Claremont School Board, August 2, 2017

Regular meeting chaired by Vice Chair Chris Irish with four of seven members present: a citizen's challenge on per-pupil cost and the Claremont school-funding decision, the head lice protocol, the new Abbey Group food service, the "rural crisis" funding report, staff nominations and an Owls program restructuring, a new non-academic survey policy, and a contested reappointment to the CCTV board. The page is built from the CCTV recording's dialogue transcript; no agenda, packet or minutes survive in the district's online shares. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.

Body
Claremont School Board (Claremont School District, SAU 6)
Date
Wednesday, August 2, 2017. The presiding officer opens the "Meeting of the School Board for August 3rd, 2017" (0:00:23); the file name, the Cablecast title and the board's approval on August 16 of the minutes of its August 2 meeting (August 16, 2017 page) fix the date as August 2.
Start time
Not stated in available records. The recording opens with the call to order and pledge (0:00:23); the board's roll call to enter nonpublic session ends at 2:15:40, where the transcript stops (2:15:40 of dialogue). Nothing after the nonpublic session was recorded.
Location
Not stated in available records. Jason Benware asks whether cost is driven by "the tech center that we're standing in" (0:15:02), which points to the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center building.
Recording
Cablecast: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 8-2-17 (show 9248; dialogue runs 2:15:40; ends at the nonpublic roll call)
Minutes
None located. MAP.md records no Drive material for this meeting: neither district share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (checked 9/26/26). The August 16 recording shows minutes of this meeting were written and approved with one correction.
Board composition
Four of seven members present (Adrian, Irish, Petrin, Sprague), a bare quorum. Chair Brian Rapp and members Michelle Pierce and a member announced as Becky were absent with notice (0:01:16).

Participants

Everyone heard or addressed on the recording. There are no minutes to check spellings against; names follow the project's 2015-2023 roster and the attribution report for this recording, and the participation cell says where a name rests on a single transcribed mention.
NameRoleParticipation
Chris IrishVice chair, presidingRuns the meeting in the chair's absence. Answers the citizen on per-pupil cost and the Claremont decision, proposes inviting the state delegation and the governor to the September 28 joint meeting, questions conference travel, presses the superintendent on the Owls restructuring ("it may be an end run"), objects to acting on the unwarned CCTV appointment and votes against it.
Patrick AdrianMemberAsks when the behavioral-cost concerns heard in an earlier nonpublic session will be discussed in public, asks for lice notices to parents, raises county-level districts as a long-term idea, and asks for the pre-K and Owls plans to be presented. Moves the nonpublic session.
Michael PetrinMemberRoll-call answer transcribed "Patron here." (0:01:05). Asks that school funding be "an action item number one" rather than a discussion item, and asks whether committee vacancies can be sent to staff each year.
Frank SpragueMemberSays the board is "admiring the problem", proposes an outside efficiency review, asks about food-service reimbursement, the pre-K director post and the Owls staffing, and makes most of the evening's motions, including the CCTV reappointment.
Brian RappChairAbsent with notice (0:01:16). Referred to as the signer of the January MOU with the teachers' association (1:59:15).
Michelle PierceMemberAbsent with notice (0:01:16).
Member announced as BeckyMemberAbsent with notice (0:01:16). The attribution report reads this as Rebecca Zullo, since Becky Ferland had resigned in October 2016; this page treats that as probable, not established.
Middleton McGoodwinSuperintendent, SAU 6Proposes the agenda changes, gives the report (home-education letter, Project Red and Blue), introduces the nurse and the food-service contractor, presents the funding report, the security warrant article, nominations, the MOU amendment, the survey policy and the CCTV item, and supplies the nonpublic citation.
Michael O'NeillBusiness administrator, SAU 6Answers on grants and per-pupil cost, the $20,000 middle-school serving line, the lapse rule for the security article and peer-district comparisons. Spelling follows the project roster and is unverified.
Mary WoodmanClerk (recording secretary)Calls both roll calls and explains how the CCTV vacancy was advertised. One fragment the dialogue file gives her (0:44:17) belongs to the nurse; see the method note.
Janine RileySchool nurse, Stevens High SchoolIntroduced by the superintendent (0:02:04); spelling unverified. Explains the lice protocol, rates lice a one on a ten-point scale of medical priority and proposes weekly checks by parents.
Unidentified (Abbey Group representative)Food service contractorA woman who has been on site since the contract was awarded. Reports staff rehiring, the new food service director, farm-to-school purchasing and the plan to place free and reduced-price forms around the city. She is not named on the recording.
Scott (surname transcribed "Sean")Vice president of operations, Abbey GroupSelf-introduced as "your vice president of operations" (1:07:38). Describes the point-of-sale system, the PowerSchool connector, online free and reduced-price applications and the $1.95 payment fee.
Jason BenwareCitizens' comments, Ward 1Self-identified, transcribed "My name is Jason Benoit. I live in Ward one" (0:11:19); the project roster records the spelling Benware. Compares Claremont's per-pupil costs with state averages and asks what the district is doing about the Claremont funding decision. Takes part in the later lice and funding discussion from the floor.
UnidentifiedVarious57 of 705 dialogue rows (8.1%): seconds, ayes and crosstalk. Several seconds come from one voice that is probably Petrin or Adrian but cannot be separated.

Order of business (reconstructed)

No agenda survives. The superintendent describes a 116-page packet and an order of business on its "third page" (0:03:09); the items below are reconstructed from the presiding officer's transitions.
Taken upItemWhat was said and done
0:00:23Call to order, pledge, roll callRoll call (0:01:01): Adrian, Petrin, Sprague and Irish answer. Irish: "I did know that Brian, Becky and Michelle were all not going to be here. They did let us know."
0:01:26Agenda changesThe superintendent asks to add action on the CCTV board of directors, a nonpublic session "for RSA 91-A colon three Roman numeral two C", to move the head lice discussion up, and to add an extra nomination and a resignation. Sprague moves to "Accept the changes in the agenda" (0:04:13); voice vote, ayes heard, no opposition heard.
0:04:19Minutes of June 21, 2017Sprague: "I move that we accept the minutes from the school board meeting on June 21st." A second is heard in the presiding officer's row; voice vote, no opposition heard.
0:04:38Superintendent's reportHome-education letter to parents; Project Red and Blue. Report only.
0:11:01Citizens' commentsJason Benware, Ward 1, on per-pupil cost and school funding; a long exchange with members and the superintendent follows. No action.
0:40:23Head lice policy and the New Hampshire school nurses' surveyMoved up the agenda. Presentation by the superintendent and nurse Janine Riley; discussion only. Members favor periodic reminders to parents.
1:00:34Food service updateAbbey Group representatives. Discussion only.
1:17:30Education finance: "New Hampshire headed to a rural crisis"Discussion. The superintendent asks that fiscal year 2019 budget meetings move to action at the next meeting (1:41:07).
1:41:28Recognition; security upgradeState Department recognition of Stevens High School's German-American exchange; status of the $141,000 security warrant article. No vote.
1:43:26Nominations and resignationSprague: "I move, we accept the nominations as presented" and the resignation "with regret" (1:59:00). A second, then "All in favor?" (1:59:11); no tally or opposition is audible.
1:59:15Amendment to the MOU with the teachers' associationLets the high-school scheduling committee consider schedules other than an A/B schedule. Sprague: "I move that we accept that." (2:00:33); second; the vote is not distinctly audible.
2:00:38Policies, second read: board member conflict of interest; school lunch program meal chargesSprague moves them to a third read, then changes the motion: "move them to final approval?" (2:01:19). Second; "All in favor? ... Aye, aye." The presiding officer: "We're waving the third and going rate. The final group." (2:01:35).
2:01:41Policy, first read: non-academic surveys and questionnairesSprague: "I move, we move that to second." (2:04:07); second; "All in favor?" No opposition heard.
2:04:15Future agendaStrategic plan, elementary handbooks, budget meetings, the pre-K program and the restructured alternative programs for August 16.
2:05:10CCTV board of directors, seat 5Added that night. After discussion of suspending the rules, Sprague moves "that we nominate Mr. Schneider to the CCTV board position" (2:12:48); voice vote, ayes heard; Irish: "I'll stay consistent and oppose it." (2:13:02). Carried; with four present the likely count is 3-1, but individual votes other than Irish's are not audible.
2:14:39Nonpublic sessionAdrian moves; the superintendent supplies "per RSA 91 a colon three Roman numeral two see." (2:14:47) [RSA 91-A:3, II(c)]. "Patrick and then Frank seconded. Roll call please, ma'am." Roll call: Adrian, Petrin, Sprague and Irish each Yes (2:15:23 to 2:15:40). The recording ends.

Discussion timeline

Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/9248 SchoolBoard080217.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.
TimeTopicWhat was saidFlags
0:04:44A 116-page agenda; home education"With this agenda has 116 pages." A letter is going to parents considering home schooling; home visits by principals were once required but "The law has now changed. That is not required." Home-educated students "are entitled to certain opportunities, such as extracurricular participation or even a course such as a science course".
0:06:07Project Red and BlueA summer program run by the school resource officer (name transcribed "Crystal Simons") for incoming sixth graders and middle-school students, funded by business donations. "It was calculated that all of the students working together saved the maintenance staff 70 hours of work." Irish adds that a Claremont student was named a co-captain of the Shrine football team (0:10:24).
0:11:19Citizen: Claremont's per-pupil cost against the stateBenware, from the state website: "We are $917 higher at the elementary level. We are $2,101 higher at the middle school level", and after correcting himself "We are $2,451 higher at the high school level." On enrollment from a private site, "we're over $2.5 million, sort of over where the average is" (0:13:06). He compares Franklin and asks whether special education or the tech center drives the gap.
0:14:29Grants in the per-pupil figureO'Neill: "the monies that we spend on grants is about $3 million a year that goes into that number", and Franklin runs its grants through its SAU, so they do not show in its cost per student. Irish: the comparison "has nothing to do with the number of students in the school" and "It's got everything to do with property value." Benware: "I'm asking why does it cost more to educate a student? Not how much the tax rate is." The superintendent offers to answer at the next meeting (0:16:51).
0:17:10The Claremont decisionBenware: 57% of 2015 taxes funded schools; "What's going on with us with the Claremont decision?"; "So, theoretically speaking, the state right now is in contempt of court." (0:20:22). He asks whether the district's lawyer (transcribed "Mr. Connor") has a timeline. Irish: "the legislature never lived up to their end of the bargain" and "It's got to be done in Concord."
0:20:48Superintendent: the "rural crisis" report"This is the City of Claremont issue." He cites the report "New Hampshire headed to a rural crisis" and his New Hampshire Public Radio interview: "zip code should not determine the educational opportunity for children". "Our budget last year went up $76,000. The tax rate went up $0.11. But because of a lack of state aid, that $0.11 bumped to a buck quarter a thousand." (0:22:31).
0:26:17Members want action, not discussionPetrin: "I'm feeling a lot of sitting back and waiting to see what happens. When are we going to act?" Sprague: "in my terminology, we're we're admiring the problem, you know, and we're not doing anything about it." (0:29:58) and "We are engaged in the New Hampshire Supreme Court now as a district over contract language." Irish proposes inviting every state representative and "I'd also like to invite the governor" (0:27:40).
0:32:38Behavioral costs heard only in nonpublicAdrian recalls a discussion of "the serious kind of cost needs of behavioral to address behavioral issues in the district", held in nonpublic "so that the principals could, could be able to kind of speak to us directly", with the understanding it would later be public: "So when are we going to talk about this publicly? As an agenda item?" (0:33:14).OBS
0:35:24The September 28 joint meetingThe superintendent points to the city council's September 28 agenda, where school funding is footnote seven. Petrin: "It needs to be an action item number one." Sprague: "This is a crisis." (0:37:21). Irish lists invitees "for the sake of the minutes": the district's school-funding attorney, the state representatives and senator, and the governor (0:39:39).
0:40:47Head lice protocolThe superintendent: "It was implemented in 2015." On the January 2017 New Hampshire School Nurses Association survey, "our protocol is the norm." Asked whether parents are notified, nurse Riley says the nurses do not send a letter every time: "You wouldn't want me sending out a letter saying that there was 20 people that were diagnosed with something that's kind of against HIPAA." (0:44:17).OBS
0:49:19Medical priority and parent remindersRiley: "on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the top priority, it's a one." Adrian favors general notices, "Just to let parents at least give them the opportunity to check their kids hair." Riley suggests a weekly check at home; Irish suggests "using the robocall feature, something like that once a month to remind parents" (0:59:10). No policy change is moved.
1:01:29Abbey Group takes over food service"We have 90% of your existing employees rehired." A new food service director, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who grew up in Claremont (named as transcribed "Donovan. Donovan hunt", 1:04:52); "harvest of the month" with Monadnock Menus; school food teams meeting about every six weeks.
1:06:37Online free and reduced-price applicationsO'Neill: an online application "cuts down on who sees it". Scott: once approved, eligibility flows to the point-of-sale system: "Everybody's treated the same way. Nobody knows who's free or reduced." (1:09:08); parents "can deposit as much as you'd like on your account for just $1.95." The representative adds paper forms should be at "every fire station, every library" (1:11:49); prior-year eligibility carries over for "30 school days" (1:16:42).POS
1:10:53Middle-school serving lineO'Neill: "We did need to make a $20,000 investment in the middle school", for two hot units, a cold unit and a salad bar. Sprague: "Can we reimburse ourselves for that?" O'Neill: We can. and "As long as we have sufficient surplus to do that."
1:18:41An outside efficiency reviewSprague's Route 10 analogy: "the state maintains that road and guarantees it to be at a certain quality". O'Neill puts the local share at "about 43%" (1:20:59). Sprague: "I think what we need to do is engage an outside agency to help us figure out efficiencies and inefficiencies." (1:22:05) and "This year it's got to be personnel, I think" (1:23:10). O'Neill: "I don't think I want to spend $30,000 to have somebody come in and download some stuff offline." (1:36:51).
1:26:42Pre-budget meetings; district sizeAdrian asks for board-only pre-budget goal-setting meetings and raises consolidation: "We have a district to have a district with only 1700 students. As part of the problem." (1:27:53). Irish: such a change is "25 years away".
1:31:18Conference travelIrish: "$8,000 to send two people to Colorado for less than 2000. I can have power school come here and train them" (1:34:24). The superintendent: such travel "does not come from the taxpayer. It comes from grants." (1:33:15); O'Neill: "power school and that's really the one that's not grant funded." O'Neill later notes "our budget has gone up less than 1% in the past two years." (1:39:32).
1:41:28Recognition; security warrant articleThe State Department recognized Stevens High School's German-American Partnership Program. On security, the bids "have been closed"; the article read: "Shall the Claremont School District vote to raise 141,000 for the purchase of of security upgrades throughout the Claremont District Schools?" (1:42:19). O'Neill: "it was not voted as a non lapsing warrant ideal" [article], so "we have to identify a vendor by June 30th." (1:43:16).
1:43:26Nominations; the pre-K directorNominees include a pre-K director, a grade 2 teacher, high-school math and middle-school art, plus a social studies and special education position funded from a resignation: "we are taking those funds and utilizing them in two different parts of our district." (1:44:45). Asked if the pre-K director is new, the superintendent says the post existed and needs special-education licensure (1:45:43).
1:48:54Physical education and the Owls programSprague: "it means that there's one PE teacher at the high school." The superintendent: "We are looking at restructuring owls." (1:50:31), a "blending of two programs with resources from both the Alt and the owls", and "if all goes as planned, they will be off site" (1:51:08).OBS
1:51:41"An end run"Irish: "I'm not 100% convinced right now that we're going where we promised them we were going to go" and "So I have concerns that it may be an end run." (1:53:56). The superintendent: "But if you also remember Chris in Nonpublic, there was another discussion." (1:52:35) and "So you heard one thing, but then you heard another thing and the other thing you heard we couldn't discuss publicly." (1:57:19). Sprague: "But it's a communication issue." A presentation is promised for August 16.OBS
1:59:15High-school schedule MOUAn MOU "signed by Brian Rap [Rapp] and Tammy Yates in January" "included the phrase a B schedule"; the amendment asks the board "to approve the scheduling committee, to research and consider other high school schedules other than just the A, B scale."
2:00:38Conflict of interest and meal charge policies to final approval"We're looking at the board member conflict of interest and school lunch program meal charges." Neither policy's text is read aloud; the board skips the third reading.OBS
2:01:45Non-academic surveysThe superintendent: the policy is "as a result of recent legislation. And we are creating this to be in compliance. It doesn't pertain to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, but it goes into effect next month as a law." Sprague asks about opt-out; the superintendent: "that particular law wants that change, that there's no more opt out." (2:03:46).POS
2:05:10CCTV board reappointmentAn email asks the board to vote on "the nominee for seat five of the CCTV board of directors"; "The nominee is Joel. He's reappointed". Irish: "Adding an action item technically is because we haven't warned it." (2:06:16) and "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." He says the seat is "specifically a school district employee seat" (2:08:32) and was not offered to staff; the superintendent: "I did not solicit this position to the employees of the school district." The clerk: "Those seats were alternate seats." (2:13:57).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 August 2, 2017, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.

MEDIUM No agenda, packet, minutes or nonpublic record for this meeting survives 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 therefore the only public account of the nominations, the two policies sent to final approval, the MOU amendment and the CCTV appointment, and of a nonpublic session whose outcome was not recorded. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force for calendar 2017, 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"; RSA 91-A:3, III required nonpublic minutes and decisions to be disclosed within 72 hours unless withheld by a recorded two-thirds vote. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the record mitigates the gap: the board approves its June 21 minutes on tape (0:04:19), the superintendent describes a written 116-page agenda (0:04:44), and on August 16 the board approved minutes of this meeting with one correction (August 16, 2017 page). Minutes were produced; what is missing is any public copy now, and any record of what followed the nonpublic session.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification, the text for calendar 2017; minutes content and five business days); RSA 91-A:3, III (2016 codification; 72-hour disclosure of nonpublic minutes)

OBSERVATION The board acted on a CCTV board appointment it had not warned, over the presiding officer's objection

The CCTV item was added to the agenda that night (0:01:33). Irish said action on an unwarned item meant the board would "have to suspend, I guess, the lack of better term, our rules" (2:06:16), and that "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). No vote to suspend the rules is audible; Sprague said "I have no objection. Objection to suspend." (2:07:18) and the discussion continued to a motion. Irish also said the seat was meant for a district employee and had not been offered to staff; the superintendent said a newspaper listing of city committee vacancies was "sufficient" (2:08:55). The 2017 Right-to-Know Law required notice of a meeting's "time and place", not an itemized agenda, so no statutory breach is shown; the concern is the board's own practice, stated by its presiding officer, and the absence of any record of the rule being suspended. The appointment went through on a voice vote with Irish opposed (2:13:02).

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification: notice "of the time and place"); Dialogue/9248 SchoolBoard080217.mp4.CSV (rows 607 to 668)

OBSERVATION Two program matters were said to rest on what members heard in nonpublic session

Adrian said principals had briefed the board in a nonpublic session on the cost of addressing behavioral issues across the district, with the understanding that the matter "needed to be discussed publicly" (0:33:14). Later, defending the Owls and Alt restructuring, the superintendent told Irish "if you also remember Chris in Nonpublic, there was another discussion" (1:52:35) and that "the other thing you heard we couldn't discuss publicly" (1:57:19). RSA 91-A:3, II lists the only grounds for a nonpublic session (employee discipline or compensation, hiring, reputation, property, litigation and others), and I(c) confines discussion "to the matters set out in the motion". A district-wide budget discussion, or the design of a program, fits none of them unless it turns on particular employees or students. The motions and exemptions used for those earlier sessions are not in this record, so no violation is shown; the record does show that the board treated policy-level information as heard in confidence, and that the public explanation of the restructuring was deferred to August 16.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(c) and II (2016 codification, text for calendar 2017); Dialogue/9248 SchoolBoard080217.mp4.CSV (rows 145 to 148, 519 to 559)

OBSERVATION HIPAA was given as a reason not to tell parents about lice cases

Explaining why the nurses do not send a letter home for every case, the high-school nurse said a notice of how many students "were diagnosed with something" is "kind of against HIPAA" (0:44:17). The HIPAA Privacy Rule's definition of protected health information excludes health information "In education records covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act", which is where a school nurse's student records generally sit, so student health privacy in a public school is a FERPA question. A notice that lice were found in a classroom, naming no one, would not be a disclosure of personally identifiable information under either law. The protocol itself may be sound (she and the superintendent cite the nurses' association survey and medical guidance), and members settled on periodic general reminders; the observation is only that the legal reason given on the record does not hold as stated.

Sources: 45 CFR 160.103, "Protected health information" (2016 annual edition; excludes FERPA education records); 34 CFR 99.30(a) (consent before disclosing personally identifiable information from education records; last amended 2004)

OBSERVATION The school lunch meal charge policy reached final approval after USDA's July 1, 2017 deadline, without its text on the record

The board waived the third reading and sent the "school lunch program meal charges" policy to final approval (2:00:38, 2:01:35). USDA required every school food authority in the National School Lunch Program to have a written meal-charge policy in place no later than July 1, 2017. If this was the district's first written policy, it came a month late; if it revised an existing one, there is no issue. The record does not say which, and the policy's text is not read. State law since July 2, 2016 has required any meal payment policy to "ensure that all students have access to a healthy school lunch" and that "no student will be subject to different treatment from the standard school lunch meal or school cafeteria procedures"; whether this policy meets that test cannot be checked without the document. USDA's requirement is set by guidance memorandum, not regulation, which is why this is an observation.

Sources: USDA FNS SP 23-2017 (March 23, 2017): written meal charge policy required no later than July 1, 2017; RSA 189:11-a, VIII (2017 codification; added 2016, 48:1, eff. July 2, 2016)

POSITIVE A survey-consent policy started ahead of the new law's effective date

The board gave a first reading to a non-academic surveys and questionnaires policy "to be in compliance" with legislation the superintendent said "goes into effect next month" (2:01:45), and he described the change correctly: parental consent replaces the old opt-out, with an exception for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2:03:46, 2:04:00). The 2016 codification of RSA 186:11, IX-d provided only an opt-out with ten days' advance review; the 2017 codification, effective September 16, 2017, bars requiring a student to take a non-academic survey "without written consent of a parent or legal guardian" and excepts the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Starting the policy six weeks before the effective date gave the board time for the required readings.

Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-d (2016 codification: opt-out); RSA 186:11, IX-d (2017 codification, eff. Sept. 16, 2017: written consent, YRBS exception)

POSITIVE The new meal system is built so that no one at the register knows who is free or reduced

The food service contractor described a process in which approved applications flow straight into the point-of-sale system: "Everybody's treated the same way. Nobody knows who's free or reduced." (1:09:08), and all choices are open to all students. The business administrator said online applications cut down "on who sees it" (1:06:54), and the superintendent asked that applications go out before school starts so parents' "private business is not going to be public banter" (1:01:20). Federal rules bar "overt identification" of children receiving free or reduced-price meals; the plan described goes further by keeping eligibility out of sight of kitchen staff as well, and the contractor's plan to place paper forms at fire stations, libraries and doctors' offices keeps the process open to families without internet access.

Sources: 7 CFR 245.8 (2017 annual edition: no overt identification; no separate line, entrance or meal time)

Appendix: source files

Official and public sources

Project files

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

Laws and rules cited on this page