Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part or being named. 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; asked about leaving lines overdrawn and how much of the budget remained; proposed that one member contact the police chief; urged questioning candidates for state office about education funding. |
| Steven Horsky | Member; policy subcommittee | Spoke at citizens' comments "in my parent capacity" to thank the CMS music teacher and present a $105 family donation to the band fund; moved the agenda, the May 16 minutes, the donations and the policies; asked about a capital savings account and security glass; author of the head lice policy draft. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Moved Frank Romeo's election and the $600 donation; reported on the adult education graduation; asked about school consolidation costs and whether CCTV could air agendas; moved to table the head lice policy; asked for the reasons staff left. |
| Carolyn Towle | Member | Asked for a five-year capital improvement plan by school; seconded BEDH; agreed to contact Police Chief Mark Chase on security; objected that the nurses' letter was unsigned; spoke on the school funding committee. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Vice chair; policy subcommittee | Raised school security from community questions; asked about the audit status and budget roll-overs; proposed dropping visuals from BEDH; asked for a list of all departing staff. |
| Jason Benware | Member; policy subcommittee | Seconded the principal's election and the policies; asked what counts as an emergency for the capital reserve; suggested consulting safety professionals; raised the nurses' letter. |
| Michael Petrin | Member | Possibly named at the start of the roll (Michael.); no answer and no speech is attributed to him. Presence not established. |
| Unidentified | Board member (Speaker 14) | Asked about the GEAR UP criteria and transportation. The attribution report suggests Petrin as a possibility only; the dialogue file leaves it Unidentified. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent's report; nominated the CMS principal; reported on agenda-printing cost, the senior-exit data, security planning, a parent who brought a gun to school, the donations, the policies and resignations; said questions about terminated staff cross "the line with personnel". |
| Michael O'Neill | Business Administrator, SAU 6 (surname per roster) | Reported spending patterns, budget transfers, the capital reserve and the audit backlog. |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk | Called the roll; confirmed the policies were adopted on a single reading; asked for a separate motion to place the head lice policy on the next agenda. |
| Frank Romeo | CMS principal nominee (from South Royalton) | Answered board questions before his election: "I'm looking for a career in a home, not a job." |
| Paulette Gerald (dialogue-file label; spelling unverified) | Outgoing CMS principal, leaving for Concord | Presented the GEAR UP pilot. The superintendent's words are transcribed Paul Gerald and Paulette. |
| Tom Smith | CMS music teacher | Described his "sponsor a band kid" initiative. |
| Unidentified | Various | Roll answers, ayes and a 96-segment interjection cluster that likely includes chair recognitions. 190 of 994 rows (19.1%) 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 with Roman-numeral and lettered items existed. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:14 | Call to order, pledge, roll | See Board composition above. |
| 0:01:09 | Agenda | Student report dropped; the CMS principal nomination (Roman numeral seven A) moved up. Moved by Horsky (0:02:07); voice vote at 0:02:11. |
| 0:02:23 | Minutes of May 16, 2018 | Moved by Horsky, seconded; voice vote at 0:02:28. |
| 0:02:42 | Superintendent's report | Rural Pride; last day of school June 13; SAU 6 scheduling. Informational. |
| 0:05:43 | Citizens' comments | Steven Horsky, as a parent, with Tom Smith. |
| 0:12:59 | Nomination: CMS principal (moved up) | Frank Romeo. Moved by Pierce (0:21:45), seconded by Benware (0:22:01); voice vote at 0:22:02, no audible opposition. |
| 0:23:15 | Discussion: CMS GEAR UP pilot | Discussion only; "this is not something we're going to vote on" (0:33:59). |
| 0:36:06 | Discussion: commencement; newspaper agenda posting; senior-exit comments | Informational. |
| 0:47:17 | Discussion: expenditures and revenue | Business administrator's report. Informational. |
| 1:14:45 | Discussion: online courses; school security | Towle to contact Police Chief Mark Chase and report back (1:43:00). No vote. |
| 1:46:43 | Action: donations | $600 to Bluff Elementary: moved by Pierce (1:47:10), seconded by Horsky (1:47:16), voice vote at 1:47:24. Riverstone Church shoes for Bluff students: moved by Horsky (1:49:13), seconded by Pierce and Benware, voice vote at 1:49:34. |
| 1:49:47 | Action: policies | Policies B to I (including DBJ transfer of appropriations, KB, EHB and EHB-R, GBEAA-R, BEDB, BEDG and KBA-R as the transcript lists them) adopted as a first and final read: moved by Horsky (1:51:23), seconded by Benware (1:52:06), voice vote at 1:52:15. BEDH public participation, first and final as amended: moved by Horsky (1:56:34), seconded by Towle (1:56:43); no vote is audible (flag 2). Head lice policy JLCC: the version without the no-nit language sent to second reading, moved by Horsky (2:12:59), voice vote at 2:15:36; placed on the June 20 agenda, moved by Horsky (2:16:23), voice vote at 2:16:35. |
| 2:16:47 | Resignations list | Informational; no action (2:21:32). |
| 2:25:51 | Adjournment | Moved and seconded; voice vote at 2:25:54. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:00:57 | Roll call | Answers overlap; only Pierce, Towle and the chair are named clearly. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:03:09 | Superintendent's report | "The Claremont School Board in 2016 approved the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students Policy". At 0:04:49: "the next six board meeting is August 23rd, and you have certain tasks with the administration planning that can't wait". At 0:05:23: "my recommendation will be that the two chairs of Claremont and Unity get together and identify some dates". (See June 14 page.) | |
| 0:06:04 | A member speaks as a parent | Horsky: "I actually came here with a purpose besides school board business. Hence why I'm now on the parent side." At 0:07:10: "my family has a donation of $105, to support the CMS Band fund". Smith at 0:08:29: "the number about $35. We'll sponsor a band kid for an entire year." | |
| 0:12:59 | Principal search | "We had 13 applicants who apply for the position." At 0:13:29: "We had a committee of eight members." At 0:14:28: "of the candidates at Rose, we interviewed five. And of those five, Mr. Romeo was clearly the top choice." | POSITIVE |
| 0:15:25 | Frank Romeo answers questions | On discipline, why he is leaving, and tenure; at 0:19:35: "I'm looking for a career in a home, not a job." At 0:20:29: "I live in South Royalton, and that's where I'll stay." Elected at 0:22:02. | POSITIVE |
| 0:23:53 | GEAR UP pilot | "we had received a gear up grant, earlier this year, the start of the school year, $10,000 grant". At 0:25:00: students "Get a $7,000 scholarship if they go to an in-state, state and in-state state college." Chair at 0:33:59: "this is not something we're going to vote on." | |
| 0:36:30 | Agendas in the newspaper | Superintendent: "the cost we felt was quite high." At 0:37:39: "The legal posting that we were required to. And we do that. We had the complete there's over 100 pages on our website". Pierce at 0:39:57 asked about airing agendas on CCTV. | |
| 0:40:46 | Senior-exit comments | "going back ten years or more before I even arrived, there's been the collection of data, but there hasn't been much done with it." At 0:41:13: "we no longer have those sidebar letters attached to the collective bargaining agreement, effective July 1st". Benware at 0:44:13: "a pattern of inconsistency ... about enforcement of policy." | |
| 0:47:20 | Spending patterns and transfers | "the average is about 0.8%." At 0:48:31: "when do you stop doing budget transfers to cover these and just let us be overspent?" Sprague at 0:49:07: "Do you do you ever leave the that particular line overdrawn for the sake of the auditor?" O'Neill: "A lot of times." At 0:49:22: "we're comparing it to the budget that I adjusted this year, not the budget that the board that was approved last year." At 0:50:14: "right now the 17% of the budget left". | OBSERVATION |
| 0:51:12 | Where past fund balance came from | "the big fund balance returns was basically from the health trust settlement." At 0:51:33: "we carried over some of that surplus and we carried over 600. Then we then we got it down to 300. Now we're down to about 170". At 0:52:09: "That was money. That was the court made them return to." | |
| 0:52:19 | Capital reserve | Horsky: "Wouldn't it be wise for us to budget some sort of savings account for capital improvements?" O'Neill at 0:52:43: "we actually have a $200,000 capital reserve fund for emergency repairs." At 0:53:47: "Once, once the voters voted to set up a capital fund, it has to go to the trustees." At 0:56:05: "The board is the agents to expense." | |
| 0:59:35 | Behavioral program postponed | "We identified 19 children in grades K through five". At 0:59:59: "The plan was to come to the board with a behavioral program and reallocate some of our funding" but "that item was was pushed back." | |
| 1:03:24 | Capital improvement plan; consolidation | Towle: "our target goal would be a five year plan. Per school". Pierce at 1:07:13 on "the consolidation of the three smaller schools". | |
| 1:12:30 | Roll-overs; audits | Zullo: "if we have $65,000 that we didn't use, I don't want it to be rolled over in the next year just because we've always done that." At 1:13:53: "I think we just went through an audit process. How did that go?" O'Neill at 1:14:00: "It's ongoing? Because because we were essentially three years behind. So we finished 14. The field work for 15 is done." "We're we're going to go right under 16. And then 17." At 1:14:30: "We got a final for the 14." | MEDIUM |
| 1:16:59 | School security | Superintendent: "We are still in the process of finalizing our EOP." At 1:18:12: "the community in Claremont approved the $141,000 for our security." Zullo at 1:23:23: "What would it cost to have resource officer?" Superintendent at 1:28:08: "562,000 is the public school infrastructure fund share". Horsky at 1:29:46: "Calling what we're doing a security measure is absolutely false." At 1:31:49 on the renovated high school entry glass. | |
| 1:41:51 | Delegation to Towle | Chair: "there's no harm in reaching out to Mark Chase". At 1:43:00: "would you be able to contact Mark and then come back and report back to us?" | |
| 1:44:47 | A gun at school | "yesterday, a gentleman who normally carries a gun with him everywhere did bring his child to school." At 1:45:13: "He apologized." "Since the state law now has changed and policy and state law do not work well, and we have been working with legal counsel to that matter." At 1:46:15: "we're not anti-gun. We just don't want guns or weapons on our school property." | |
| 1:46:43 | Donations | "a donation of $600 from the Goma Bank" [bank name as transcribed] for Bluff Elementary's multi-tier support system. At 1:47:44: Riverstone Church obtained a grant for shoes for every Bluff student. At 1:48:39, reading the pastor's assurance: "We will not be handing out any information about our church or any religious materials to the students and their families." | POSITIVE |
| 1:51:23 | Policies adopted on one reading | Horsky: "I'm gonna make a motion to, approve, which would make this a final read on policy." Clerk at 1:52:24: "Steve was talking. Now you're saying this is not the final." Zullo: "Whole kit and caboodle, Miss Mary." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:53:00 | Public participation policy BEDH | Zullo: "it says speakers may also use visuals. I think we need to just take that out". Motion at 1:56:34; after discussion the chair calls "All those." and a voice asks "There a second?"; the chair at 1:57:40: "We were in the discussion phase." At 1:57:46 Horsky moves on to the head lice policy. No vote is heard. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:59:23 | Head lice policy and the nurses' letter | Benware: "we received a letter from doctor McGuffin that was drafted by the nurses from all the schools." Horsky at 2:01:02: "about 55 students". Towle at 2:08:10: "I was very displeased that there were no signatures attached to this letter." Horsky at 2:10:25: "I got this at noontime today, 6.5 hours before a meeting". At 2:12:59: the version "which does not include the words no nit" goes to second read. | |
| 2:16:55 | Departing staff | Zullo: "I feel like it's lacking." At 2:22:25: "Every every employee who resigns or retires, we send an exit interview to it's done electronically." At 2:23:46: "I believe that you're crossing the line with personnel." At 2:24:32: "Budget and policy of the board's responsibility. Personnel matters are not." | |
| 2:18:03 | Chair on state funding | "one of our, goals is that we are going to, hopefully be holding elected officials accountable for the Lord distribution of money in this state." Towle at 2:20:48 on the school funding committee. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on June 6, 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. Six flags follow, ordered by severity.
MEDIUM The business administrator said the district's audits were "three years behind", with FY2014 only just final in June 2018
Asked about the audit, the business administrator said "we were essentially three years behind. So we finished 14. The field work for 15 is done", with FY2016 and FY2017 still to come, and that there had been findings, including trouble "locating some invoices" (1:14:00). He offered to send members the final FY2014 report (1:14:30). Under the federal Uniform Guidance as published in the 2018 CFR edition, a non-federal entity that "expends $750,000 or more" in a fiscal year in federal awards must have a single audit, submitted "within the earlier of 30 calendar days after receipt of the auditor's report(s), or nine months after the end of the audit period". For a July-to-June district that puts FY2016 at March 31, 2017 and FY2017 at March 31, 2018, both past on this date. Graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH because the recording does not state the district's federal expenditures for those years, so the threshold is not established from this record, and because FY2014 and FY2015 fall under the predecessor rules (OMB Circular A-133, not cited here). The statement, made on the record by the official responsible, is the finding; the audits themselves are not online.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.501(a) (2018 edition): single audit at $750,000 in federal expenditures; 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (2018 edition): due the earlier of 30 days after the auditor's report or nine months after period end.
OBSERVATION The public participation policy was moved "first and final", but no vote on it is heard; other policies were adopted on one reading
Horsky moved BEDH, public participation at board meetings, "for first and final, as amended" and Towle seconded (1:56:34, 1:56:43). The chair began to call the question, a voice asked whether there was a second, the chair said "We were in the discussion phase" (1:57:40), and the meeting moved to the head lice policy (1:57:46). The project's attribution report lists BEDH as approved, but the recording does not contain the vote. Earlier the board adopted several policies, including those on minutes and access to public records, as a single final reading after the clerk checked that this was intended (1:51:23 to 1:52:24). No statute was identified that requires two readings, so the single reading is recorded for context; the district's own policy-adoption policy, which is not online, would govern. Whether BEDH was adopted on June 6 can only be settled by the approved minutes.
Sources: the recording at 1:51:23 to 1:57:46. No statute relied on.
OBSERVATION Budget lines are sometimes left overdrawn, and transfers make next year's comparison run against the adjusted, not the voted, budget
The business administrator described the choice between transferring money to cover overspent lines and leaving them overdrawn ("A lot of times", 0:49:13), and said that after transfers "we're comparing it to the budget that I adjusted this year, not the budget that the board that was approved last year" (0:49:22). RSA 32:10, as in force from August 2017, lets the governing body transfer unexpended balances within the total appropriation and requires records that let "any citizen" requesting them under RSA 91-A:4 ascertain the purposes transferred to and from. The recording does not show that any transfer rule was breached; it shows that the transfer record is the only way a citizen could reconcile the voted budget with the adjusted one, and that record is not online.
Sources: RSA 32:10, I (2019 codification; source note ends 2017, 127:4, eff. Aug. 15, 2017, so the text in force on this date).
OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes online, and the recording's roll call cannot establish attendance
MAP.md section 69 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: these minutes were approved with a correction on June 20, and the board approved its May 16 minutes here. The loss matters more than usual because the roll is mostly inaudible (0:00:57 to 0:01:04), so the recording cannot say whether Michael Petrin attended. RSA 91-A:2, II, as it read in 2018, required minutes to "include the names of members" and to be open to inspection within 5 business days; the mover-and-seconder requirement came later (effective 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); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 69.
POSITIVE Donations were described in detail and accepted by recorded votes in public session
The superintendent described the $600 gift to Bluff Elementary and its purpose (1:46:43) and read the church's written assurances about the shoe gift, including that no religious material would be handed out (1:48:39). Each was accepted on a motion and second in open session (1:47:10 to 1:47:24; 1:49:13 to 1:49:34). RSA 198:20-b, III(b), as it read in 2018, provided that unanticipated funds under $5,000 be noticed in the agenda and minutes and that "The acceptance of unanticipated funds under this subparagraph shall 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.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(b) (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1, so the text in force on this date).
POSITIVE The principal search was explained in public and the nominee took questions before the vote
The superintendent described the process that produced the nomination: 13 applicants, an eight-member committee including parents and a resident, individual scoring, five interviews and a unanimous choice (0:12:59 to 0:14:28). Frank Romeo then answered four members' questions in open session before Pierce's motion and the vote (0:15:25 to 0:22:02). No statute requires a principal candidate to appear before the board, so this goes beyond the legal minimum.
Sources: the recording at 0:12:59 to 0:22:02.
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/9828 SchoolBoard060618.mp4.CSV (994 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9828 SchoolBoard060618.mp4Input/Transcripts/9828 SchoolBoard060618.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9828 SchoolBoard060618.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 69
Laws and rules cited on this page