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. Members of the public, the ninth-grade student and staff whose names the transcript does not capture are not named.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Member, presiding | Runs the meeting. Proposes revisiting the lead policy when the full board is present, suggests Channel 9 coverage of the Recycled Percussion visit, proposes the superintendent as intermediary for the scheduling committee, and calls the votes. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Explains the purpose of the lead policy to the commenter, asks for a review of the bullying policies, asks what the scheduling committee needs and wants its timeline kept, moves the gift, trips and policy motions, and volunteers as a trip chaperone. |
| Patrick Adrian | Member | "we don't have that authority to tell doctors what to do" (0:08:32); moves to revisit the lead policy, thanks the superintendent for his statement on the August incident, and moves the scheduling-committee motion and the survey policy's final approval. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Member | Called Becky by the presiding member (1:50:18). Tells the commenter his concerns are "very valid" and will come back to the board, raises the bullying policy, asks that the Recycled Percussion plan be explained to parents, and asks for policy changes to be highlighted in drafts. |
| Michael Petrin | Member | Recognized as "Mister patron" (0:39:47). Describes reaching out to a recent Stevens graduate about speaking to students on his experience as a student of color, and cautions against making the scheduling committee too large (1:54:24). |
| Brian Rapp | Chair | Apparently absent (see Board composition); called in the roll (0:01:41). |
| Chris Irish | Vice chair | Apparently absent (0:59:29). |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Defers his report to discussion items and postpones the preschool presentation; answers the lead-policy comment; speaks at length on the August 28 incident, GEAR UP and the next day's congressional panel; introduces the scheduling committee, the trips and the policies. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant superintendent, SAU 6 | Member of the scheduling committee; explains the MOU behind it and the request to expand it; describes the honor society gift. |
| Patricia (Pat) Barry | Principal, Stevens High School | On the Recycled Percussion visit; presents the ninth- and tenth-grade Washington trip proposal. |
| Lexi Grenier | Student representative; National Honor Society president | Introduced by the superintendent (0:19:32). Gives the Stevens High School report and presents the honor society's $478 gift. |
| Larissa Cahill | Theater arts teacher, Stevens; scheduling committee | Self-introduced (1:01:16). Presents the committee's beliefs and phases. |
| Christine Downey | Scheduling committee; Stevens curriculum (title as described on September 6) | Introduced by Cahill (1:01:16). Presents the committee's beliefs, the later phases and the request to relax the MOU; says the committee's minutes are on the Stevens website. |
| Scott (surname not on the recording) | Teacher, technical center; scheduling committee | "I'm a teacher up here at the tech center" (1:26:08). |
| Robin (surname not on the recording) | Life science teacher, Stevens; scheduling committee | Self-introduced (1:27:34). |
| Charlie Gessner | Stevens staff (world language); scheduling committee | Named by Downey (1:44:01); spelling unverified. Explains what the A/B schedule did to world-language sequences. |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk (recording secretary) | Asked to take the roll (0:01:28). |
| Unidentified | Citizens' comments; grandparent of a kindergartner | His name and ward are not captured. Asks for a waiver from the lead-screening requirement. |
| Unidentified | Ninth-grade student; music teacher (Stevens alumna); honor society advisor | Speak for the Washington and Italy trips and the honor society gift. Names are not captured reliably and are not printed. |
| Unidentified | Various | 147 of 652 dialogue rows (22.5%), including most seconds. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda survives. The presiding member says "We have an agenda in front of us" (0:00:36) and refers to lettered items; the items below are reconstructed from his transitions.
| Taken up | Item | What was said and done |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | Call to order; agenda changes; roll call | The superintendent defers his report to the discussion items and postpones "the Claremont Preschool Center progress reports" (0:01:05). Roll call at 0:01:34; only Pierce's name and answer are clear. |
| 0:01:45 | Minutes of September 6, 2017 | "Approve the minutes from September 6th." (unidentified mover); second; "All those in favor? Aye. Aye." (0:02:02). |
| 0:02:02 | Superintendent's report | Passed over; given under discussion items. |
| 0:02:25 | Citizens' comments | One speaker on the lead-screening policy. Adrian: "I would like to motion that we do revisit, the language." (0:15:51); members agree; no formal second or vote is heard. |
| 0:19:32 | Student representative's report | The slot was blank on the agenda; Lexi Grenier reports. |
| 0:22:07 | Discussion items: the school year; food service; strategic plan; congressional panel | The superintendent's report, delivered here. No votes. |
| 1:00:11 | Action: Stevens High School scheduling committee progress report | Item A (the preschool report) skipped. After the presentation, Adrian moves "that we designate the superintendent" "to relax some of the, some of the stipulations" [of the MOU] (1:53:37); second; "All in favor. ... Aye." (1:54:30). Carried. |
| 1:54:34 | Action: gift from the National Honor Society | $478 for the One for All space. Sprague: "Looking for a motion to accept a gift from the National Honor Society." Pierce moves; Zullo: "A second."; "All in favor?" (1:56:32). |
| 1:56:42 | Action: grade 9 trip to Washington, D.C.; music trip to Italy | Pierce: "I'd like to make a motion to accept these sorts of these travel trips." (2:12:58); Adrian: "A second."; "all those in favor of approving the two trips? Say, I." (2:13:12). |
| 2:13:51 | Policies: two first reads (JLCF wellness; JLCD administering medication); seven second reads; ILDA final | First reads to second read on Pierce's motion (2:16:32); seven second-read policies to third read (2:17:23); ILDA, "The last policy that legally went into effect five days ago" (2:17:34), approved on Adrian's motion, Pierce second (2:17:59). |
| 2:18:11 | Adjournment | Pierce moves; Zullo: "I second."; voice vote. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/9328 SchoolBoard092017.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 |
|---|
| 0:02:40 | Citizen: lead screening | A grandparent of a kindergartner asked for a waiver from the lead-test requirement: "it's a violation of my privacy. It's a violation of her privacy". He says a note told him "if you don't comply, your child won't be allowed to stay in school" (0:04:28), and that the nurse first asked for the results, not only proof of a test (0:10:04). He has "talked to an attorney" (0:05:00). | OBS |
| 0:06:11 | The district's answer | The superintendent: "The school district does not see the results of that. Is medical information." and "The policy does not include waiver." He calls the nurse's request "a miscommunication" (0:10:23). The commenter: the state "only makes it as a recommendation, not as a mandate" (0:12:57); the superintendent: a state bill "had a $3 million price tag" and was tabled (0:13:09); "We're the first school district in the state to do this." (0:14:00). | OBS |
| 0:15:09 | Revisit the policy | Sprague proposes revisiting it "when the whole board is here" so it "doesn't make them feel as if they're put in being pushed into a corner." Adrian moves to revisit the language (0:15:51); Zullo: "Agreed. 100%." She tells the commenter "this conversation doesn't end here" (0:18:55); he asks to be present when it returns. | OBS |
| 0:20:42 | Student representative's report | Recycled Percussion visits Stevens on September 26 to film "Chaos and Kindness"; spirit week; i-Ready testing for grades 9 and 10; community service day; homecoming September 23, dance September 29. | |
| 0:23:01 | GEAR UP | A grant-funded cohort program beginning in grades 7 and 8; "The goal is not to push students into college." The mayor will speak about her military career (0:24:40). | |
| 0:27:37 | The August 28 incident | The superintendent describes learning of "an incident that involved a young boy", reported in the Valley News and nationally by September 11, and his decision to wait while it was "under police investigation" (0:28:35). "racism is not something of the past" (0:29:36). His goal is "not to buy a program or to buy a textbook or to have an assembly program" but to review school culture, board policies and a community plan (0:30:02, 0:31:20). He quotes Rodgers and Hammerstein (0:33:42). No child is named on the recording or on this page. | |
| 0:37:12 | Members respond | Adrian thanks the superintendent for speaking. Petrin is reaching out to a recent graduate, a student of color, to talk with younger students (0:39:49). Pierce asks to "pull those policies back out and review them" on bullying (0:43:37); the superintendent: "discipline for bullying" alone is "like an autopsy" (0:44:23). Zullo: "this district does have zero tolerance for bullying in place already" (0:45:28). | |
| 0:45:53 | Recycled Percussion | Parents want elementary and middle-school students included; the superintendent: the plan is "to have this be exclusively Stephenson High School" (0:46:35). Barry: the band chose Stevens after she commented on their contest page, "it's their gig" (0:49:03). | |
| 0:55:31 | Food service; strategic plan; congressional panel | Abbey Group needs "anywhere from 3 to 6 months" to iron out the kinks. The administrative team starts the strategic plan work, with the budget in view: "status quo is is going to be difficult to maintain" (0:56:48). Congresswoman Kuster's workforce panel is at the tech center the next day at 3:00; Claremont employers have "over 300 open positions" (0:58:10). | |
| 1:01:16 | Scheduling committee: who and what | "five administrators and five teachers" (1:04:37); beliefs built on "Claremont Pride" (1:04:57): flexible, personalized learning, communication, collaboration and productive use of resources within the budget (1:10:34). | |
| 1:14:04 | Six phases | Data collection from August through November, criteria in November and December, research and site visits November to January, then design, consensus and phased implementation; full change possibly not before 2019-20 (1:44:57). Downey: a drastic change could affect students' ability to earn "27 credits to meet our diploma with distinction track" (1:22:40). | |
| 1:28:27 | Minutes online | Downey: on the Stevens website under the Parent and Student Resource tab "there is a folder there that says SHS scheduling committee. Our minutes are there, everything is there." Earlier, Cahill: the minutes "are on the Sea website for anyone to look at" (1:08:12). | POS |
| 1:35:37 | Who sits on the committee | Pierce asks whether parents are members: No. LeClair: the committee exists under an MOU with the teachers' association; "the school board was able to appoint five individuals and the teachers union was able to appoint five individuals" (1:36:03); it wants to add stakeholders and did not start until April (1:37:02). | OBS |
| 1:41:25 | The MOU is outdated | The superintendent: "The contract is not driving this." Downey: the MOU's "five and five" and its timeline are constraining (1:42:52). Gessner on world language: under the A/B schedule "the level three and four classes especially took a hit" (1:44:37). Sprague would have the superintendent manage the process as "sort of the intermediary" (1:46:39). Pierce wants the timeline kept (1:47:37). The superintendent: "that document has been outdated" (1:51:24). | OBS |
| 1:53:37 | The motion | Adrian: "motion to soften the motion I would like to motion that we that we designate the superintendent and, Doctor Goodwin to." Sprague supplies Relax. and "Restrictive language of the." Pierce: "should we be doing this kind of thing when" [the full board is absent]; Sprague: "We have a quorum." Petrin cautions "you can't get too big." Carried by voice vote. | OBS |
| 1:55:10 | Honor society gift | Raised at the June "shantytown" overnight: "We ended up raising $478, and we would like to present that to the one for all foundation." LeClair: it will go "to the one for all space" (1:55:51). Accepted. | MED |
| 1:57:06 | Washington and Italy trips | Barry: Claremont students lack the early trips other districts offer; "we have nothing built into our budget to supplement students" (1:59:01); the target cost is "seven and $800" (1:59:53); a four-night April-vacation trip with a 10-to-1 chaperone ratio (2:01:12). A ninth grader speaks for it. The music teacher's Italy trip for band and choir students has a 1-to-6 ratio (2:07:43). Pierce volunteers as a chaperone (2:13:09). Approved. | |
| 2:13:56 | Policies | Administering medication now covers insulin: "We don't have insulin currently." Zullo asks that changes be highlighted in the drafts (2:15:09). The superintendent on the second reads: "The content comes from New Hampshire School Board Association. I do not write these." (2:15:33). The survey policy is adopted (2:17:59). | POS |
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 September 20, 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 the MOU vote, the gift, the trip approvals and the policy readings, and the garbled roll call leaves attendance to inference. 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 inspection "not more than 5 business days after the meeting". The gift adds a second minutes duty: for unanticipated money under $5,000, RSA 198:20-b, III(b) required the board to "post notice of the funds in the agenda" and "include notice in the minutes", with acceptance "in public session of any regular school board meeting". The acceptance was in public session at a regular meeting (1:56:22); whether the agenda and minutes carried the notice cannot be checked. This page applies the MEDIUM limb of the project's severity rule because the record mitigates the gap: the board approved its September 6 minutes on tape (0:01:45) and worked from a written agenda and packet.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification, the text for calendar 2017); RSA 198:20-b, III(b) (2017 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1)
OBSERVATION A local lead-screening requirement was enforced with an exclusion warning and, at first, a demand for the results
By the superintendent's account the district was "the first school district in the state" to require lead screening for school entry (0:14:00), the policy has no waiver (0:06:11), and the state had not adopted a mandate (0:13:09). The commenter said a note warned that "your child won't be allowed to stay in school" without the paperwork (0:04:28) and that the nurse first asked for the test results (0:10:04); the superintendent said the district does not see results and called that "a miscommunication" (0:10:23). Immunization, which the superintendent compared it to (0:14:00), is a duty the legislature itself imposes: RSA 141-C:20-a, I requires parents to have children "immunized against certain diseases", and RSA 141-C:20-b has schools "keep immunization records for all enrolled children". No statute verified for this page makes lead screening a condition of attending school, so a warning of exclusion rests on the board's policy alone, and the policy's text is not on the record. Any results a nurse does collect become part of the student's education record, protected under FERPA. The board responded well: it agreed on the spot to revisit the language and invited the commenter back (0:15:51, 0:18:55).
Sources: RSA 141-C:20-a, I (2016 codification; immunization required by statute); RSA 141-C:20-b (2016 codification; school immunization records); 34 CFR 99.30(a) (consent before disclosing education records; unchanged since 2004)
OBSERVATION The board let the superintendent "relax" an agreement with the teachers' association, on a motion with no stated terms
The scheduling committee exists under a January 2017 memorandum of understanding between the board and the Sugar River Education Association that fixed its membership at five board and five union appointees and set its timeline (1:36:03, 1:42:52). The motion, assembled aloud with the presiding member supplying words, designated the superintendent "to relax some of the, some of the stipulations" and the "Restrictive language" (1:53:37); it names no clause, number or date. An MOU is a two-party agreement, so a change binds the association only if the association agrees; the record does not show its agreement tonight, although on August 2 the superintendent said the association supported the earlier change to the same MOU (August 2, 2017 page). Pierce asked whether the board should act with its chair and vice chair absent (1:54:14); a quorum was present, so it could. The concern is the record: the minutes that would say what was delegated do not survive, and the motion as spoken leaves the scope to the superintendent.
Sources: RSA ch. 273-A (public employee labor relations; agreements with exclusive representatives); Dialogue/9328 SchoolBoard092017.mp4.CSV (rows 375 to 377, 404 to 407, 447 to 477)
POSITIVE The board-and-union scheduling committee posts its minutes online
The committee's members said its minutes are posted on the Stevens High School website "for anyone to look at" (1:08:12, 1:28:27), and described a plan to collect views from parents, students and staff before drafting. A committee whose members are appointed in part by the school board to advise it is plausibly a public body in its own right: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) reaches "any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto". That would require notice and minutes open to inspection. The 2017 text of RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to be open to inspection, not posted online; putting them on the school website went beyond that. Whether those minutes survive today was not checked for this page.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (source note ends 2008, 354:1; in force throughout); RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification: inspection, no website requirement)
POSITIVE The survey-consent policy was carried through three readings and adopted as the new law took effect
The non-academic surveys policy had its first reading on August 2, its second on September 6 and final approval tonight, "The last policy that legally went into effect five days ago" (2:17:34). The 2017 codification of RSA 186:11, IX-d, effective September 16, 2017, bars requiring a student to take a non-academic survey "without written consent of a parent or legal guardian", with an exception for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The board took up the policy six weeks before the effective date and finished four days after it, without skipping a reading. Members also asked that future drafts highlight what changed (2:15:09); the superintendent called it a "Very fair request."
Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-d (2017 codification, eff. Sept. 16, 2017); August 2, 2017 page (first reading); September 6, 2017 page (second reading)
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.
Dialogue/9328 SchoolBoard092017.mp4.CSV (652 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9328 SchoolBoard092017.mp4Input/Transcripts/9328 SchoolBoard092017.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 40Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9328 SchoolBoard092017.mp4.md (speaker attribution report)
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d): committees and advisory committees are public bodies (source note ends 2008, 354:1)
- RSA 91-A:2, II, 2016 codification (source note ends 2016, 29:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; the text for calendar 2017): minutes content, five business days
- RSA 198:20-b, III(b), 2017 codification: unanticipated funds under $5,000, notice in the agenda and minutes
- RSA 141-C:20-a, I and RSA 141-C:20-b, 2016 codification (1987, 193:7; 1995, 310:183): immunization required; school records
- 34 CFR 99.30(a): consent before disclosure of education records (unchanged since 2004)
- RSA ch. 273-A: public employee labor relations (chapter cited; no section relied on)
- RSA 186:11, IX-d, 2017 codification (eff. Sept. 16, 2017): written parental consent for non-academic surveys