| 0:01:45 | School board schedule | Chair Rapp: the board meets "tomorrow night" for "some finalized figures on the budget"; "February 7th is our deliberative session, and that's going to be at Stephens Auditorium." He adds that CCTV and Comcast "have done a practice run so that it can be telecast live" (0:02:17). The deliberative session's recording is filed as February 8, 2018 (MAP.md section 59); this page does not resolve the difference. | |
| 0:02:51 | Candidate filing | Woodman: filing for school board ends "On Friday at 4:00." Asked who has filed, she says "I think, Mr. Benoit [Benware] had signed up and I signed up for school district" (0:03:17). Rapp: "We have three, three, three year seats that are coming up and one one year seats", the one-year seat being Herzog's (0:03:31); the mayor confirms "February 2nd." (0:04:05). | POSITIVE |
| 0:04:09 | Retirement-system presentation; school zones | Mayor Lovett: the council heard "an excellent presentation on the New Hampshire Retirement System on the 24th of January", relevant because "we're all paying into it, either the school district side or the city side" (0:04:45). The school-zone ordinance gets its "second reading and public hearing" on February 14 (0:05:12). | |
| 0:06:35 | Lead in pets: the case | Dr. Kelly: his clinic tested about 60 patients without significant findings "Until we tested one of our technicians dogs and tested with extremely high lead levels"; the technician's daughter had also tested high and lived in Claremont (0:07:09). "So we have a correlation of 100%... Unfortunately, it's N of one." (0:07:34). | |
| 0:08:10 | Lead in pets: the study design | The Kimball Union presenter: "62% of homes in New Hampshire were built before lead was banned from paints" (0:09:14); because of HIPAA the project cannot target families with known exposure and hopes they will come forward (0:11:10); a pet test may cost "less $10 or less" (0:11:36); data collection in late March or early April, one weekday evening and one weekend day, with an anonymous questionnaire (0:13:49 to 0:15:23). Stevens students could help run the clinics and use the raw data (0:16:13). | |
| 0:17:25 | Flint study; Claremont's housing stock | Dr. Kelly: a Michigan State veterinarian found elevated levels in pets after the Flint crisis, the only comparable study he found (0:17:35). The mayor: the state figure for pre-1978 homes is 62%, but "Here in Claremont is 84.1%, because we are one of the 21 highest risk communities in the state" (0:19:50). The superintendent welcomes a partnership (0:21:09); the city manager asks that any curriculum be shared with SAU 6 schools (0:23:22). The mayor: the project has "this full support of the school board in city council" (0:23:51). No vote was taken. | |
| 0:24:28 | SB 247 signing | The mayor recalls that in December 2016 the two bodies made lead "a community wide priority"; the governor "specifically mentioned what we had been doing in Claremont" and will sign SB 247 here "on February 8th at 10 a.m.." (0:25:26). Rapp thanks her for her leadership (0:26:54). | |
| 0:28:34 | Lead in the water system | City Manager McNutt: since about 2013-2014 the water division has used the state funding mechanism "called CRF" and "we've spent about a half $1 million"; "We've removed approximately 150 lead containing components" (0:29:11). The mayor: "we haven't had any lead poisoning from our water distribution system" (0:31:09); identified components to be done this year (0:31:41). The superintendent recalls the water division's help when a resident worried about school water after Flint (0:32:22). | |
| 0:32:52 | Setting 2018 priorities | The mayor's starting sheet (0:33:47): online presence and "how that's negatively impacting our efforts to broaden our tax base and grow" (0:34:15); securing and stabilizing state funding (0:34:47); after "the incident we had last August with the eight year old boy", a culture of equality (0:35:20); health (0:35:44); and the economy, including whether to combine financial departments of the city and school district, "I'm not saying that's a good idea, a bad idea" (0:36:14). An online rating site gave Claremont "a grade of C" against Lebanon's A minus (0:38:01, 0:38:30). | |
| 0:39:48 | Online ratings and communication | Superintendent McGoodwin: he "became a bit angry or or frustrated by a rating of C minus for the Claremont School District" (0:39:48); "we don't communicate well" (0:40:55); he wants "regularly scheduled communication venues" (0:42:06). Sprague: the ratings rest on "smarter balanced test results, solely one data point", and the state has an agreement with GreatSchools (0:45:09); the superintendent says that assessment is "actually going away" (0:46:25). Councilor Pope: some ratings rest on samples of "Three, four, five, ten" (0:48:51); later, Zillow shows four reviews, the oldest 11 years old (0:58:35). The superintendent: Lebanon has "a full time communication person" (0:59:13). | |
| 0:49:59 | Responding to reviews; a shared information officer | An unidentified councilor with a business: claim the listings and adopt "a policy on how you respond" (0:50:58); "at some point we should be discussing a public information officer shared responsibilities again." (0:53:53), "In in a budget session." (0:54:18). Dr. Herzog agrees on a public information function (0:54:30) and proposes "a climate survey" (1:02:49). The superintendent cites community data gathered for the five-year action plan with a Nellie Mae Foundation grant (1:03:35). Councilor Kier: the master-plan committee's community survey and the city website (1:05:29). | |
| 1:00:18 | Students and the city website | Zullo: involve Stevens students. Pierce: a place on the city's site "where the kids can put reviews in about the schools" (1:00:54), because the city website is "our official website" and not social media (1:02:13). Woodman describes extended learning opportunities her grandchildren used and says "nobody knows about those l o programs" (1:10:13). | |
| 1:06:46 | Consensus on online presence | The mayor asks each member in turn; answers include Pope's "I do feel this is a priority." (1:07:53) and Sprague's "I've been talking about this for a year." (1:07:58). One voice asks for a task force rather than tasking "two individuals that already have a full workload" (1:08:10). The mayor: "So now we have unanimous we have consensus, unanimous consensus that we are going to focus on this" (1:11:13); the superintendent and city manager are to return with a plan. The individual answers are only partly legible and no formal vote was taken. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:13:26 | Next joint meeting | April 17 proposed. Pierce: "four of us are going to be up the school board. We're completely changed in March." (1:14:09) and "I just feel like we're speaking for four people who aren't here." (1:14:34). The mayor makes it an agenda item for follow-up (1:14:53) and calls the goal "medium term" (1:15:05). | |
| 1:15:41 | Mental health and housing | Pierce: "everybody's on a waiting list or can't get help" (1:15:41). Rapp: "There's just there are no beds anywhere." (1:16:58). The superintendent describes behavioral needs arising from adverse childhood experiences and limited resources (1:19:00 to 1:21:19). Zullo asks for "specific goals" (1:21:37). Pope, speaking "from my other hat that I have in the Claremont School District", says the issue "is not just a socioeconomic thing" (1:22:31). McNutt: housing "is the basis for 86% of our tax base" (1:24:39); the city's code-enforcement task force targets landlords exploiting vulnerable tenants (1:25:07, 1:25:39). An unidentified councilor lists poverty and housing together (1:27:26). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:28:34 | An in-district day program for students placed out of district | Sprague: the district sends "A lot of kids for behavior and many other things" out, and a partnership with the Brattleboro Retreat has been discussed (1:28:39, 1:28:44). The superintendent: "it's been a four year journey attempting to find a local residence and converted into a an on site school" (1:29:54); a house beside Stevens was priced out (1:30:37); out-of-district transport and placements cost "millions of dollars" a year (1:31:57). Asked for numbers, Zullo says "I think it's two, right?" (1:34:14), Pierce "I think 18" (1:34:22), and the superintendent "close to 20" but "I don't want to guess" (1:34:25). McNutt: a retrofit at "a half $1 million" or "even if it costs $750,000" would pay back (1:38:14, 1:38:26). Pope asks for "real costs nailed down" for the next meeting (1:38:42); the mayor asks for a cost analysis including staffing (1:41:50, 1:43:01). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:39:16 | The tech center | Zullo asks why the tech center could not house the program. The superintendent describes "the Massachusetts model, which is a, a school within a school" for career training (1:39:31) and asks that the tech center be "a running topic" of the joint meetings (1:49:31). | |
| 1:43:59 | Workforce development | Councilor Pope: worker shortages in skilled trades have been "a topic since 1997" (1:43:59); "when I hear about let's start at other task force on workforce development, I almost want to scream" (1:44:30); he asks how to leverage grants "beyond the Perkins grant" for high-school feeder programs (1:45:32) and calls for "high quality workforce housing" (1:47:56). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:51:00 | Working Cities Challenge | McNutt: the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's Working Cities Challenge may come to New Hampshire and Vermont; "I believe the awards we're talking about are $400,000 over three years" (1:52:52). He suggests a four-year standalone vocational school as Claremont's "systems change" (1:54:32) and believes Department of Education "rules or regulations" stand in the way (1:55:37). These are his characterizations; no rule was identified. | |
| 1:56:02 | Culture and equality | Councilor Kier proposes "some kind of a culture week or an international festival" (1:56:56). The mayor announces an event in the second half of February for Black History Month (1:57:11). | |
| 1:57:52 | HB 413 and HB 525 | Mayor Lovett: if HB 413 passes, "the city would save $124,097 on an annual basis. The school district would save $217,718 on an annual basis", combined "$341,815, which is about $0.49 on the tax." (1:58:21; the two parts do sum to that total). A joint letter will go to every representative before the February 7 House vote; the bill "failed to pass by six votes" (1:59:19). HB 525, "a 4% annual reduction in state adequacy grants", is in House Finance (1:59:55). The superintendent: the adequacy reduction for fiscal year 19 "is adding $0.38 per thousand to the tax rate" (2:00:31); Rapp: "it's another $0.38 that's getting taken away" every year (2:01:08). Bill descriptions are the speakers'; this page did not verify them. | POSITIVE |
| 2:01:48 | Adjournment | "So motion to adjourn." Pierce: Second. The mayor: "I didn't make the motion. I'm just asking." (2:01:54), then "So you made the emotion, Mr. Patron. And who seconded? All those in favor? Say aye. We're adjourned." (2:01:59). | |