Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part or being named in the roll. 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 |
|---|
| Sara Lowe | SAU 6 chair (Unity); Unity board chair | Presided until the chair election; announced the separation decision; led the transition, interim-search and funding items; stepped down as SAU chair citing family demands. After the election, presiding segments that cannot be split between Lowe and Erickson are Unidentified. |
| Marjorie Erickson | Member (Unity); elected SAU 6 chair | Read the May 10 nonpublic details into the minutes; recorded that she abstained from the May 10 seal vote; reported the motion to leave nonpublic; urged defining the transition team's goals before volunteering. Elected chair 6 to 4. |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair (Claremont) | Moved to correct the agenda's nonpublic citation to II(a) (0:04:16); suggested a deadline in the interim ad; nominated for chair by Pierce. Speech attributed by elimination (low confidence). |
| Steven Horsky | Member (Claremont) | Read II(a) aloud; moved the amended agenda, entry into nonpublic, the seal, and the acting-superintendent appointment; urged a quick timeline and a retreat; said the board would have to call a meeting before touching the fund balance. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Member (Claremont vice chair) | Seconded the first seal motion; volunteered for the transition and interim teams; moved the interim-superintendent ad; declined the chair nomination. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member (Claremont) | Moved to leave nonpublic (per Erickson's account); seconded the seal; asked about internal candidates and the length of the interim; nominated Petrin for chair. |
| Frank Sprague | Member; Claremont board chair | Seconded the agenda and each chair nomination; argued for a two-year interim and search horizon; sketched a meeting timeline; named as one of the two chairs to work out LeClair's terms. |
| Carolyn Towle | Member (Claremont) | Asked for the nonpublic exemption's definition; made, then withdrew, the first acting-superintendent motion; raised a point of order on recognition; proposed the retreat. |
| Jason Benware | Member (Claremont) | Questioned the merit scoring; moved the merit evaluation system; nominated Zullo, then withdrew in favor of Petrin; will miss the July 12 meeting. |
| Prudence McCormick | Member (Unity) | Prompted the roll call for entering nonpublic ("Shouldn't that be call?", 0:12:14); seconded leaving nonpublic (per Erickson's account); nominated Erickson; advised hearing from the School Boards Association before a full search. |
| Bob McDevitt; Craig (surname unresolved) | Members (Unity) | Absent. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Read his letter of resignation; advised on interim candidates; ran the chair election; advised that a retreat must be warned as a public meeting. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent; appointed acting superintendent | Listed the superintendent's immediate duties; said she holds superintendent certification and would serve "until we find an interim"; proposed that the board chairs act as the transition team. |
| Nathan (first name only) | SAU 6 human resources | Presented the SAU fund-balance projection and the staff performance and merit evaluation system; telephoned the business administrator. Several board-member acts (seconds, an aye, "Rebecca from our board") sit under his label in the dialogue file; see the method note. |
| Michael O'Neill | Business Administrator, by telephone (surname per roster) | Explained the options for paying the separation costs from the fund balance. |
| Mary Woodman | Clerk | Called the rolls; took down the May 10 minutes amendments. |
| John (surname not stated) | Citizens' comments, Claremont; former SAU board member | Asked for citizen input on transition planning and on spending "money that's not appropriated"; later advised the board to meet every two weeks. |
| Unidentified | Members and presiding voice | Roll-call answers, the ayes, a member who moved the merit system's approval before Benware completed it, and the presiding voice after the chair change. 186 of 1,254 rows (14.8%) 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; it was amended on the floor. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:00 | Call to order, pledge, roll | See Board composition above. |
| 0:01:12 | Minutes of May 10, 2018 | Amended to add the 8:22 exit from nonpublic, the 99-year seal motion (Frank moved, Steve seconded; nine yes, one abstention, two absent) and adjournment at 8:25 p.m. Moved as amended by Sprague (0:03:44); voice vote at 0:03:54. |
| 0:04:08 | Agenda | Nonpublic citation changed from RSA 91-A:3, II(c) to II(a). Moved by Horsky (0:09:26), seconded by Sprague (0:09:33); voice vote at 0:09:58. |
| 0:10:35 | Citizens' comments | John of Claremont. |
| 0:11:34 | Nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II(a) | Moved by Horsky (0:11:50); roll call (0:12:25 to 0:12:43): all ten present yes. Out at 7:01 p.m. on Pierce's motion, McCormick seconding (as reported). Seal for 99 years moved by Horsky (0:15:00), seconded by Pierce; roll call all yes (0:15:33 to 0:15:57). |
| 0:16:21 | Announcement; superintendent's letter of resignation | Chair announces that the SAU and the superintendent will "part ways"; McGoodwin reads his letter (0:17:17). |
| 0:21:59 | Administration transition plan | Acting superintendent: Cory LeClair appointed, details to be worked out by the Claremont and Unity chairs; moved by Horsky (0:47:51), seconded by an unidentified member; voice vote at 0:49:02. Interim-superintendent ad (12 months, start August 15, AppliTrack and papers): moved by Zullo (1:07:15), seconded by an unidentified member; passed "unanimously" at 1:10:51. Interim screening by one member of each board plus SAU staff. Point of contact: the SAU chair. |
| 1:26:08 | Funding the transition | Motion by Horsky (1:39:17) to hold a meeting by June 28 and allocate the $55,000; seconded by an unidentified member; voice vote at 1:43:51. |
| 1:45:41 | Transition team | The three board chairs with the SAU leadership team, by consensus. No vote. |
| 1:48:45 | SAU staff performance evaluation and merit system | Moved by an unidentified member and Benware (2:10:31); voice vote at 2:10:47. |
| 2:11:11 | Election of SAU 6 chair | Nominees Zullo (declined), Erickson, Petrin. Show of hands: Erickson six, Petrin four (2:19:01 to 2:19:39). |
| 2:20:11 | Future meetings; retreat | June 28, July 12 and 26, August 23 (School Boards Association on the search); retreat Sunday July 29, 10 a.m. The recording ends before adjournment. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:02:18 | May 10 minutes completed on the floor | Chair: "So first, a motion was made to seal the minutes for 99 years." Erickson at 0:02:35: "Frank made the motion. Steve seconded." At 0:02:47: "there were nine yeses and one of them staying." Chair at 0:03:14: "we had two members who were here by phone, which was why we had done the roll call." | MEDIUM OBSERVATION |
| 0:04:16 | Which exemption? | Petrin moves to change the citation to II(a) "instead of one one C" [II(c)]. Chair at 0:05:43: "the section we we would use as section A, regarding the dismissal of a public employee". At 0:07:40: "if we're moving forward with a resignation, then that is different." McGoodwin at 0:08:48: "your attorney and my legal counsel took care of the business." Chair at 0:09:06: "we need to do is get to a place where we agree and sign this in that nonpublic. Does that make sense? Because otherwise this is a public document." | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 0:10:38 | Citizen: John | "going to take citizens input when you get into the transitioning planning." At 0:11:04: "you're discussing on how to spend money that's not appropriated." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:11:50 | Into nonpublic | Horsky: "I'll make the motion to move into a non public session under New Hampshire RSA 91 A." McCormick at 0:12:14: "Shouldn't that be call?" Chair: "Yes, a roll call vote to go into nonpublic." | POSITIVE |
| 0:14:08 | Seal for 99 years | Horsky: "I would like to make a motion to seal the nonpublic sessions. Minutes for 99 years." Clerk at 0:14:14: "you have to come out of nonpublic." Erickson at 0:14:32: "Michelle moved to come out of nonpublic. Prudence. Seconded. Everyone agreed." Roll call on the seal at 0:15:33 to 0:15:57. No reason for sealing is stated. | MEDIUM |
| 0:16:21 | Separation announced | "the decision that was made in the nonpublic meeting is that the SA six and the superintendent, Middleton and Goodwin, regret to inform you that it's necessary for us to part ways. Much good has been accomplished over the last several years." | POSITIVE |
| 0:17:17 | Letter of resignation | "Please accept my resignation as Superintendent of Saw six, effective on June 32nd, 2018." [date as transcribed] He lists full-day kindergarten, the background-check law, energy savings and the early childhood program; at 0:21:29: "it has been my honor, and I underline the word honor to serve as superintendent of schools." | |
| 0:21:59 | Transition plan | "we need to establish a transition team. This typically would consist of, and according to the attorneys that I've spoken with, a member from unity, a member from Claremont boards, as well as some of the staff". Horsky at 0:31:59: "It's a legal requirement to have a superintendent." | |
| 0:36:52 | Who can act? | Horsky: an acting superintendent must "meet the same qualifications as a superintendent." LeClair at 0:37:21: "I hold superintendent certification". At 0:37:36: "I'd be willing to be an acting. Absolutely." | |
| 0:45:44 | Appointment with terms to follow | Chair: "there is not an expectation that we're going to meet with her, iron out details and then no vote on that." At 0:47:08: "do you want Frank and I to go meet with her, work out details, and come back for a vote, I need clarity." Horsky at 0:47:51: "I'm going to make a motion to recommend that, Corey Leclerc is our acting superintendent. Pending the ironing out of the details". LeClair at 0:48:42: "I will cover until we find an interim." Chair at 0:49:02 restates it as "appointing Corey as the acting superintendent, with details to be ironed out by the chairs". | OBSERVATION |
| 0:49:59 | Interim superintendent ad | An ad drafted "with the attorneys". Chair at 0:52:34: the School Boards Association "has teams that do that and vet candidates". At 0:53:28: "there's not been the consensus that I think we should have as a board." At 1:06:09: the HR staff member "has already put feelers out and has two, you know, resumes." Zullo's motion at 1:07:15; ad posted on AppliTrack, SchoolSpring and in papers (1:09:09); passed at 1:10:51. | |
| 1:11:22 | Interim screening committee | One member from each board plus SAU leaders; Claremont and Unity to choose their own members. At 1:17:47: "Corey, I'm going to request that you, email the saw six chair." | |
| 1:24:45 | Point of contact | Horsky: "it should be the essay chair." Lowe at 1:25:34: "I'm not going to be the chair after tonight." | |
| 1:26:08 | Funding the transition | "we really need to address the strategy to fund this transition plan." At 1:27:12: funds needed "For the agreement that we made tonight with Middleton", the search, the ads and "additional compensation for Corey". Nathan at 1:28:12: "your bottom line really is 67. 907." At 1:30:13: the $55,000 is "included on the revenue side of things to offset the expenditure side for fiscal year 19." At 1:31:06: "And we need approximately 93." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:31:31 | Citizen: John on fund balance | "It is my impression that fund balance has returned to the taxpayers to reduce the tax rate and that if the money needed to be spent, it has to be on an agenda with an item next to it." At 1:33:02: "This board has always had a history of meeting about four times a year." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:33:52 | Business administrator by phone | Nathan: "it is pretty clear we can't vote on anything tonight." O'Neill at 1:35:20: "you can't really do, a deficit appropriation". At 1:36:15: "No, we would we wouldn't have to do that." At 1:37:36: "you can certainly you can use that money this year". At 1:41:52: "You don't really need to make a motion". Lowe at 1:41:09: using it "would impact our staffing at the SA". | OBSERVATION |
| 1:38:55 | A warranted meeting | Horsky: "the taxpayers have to know that we're planning on touching that money." At 1:39:17: a meeting "no later than the 28th of June to discuss how we're going to appropriate the money from the fund balance." Chair at 1:43:27: "allocating the $55,000 that is in appropriations to offset the costs, of, the." 1:43:47: "Retirement of Middleton." Passed at 1:43:51. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:48:45 | Merit evaluation system | Nathan: "a continuation of our discussion that we had in May about the performance evaluation system for the merit based system." At 1:52:32: evaluations after "the March vote" so contracts roll out after April break. At 2:09:55: "the template, already presumes a 3% merit pool max". Approved at 2:10:47. | |
| 2:11:11 | Lowe steps down | "I need to step down from this position. I am feeling like I do not have, enough, time or energy to give the board in this role at this time." At 2:17:29: "I have found it a nice balance to have a unity member and a Claremont member sitting at these two seats". | |
| 2:15:19 | Chair election | McGoodwin runs it. Benware at 2:15:58 nominates Zullo; McCormick at 2:16:13: "Prudence to nominate Marjorie." Pierce at 2:16:33: "I'd like to ask Michael to be board chair. Where he's been vice chair." Zullo declines (2:18:04). At 2:19:01: "I'm going to ask for two different sets of public voting." At 2:19:39: "I counted for. So. Marjorie, congratulations. You are the saw six school board chair." | |
| 2:22:20 | Retreat: open or closed? | Lowe: "if we do a retreat, it would be a working meeting and it does not need to be open to the public. Is that." McGoodwin at 2:22:45: "You can't have a closed." "Meeting like that unless you can cite an essay. Because school board meetings are meetings in the public." At 2:25:03: "the open meeting law. It is required to be open." Retreat set for July 29 at 10 a.m. (2:27:05). | POSITIVE |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on June 14, 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 Two sets of nonpublic minutes sealed "for 99 years" with no statutory determination stated on the record
The board completed its May 10 minutes by adding a motion "to seal the minutes for 99 years" (nine yes, one abstention, 0:02:18 to 0:02:47), and after the June 14 nonpublic session voted by roll call to seal those minutes "for 99 years" too (0:15:00 to 0:15:57). RSA 91-A:3, III, as it read in 2018, required "Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session" to be disclosed within 72 hours unless, "by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session, it is determined" that disclosure would likely affect a non-member's reputation, render the proposed action ineffective, or pertain to terrorism; the information may then be withheld "until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply". The June 14 vote was a recorded roll call and unanimous among the ten present, so the two-thirds requirement was met. What the recording does not show is any determination: no member stated which ground applied, and the term chosen was a fixed 99 years rather than the statute's until-circumstances-change standard. The chair had also said the aim was to "agree and sign this in that nonpublic ... Because otherwise this is a public document" (0:09:06). Graded MEDIUM as a documentation gap: the minutes may record a determination, but none is online (flag 4) and none was spoken.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III (2017 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017): 72-hour disclosure; 2/3 recorded vote with determination; withholding until circumstances no longer apply.
OBSERVATION The cost and funding of the separation were argued in public without the agreement's terms being stated
The chair referred to "the agreement that we made tonight with Middleton" (1:27:12). The HR staff member put the projected SAU fund balance at 67. 907 [$67,907] (1:28:12) against obligations the chair put at "approximately 93" (1:31:06), and said the board could not vote that night (1:33:52). A citizen said spending fund balance required an agenda item (1:31:31). By telephone the business administrator said a deficit appropriation was not possible, that no meeting was needed, and that the $55,000 of prior fund balance already budgeted as FY19 revenue could be used, at the cost of cuts next year (1:35:20 to 1:41:52). The board then voted both to hold a meeting by June 28 and to allocate "the $55,000 that is in appropriations" toward costs the chair called the "Retirement of Middleton" (1:43:27 to 1:43:51); the same departure is called a parting of ways (0:16:21) and a resignation (0:17:17). No verified rule was identified that fixes how an SAU board may redirect its own fund balance, so this is recorded as an observation. For a citizen, the recording does not disclose the agreement's amount or terms, or which of the three descriptions governs; the June 28 meeting is where to look.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, III ("The school administrative unit board shall have the authority to remove superintendents and other administrators"; 1996, 298:3, unamended); the recording at 1:26:08 to 1:43:51.
OBSERVATION An acting superintendent was appointed with her duties and pay left to two chairs, and no return vote was fixed
The chair asked twice whether the board was appointing Cory LeClair outright or sending the two district chairs to negotiate and "come back for a vote" (0:45:44, 0:47:08). The motion as made was "to recommend" her "Pending the ironing out of the details" (0:47:51); the chair then put it as "appointing Corey as the acting superintendent, with details to be ironed out by the chairs of the Claremont and Unity School Board" (0:49:02), and it carried. The chair had said funding was needed for "additional compensation for Corey" (1:27:12). No rule was identified that forbids the delegation; the SAU board fixes SAU salaries under RSA 194-C:5, III. The observation is that the terms were left for two members to set, and whether they came back to the full board is for later pages to show.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, III (SAU board fixes SAU salaries; 1996, 298:3).
OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting are posted online
MAP.md section 70 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: the board amended and approved its May 10 minutes at this meeting (0:01:12 to 0:03:54), and Erickson took the nonpublic minutes. The amendment shows the May 10 draft had lacked the nonpublic exit time and the seal vote five weeks after the meeting. RSA 91-A:2, II, as it read in 2018, required minutes to include members' names, 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 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; source note ends 2017, 165:1 and 234:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2018); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 70.
OBSERVATION The SAU chair changed hands mid-year, outside the statute's organizing window
RSA 194-C:5, I requires the SAU board to "meet between April 1 and June 1 in each year" and organize "by choosing a chairperson, a secretary, and a treasurer"; the project roster records that Sara Lowe was re-elected chair on March 29, 2018. On June 14 she stepped down and the board elected Marjorie Erickson by an open show of hands, run by the superintendent (2:15:19 to 2:19:39). The statute is silent on filling a chair vacancy during the year, so no breach is suggested; this is recorded so readers know the June 14 election was a mid-year replacement, not the annual organization.
Sources: RSA 194-C:5, I (annual organization April 1 to June 1; 1996, 298:3).
POSITIVE The nonpublic motion cited the fitting exemption, went to a roll call, and the decision was announced in public the same night
The agenda had cited RSA 91-A:3, II(c); members corrected it on the floor to II(a), the exemption for "The dismissal, promotion, or compensation of any public employee", after reading it aloud (0:04:16 to 0:09:26). The motion stated the exemption, and when the chair began a voice vote a member asked for the roll call RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires (0:12:14), which followed (0:12:25 to 0:12:43). On return the chair announced the outcome (0:16:21) and the superintendent read his letter in public. These are the statute's steps done in order, and announcing the decision at once goes beyond the 72-hour disclosure period.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), III (2017 codification).
POSITIVE The superintendent corrected the view that a board retreat could be closed
When the chair suggested a retreat "would be a working meeting and it does not need to be open to the public" (2:22:20), the superintendent answered that the board could not hold a closed meeting "unless you can cite an essay [RSA]" and that it "is required to be open" and warned (2:22:45, 2:25:03). RSA 91-A:2, I, as it read in 2018, defines a meeting as the "convening of a quorum of the membership of a public body" and II requires notice at least 24 hours ahead. The board then planned the July 29 retreat as a noticed meeting.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I and II (2017 codification): meeting definition; 24-hour notice.
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/9853 SAU6061418.mp4.CSV (1,254 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9853 SAU6061418.mp4Input/Transcripts/9853 SAU6061418.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9853 SAU6061418.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 70
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on June 14, 2018. RSA 91-A:2, I and II (meetings, notice, minutes; 2017 codification). RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), III (nonpublic sessions; 2017 codification). RSA 194-C:5, I and III (SAU board organization, salaries, removal of superintendents; unamended since 1996).