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 | Presided; added climate and culture as a future agenda item; seconded the minutes motion; said the retreat must be warned; recalled bringing the 20-credit diploma to an earlier board as an administrator; called a health staff member forward on the opt-out language. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Vice chair | Asked to be told when the administration seeks legal advice on an adopted policy; compiled questions for the board's attorney; explained her view of board email under the Right-to-Know law; asked for reviews of the board-superintendent relations and fiscal management policies. |
| Steven Horsky | Member | Identified the gaps in the March 21 minutes and the ECAF policy text; moved the amended minutes; asked for deadlines on board goal-setting (policy BA) and the head lice policy (JLCC); seconded the opt-out and seven-policy motions; reported legal advice on board email. |
| Jason Benware | Member | Seconded the agenda; asked for exit-interview data on staff departures; questioned bus camera costs; moved the health opt-out policies to final approval; proposed a cell phone and climate discussion. |
| Carolyn Towle | Member | Moved the amended agenda; asked that action papers not be handed out the night of a meeting; asked about the transportation study and business-software courses; urged specific questions for the attorney. |
| Michael Petrin | Member | Moved approval of the March 21 minutes (heard as The privilege minutes of March 13th); moved the Program of Studies; asked why minutes are needed when meetings are recorded; moved to adjourn. Attributed with medium-high confidence. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Asked about internal hiring and board seats on search committees; had the ethics policy brought back; asked whether opting out of health lessons would cost families anything; moved the seven policies to a third read. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Gave the superintendent's report; explained that the ECAF retention term was held at 10 days pending counsel; presented the IHAM opt-out revisions; offered a Right-to-Know presentation from the School Boards Association. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent | Explained the transportation RFP and consortium idea, staff turnover (about 25%) and exit interviews; took the minutes after the clerk left; clarified Ed 306 health requirements and VLACS. |
| Michael O'Neill | Business Administrator | Answered on bus contractors, community transportation and bus cameras; presented the MS-22 report of the March ballot results. |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk and recording secretary | Called the roll; left at about 0:31:44 with back pain (attribution of that exchange is uncertain in the dialogue file). |
| Lexi (surname not on the record) | Student representative | Gave the student report; spoke on the Program of Studies from a student's view and on the life skills program. |
| Patricia Barry | Principal, Stevens High School | Presented the 2018-19 Program of Studies and its three diploma tracks. |
| Hilary Walsh | Teacher (computers, digital marketing) | Described where spreadsheet and office-software skills are taught. Identified from the principal's introduction only (medium confidence). |
| Unidentified | Stevens High School health staff member | Called forward by the chair at 2:05:34; described how an opt-out plan would be built by a team. |
| Kelly Fontaine | Citizens' comments, Ward 1; Stevens life skills teacher | Welcomed the new board members and invited them to visit the program. |
| Unidentified | Various | Ayes, short replies and seconds. 200 of 1,039 rows (19.2%) 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 transitions on the recording. A written agenda existed and was amended on the floor. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:10 | Call to order, pledge, roll | See Board composition above. |
| 0:01:06 | Agenda | Amended: climate and culture added as a future topic; ECAF moved to action; BA and JLCC added as discussion items. Moved by Towle (0:04:59), seconded by Benware (0:05:03); voice vote at 0:05:04. |
| 0:05:04 | Minutes of March 21, 2018 | Petrin moved; discussion of missing ECAF material; approved as amended on Horsky's motion (0:10:37), second as spoken by the chair's voice (0:10:39); voice vote at 0:10:46. |
| 0:10:59 | Student representative report | Lexi. |
| 0:15:50 | Superintendent's report and questions | Athletic trainer, transportation study, searches, joint meeting, seating; questions on RFPs, exit interviews, hiring and turnover. |
| 0:45:10 | Citizens' comments | Kelly Fontaine, Ward 1. Closed at 0:48:01. |
| 0:48:09 | Discussion items | Extended Learning Opportunity week; board member ethics policy and the timing of board materials; ECAF; policy BA goals deadline; JLCC head lice (set for the first meeting in May); questions for the board's attorney on April 18; Right-to-Know and email. |
| 1:25:47 | 2018-19 Program of Studies | Moved by Petrin (1:34:46), seconded by an unidentified member; voice vote at 1:38:18. |
| 1:39:02 | Board retreat | Sunday, April 22, 10 a.m., planned for the Claremont Savings Bank Fitness Center, to be warned. No vote. |
| 1:44:47 | MS-22 report | Presented by O'Neill; signatures gathered at the table. |
| 1:49:49 | Health-education opt-out policies (IHAM and a companion policy) | Moved to final approval by Benware (2:04:05), seconded by Horsky (as he states at 2:04:50); voice vote at 2:06:28. |
| 2:06:41 | Seven policies on second read | Pierce moved all seven "to third and final read" (2:06:58); Horsky seconded; voice vote at 2:07:32. |
| 2:07:42 | Future agenda items; adjournment | Cell phones and climate, board-superintendent relations, fiscal management plan, marketing. Adjourned on Petrin's motion at 2:18:39. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:01:06 | Agenda amendments | Chair: "Rebecca Zullo has mentioned a couple of times about a discussion of climate and culture, and that keeps on never making it to the agenda." Horsky at 0:01:52 asks to add policy ECAF (ECF) as an action item "due to the fact that it is not written as approved by the board on the 21st of March of 2018", and at 0:03:57 to move the head lice policy (J elk) to discussion because it is "overdue". | MEDIUM |
| 0:05:30 | March 21 minutes incomplete | Horsky: "That whole part of the discussion is missing, and therefore we lost some stuff in translation." At 0:06:32: "We came to a general consensus during that discussion of 28 days." At 0:06:55: "It has the ten day still there." At 0:07:16 he gives the tape times of the March 21 discussion. At 0:07:51: "We adopted it as amended." | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 0:08:17 | Why 10 days remained | McGoodwin: "No more than ten days, so I have an email to legal counsel about that." At 0:08:36: "the board wanted it to be 28 days. And I have to legal counsel whether the board has the authority to do that." Zullo at 0:09:02: "it's important for us to be able to be kept in the loop". McGoodwin at 0:09:22: "I was hoping to get the answer before tonight, but I moved forward with the policies as they had been approved." Minutes approved as amended at 0:10:46. | MEDIUM |
| 0:10:59 | Student representative | Lexi reports the senior production Mutually Assured Destruction, college decisions, the German exchange students (0:13:54) and a Bluff School assembly (0:14:13). | |
| 0:16:29 | Athletic trainer | "we are in the process of finalizing a contract working with Valley Regional Hospital". At 0:17:13: a trainer "at least three days a week", to start May 1. | |
| 0:18:27 | Transportation study | "we contracted a, an organization, Student Transportation Consulting of New England." At 0:19:28: the review includes the RFP process and "the possibility of consortium of the surrounding school districts". O'Neill at 0:24:04: "the last time we did that, we didn't get any responses". LeClair at 0:24:42 on a regional consortium. | |
| 0:20:28 | Searches and a resignation | A special education director search committee meets the next day; a middle school principal search will start, with Paulette Fitzgerald accepting a Concord position, "I do not have a letter of resignation for you this evening" (0:20:58). At 0:21:26: a consulting firm would cost "anywhere from 3 to $5000". | |
| 0:21:53 | Joint meeting and seating | Communication plan with City Manager Ryan McNutt for the joint meeting with the City Council. At 0:22:50 he proposes that "the board and the administration co-mingled" at the table; Benware at 0:27:24: "I'd prefer not to intermingle." | |
| 0:25:54 | Exit interviews and turnover | Benware: "it would be really helpful if we were able to be privy to exit interviews." McGoodwin at 0:26:46: "We have approximately 70 personnel changes coming up for next year." Horsky at 0:44:06 counts "roughly 314 district staff employees" and fears "over 40% turnover"; LeClair at 0:44:32: "We're closer to 25." | |
| 0:28:49 | Internal hiring; board members on search committees | Pierce asks about promoting from within. McGoodwin at 0:30:27: "I think it makes for a stronger process if it's not insulated internally." At 0:35:33: "School board members are not part of the process in the search committee". At 0:38:32, citing the School Boards Association attorney: "You're only a school board member when you sit here." | |
| 0:31:44 | Clerk leaves; minutes taken by the assistant superintendent | A voice labeled as the clerk says "I'm getting stabbing" 0:31:45 and leaves. LeClair at 0:32:25: "I can't speak and take minutes at the same time". O'Neill at 1:45:00: "Don't forget the minute taker." | |
| 0:45:23 | Citizen: Kelly Fontaine | "Kelly Fontaine, Ward one." At 0:45:38: "I've been at Stevens and Life Skills program for 29 years". At 0:45:56: "I just wanted to welcome the new school board members." | |
| 0:48:15 | Extended learning opportunities | "Thus far this year, 64 students have either completed or currently in progress with an extended learning opportunity." At 0:48:43: "This will bring a total of 75 students." | |
| 0:50:09 | Ethics policy; timing of board materials | The 2006 member ethics policy returns at Pierce's request. Towle at 0:52:34: papers handed out the night of a meeting "should not be accepted". McGoodwin at 0:53:32: the Program of Studies "Was was emailed to you 24 to 8 hours in advance this evening." At 0:56:44: "I would like the information on Wednesday a week before. If that's your request, I will do that." Towle at 0:58:48: "stick to the seven days. That's a target goal." | |
| 0:57:16 | Who sets the agenda | McGoodwin: "I generally put the agenda together in a draft form. Send it to Frank." Pierce at 0:57:43: "Was it the school board that sets the agenda." Zullo: "It's Middleton with input from the chair." | |
| 1:00:00 | Why keep minutes? | McGoodwin: the clerk "tries to get it by the middle of the week". Petrin at 1:00:53: "since we're all recorded, why do we? Why do we necessarily need to keep minutes?" Zullo at 1:01:02: "Think it's the statute. Right. So that you can provide them to the community should they request." | POSITIVE |
| 1:01:23 | ECAF: no cameras on the buses | Horsky asks whether missing words will be restored "while we wait for the answer on the ten day part". McGoodwin at 1:02:01: "we do not have audio recordings or do we do not have cameras on the busses." O'Neill at 1:02:52: "We put three cameras on each bus."; Benware: "5000 per bus." Horsky at 1:04:15: "we're obviously keeping up with the statute." McGoodwin at 1:05:51 and 1:06:54 on due process and board approval of expulsions. | MEDIUM |
| 1:07:33 | Policy BA: board goals deadline | Horsky: "I'd like to amend the policy with hard deadlines so that it can't be loosey goosey and forgotten about." (1:07:53) Set for April 18. | |
| 1:09:37 | JLCC head lice policy | Horsky: it "should be reviewed by 20 1617". McGoodwin at 1:10:22: the policy "was reviewed and implemented in 2000. 13, I believe." At 1:13:05: "It's also about the civil rights of students." At 1:13:32: discussion at the first May meeting with the school nurses, "We will publicize it." | |
| 1:18:26 | Questions for the board's attorney | McGoodwin presents a compilation of policy questions for Will Phillips on April 18: "That's going to be your call." Petrin asks for a time limit; the attorney expects "about an hour". | |
| 1:22:34 | Email and the Right-to-Know law | Chair: "I'm delegating this to Rebecca." Zullo at 1:23:16: "That's violation. But if if, board members send information for informational purposes only to the chair and I don't respond." At 1:23:26: "Then that's not a quorum." Chair at 1:23:40: "if anyone wants to make modifications to this document, let me know and then I'll forward it to Middleton." McGoodwin at 1:24:04: "it's not as clear as one would think when it comes to email". Horsky at 1:25:19: "we can't use it as deliberation or policy setting". | OBSERVATION |
| 1:25:47 | 2018-19 Program of Studies | Barry at 1:27:03: "Every student in the state of New Hampshire has the minimum 20 credit diploma." The 27-credit track is aligned with New Hampshire State Scholars (1:27:39). At 1:32:22: "42% of last year's graduating class, did graduate with a 27 credit diploma." Walsh at 1:37:00 on computer skills. Approved at 1:38:18. | |
| 1:39:19 | Retreat | Chair: "We have to warn it. We have to find a location for it." Set for Sunday, April 22 at 10:00 (1:41:04); McGoodwin at 1:41:15: a school facility would mean "paying time and a half for custodial". At 1:41:31: "plan on it being at the Claremont Savings Bank Fitness Center across the street." | POSITIVE |
| 1:45:47 | MS-22: March ballot results | O'Neill: "the fiscal year 2019 budget was 31 for 55 for ten. That warrant passed 726 to 202." Security upgrades of $141,000 "passed 720 to 224"; at 1:46:21 the bus replacement "passed 620 to 307" and roofing "passed 762 to 170". At 1:46:57 the form breaks expenditures out by elementary, middle and high school. Chair at 1:48:34: "Rebecca and I will start" (signing). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:49:49 | Health-education opt-out policies | McGoodwin at 1:50:07: "Through a recent amendment to an RSA school district are required to adopt a policy allowing for the exception to objectionable, objectionable course material". At 1:51:22: parents had a February presentation and were offered the opt-out. At 1:52:51: health is a graduation requirement at the high school. LeClair at 1:56:03 on Ed 306 health requirements. Pierce at 2:01:07 asks whether a family that opts out "would have to pay for a course". McGoodwin at 2:04:24: "there will be no financial obligation for the student or the parents." | POSITIVE |
| 2:05:34 | A health teacher's view | Unidentified staff member at 2:06:05: "we would have a meeting with the curriculum director, specialist administration, the parent and the student, and we would develop a plan that all of us would agree on". Passed at 2:06:28. | POSITIVE |
| 2:06:41 | Seven policies | McGoodwin: "You have seven policies before. You for a second read." Pierce at 2:06:58: "Can I make a motion to move all seven to third and final read?" Chair at 2:07:10: "So we have a motion moving to third. Final approval." Passed at 2:07:32; the policies are not named on the recording. | |
| 2:07:42 | Future agenda; climate and culture | Benware at 2:08:25: "talk about our cell phone policies and how they relate to the culture and climate in the schools". Zullo at 2:13:14 asks for a review of board-superintendent relations and the fiscal management plan policy. McGoodwin at 2:17:48: "Climate and culture has been a discussion every year." Adjourned at 2:18:39. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on April 4, 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. Seven flags follow, ordered by severity.
MEDIUM The bus surveillance policy was printed as "adopted" with a retention term the board had voted to change, while its own term may have exceeded the statute
Horsky reported that policy ECAF (audio and visual surveillance on school buses), as printed after the March 21 meeting, said it was adopted that night but still carried the 10-day retention term and lacked the words on staff and expulsion appeals, although the board had agreed on 28 days and adopted the policy "as amended" (0:06:32 to 0:07:51). The superintendent explained that he had kept the 10-day term while asking counsel "whether the board has the authority to do that" and had "moved forward with the policies as they had been approved" (0:08:36, 0:09:22). There is a real legal question here: RSA 570-A:2, II(k), unamended since January 1, 2017, allows a school bus operator to make "an audio recording in conjunction with a video recording" if the school board authorizes it, and provides that "In no event, however, shall the recording be retained for longer than 10 school days unless the school district determines that the recording is relevant to a disciplinary proceeding, or a court orders" longer retention. A flat 28-day term would exceed that ceiling for audio recordings. So the superintendent's caution has support in the statute. The process gap is different: a policy text that did not match the board's vote was issued as adopted, and the board learned of the difference from a member rather than from the administration, as Zullo noted (0:09:02). The district had no bus cameras at the time (1:02:01), so no recording was affected. The question was left for counsel (1:04:40 to 1:04:52).
Sources: RSA 570-A:2, II(k) (school bus audio recording; 10 school days; source note ends 2016, 169:1 and 322:2, eff. Jan. 1, 2017, so the current text is the 2018 text); the recording at 0:05:30 to 0:10:46 and 1:01:23 to 1:06:54.
OBSERVATION The MS-22 report of the March 13 ballot results was being signed 22 days after the vote
The business administrator presented the MS-22, the form reporting the appropriations voted at the March 2018 ballot, and signatures were collected at the table (1:44:47 to 1:48:34). RSA 21-J:34, as it read in 2018, requires the report certifying "the appropriations voted by the meeting of the appropriate legislative body" and provides that "This report shall be filed within 20 days of the close of the meeting." The official-ballot vote was held on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 (the date is not spoken on this recording), so the 20 days ran to April 2. The recording shows board signatures still being gathered on April 4. It does not show when the report reached the Department of Revenue Administration, whether an extension applied, or whether the 2018 meeting was treated as closing on a later date, so no lapse is asserted.
Sources: RSA 21-J:34 (2017 codification; source note ends 2007, 182:2, eff. April 1, 2007): report certifying appropriations voted, "filed within 20 days of the close of the meeting".
OBSERVATION Members described different understandings of what board email may carry under the Right-to-Know law
To prepare questions for the board's attorney, the chair asked members to send changes to him or to the vice chair, who would forward them (1:22:34, 1:23:40). The vice chair said that information sent "for informational purposes only to the chair" with no reply is "not a quorum. That's not a discussion" (1:23:16 to 1:23:26); the superintendent said the rules are "not as clear as one would think when it comes to email" and offered a School Boards Association presentation (1:24:04); Horsky reported his counsel's advice that email "can't use it as deliberation or policy setting" (1:25:19). RSA 91-A:2-a, unamended since 2008, provides that public bodies "shall deliberate on matters only in meetings" and that communications outside a meeting, "including sequential communications among members", "shall not be used to circumvent the spirit and purpose of this chapter". Routing edits to a list of questions through the chair is not shown to be deliberation, so no concern is raised about this meeting. It is recorded because the board's working understanding was being formed on tape, and the statute's test is circumvention, not whether a quorum replies.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2-a, I and II (source note 2008, 303:4 only, so the text governs the whole period).
OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting are posted online
MAP.md section 63 records that neither district Drive share holds anything older than 2022 (checked 9/26/26), so this page rests on the recording alone. That is a limit of what the district posts online, not by itself evidence that records were never made: a written agenda and packet were in front of the board (0:01:06, 0:50:09), the clerk and then the assistant superintendent took minutes (0:32:25), and the board approved its March 21 minutes at this meeting. RSA 91-A:2, II, as it read in 2018, required minutes to include the names of members, persons appearing and "a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions", 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; source note ends 2017, 165:1 and 234:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2018); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 63.
POSITIVE A member caught a gap in the draft minutes and the board corrected it on the record, with tape references
Horsky told the board that the March 21 draft minutes omitted the whole discussion on policy ECAF, including a proposal on donation thresholds, and cited the times in the March 21 broadcast where each point could be checked (0:05:30 to 0:07:51). The board approved the minutes as amended (0:10:37 to 0:10:46). Later, when a member asked why minutes are needed when meetings are recorded, the vice chair answered that minutes are required by statute (1:00:53 to 1:01:02). RSA 91-A:2, II (2018 text) requires minutes to give "a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions"; correcting an omission of a policy decision is the statute doing its job.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification, in force for 2018).
POSITIVE The revised opt-out policy offered an alternative at no cost to families, more than the statute required
The superintendent said the health-education policies were revised to comply with a requirement to allow exceptions to objectionable course material (1:50:07), that parents had a presentation in February and were offered the opt-out in advance (1:51:22), and that an opted-out student would receive an alternative with "no financial obligation for the student or the parents" (2:04:24). RSA 186:11, IX-c, as codified in 2017, requires a policy allowing an exception to course material a parent finds objectionable, with "an alternative agreed upon by the school district and the parent, at the parent's expense", and "not less than 2 weeks advance notice of curriculum course material used for instruction of human sexuality or human sexual education"; IX-b requires an exception to health or sex education on religious grounds with "alternative learning sufficient to enable the child to meet state requirements for health education." Providing the alternative at district expense goes beyond the parent's-expense minimum. The page does not verify the timing of the February notice against the two-week rule.
Sources: RSA 186:11, IX-b and IX-c (2017 codification; source note ends 2017, 251:1, eff. Sept. 16, 2017).
POSITIVE The chair treated the board retreat as a meeting that must be warned
Scheduling a Sunday retreat, the chair said "We have to warn it" before choosing a date and place (1:39:19). RSA 91-A:2, I (2018 text) makes any convening of a quorum to discuss matters within the board's jurisdiction a meeting, and II requires notice at least 24 hours ahead, excluding Sundays and legal holidays; a Sunday session therefore needed notice by the preceding Friday. The record does not show the notice itself; later pages should.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I and II (2017 codification): meeting definition; 24-hour notice.
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 9711, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 4-4": 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, checked 9/26/26). No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting were located.
- Related page: SAU 6 Board, March 29, 2018 (the SAU organizational meeting held six days earlier with the same Claremont members).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9711 SchoolBoard040418.mp4.CSV (1,039 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9711 SchoolBoard040418.mp4Input/Transcripts/9711 SchoolBoard040418.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9711 SchoolBoard040418.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 63
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on April 4, 2018. RSA 91-A:2, I and II (meetings, notice, minutes; 2017 codification). RSA 91-A:2-a (deliberation only in meetings; unamended since 2008). RSA 570-A:2, II(k) (school bus audio recording; unamended since Jan. 1, 2017). RSA 186:11, IX-b and IX-c (health and objectionable-material exceptions; 2017 codification). RSA 21-J:34 (appropriations report within 20 days; 2017 codification).