Participants
Everyone heard, named or recorded as present. Spellings follow the agenda and draft minutes; where the dialogue file differs, the row says so. Unidentified voices stay unidentified unless the minutes credit the remark.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Candace Crawford | Chair | Presides. Recalls that the administration held the FY22 draft audit since November (0:25:04); explains the check-float problem for the public (0:31:23) and the unassigned-balance error (0:54:33); defends the audit firm against Madden (1:03:17, 1:07:26); says one business-office employee was left on July 8 (1:13:35); walks through Bluff and Maple Avenue variances (2:16:17); runs the CCTV appointment and personnel votes (3:12:42, 3:28:06). |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair | Present per the minutes and the nonpublic roll call. No row in the dialogue file carries his name; his voice is not identified on the recording. |
| Heather Whitney | Member; Finance Subcommittee | Puts her 13 written questions to the auditor (0:33:49 to 0:57:34), including the overdrawn general fund "by close to 800,000" (0:52:55) and checks released without approval (0:50:52). Asks whether procedures should link to policy (1:23:30). Per the minutes, seconds the deputy treasurer and CCTV motions, moves both job-description motions, and asks about grants, pay schedules, stipends and the pre-populated agenda (3:39:49). |
| William (Bill) Madden | Member; Capital Improvement chair; Curriculum Subcommittee chair | Presses the auditor on whether the firm ever told the board it was out of compliance (1:02:19, 1:03:26) and asks "how bad would it have to be before you resigned?" (1:05:14). Argues for moving forward rather than rebuilding records (1:09:46, 1:14:34). Questions curriculum documentation (2:04:02), budget footnotes (2:19:28) and the abandoned personnel vote (3:27:26); raises the dress code (3:36:11). |
| Don Lavalette | Member; Finance and Policy Subcommittees | Six questions on the Wit and Wisdom rollout (1:59:30, 2:00:31); explains state I can standards (2:07:21). Per the minutes, moves the deputy treasurer appointment and the first nominations motion; the minutes also credit him with the remark that he found the audits "fascinating" (1:10:26) and with the comment on coordinator titles (3:32:58); the dialogue file labels both rows unidentified. |
| Brian Rapp | Member; Capital Improvement and Policy Subcommittees | Answers the roll call (Rap here, 0:00:42). Per the minutes, moves the CCTV appointment, the nonpublic session, the post-nonpublic nominations approval and adjournment. No dialogue row carries his name. |
| Loren Howard | Member; Policy Subcommittee chair | Absent (minutes; on tape, "Lauren's not here" at 0:46:54). The nonpublic minutes nevertheless record him moving and voting; see flag 3. The CCTV board roster in the packet lists him as that board's secretary (Seat 8). |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Takes the roll (0:00:42) and the nonpublic roll call (minutes). Produced the draft minutes. |
| Dr. Timothy Broadrick | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Frames the starting balance as unknown until a clean audit year (0:40:19); outlines purchasing procedures as the first corrective action (1:16:30); reports grants, the FY26 expenditure report, electronic manifests, pay schedules, buses, hiring, athletics oversight and alternative certification (1:42:13 to 2:54:35); presents nominations (3:14:03). His own memo spells the name Broadrick; the transcript renders it "Broderick". |
| Kerry Kennedy | Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment; grants manager | FY27 grant allocations and deadlines (1:36:19); the Wit and Wisdom literacy program, K-5 with a possible grades 6-7 pilot (1:47:21); cost questions (2:01:40, 2:03:27). |
| Luke Diamond | District Treasurer | Appoints a deputy (1:26:11); presents the July reconciliation, the former treasurer's signature image, late copies of manifests and backdated checks (1:28:14 to 1:34:28). |
| Michael Campo | Auditor, Plodzik & Sanderson | Answers board questions on the FY22 and FY23 draft audits for about an hour (0:26:45 to 1:21:20). |
| Sherry Watkins | Deputy treasurer appointee | Introduces herself (1:27:21); appointed by voice vote (1:28:00). The treasurer's memo spells the name Sherrie (document text). |
| Courtney Porter | District staff; recognition presenter (title not stated) | Presents the recognition of bus driver Jesse Aiken for the July 22 tree incident in Newbury (0:01:10). |
| Jesse Aiken; Officer Crystal Simonds | Honorees (agenda) | Recognized for their conduct during the July 22 bus incident (agenda text). The transcript garbles the officer's name. |
| Melissa Lewis | Principal, Disnard Elementary | The minutes record that she offered to walk Madden through the program; on tape Kennedy turns to "Mrs. Lewis" at 2:09:57 and the offer follows at 2:10:03 in a row the dialogue file labels Kennedy. |
| Brian Zutter | Citizens' comments, Ward 2 | Spoke twice on the non-renewal of the varsity boys soccer coach and the process behind it (0:04:38, 0:17:55). Surname from the minutes; the transcript has only his first name. |
| Allison St. Aubin | Citizens' comments, Ward 2 | Spoke on the coaching decision and asked the board to hold the superintendent "accountable to the process" (0:08:01). Spelling from the minutes; the dialogue file has "Allison Saint". |
| Ray Bernard | Citizens' comments, Ward 1 | Spoke for the departing coach (0:11:21). |
| Sherri Williams | Citizens' comments, Ward 1 | Thanked the board for summer school; criticized the website and communication (0:14:34). Minutes spell Sherri; the dialogue file has Sherry. |
| Dr. Michael Saracino | Citizens' comments, Ward 3 | Spoke for the departing coach and asked whether the new hire meets certification requirements (0:19:46). Surname from the minutes; not transcribed. |
| Rick Chambers | Citizens' comments, Ward 2 | Spoke for the departing coach and warned the board about the decision (0:23:19). |
Agenda
The agenda as posted (CSB Agenda - August 5 2026), in agenda order, with dispositions from the recording and the draft minutes. The superintendent's report was taken in two parts.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | I. Call to order and Pledge (agenda 6:30 p.m.) | Called to order by the chair. |
| 0:00:42 | II. Roll call | Six present, Howard absent (minutes). The transcript of the roll is garbled (0:00:42). |
| 0:00:51 | II.a Recognition: "Jesse Aiken & Crystal Simonds" (agenda text) | Certificate of appreciation for the bus driver who drove through a falling pine with students aboard (0:01:10). |
| 0:03:17 | II.b Consent agenda: agenda, July 21 draft minutes, review of manifests | Approved without a motion or a counted vote: "do we have approval of the minutes? Yes. All done." The chair: "we don't have any manifest review tonight". Minutes: "Consent approval" (minutes text). See flag 5. |
| 0:04:38 | II.c Citizens' comments (policy BEDH) | Seven turns by six residents, from 0:04:38 to 0:25:04, most of them on the non-renewal of the varsity boys soccer coach; the chair cut the first speaker off at three minutes (0:07:43). |
| 0:25:04 | III. FY22 & FY23 draft audit reports (agenda 6:45 p.m.) | Michael Campo of Plodzik & Sanderson answers questions from 0:26:45; Whitney's written questions from 0:33:49; close at 1:16:21. Discussion only. See flag 2. |
| 1:25:49 | IV.1 Treasurer's report: deputy treasurer; account reconciliation | Deputy treasurer appointed by voice vote, "The motion carries unanimously." (1:28:00); minutes: Lavalette moved, Whitney seconded. Reconciliation from 1:28:14. See flag 1. |
| 1:35:59 | IV.2 Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment: FY27 grants; Wit and Wisdom | Grant allocations (1:36:19); curriculum report (1:47:21); questions to 2:10:19. |
| 2:10:19 | IV.3 Finance updates: FY26 budget v. actual; municipal assessment schedule; sample electronic manifests; payroll schedule | Expenditure report (2:10:30); line transfers (2:19:40); assessment schedule and electronic manifests (2:26:56). |
| 1:16:30 | IV.4 Superintendent's report | Corrective actions taken early, with the auditor present (1:16:30); resumed at 2:31:48 with pay schedules, transportation (2:39:27), grants and hiring (2:45:14), athletics and the business office (2:54:35). |
| 3:08:14 | V.1 Transportation update: elementary start and bus times, "Board approval recommended" (agenda text) | The proposal was marked confidential pending a step with the teachers' association (3:08:43). Settled by consensus, no vote (3:11:27; minutes). See flag 5. |
| 3:11:27 | V.2 "Recovery Plan" update | Not yet digitized; promised for the next meeting (3:12:13). |
| 3:12:42 | V.3 Appointment to the CCTV Board of Directors | Majestic Terhune appointed to the school board's seat; motion, second, voice vote "Motion carries." (3:13:33). Minutes: Rapp moved, Whitney seconded, unanimous. |
| 3:13:33 | Personnel report: certified nominations; non-certified report; central office job descriptions | Nominations moved (3:14:58); minutes: Lavalette moved, Rapp seconded. Discussion to 3:27:01; failed 3-3 on a voice vote (3:28:28, 3:28:44). Approved unanimously after nonpublic on Rapp's motion, Lavalette second (minutes; not on the recording). Student wellness director position created (3:33:29); CIA job description approved (3:35:27). |
| 3:35:27 | Subcommittee reports | Dates read out: SRVRTC August 10, Finance August 12 at 1:00, Policy in September; Capital Improvement to meet before September 2. |
| 3:36:11 | VI. Other business | Dress code proposals promised for August 19 (3:36:36); handbooks for September 2 (3:37:53); pre-populated agenda revisited (3:39:49). |
| 3:41:51 | VII. Nonpublic session, "RSA 91-A:3, II (a, c, & e)" (agenda text) | Motion (3:41:58); roll call six yes (3:42:09); entered at 10:12 p.m. (minutes). The recording ends here. See flags 3 and 4. |
| Not recorded | VIII-IX. Future dates; adjournment | Not recorded. Minutes: return to public and adjournment at 10:57 p.m., Rapp moving to adjourn, Lavalette seconding. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/Claremont School Board - 8526.CSV). Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:01:10 | Bus driver recognized | Porter: driver Jesse Aiken saw "a 108 pine tree that was about to fall in front of a bus full of children and staff" and drove through; nobody was hurt. | |
| 0:03:17 | Consent agenda by acclamation | Agenda and minutes approved with "Yes. All done." No manifest review that night. | OBS |
| 0:04:38 | Public comment: soccer coach non-renewal | Zutter: "The emails released through the Right to Know process paint a troubling picture for me." St. Aubin (0:08:01): "coach Stone deserved a real conversation, not a decision by email" and Rapp had told her by email the board raised no concern. Bernard (0:11:21): "he deserved the right to be seen". | |
| 0:14:34 | Public comment: website and communication | Williams thanks the board for summer school, then: "We're already falling back in the gains that were made last year." | OBS |
| 0:17:55 | Public comment: process questions | Zutter returns: "what district policy govern this decision?" Saracino (0:19:46) asks whether the new hire meets state certification requirements. Chambers (0:23:19) warns the board about the decision. The chair defers answers to the superintendent's report (0:25:04). | |
| 0:25:04 | Audits introduced | The chair: the administration "had received the audit for 22 back in November" and it was held until FY23 was ready. | HIGH |
| 0:26:45 | Auditor: grants and the general ledger | Campo: "If you've read through them, they're they're not good reports." Grants are lapsing and "the general fund is absorbing it"; "for consecutive years, the school district put up use a fund balance that they didn't have" (0:27:48). | OBS |
| 0:30:20 | Checks held, no reconciliations | "The business office was holding on to checks. They were writing checks and holding on to them." No cash reconciliations "for months on end" and no verification from the treasurer. | POS |
| 0:33:49 | Whitney's written questions | Five firms audit NH municipalities (0:34:06); board engagement of auditors "stopped happening in 16. And it was reintroduced in 19." (0:34:23); "there have been five business administrators since Allen left" (0:35:24). | |
| 0:37:58 | What is slowing FY24 and FY25 | "The goalpost keeps being moved."; the firm's partner says "I actually wrote up your last audit." and asks that board requests to the business office ease. | HIGH |
| 0:39:21 | Disclaimer and the forensic audit | "Our purpose is not to detect fraud." Out of the disclaimer "it's going to take two years" (0:39:55); Broadrick: "until all of these audits are done and we can get you through one clean year, we're going to have to keep saying we're not sure" (0:40:19). New bank accounts keep turning up (0:40:48). | HIGH |
| 0:42:12 | Policies versus procedures | Capital asset policy has no threshold and "doesn't comply with Gatsby [GASB] 34 requirements". Review significant financial policies every three years (0:44:56). | |
| 0:49:16 | Manifests approved after the fact | "it was retroactive and it doesn't comply with state statutes in terms of making sure that the board signs it" (0:50:14). Whitney: "So can a check be released without board approval?" Campo: "It shouldn't be, no," (0:50:56). | HIGH |
| 0:52:31 | Budget-to-actual reports | Told reports were unavailable, Whitney hears: "That's completely inaccurate. They don't make GL software for a municipality that that isn't a function." (0:52:42). Overdraft of about $800,000: "General ledger maintenance and withholding checks." (0:53:08). | |
| 0:53:39 | Unassigned balance in the tax rate | Business administrators "used a number for unassigned fund balance that they didn't have" (0:54:02). Crawford calls it "falsification"; Campo: "That's a loaded word. But misrepresentation is a better word." (0:56:47). | |
| 1:02:19 | Madden challenges the auditor | "There was no inkling in public about the disaster that our finances were until April". "we'd all be in jail" (1:03:26). Campo: "I guess I did not come out in those words." (1:04:50); "I'll resign tonight if you want me to" (1:05:23). The chair: "This is not a public comment time." (1:05:54). | |
| 1:10:26 | Treasurer reconciling, manifests to be posted | Board member (Lavalette per the minutes): "We now have a treasurer who takes the time now to go in and actually reconcile the checkbook". | POS |
| 1:14:34 | Rebuild records or move on | Madden: "Why aren't we moving forward with the best information?" Broadrick: "If it doesn't exist, we're going to assume it doesn't exist." (1:15:27). Whitney: the forensic auditor "required us to have our audits done before they can do their work" (1:15:36). | HIGH |
| 1:16:30 | Corrective actions: purchasing first | "One of the first corrective actions you will see relates to purchasing." Every employee will "read the guide to procurement and sign off that they've read it and understood it" (1:24:32). | |
| 1:26:11 | Deputy treasurer | "First order of business is I'm appointing Sherry Watkins as deputy treasurer." Unpaid (1:26:49); approved by voice vote (1:28:00). | POS |
| 1:28:14 | Treasurer: unauthorized and backdated payments | Red lines "Were checks or EFTs that were issued this past month that I didn't know about"; "The auto pen of the previous treasurer was used, even though she's no longer the treasurer." Manifest copies arrived late: "I didn't get it for 2024 days later" (1:32:15; the report says 24 days). Broadrick: "These are public documents and they must be shared with the district treasurer." (1:32:52). Backdating (1:33:16). | HIGH POS |
| 1:36:19 | FY27 grant allocations | Perkins $94,851.72; Safe and Supportive Schools $262,308.48; Title I $1,104,604.39; Title II-A $212,877.42; Title IV-A $141,311.40; total $1,815,953.41 before IDEA and preschool. "So we have until September 30th to make sure all of our 2425 grants are in order". | OBS |
| 1:42:13 | Unclaimed grants | Broadrick: about $2.4 million in total entitlements with IDEA estimated; "maybe almost $2 million unclaimed for last year"; reports will make a repeat impossible: "Can't not won't, can't." | OBS |
| 1:47:21 | Wit and Wisdom literacy program | K-5 program in use; a grade 6-7 pilot could be grant funded, but adoption would have to be funded locally. Broadrick on cost: "Order of magnitude plus or -200,000 around there." (2:03:20); Kennedy: "it's not going to be over 200,000" (2:03:27). | |
| 2:04:02 | Curriculum design dispute | Madden wants to work back from the Diploma of Distinction; Broadrick: "Curriculum design begins with state grade level standards." (2:05:42). | |
| 2:10:30 | FY26 expenditure report | "This report showed excess funds for fiscal 26 of about 4,000,362." Now "4,000,592" as encumbrances are released, but "I am not reporting to you tonight that we're going to end a fiscal 26, more than $4.5 million to the good"; Angell had projected "about 4 million". | |
| 2:16:17 | Bluff closure in the budget lines | Crawford: Maple Avenue special education salaries "Overspent by 161,000" while Bluff lines show savings; supply lines zeroed to reach the year-end surplus. | |
| 2:19:40 | No line transfers | "changes to an approved line item budget should not be made." Spending may run over a line within a function; transfers between functions need a board vote. | |
| 2:25:55 | Encumbering salaries | "Three months into the year, you should see 85% of the budget spent or encumbered." | |
| 2:26:56 | Electronic manifests | "I don't love your manifests. They're hard to read." Signed PDFs could be posted; "I have seen over 100 right to know requests here in the Claremont School District." Madden asks for it "by the end of September" (2:31:34). | POS |
| 2:31:48 | Forensic audit; pay schedule | The forensic firm has not cashed the $10,000 deposit and "They've been acquired by another company."; "I think you'll be lucky to get that done for 50 grand." Teacher pay divided "by 27 instead of by 26" this year. | |
| 2:39:27 | Buses | One bus "has been deemed unsafe"; the Newbury bus "is totaled"; a third damaged in the yard. Bus replacement has not been budgeted: "We just call the saw when we need a bus" (2:44:04). | |
| 2:45:14 | Hiring and reopening | "The number is 44, and that's against four resignations." All schools open on time; special education openings at every school. | |
| 2:54:35 | Athletics, business office, new position | "I have also not found evidence since 2023 of the superintendent even approving or signing contracts for coaches. That is not consistent with state law or regulation." New finance director started; negotiations with a business administrator to go to nonpublic. Student wellness director funded 90% by the SAS grant for two years. | OBS POS |
| 3:08:14 | Elementary start times | Marked confidential pending a step with the teachers' association; the board gives consensus without a vote (3:11:27). | OBS |
| 3:12:42 | CCTV board appointment | Majestic Terhune appointed to the school board's seat on the CCTV board by voice vote (3:13:33). | |
| 3:14:03 | Nominations fail 3-3 | Twelve new nominations; questions on certification tracks, stipends and step placement; Madden: "So now we're just going to abandon the vote." (3:27:26); voice vote fails (3:28:44). | OBS POS |
| 3:32:07 | New position and job description | Director of Student Wellness, Access and Counseling created; CIA job description approved. Madden: "this is the most specific job in job description I've ever seen in this district" (3:35:01). | |
| 3:36:11 | Dress code, handbooks, pre-populated agenda | Dress code proposals for August 19; Broadrick: "Handbooks need to be approved annually." (3:37:42); Whitney asks to revive the March 2025 pre-populated agenda (3:39:49). | |
| 3:41:51 | Nonpublic session | "I'd like to make a one, a three, a, C and E." Roll call: Yes five times in the transcript row (3:42:09). Recording ends at 3:42:49. | MED OBS |
Items flagged for review
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 August 5, 2026, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies. Counts: 2 HIGH, 1 MEDIUM, 5 OBSERVATION, 2 POSITIVE.
HIGH July payments went out under the former treasurer's electronic signature, some never on a manifest the current treasurer saw, and some backdated
Treasurer Luke Diamond reported that the lines in red on his July reconciliation "Were checks or EFTs that were issued this past month that I didn't know about" and that "The auto pen of the previous treasurer was used, even though she's no longer the treasurer" (1:28:14). He said the superintendent "confirmed with our attorneys that this is in fact, quite illegal and we should not be doing this." Dr. Broadrick explained the staff belief that fiscal 2026 bills could carry the prior treasurer's signature and said "So that has been corrected" (1:31:27). Diamond also described "a practice of backdating checks", calling it, in his view, "falsifying public records" (1:33:16), and five checks issued at the end of July "were all dated April 30th" (1:34:28).
The reconciliation in the agenda (Treas Reconciliation - July 2026 - rev 8.4.26.pdf) lists, among others, a $996,439.93 EFT on July 13 and a $41,017.51 payroll EFT on July 10 whose voucher signature column reads ?, and five vendor checks numbered 353966 to 353970 dated 04/30/26 that cleared on 07/31/26 over the former treasurer's electronic image (report text). RSA 197:23-a gives the treasurer custody of district money and lets the treasurer pay it out "only upon orders of the school board or upon orders of the 2 or more members of the school board empowered by the school board as a whole to authorize payments" (statute text). A payment the sitting treasurer did not authorize, signed with the image of a person who no longer holds the office, is outside that structure on its face. The auditor separately told the board that manifests had been reviewed after the fact, which "doesn't comply with state statutes" (0:50:14). Graded HIGH as a likely departure from a binding rule; mitigation on the record is the superintendent's statement that the practice was corrected and that counsel was consulted on the backdating (1:34:12).
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer pays out "only upon orders of the school board"; keeps independent books); treasurer's July 2026 reconciliation (rev. 8.4.26); 8.5.26 draft minutes
HIGH The FY2022 and FY2023 audits were still drafts in August 2026, years past the federal single-audit deadline
The board received the FY22 and FY23 audit reports as drafts. The FY22 draft is stamped "DRAFT - 11/19/2025" and the FY23 draft "DRAFT - 7-15-2026" (document text). The chair said the administration had held the FY22 draft since November, waiting "until the 23 came out to release them both at the same time" (0:25:04). The auditor said the reports carry disclaimers and "it's going to take two years to get out of a disclaimer" (0:39:55), and reminded the board that the federal clearinghouse still expects single-audit filings: "I've never heard of a school district that was able to get away with not doing one when they had a single audit" (1:15:01).
Under 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) the single-audit reporting package is due the earlier of 30 days after the auditor's report or nine months after the end of the audit period. For June 30 fiscal years that is March 31, 2023 for FY22 and March 31, 2024 for FY23. The $750,000 federal-expenditure threshold of 2 CFR 200.501 applies to both years (the $1,000,000 threshold begins with fiscal years starting October 1, 2024). The superintendent put Claremont's federal allocations at "a couple million dollars a year" (0:27:59), well above the threshold. The current eCFR text allows a cognizant agency to extend the nine-month period; nothing in this record mentions an extension. Graded HIGH as a missed federal deadline. Looking forward, 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 now requires each district's audit report for the last completed fiscal year within 9 months of year end (March 31, 2027 for FY26) and directs the commissioner to "withhold state grant funding, not including RSA 198:40-a funding" from non-compliant districts (chaptered text); the auditor said FY24 and FY25 work is limited by the business office's capacity (0:37:58).
Sources: 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (single-audit reporting package due nine months after period end); 2 CFR 200.501 (single audit at $750,000 of federal expenditures for these fiscal years); 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, eff. July 1, 2026, reenacting RSA 198:4-d, VIII (audit within 9 months); FY22 draft annual financial report; FY23 draft annual financial report
MEDIUM The nonpublic-session minutes record an absent member moving and voting, and a 7-0 sealing vote with no stated finding
The public draft minutes list Loren Howard as absent and six members present (minutes text); and on tape a member remarks "Lauren's not here" (0:46:54). The district's nonpublic-session minutes (8.5.26 Non-Public Meeting Session.docx) nevertheless record that the motion to return to public session was made "by Loren Howard seconded by Don Lavalette", while the public minutes credit Brian Rapp with that motion and Heather Whitney with the second. The same form records a "Roll Call Vote to seal minutes" with seven Y entries, Howard's included, though only six members were present; the mover and seconder lines are blank and none of the three statutory findings is ticked (document text).
RSA 91-A:3, III allows nonpublic minutes to be withheld only "by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session" and only on one of the stated findings (statute text). The public minutes record no sealing vote, and the recording ends at 3:42:25, before the board returned, so no public vote can be confirmed. The district later filed the document in its Unsealed Minutes share, so the practical effect is limited, but the record as written cannot be accurate in all its parts. Graded MEDIUM as a documentation defect in a required record.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b)-(c), II and III (nonpublic motion, grounds, minutes, sealing "taken in public session"); nonpublic minutes; 8.5.26 draft minutes
OBSERVATION The nonpublic motion cited three grounds; the topics described on tape and in the minutes fit them only in part
The motion was "I'd like to make a one, a three, a, C and E." (3:41:58), carried on a roll call (3:42:09; the minutes record all present in favor, and five Yes responses are audible in the transcript row). The minutes record RSA 91-A:3, II (a, c, & e). Two subjects were placed in nonpublic on tape: step placement for nominated teachers (3:27:01) and negotiations with "a certified, experienced school business administrator", which Dr. Broadrick said was "one of the reasons I included one of the letter codes" (2:54:35). Negotiating with a person not yet employed is closer to II(b), hiring, than to II(a), which concerns a public employee; II(b) was not cited. Nothing on the record identifies a claim "threatened in writing" for II(e), and the nonpublic minutes describe only "Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken" (document text). RSA 91-A:3, I(c) confines nonpublic discussion to the matters in the motion. No rule is shown to be broken on this record, so this is an observation.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b)-(c), II and III (nonpublic motion, grounds, minutes, sealing "taken in public session"); nonpublic minutes
OBSERVATION Several board decisions were taken without a motion or a counted vote, and a failed motion was reversed after nonpublic
The consent agenda and the July 21 minutes were approved by acclamation: "do we have approval of the minutes? Yes. All done." (0:03:17); the minutes record only "Consent approval" (minutes text). The elementary start-time and bus plan, which the agenda marked "Board approval recommended" (agenda text), was settled by "consensus" with "no formal vote taken" (minutes text; 3:11:27). The certified-staff nominations failed on a 3-3 voice vote, the chair saying "It was 3203." (3:28:44), after Madden objected "So now we're just going to abandon the vote." (3:27:26); the minutes record a second motion after nonpublic (Rapp, seconded by Lavalette) approving the list unanimously, which is not on the recording. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to name who moved and seconded "each motion"; where no motion is made, the minutes have nothing to record, which is why decisions taken by consensus leave a thin public trail. No rule is shown to be broken.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes record movers and seconders, decisions, start and end time); 8.5.26 draft minutes; agenda
OBSERVATION Unclaimed federal grant reimbursements were described as a recurring drain on the general fund
The auditor: grants are "falling out of their period of eligibility. And then the general fund is absorbing it" (0:26:45), and the grants fund ledger "has not been maintained historically" (0:28:42). Dr. Broadrick: in June there was "something on the order of maybe almost $2 million unclaimed for last year" (1:42:13), and unclaimed money "gets funded out of the general fund and it ends up in the tax rate where it doesn't belong" (1:45:08). Ms. Kennedy listed FY27 allocations totaling $1,815,953.41 before IDEA and preschool (1:36:19; the packet's grant allocation sheet gives the same total). Federal education formula funds stay available one additional fiscal year under 20 U.S.C. §1225(b), which is the window behind the September 30 deadline for 2024-25 programs (1:45:08). The $2 million figure is the superintendent's estimate; the promised historical report would settle it. Recorded as an observation because no claimed-versus-entitled figure is in the record.
Sources: 20 U.S.C. §1225(b) (federal education funds available one additional fiscal year); 2 CFR 200.303 (effective internal control over federal awards)
OBSERVATION The district's public packet folder was populated nine days after the meeting
The packet folder 3. 8.5.26 -- School Board Documents was created July 31, 2026, but its six PDFs carry Drive creation times of August 14, 2026, and the Google Doc agenda in it was created at 8:16 p.m. Eastern on August 5, while the meeting was in progress (Drive metadata, read 2026-10-03). Dr. Broadrick said most documents had been "live links in the agenda on the website, in most cases since Friday" (2:10:30), and a resident complained that she now had to "search high and low just to find the agenda" (0:14:34). The website copies cannot be inspected from here, so this page cannot say what the public could read before the meeting. RSA 91-A:2, II's notice duty covers the meeting, not the packet, so no rule is shown to be broken. Per the project's method notes, Drive creation times show when a document reached the share, not when it was written.
Sources: packet folder 3. 8.5.26 -- School Board Documents; RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes record movers and seconders, decisions, start and end time)
OBSERVATION The draft minutes depart from the recording in a few factual details
Three examples. The minutes say the auditors asked the bank for its account list "and there were 23" (minutes text); on tape the auditor said "within the 23 report, you'll see that there's five funds that got added" (0:40:48), referring to the FY23 report. The minutes place the electricity example on Page 7 (minutes text); the superintendent said page 57 (2:10:30). The minutes give the superintendent who left in 2014 as "Allen Damren" (minutes text) where the auditor said "Alan Demers" (0:35:24); neither spelling is confirmed here. The minutes also credit some remarks to different members than the dialogue file does (see the footer). These are drafts; the board can correct them before approval.
Sources: 8.5.26 draft minutes
POSITIVE The new treasurer reconciled the bank record against the vouchers and put the gaps before the board in public
Diamond downloaded the month's cleared payments, marked those he had not authorized, and explained that "one of the most important things the treasurer does is make sure that no funds, no checks get written without board authorization" (1:28:14). He said he keeps "a separate check register" and needs "a copy of every manifest that I sign" (1:32:15), and he now hand-signs checks (1:34:28). Dr. Broadrick told the room that manifests "are public documents and they must be shared with the district treasurer" (1:32:52) and proposed electronic manifest approval with signed copies posted for the public (2:26:56). RSA 197:23-a requires the treasurer to keep "a fair and correct account of all sums received into and paid from the district treasury" (statute text); the auditor had told the board the role "was not utilized throughout this process" (0:57:54). The board also approved a deputy treasurer under RSA 197:24-a on Lavalette's motion (1:28:00).
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer pays out "only upon orders of the school board"; keeps independent books); RSA 197:24-a (deputy treasurer, appointed by the treasurer subject to board approval)
POSITIVE Certified staff were put to the board for election, as RSA 189:39 requires
Dr. Broadrick presented twelve new certified nominations and said the board appoints certified staff on the superintendent's nomination (3:14:03, 2:54:35); RSA 189:39 reads "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers" (statute text). He reported three non-certified hires and four resignations for information (3:28:48), told the board he had found no evidence that it had ever been asked to set coaching stipends (2:54:35), and dropped a $17,000-a-year certification consultant in favor of in-house support (3:15:25). The first vote failed 3-3; the minutes record the list approved after nonpublic review. Members asking questions before voting and the administration answering them in public is the process working as designed.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (superintendents nominate and school boards elect all teachers)
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/Claremont School Board - 8526.CSV (375 attributed rows, turn-based; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/Claremont School Board - 8526.mp4Input/Transcripts/Claremont School Board - 8526.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 310
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 197:23-a: treasurer's custody and payment only on board orders; treasurer's books (note ends 2023, 36:2)
- RSA 197:24-a: deputy treasurer (2010, 23:1)
- RSA 91-A:2, II: minutes contents, movers and seconders
- RSA 91-A:3, I-III: nonpublic sessions, grounds, minutes and sealing (2023, 189:1)
- RSA 189:39: nomination and election of teachers
- 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, eff. July 1, 2026: RSA 198:4-d, VIII
- 2 CFR 200.501 and 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1): single audit threshold and due date
- 2 CFR 200.303: internal control over federal awards
- 20 U.S.C. §1225(b): carryover of federal education funds