Claremont School Board, Goal Setting Meeting, July 29, 2026
Annual goal-setting work session at the Dow Administration Building, facilitated by Superintendent Timothy Broadrick around his nine-domain "foundation" framework. Five of seven members attended. The board brainstormed needs on chart paper and talked through each domain: special education, business administration, curriculum, human resources, technology, facilities, school operations and the board's own role. No votes were taken on the recording, which opens with the workshop under way and ends at a break before a noticed nonpublic session. The page is built from the CCTV recording's dialogue transcript, the agenda document and the draft minutes. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
Body
Claremont School Board (Claremont School District, SAU 6)
Date
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Start time
Agenda: 6:00 p.m. call to order; 6:15 p.m. workshop; 9:00 p.m. nonpublic session; 9:30 p.m. adjournment (scheduled times). The recording begins mid-discussion with no call to order, roll call or citizens' comments, and the draft minutes record no actual times. The chair twice says it is 8:00 (1:24:15 and 1:40:24), sixteen minutes of tape apart, so neither can anchor a start time. The chair calls a five-minute break before nonpublic at 2:39:40; the recording ends there.
Cablecast: Claremont School Board - 7/29/26 (show 17512; the Cablecast API refuses this environment, so the extent is taken from the last dialogue row, which ends at 2:39:58)
Minutes
Draft only: 7.29.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes, in the meeting's packet folder (created July 31, 2026; last modified the same day). MAP.md section 309 carries no Minutes: line. No nonpublic-session minutes were found (see flag 2).
Board composition
Seven members; five present per the roll call recorded in the draft minutes and the agenda document: Candace Crawford (chair), William Madden, Heather Whitney, Brian Rapp, Don Lavalette. Absent: Loren Howard and Michael Petrin. Howard sent written feedback that was read into the discussion.
Participants
Everyone heard or named on the recording. Attendance and spellings follow the draft minutes and agenda document. The dialogue file leaves 123 of 1,195 rows unidentified, mostly crosstalk and short completions around the chart paper.
Name
Role
Participation
Candace Crawford
Chair
Keeps the session moving ("So I to get through tonight's goal setting. We're not solving any of these problems.", 0:13:26). On catastrophic aid: "the law that they were supposed to pay 95% of anything over 70,000" (0:21:24; see flag 5). Urges members to send questions for the auditor ahead of August 5 (2:33:14). Calls the break before nonpublic (2:39:40).
Heather Whitney
Member
Reads each chart-paper sheet aloud (per the draft minutes), starting with special education (0:11:08). On teacher evaluation (0:27:39, 0:29:30); on the board's role, "The administration exists to facilitate those that govern, not the other way around." (0:52:28); on board orientation and fiscal-management policies (0:55:09, 1:01:20); on the treasurer (1:36:22); on truancy and attendance (2:06:38); on budget presentation (2:22:42). Asks what the auditor will be prepared to answer (2:32:26).
Don Lavalette
Member
On paraprofessional supervision and IEP growth (0:14:26); teacher evaluation and trust (0:28:18); reads Loren Howard's written notes on AI and on consultants (0:40:59, 0:41:43) and on hiring (1:28:58); curriculum and program churn (1:40:32, 1:42:39); evening HiSET courses at the tech center (2:05:37).
William Madden
Member
Asks how board members can see the schools: "I don't want to be run through the school" (1:06:57, 1:07:26); dress code enforcement (1:15:28); "I know you told me we have a curriculum. Keep asking for it. I don't see it." (1:50:41); asks who will lead each domain (2:27:32); asks what paid professionals did over ten years (2:35:02).
Brian Rapp
Member
Asks that discussion of a topic cite the RSA that governs it (0:53:48). The dialogue file names him "by elimination", as the only member present per the minutes not otherwise anchored to a voice; his 44 rows are short and the attribution is weak.
Loren Howard
Member; Absent
Written feedback on the July 21 presentation, read aloud by the superintendent and by Lavalette (0:00:45, 0:01:06, 0:40:59). The transcript renders his name Lauren, Laura and Warren.
Michael Petrin
Vice chair; Absent
Recorded absent in the draft minutes.
Dr. Timothy Broadrick
Superintendent, SAU 6
Facilitates. Reads Howard's notes (0:00:45); explains the Stevens Academy due-diligence review (0:11:17); out-of-district placement costs (0:18:50); says a person was "hired today" and a business-administrator candidate interviewed, both for nonpublic (0:23:47, 1:30:23); describes ending consultant contracts (0:42:35, 0:44:04); commits to bring every non-CBA contract to the board (2:16:17); plans to take the recovery plan to the State Board of Education in January (2:21:52, 2:22:17).
Tammy Cote
Executive Assistant (agenda)
Named on the agenda; referred to as Tammy printing copies and handling letters (0:00:45, 2:10:38). Not heard.
Unidentified
Crosstalk at the table
123 rows of fragments and completions the dialogue file could not assign, including the warning that pushing families too hard means "They'll pull their kids out of school and homeschool" (2:07:42).
Agenda
Items from the agenda Google Doc in the meeting's packet folder. That document was edited after the meeting (last modified August 10, 2026) and now also carries the roll call and session notes; the draft minutes repeat its structure. Times in the first column are scheduled times where the item is not on the recording.
Taken up
Item
Agenda text / disposition
6:00 p.m. (scheduled)
Call to order; Pledge; roll call
Not on the recording. Draft minutes: present Crawford, Madden, Whitney, Rapp, Lavalette; absent Howard, Petrin.
Goal-setting workshop: feedback on the superintendent's "Build a Foundation" presentation
Howard's written feedback read; Whitney's roles-and-responsibilities documents and Madden's dress-code documents provided; members "agreed to do so" (follow the framework), per the draft minutes. No vote is recorded.
Not recorded
Brainstorming exercise: what do we need in each domain?
Post-it exercise "lasted about 25 minutes" (draft minutes); on tape the sheets are already being posted at 0:07:28.
Group review: synthesis and discussion of action items
Domain by domain: special education (0:10:49), student wellness and athletics (0:24:23), technology (0:36:06), board and superintendent roles (0:46:46), board by-laws (0:51:57), school operations (1:06:57), business administration (1:24:33), curriculum (1:39:06), counseling and social work (1:56:19), human resources (2:12:51), facilities and capital planning (2:17:22). Next steps: compile electronically, share with administrators, then staff and community (2:20:08). The July 21 agenda had also listed "Filming or recording of subcommittee meetings" for this session (7/21 agenda text); it is not taken up on the recording and the draft minutes do not mention it.
Read by the superintendent: hold "ourselves accountable to a timeline and track data to ensure we are meeting goals"; "An easy measure for Lauren, he writes, is if by July of next year, we are not up to date on audits." (0:01:06). "We cannot go another year hoping to get it right." (0:02:30). On special education: "Reduce placements by hiring and keeping qualified special ed staff." (0:04:12).
"Your conversation is the product now." The aim is to show the work "can be defined" (0:07:49); "you can't solve every problem in one school year" (0:08:47).
The Stevens Academy is under "a due diligence review" by the Department of Education; a consultant is staying on to lead it (0:11:17). Lavalette: paraprofessionals must be under direct supervision of certified staff (0:15:11). Four children placed outside the city on "episodes of treatment" plus DHHS and court placements (0:18:50); "if our exposure is $70,000 each, that $700,000" (0:20:33). Chair on catastrophic aid (0:21:24). "We need a certified director of special education." (0:22:57).
"We hired today, I'll talk to you in nonpublic as a as the out of district coordinator. So not in an administrative role but the person happens to have the administrator certification."
Dress codes, athletics fundraising and hiring; no cross-country team (0:24:56). Food service is contracted and "the future of that company is in question"; an RFP is possible (0:27:08).
Whitney: no agreed evaluation model; Lavalette: "When observations are used as gotchas" trust fails (0:28:18). Superintendent: "the law requires school boards in New Hampshire to adopt a teacher evaluation process" and the board "has the authority to impose one" if none is in place (0:33:32, 0:34:12).
Single sign-on, privacy compliance, screen time, too many messaging channels. The July 21 packet took "two days to work out access and technology" to post (0:39:35). Whitney: "Our website is horrible." (0:40:20).
Howard's note asks what services a consultant firm still provides (0:41:43). Superintendent keeps only public-relations help "if I can get your blessing" (0:41:55); "I didn't officially work here yet, but I took the liberty of terminating their contracts" (0:42:35), "around a month before I started" (0:42:48). Services without "a signed contract and the purchase order number" are being stopped (0:43:28); a ten-year certification consultant at "$17,000 a year" ended (0:44:04, 0:44:30).
Board reading: the superintendent will buy a book for a three-day administrator retreat (0:48:15). Whitney: "The administration exists to facilitate those that govern" (0:52:28). Rapp: cite the governing RSA for each topic (0:53:48). NHDOE is drafting a month-by-month calendar of district duties (0:58:43).
Fiscal-management policies as a priority; each fiscal policy to carry its procedure as an appendix (1:06:05). Superintendent: a procurement guide with "nine policy references" sent to the auditor (1:03:25); goal of "a clean fiscal 27 audit" (1:04:55).
Madden on a tour of Stevens and dress code enforcement (1:07:41). Superintendent: "The board establishes a dress code. We will comply with the board's decision." (1:12:18). Discipline: principal up to ten days, superintendent ten more, then an expulsion hearing before the board (1:18:53, 1:19:21). Homeschool re-entry concerns (1:21:40).
Procurement, monthly expenditure reports, manifest approval, payroll. Business office to move upstairs (1:25:31). A certified business-administrator candidate interviewed that day, to be discussed in nonpublic (1:30:23). Electronic manifest signing and online check registers proposed for August (1:32:57, 1:33:42). Competitive quotes already being sought (1:34:35).
Lavalette on program churn: "the cost of buying a math program for this district is enormous" (1:42:39). Madden: "I know you told me we have a curriculum. Keep asking for it. I don't see it." (1:50:41). Kennedy to report on programs at the next meeting (1:50:52).
A new grant-funded position to be discussed in nonpublic (1:56:31). JROTC suggested (1:58:25). The safe and supportive schools grant would fund a coordinator and a clinician; the district's share would be "$13,000 out of the budget" (2:03:26).
The truancy officer resigned; no replacement "Until I can understand what the goal of the position is going to be" (2:08:04). Under "this new law", the district will still send homeschool acknowledgment letters (2:10:38). The HiSET grant was lost when a past superintendent missed the filing deadline (2:11:58).
Stipends now need the superintendent's signature (2:13:04). "Every contract that's not that doesn't exist under a collective bargaining agreement. I want to bring you to approve." (2:16:17). Pay inequity from side deals "from someone in the central office" (2:16:49). One personnel file per employee (2:14:39).
Five-year plan; no money in reserve funds, per the superintendent (2:17:50); transportation oversight to stay with the superintendent for now (2:19:14).
Sheets to be compiled electronically and sent before the August 5 meeting; then administrators, then staff and community; a recovery plan for the State Board of Education "in January" (2:22:17). Budget process: "the superintendent recommends a budget to the school board, and the school board proposes a budget to the community" (2:24:28).
Send questions ahead (2:33:14). "24 and 25 are going to look a lot like what you're looking" (2:34:40). Superintendent: "You haven't had an audit since 21?"; chair: "we didn't have no one from 2016 to 2020" (2:35:55, 2:36:11).
These flags are a reviewer's aid, not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each one names the rule it rests on, as that rule read on July 29, 2026, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
MEDIUM The draft minutes omit the start and end times, the name of the person who produced them, and stop mid-item
Since August 22, 2025, RSA 91-A:2, II has required minutes to include "the start time and end time of the meeting, and name of the person who produced the minutes" (statute text; 2025, 112:1). The draft minutes, created July 31, 2026 (within the five-business-day window, file metadata), carry only the agenda's scheduled times, name no author, and break off at "In School Operations, ....." with an empty sub-item (draft minutes text). They record no adjournment time or motion, and nothing about the noticed nonpublic session beyond its heading. The fuller notes of the discussion (domain lists, a quotation attributed to TB) sit instead in the agenda Google Doc, which was edited until August 10 and so no longer shows what was noticed (file metadata). MAP.md section 309 records no Minutes: line. Graded MEDIUM under the project's rule for records that exist but are deficient: the meeting was noticed and a draft was posted on time, but the draft lacks elements the statute requires.
MEDIUM A nonpublic session was noticed for hiring-related business under grounds that do not include hiring, and no motion, roll call or nonpublic minutes were found
The agenda lists "Nonpublic Meeting" under "RSA 91-A:3, II (a, c, & e)" (agenda text). On tape the superintendent deferred three personnel matters to it: a person "We hired today" as out-of-district coordinator (0:23:47), "the candidate I interviewed today" for business administrator (1:30:23), and a grant-funded position he would "like to do it this August" (1:56:31). Hiring is the subject of RSA 91-A:3, II(b), which the notice does not list, and ¶I(c) confines a nonpublic session to "the matters set out in the motion" (statute text). The recording ends at the break (2:39:40), so the motion and its stated grounds are not on tape. The draft minutes record no motion, no roll call, no entry or exit time and no decision, and no nonpublic minutes for July 29 were found: MAP.md lists none, and Drive searches of the district's 2027 Non-Public folder returned nothing (a search that also failed to return the July 21 nonpublic minutes known to be filed there, so this is "not found", not "does not exist"). If the session was held, ¶I(b) required a roll-call vote in public on a motion naming its exemption, and ¶III required minutes within 72 hours unless sealed by a 2/3 recorded vote taken in public session. Graded MEDIUM because the session was noticed and the record may exist where this review could not reach.
OBSERVATION The recording covers only the middle of the meeting
The file starts mid-conversation (0:00:00) with Howard's feedback being forwarded for printing, after the scheduled call to order, roll call and citizens' comments, and ends when the chair calls a break before the nonpublic session (2:39:40). The board's attendance, its acceptance of the superintendent's framework and the citizens' comment result are known only from the draft minutes. Spoken clock references cannot anchor the tape: "So it's 8:00." at 1:24:15 and "It's 8:00. So." at 1:40:24 are sixteen minutes of recording apart. No rule requires a work session to be recorded; this is noted so readers know what the recording can and cannot show.
OBSERVATION Personnel and contract actions were described as already taken, ahead of any board action in the record
The superintendent said a person was "hired today" as out-of-district coordinator (0:23:47) and that before his own employment began he "took the liberty of terminating their contracts" with consultants, "around a month before I started" (0:42:35, 0:42:48); he also ended a ten-year certification-consulting arrangement (0:44:04) and kept a public-relations service "if I can get your blessing" while a contract was requested (0:41:55, 0:43:28). The board's by-laws rule 5.03 provides that "No Claremont School District employee shall begin employment without the approval of the CSB unless authorized by Section 5.04" (by-laws text). Whether the coordinator is a teaching position under RSA 189:39, whether the hire was temporary under rule 5.04, and what authority a superintendent-elect had over district contracts in June are not established by this record; the July 21 page reports a related HIGH flag on certified hiring. The same evening the superintendent committed to bring every non-collective-bargaining contract to the board (flag 6).
OBSERVATION The chair's description of catastrophic special-education aid does not match the statute
The chair said "the law that they were supposed to pay 95% of anything over 70,000" (0:21:24). RSA 186-C:18, III sets its threshold as a multiple of the state average expenditure per pupil ("exceed 3 and 1/2 times the most current state average"), not a dollar figure, and, as amended in 2025, directs the department to distribute "not less than 80 percent of the district's entitlement" (statute text); no 95 percent figure appears in the section. The superintendent's statement that aid was once fully funded but "in the last 5 to 7 years we've slipped" (0:21:38) is his characterization. Nothing turned on the figure at this session, which took no votes.
POSITIVE The superintendent committed to board approval of every contract outside collective bargaining and to public posting of manifests and check registers
"Every contract that's not that doesn't exist under a collective bargaining agreement. I want to bring you to approve. There are many that I don't believe boards here reproved." (2:16:17). He also undertook to bring each new procedure to the next board meeting (1:06:24), to seek approval for electronically signed manifests posted with the check register so that "The public wants to see a manifest. Yeah, they're on the website." (1:32:57, 1:33:42), and to report the state's compliance calendar to the board monthly (1:00:50). The board, for its part, asked that each fiscal policy carry its written procedure (1:06:05). These commitments go beyond what RSA 91-A requires; whether they are carried out is for later pages to record.