Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part. Names follow the project's dialogue file and the 2015 to 2023 roster; no minutes are online to check spellings against. Where the dialogue file says Unidentified, this page does too.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Chair (re-elected this night) | Presided after his election; thanked departing members and voters; moved the program of studies and the music trip up the agenda; asked for the typo delegation motion; proposed a goal-setting session in April; raised JICD wording on removal from class and expulsion. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Vice chair (elected this night) | Sworn in to a new three-year term; asked for highlighted typo changes; asked about liability under the opt-out policy; asked for time on the program of studies received the day before; questioned the gift-acceptance thresholds and the bus-video retention period; supported a board retreat. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Nominated Zullo for vice chair; asked where the strategic plan was online; opposed quick action on the opt-out policy change; questioned Liza Draper during citizens' comments; moved the music trip, the donation, the resignations and the policies; asked to review the board ethics policy before signing anything. |
| Michael Petrin | Member | Completed the motion on the February 21 minutes; seconded the five policies; asked where the Title I money for the summer program was being used now. |
| Jason Benware | Member (sworn in this night) | Nominated Sprague for chair; moved the February 21 minutes and adjournment; asked about opt-out numbers, i-Ready trends and the reliability of Title I money; had raised Robert's Rules of Order with the superintendent. |
| Steven Horsky | Member (sworn in this night) | Asked about the cost of tracking opt-outs at the high school, pre-K screening, summer-program staffing and transportation; moved the amendment adding the board to those who may view bus video on an appeal; noted Saturday work conflicts for a retreat. |
| Carolyn Towle | Member (sworn in this night, one-year term) | Seconded Sprague's nomination; asked for feedback from the health-curriculum parent night; recognized for a Boy Scouts Good Scout Award; said she had received no introduction packet or code of ethics; asked why board laptops must stay in the meeting room. The CSV spells the transcript's Carolyn Tol / Tall as Towle. |
| Lexi Grenier | Student representative, Stevens High School | Student report, including the March 14 walkout; spoke on online first-aid credit as a health alternative. Surname from the February 21 recording. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Presided over the swearing-in and chair election; superintendent's report (annual report, strategic plan, policy typos, opt-out policy, middle school schedule review, school dental program); presented the donation, resignations and policies; asked for the ballot reading. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent | Explained the opt-out policy change; presented K-8 i-Ready proficiency data and a proposed Title I extended-year program for kindergartners; answered questions on Title I funding. |
| Patricia Barry | Principal, Stevens High School | Presented the 2018-19 program of studies and agreed to a two-week deferral. |
| Dan (surname not on the record) | Elementary school administrator | Reported on the health-curriculum parent night and on math-domain results. The attribution report notes a "Dan Sherry" introduced on the February 8 recording may be the same person; not established. |
| Josh Malloy | Director of Instructional Technology | Answered Towle's question on board laptops. |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk; recording secretary | Administered the oath, called the roll, and read the March 13 election results. Her own re-election as clerk (838 votes) is part of that reading. |
| Unidentified (name blank at self-introduction) | Music teacher, Stevens High School | Proposed a 2019 student trip to London and Paris. The chair's introduction is transcribed Miss Clench; the surname is unverified. |
| Liza Draper | Citizens' comments, Ward 3 | Urged prompt implementation of the Healthy Relationships program; described TLC Family Resource Center readings and a planned June pride celebration; answered Pierce's question on who pays for opt-out alternatives. |
| Paul (surname unverified) | Citizens' comments, Ward 2 | Objected to the curriculum; later asked about the program of studies and the i-Ready charts. The chair calls him Mr. Lucas; LeClair's aside is transcribed Paula, cars. |
| Joe Osgood | Citizens' comments, Ward 2 | Criticized state Department of Education influence; later questioned why LeClair had mentioned his name during the data presentation. |
| Unidentified | Various | Oath responses, roll answers, ayes, cross-talk and one staff voice. 252 of 1,264 rows (19.9%) are Unidentified. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted in any district share, so this list is reconstructed from the chair's and superintendent's transitions on the recording. A written agenda with Roman-numeral items existed (the superintendent asks to postpone "Roman numeral eight A"). Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:00 | Oath of office | Administered by the clerk from 0:01:03 to the four members elected March 13. |
| 0:03:12 | Election of chair | Superintendent presiding. Benware nominated Sprague (0:04:20), Towle seconded (0:04:27), no other nominations; voice vote at 0:04:39, no audible opposition. |
| 0:05:06 | Election of vice chair | Pierce nominated Zullo (0:05:08), seconded; voice vote at 0:05:21. |
| 0:05:38 | Call to order, pledge, chair's remarks, roll | Roll at 0:07:13; see Board composition above. |
| 0:07:56 | Agenda | Amended on the superintendent's requests: program of studies moved up, a 2019 music trip added, the March 13 ballot reading added, and item VIII A (system of care grant) postponed to April (0:08:07, 0:08:58). Voice vote at 0:09:53. |
| 0:10:07 | Minutes of February 21, 2018 | Moved by Benware and Petrin (0:10:20); voice vote at 0:10:28. |
| 0:10:35 | Student representative's report | Informational. |
| 0:22:27 | Superintendent's report | Annual report, strategic action plan, dental program and middle school schedule review were informational. Board voice vote at 0:32:53 allowing administration to correct typographical errors in policies without bringing them back, with the changes to be sent to members highlighted. Opt-out policy change discussed and carried to the next meeting (0:49:15). |
| 0:59:42 | Citizens' comments | Liza Draper, Paul, Joe Osgood; Draper's clarification and exchange with Pierce. Closed at 1:11:51. |
| 1:12:20 | Stevens High School program of studies (moved up) | Presented by Pat Barry; approval deferred two weeks by consensus at members' request (1:19:13). No vote. |
| 1:22:13 | 2019 music trip (added) | Moved by Pierce (1:26:00), seconded; voice vote at 1:26:24. |
| 1:27:36 | K-8 proficiency; Title I extended-year program | Presentation and questions to 2:32:08. No vote heard on the summer program. |
| 2:32:57 | Review of governance and operations policies; Right to Know; Robert's Rules; goal setting | Discussion. Members to send the superintendent the policies they want to take up; the chair to propose April dates for a goal-setting session through the superintendent (2:52:34). No votes. |
| 2:53:08 | Action: $2,000 donation | Anonymous gift to Stevens athletics. Moved by Pierce (2:53:24), seconded; voice vote at 2:53:33. |
| 2:53:35 | Action: resignations | Director of special education (transcribed Christopher Bezos) and high school curriculum specialist Christine Downing, effective July 1, 2018. Moved by Pierce (2:54:13), seconded by Benware; voice vote at 2:54:36. |
| 2:54:37 | Action: five policies, third reading | Advanced coursework, advanced placement, emergency care and first aid, relations with police authorities, audio and video surveillance on school buses, public gifts and donations. Pierce's motion to adopt as presented (2:55:34) was replaced after discussion by a motion to adopt as amended (28-day minimum bus-video retention; board access on appeal) at 3:04:27, seconded by Horsky; voice vote at 3:04:44. The superintendent confirmed at 3:12:26 that the modified versions were the ones approved. |
| 3:04:52 | Seven policies, first reading | Including JICD (student discipline). Moved to second reading (3:05:29); after discussion, a fresh motion to move all seven to second reading as amended (3:11:54); voice vote at 3:12:23. |
| 3:13:30 | March 13 ballot results | Read by the clerk from 3:13:43. Informational. |
| 3:16:03 | Board laptops (member question) | Discussion only. |
| 3:20:28 | Adjournment | Moved by Benware, seconded by Pierce; vote called at 3:20:31. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:00:31 | Swearing-in | Superintendent: "we have three three year terms. Rebecca Zulu [Zullo] and Jason, Ben Ware [Benware] and Steven and Carolyn Toll [Towle]. One, one year term." The clerk administers the oath from 0:01:03. | |
| 0:04:39 | Chair and vice chair | "Then by a voice vote all those in support of Frank chair [Sprague] serving as the Claremont School Board chair. Please say aye." Zullo elected vice chair at 0:05:21. Sprague at 0:06:31 on the March 13 vote: "It was a hard process, but every single thing passed." | |
| 0:08:58 | Agenda changes | Superintendent asks "to add the reading of the ballot, the March 13th ballot that needs to be publicly read into the records" and to "redact Roman numeral eight A". | |
| 0:12:49 | Student report: walkout | Grenier on the March 14 walkout: "we decided not to take a stand on the gun issue. Instead, we wanted to take a stand for school safety." At 0:13:21: "No one was forced to be out there that day." | |
| 0:27:35 | Strategic action plan | "The board did approve this in August of 2017, but with the turnover of the board, it's important that we understand and you understand this plan and support it." Pierce asks where it can be found; Zullo at 0:28:54: "You kind of have to dig for it on the website." | |
| 0:30:39 | Typos in policies | Superintendent: "would you grant us the process of correcting those without coming back to the board with grammatical corrections?" Pierce at 0:31:01: "One word could be changed and it could change the whole policy in a different light." Approved by voice vote at 0:32:53 on the understanding that changes would be emailed to members highlighted. | |
| 0:32:58 | Health-education opt-out policy | The October 2017 policy obliges the district to provide an alternative at its own expense; the proposed revision follows the statute's "provision requiring an alternative agreed upon by the school district and the parent at the parents expense" (0:33:47). At 0:34:49: "we are not required to do that by law." At 0:37:26: "Parents do not have the right to decide if their child will be educated. They do have the right to decide how." Dan at 0:46:32: "five parents show up that night." Zullo at 0:49:03 and Pierce ask to bring it back at the next meeting with cost figures. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:49:51 | Towle recognized | Superintendent notes a Boy Scouts Good Scout Award to the former city councilor. | |
| 0:50:18 | Middle school schedule review | A group of residents and staff begins meeting the next day at 3:00; the superintendent says changes may come in fall 2018. | |
| 0:54:45 | School dental program | Claremont and Unity "have been awarded a research grant for the next five years" so that children receive "cleaning, sealant, decay, stopping fluoride and temporary fillings free of charge", "at no cost to the children, at no cost to the school district" (0:56:23). Sprague at 0:56:46 asks whether it will be discussed at SAU 6 or is a done deal; the superintendent: "It's a done." | |
| 0:59:50 | Citizens' comments: Liza Draper | "Aaron's law [Erin's Law] was passed in our state in 2016." At 1:00:54: "as a taxpayer, as a parent, and as the county's sexual health educator, I would urge you not to spend more time thinking about the few who are perhaps opting out". At 1:05:46 announces Claremont's first pride celebration, June 16. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:06:54 | Citizens' comments: Paul, Joe Osgood | Paul: "I can't believe that Claremont, New Hampshire is losing its moral compass." Osgood at 1:07:48: "I'd kind of like to second what Paul just said, but he, he had he does have a couple of them mixed up". At 1:08:14: "The Department of Education in the state of New Hampshire should not be running our education system in Claremont." | |
| 1:09:17 | Draper clarifies; Pierce questions her | Pierce at 1:11:13: "What happens to those six children? Who pays for them?" Draper at 1:11:19: "The law in our state is that they, meaning their parents who choose to opt out of the provided education should pay for that." | |
| 1:12:58 | Program of studies | Barry: the booklet "went to the printer on two, two, 12". Zullo at 1:16:12: "I didn't get this until yesterday at yesterday afternoon." Barry at 1:16:37: "I'd rather be that you be comfortable with the information and feel comfortable voting on it." Deferred two weeks (1:19:13). | POSITIVE |
| 1:23:24 | Music trip | Teacher: approving early lowers monthly payments; "I've proposed London and Paris". Approved at 1:26:24. | |
| 1:28:30 | i-Ready proficiency data | LeClair presents reading and math proficiency by grade and school and cohort growth; vocabulary is the weakest reading domain. Osgood at 1:40:45 asks why his name was mentioned; LeClair at 1:41:05: "because you've been vocal about making sure we are very conscientious of where taxpayer dollars go." | |
| 2:02:51 | Kindergarten readiness | "Almost 40% of our students entering kindergarten could not read their own name." | |
| 2:07:53 | Title I summer program | "extended year program, fully funded through title one dollars": three classrooms of up to about 18 kindergartners for six weeks. At 2:28:12: "It's basically carry over though unspent money last year that we were able to intentionally not spend last year." Benware at 2:28:21: "How reliable is title one money?" | |
| 2:33:56 | Governance policies; ethics | Pierce: "I'd like to review the school board member ethics because it hasn't been reviewed since 2006." Towle at 2:36:48: "I am surprised that I wasn't given an introduction packet". | |
| 2:41:50 | Right to Know reminder | Superintendent: "these meetings are public and any business should be done in public." Towle at 2:42:40 notes an NHSBA Right to Know webinar. | POSITIVE |
| 2:44:51 | Robert's Rules | Superintendent: "the board meetings I've served on here in Claremont do not follow Robert's Rules of Order to the letter." Sprague at 2:46:20: "Pirates of the Caribbean, they're mere guidelines." | |
| 2:46:34 | Goal-setting retreat | Sprague at 2:48:22: "we've got to come up with a way to create a sustainable educational experience for our kids without crippling the taxpayer". At 2:48:49: "a regular meeting that we would have to warn". At 2:52:34: "I can't communicate with you but I can communicate with you through Middleton." | POSITIVE |
| 2:53:10 | Donation | "$2,000 donation that has been awarded the Stevens High School athletic department from an anonymous donor. And per year policy, the board needs to accept this donation." Accepted at 2:53:33. | POSITIVE |
| 2:55:46 | Gifts policy thresholds | Zullo reads the draft: "Gifts in excess of 500 may only be accepted by the board." At 2:56:06: "gifts in the amount of 5000 or more shall require the board to hold a public hearing". Left unchanged. | POSITIVE |
| 2:58:32 | Bus video policy amended | Horsky moves to add the school board, for appeals and expulsions in closed session: "I also think the public has the right to know that we're going to see all that information." Zullo at 3:03:12 reads the draft limit: "no event, however, shall the recording be retained for longer than ten school days unless the school district determines that the recording is relevant to a disciplinary proceeding." Superintendent at 3:04:20: "Minimum of 28 day reporting." Adopted as amended at 3:04:44. | POSITIVE |
| 3:05:37 | JICD discipline policy | Sprague asks that removal from class send a student to "a designated area" rather than only the principal's office, and whether expulsion is permanent; the superintendent at 3:07:19: "That is the RSA." At 3:11:06: "These policies for the most part come by state statute or case law." Sent to second reading as amended. | |
| 3:13:45 | March 13 ballot results | Clerk: "Rebecca Zullo had 625, Jason Benoit [Benware] had 589"; Brian Rapp 269; one-year seat "Carolyn Tall [Towle] had 450, James Allen had 184 and Richard Seaman had 272." At 3:14:38: "Maine Budget 726 yeses and 202 nos." At 3:15:34: "You had a total of 947 voters voting". Horsky's count is not audible. | |
| 3:16:31 | Board laptops | Towle: "I don't understand why we have to leave them here." Malloy at 3:17:14: "technically, you guys make money because you're on the board, right?" Sprague at 3:19:26: "Seen as frivolous by the community that the board would have computers." | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on March 21, 2018, cited as it then read. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. Five flags follow, ordered by severity. No HIGH or MEDIUM flag was found.
OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes online; the posted agenda is known only from references to it
MAP.md section 61 records that neither district Drive share holds anything older than 2022 (checked 9/26/26). That is a limit of what the district posts online, not by itself evidence that records were never made: the board approved its February 21 minutes at this meeting (0:10:20 to 0:10:28), which shows minutes were being kept. The agenda existed (the superintendent refers to "Roman numeral eight A", 0:08:58) and was amended on the floor, but its posted text cannot be checked. RSA 91-A:2, II, as it read in 2018, required minutes to include "the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions" and to be open to inspection within 5 business days; the mover-and-seconder requirement took effect January 1, 2019 and is not applied. The project's missing-records rule is applied on its online-availability limb.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification; the text in force for all of 2018); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 61.
OBSERVATION The district's opt-out policy went beyond the statute, and the proposed revision would bring it back to the statutory floor
The superintendent told the board that the October 2017 policy obliged the district to provide, at its own expense, an alternative to health or sexuality instruction for any student whose parent opts out, and proposed revising it to the statute's "provision requiring an alternative agreed upon by the school district and the parent at the parents expense" (0:33:47, 0:34:49). RSA 186:11, as in force in March 2018, required district policies to give parents "not less than 2 weeks advance notice of curriculum course material used for instruction of human sexuality or human sexual education" and to "require an alternative agreed upon by the school district and the parent, at the parent's expense, sufficient to enable the child to meet state requirements". The superintendent's account of the statute matches that text; going further, as the 2017 policy did, is a local choice, and so is the revision. Members asked for cost figures and the parent-night feedback before deciding (0:44:16, 0:49:03), and a citizen who is the county's sexual health educator gave the same reading of the law at 1:11:19. Recorded for context; no rule was engaged by the discussion.
Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-b and IX-c (2017 codification; source note ends 2017, 251:1, eff. Sept. 16, 2017).
POSITIVE A $2,000 gift accepted by vote in public session, and a gifts policy that restates the statutory hearing threshold
The superintendent presented the anonymous $2,000 gift to Stevens athletics as an action item and said the board's policy required its acceptance; it was accepted on a motion and second in open session (2:53:10 to 2:53:33). RSA 198:20-b, III(b), as it then read, required that unanticipated funds under $5,000 be noticed "in the agenda" and in the minutes and that acceptance "be made in public session of any regular school board meeting". The public-session acceptance is on the recording; the agenda notice cannot be checked because the agenda is not online. In the same meeting Zullo read the revised gifts policy's own restatement of the statute, that gifts of "5000 or more shall require the board to hold a public hearing" (2:56:06), which matches RSA 198:20-b, III(a). Compare the February 21 page, where a $5,000 gift was accepted without a hearing on the record.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(a) and III(b) (2017 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1).
POSITIVE A proposed board retreat was framed as a noticed meeting, and scheduling was routed through the superintendent
The superintendent reminded the new board that "these meetings are public and any business should be done in public" (2:41:50). When the chair proposed an April goal-setting session away from the usual room, he described it as "a regular meeting that we would have to warn" (2:48:49) and said he would propose dates through the superintendent rather than to members directly: "I can't communicate with you but I can communicate with you through Middleton." (2:52:34). RSA 91-A:2, I, as then in force, makes any convening of a quorum to discuss matters within the board's jurisdiction a meeting that requires notice under 91-A:2, II, and RSA 91-A:2-a provides that "Communications outside a meeting, including sequential communications among members of a public body, shall not be used to circumvent the spirit and purpose of this chapter." Treating a retreat as a noticed meeting is what the statute requires; the care taken over member-to-member contact goes beyond it. Whether the session was held and noticed is outside this recording.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I and II (2017 codification); RSA 91-A:2-a (source note 2008, 303:4 only, so the same text in 2018).
POSITIVE Members declined to approve a document they had held for a day, and amended a policy to tell the public what the board would see
Zullo said she received the Stevens program of studies only the afternoon before (1:16:12); the principal said a two-week delay would not affect course sign-ups (1:16:37), and the chair took approval off the night's business by consensus (1:19:13). On the bus audio and video policy, Horsky moved to state expressly that the board sees recordings on an appeal, "for the transparency issue" (2:59:23), and the board also set a 28-day minimum retention in place of the draft's ten-school-day limit (3:03:12 to 3:04:44). No statute requires either step; both go beyond the legal minimum.
Sources: the recording at 1:16:12 to 1:19:13 and 2:58:32 to 3:04:44. No statute relied on.
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 9682, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 3-21": Claremont Community Television. 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 61, checked 9/26/26). No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting were located.
- Related pages: Deliberative session, February 8, 2018; Claremont School Board, February 21, 2018 (minutes approved here); Claremont School Board, June 6, 2018.
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9682 SchoolBoard032118.mp4.CSV (1,264 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9682 SchoolBoard032118.mp4Input/Transcripts/9682 SchoolBoard032118.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9682 SchoolBoard032118.mp4.md; Scripts/roster_2015_2023.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 61
Laws and rules cited on this page