |
| 1:43:26 | Nominations | A pre-K director "with the licensure in special education" (1:46:17); a vacated position used "not to replace that position, but utilizing that position in the area of social studies slash special education" (1:44:03). Sprague: "it means that there's one PE teacher at the high school. Now." (1:49:53). | POSITIVE |
| 1:50:31 | Owls restructuring questioned | McGoodwin: "We are looking at restructuring owls." Irish: "I have concerns that it may be an end run." (1:53:56); "to undo that decision without giving us a chance to at least agree or disagree or that this is not the way to do business" (1:55:45). McGoodwin: "But if you also remember Chris in Nonpublic, there was another discussion." (1:52:35); "the other thing you heard we couldn't discuss publicly. So that's why we want to make these changes." (1:57:19). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:58:08 | Nominations accepted | McGoodwin: "these staff have been hired." "I don't want to publicly discuss it. I'm not being secretive" (1:58:35). Sprague moved to "accept the nominations as presented" (1:59:00). | POSITIVE |
| 1:59:15 | Scheduling committee MOU | McGoodwin: a memorandum "signed by Brian Rap and Tammy Yates in January that included the phrase a B schedule"; "we shouldn't restrict ourselves to an A B schedule" (1:59:53). | |
| 2:00:38 | Meal charges policy | Irish: "We're looking at the board member conflict of interest and school lunch program meal charges." "can we just forego the third reading?" (2:01:03). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:01:45 | Nonacademic surveys policy | McGoodwin: "as a result of recent legislation." "It doesn't pertain to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, but it goes into effect next month as a law." "I don't know the source of the law" (2:02:04); "there's no more opt out" "we need to get approval from the parent." (2:03:46). | POSITIVE |
| 2:05:10 | CCTV board appointment | McGoodwin: the board is asked to "vote on the nominee for seat five of the CCTV board of directors." (2:05:10). Irish: "Adding an action item technically is because we haven't warned it." (2:06:16); "Traditionally you don't add an action item to the agenda that night because theoretically someone could have wanted to be here to speak to it." (2:06:47). Sprague: "I have no objection. Objection to suspend." (2:07:18). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:07:24 | How the seat was advertised | Woodman: "It was listed in the paper with a whole bunch of the city council" (2:07:37). McGoodwin: "I did not solicit this position to the employees of the school district." (2:08:55). Irish: "We don't make a good enough effort to get new blood." (2:09:42). The "five open seats" were alternate seats (2:13:57). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:12:48 | Appointment voted | Sprague: "I move that we nominate Mr. Schneider to the CCTV board position". Irish: "I'll stay consistent and oppose it." (2:13:02). | |
| 2:14:41 | Into nonpublic session | McGoodwin: "Per if I may per RSA 91 a colon three Roman numeral two see." (2:14:47). Irish: "Patrick and then Frank seconded. Roll call please, ma'am." (2:15:01). Four yes votes (2:15:23 to 2:15:40). | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on August 2, 2017. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag names the rule it rests on; where no verified rule applies, it is recorded as an observation. Ordered by severity.
OBSERVATION The stated reason for restructuring the Owls program rests on something heard in an earlier nonpublic session, which members said should be discussed in public
Early in the meeting a member recalled a nonpublic session in which principals described the district's behavioral-needs costs, and said "this needed to be discussed publicly" (0:33:01, 0:33:14). When the nominations revealed that the Owls program was being restructured and a physical education position repurposed, the vice chair called it possibly "an end run" around a decision the board had made in public (1:53:56, 1:55:45). The superintendent answered by pointing to a nonpublic discussion (1:52:35, 1:54:43) and said "the other thing you heard we couldn't discuss publicly. So that's why we want to make these changes." (1:57:19). The law then in force confined nonpublic discussion to "the matters set out in the motion" and required public bodies to deliberate only in meetings. The motion for that earlier session is not available, so whether program design fell within it cannot be checked here. Mitigating: the superintendent promised a public presentation for August 16 (1:57:38), and the August 16 page shows the restructuring presented and voted in open session.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(c) (2017 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017, so the text in force during 2017): "All discussions held and decisions made during nonpublic session shall be confined to the matters set out in the motion."; RSA 91-A:2-a, I (2008, 303:4, unamended).
OBSERVATION The CCTV board appointment was acted on the night it was added to the agenda; the presiding officer flagged it and voted no
The superintendent added "take action on the CCTV board of directors" at agenda approval (0:01:33). When the item came up, the vice chair said "Adding an action item technically is because we haven't warned it" and that someone "could have wanted to be here to speak to it" (2:06:16 to 2:06:47). A member said he had no objection to suspending the rules (2:07:18), but no separate vote to suspend is audible. Members also learned the seat had been advertised in the newspaper with city vacancies but not to district employees, as some had asked (2:07:24 to 2:09:56). The incumbent was reappointed with the vice chair opposed (2:12:48 to 2:13:02). The Right-to-Know Law then in force required notice of the time and place of a meeting, not an itemized agenda, so this is a question of the board's own rules and practice rather than of statute. Recorded because a same-night action item limits the public's chance to be heard, as the presiding officer himself said.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification, text in force during 2017): notice "of the time and place of each such meeting" posted at least 24 hours ahead. The board's rules of procedure for 2017 are not available.
OBSERVATION The school lunch meal charges policy reached final approval a month after the federal date for having a written meal charge policy
The board sent two policies on second read, "board member conflict of interest and school lunch program meal charges", to final approval with the third reading waived (2:00:38 to 2:01:35). USDA guidance then current said a written meal charge policy "is required for SFAs no later than July 1, 2017", and state law since July 2016 required a school lunch meal payment policy that ensures all students have access to a healthy school lunch and that no student is treated differently from the standard meal. The recording does not show whether the district had an earlier policy in force, whether the food service contractor's procedures filled the gap, or the policy's text. Recorded as timing only.
Sources: USDA FNS memo SP 23-2017 (March 23, 2017), citing SP 46-2016: written meal charge policy "required for SFAs no later than July 1, 2017"; RSA 189:11-a, VIII (2017 codification; added by 2016, 48:1, eff. July 2, 2016).
OBSERVATION No record of the nonpublic session's outcome, or of this meeting's minutes, can be found online
The recording ends with the roll call into nonpublic session (2:15:40); any decision taken, any vote to seal the minutes and the return to public session are not recorded. The law then in force required nonpublic minutes and decisions to be disclosed within 72 hours unless a two-thirds recorded vote in public session withheld them on a stated ground, and public minutes to be open to inspection within five business days. Neither this meeting's minutes nor any nonpublic minutes are in the district's Drive shares, which begin in 2022 and 2023. The August 16 recording shows the public minutes existed and were approved with a correction, and the superintendent said then that minutes and agendas were posted on the district website. So this is a finding about online availability, not evidence that the records were never kept.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III (2016 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 280:1): 72-hour disclosure unless withheld by recorded two-thirds vote; RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification): minutes open to inspection "not more than 5 business days after the meeting".
POSITIVE The nonpublic session was announced at the start, entered on a motion naming the specific exemption, and approved by roll call
The superintendent announced at agenda approval that the board would go into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) (0:01:33), and repeated the exemption when the motion was made (2:14:47); the motion was moved and seconded (2:15:01) and each of the four members present answered a roll call (2:15:23 to 2:15:40). The law then in force required that the motion "state on its face the specific exemption" and that the vote be by roll call. One caveat: on the recording the exemption is spoken by the superintendent rather than by the mover, and the session's subject is not described beyond the exemption, which is what II(c) permits.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and II(c) (2016 codification, text in force during 2017).
POSITIVE Staff nominations were put to the board by the superintendent and elected in public session after questions
The superintendent presented each nomination and the resignation (1:43:26 to 1:45:12); members questioned the pre-K director position, the repurposed physical education position and the Owls vacancy (1:45:38 to 1:58:46) before accepting the nominations on a motion (1:59:00, 1:59:11). That is the statutory division of labor: the superintendent nominates, the board elects. Flag 1 records the members' separate concern about the program changes behind two of these positions.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (source note ends 1971, 371:2; unamended across the corpus): "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers".
POSITIVE A surveys policy was drafted ahead of a change in state law, and the superintendent described the change accurately
The superintendent introduced a first-read policy on nonacademic surveys "as a result of recent legislation" that "goes into effect next month" and does not apply to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2:01:45), and explained that "there's no more opt out" and parental approval is needed (2:03:46), though he said he did not know the law's source (2:02:04). That matches the statute. The version in force through 2016 let a parent opt out of a non-academic survey; the version in the 2017 codification, whose source note ends with an amendment effective September 16, 2017, requires "written consent of a parent or legal guardian" and includes "an exception from the consent requirement for the youth risk behavior survey". Which of that year's amendments made the change was not isolated for this page; the September date fits the superintendent's "next month".
Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-d (2017 codification; source note ends 2017, 251:1, eff. Sept. 16, 2017); RSA 186:11, IX-d (2016 codification; opt-out version).
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 9248, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 8-2-17" (the gallery title carries two spaces before the date): Claremont Community TV. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- No Drive material: neither the Claremont nor the SAU 6 share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (MAP.md section 37, checked 9/26/26). The agenda, the 116-page packet, the policies, the MOU amendment, the CCTV memo and the minutes were not located.
- Related page: August 16, 2017 (approval of these minutes; the promised finance presentation and Owls and Alt presentation).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9248 SchoolBoard080217.mp4.CSV (705 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9248 SchoolBoard080217.mp4Input/Transcripts/9248 SchoolBoard080217.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9248 SchoolBoard080217.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 37
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification, text in force during 2017): notice of time and place; minutes within five business days.
- RSA 91-A:2-a, I (2008, 303:4, unamended): deliberation only in meetings.
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), III and I(c) (text in force from January 1, 2017): nonpublic motion and roll call; reputation exemption; confinement to the motion; 72-hour disclosure.
- RSA 189:39: superintendent nominates, board elects teachers.
- RSA 189:11-a, VIII (from July 2, 2016): school lunch meal payment policy.
- RSA 186:11, IX-d (2016 and 2017 codifications): non-academic surveys, opt-out before and written consent after the 2017 amendment.
- USDA FNS SP 23-2017 (federal guidance, not a statute): written meal charge policy by July 1, 2017.