Participants
Everyone heard or recorded as present. Names follow the agenda and the draft minutes; where the dialogue file labels a person differently, the label is noted.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Candace Crawford | Board chair; Finance Subcommittee chair | Presided; added a personnel report and a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) to the agenda; introduced the new superintendent; read the FY26 budget-to-actual bottom line; gave the public four cautions for reading the draft audits; reported the Unity agreement’s IT-support date. |
| Michael Petrin | Board member; SRVRTC Committee chair | Noted his copy of the Unity agreement still said June 30 and that he had missed the prior meeting; seconded NHSBA resolution 2; moved to enter nonpublic session. |
| Heather Whitney | Board member; Ad Hoc Reconfiguration Subcommittee chair | Added the NHSBA resolutions to the agenda and presented all three; raised a point of order on the June 17 minutes; seconded the audit-release motion; moved acceptance of the Unity withdrawal agreement; asked for a defined agenda for July 29. |
| William “Bill” Madden | Board member; Capital Improvement Subcommittee chair | Asked to see the curriculum the district has paid for; told the superintendent “December doesn’t work”; voted against NHSBA resolutions 2 and 3. The dialogue file credits him with the motion to approve the amended agenda; the draft minutes name Rapp (see flag 6). |
| Loren Howard | Board member; Policy Subcommittee chair; NHSBA delegate | Recounted when the FY20, FY21 and FY22 drafts arrived; moved the calendar with a November listing correction; asked about the Bluff playground hippo and dinosaurs; moved NHSBA resolutions 2 and 3; reported that policies adopted since March are not yet on the website. The dialogue file also labels him for the typo concerns on the FY23 draft that the minutes give to Rapp. |
| Donald Lavalette | Board member | Asked about grant paperwork, an AP check register online, a departed employee’s three years of health insurance and a study-hall monitor line; moved to release the draft audits; the one vote against the Unity agreement; voted against NHSBA resolutions 2 and 3. |
| Brian Rapp | Board member | Seconded the Unity agreement (“we’ll have to live with September 15th, I guess”) and asked for an accounting of IT time. The draft minutes record him as the one vote against releasing the draft audits and as mover of the agenda; the dialogue file gives him three rows (see flag 6). |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Read both roll calls; raised the concern that the public could not see the amended agenda. Labeled “Noel (surname not stated)” in the dialogue file. |
| Dr. Timothy Broadrick | Superintendent, SAU 6 (began July 1, 2026; first board meeting) | Presented the audit cycle, the “Foundation for Recovery” framework, the reopening and staffing report, the new personnel-report format and the 2026–27 calendar. Rendered “Broderick”, “Barger” and “Bronwyn” in the transcript. |
| Kerry Kennedy | Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Grants | Reported the move to the STAR assessment, the federal grant programs, the September 30 claim deadline and summer programming. |
| Courtney Porter (as introduced) | District social worker | The chair asked “Courtney Porter” to introduce the honorees at 0:00:33; the dialogue file labels the presenter of the recognition Kerry Kennedy. The page does not decide which voice it is. |
| Dr. Michael Herrington | Principal, Stevens High School | Arrived late to sign and hand over the certificates. Rendered “Doctor Harrington”. |
| Peyton Jones | Student; honoree | Recognized: agenda, “USA Special Olympics 100m Backstroke Gold Medalist”. |
| Rachel Maxim | Staff member; honoree | Recognized for three bocce medals; the draft minutes say “USA Special Olympics Bocce Gold and Silver Medalist”. |
| Luke Diamond | Citizens’ comments — Ward 3; School District Treasurer | Newly elected; took office July 1. Described the treasurer’s custody of district money and independence from the board and superintendent. |
Named on the record but not present or not heard: Matt Angell (interim business administrator), Jason Bonneville (technology director), auditor Michael Campo of Plodzik & Sanderson, district counsel Jim O’Shaughnessy, former superintendent Michael Tempesta, grants manager Beth Ann Drinker, and Nichole Boynton, the new CMS principal (named in the draft minutes). The draft minutes also record an unnamed member of the public who asked to comment on the recovery plan and one who asked about the staffing backup plan. Nineteen rows of the dialogue file are labeled Unidentified and two “Unidentified board member”.
Agenda
Items as posted in “12. CSB Agenda - July 21 2026 (2).pdf” (the revised agenda), with the time each was taken up and its disposition. Three items were added from the floor.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:02 | I. Call to order & Pledge | Agenda: “6:30 PM Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance.” |
| 0:00:33 | II.a Student recognition | Agenda: “Peyton Jones, USA Special Olympics 100m Backstroke Gold Medalist.” Staff member Rachel Maxim was also recognized. Roll call followed at 0:04:26: all present. |
| 0:04:40 | II.b Consent agenda | Agenda: “Amendments and Final Approval of Board Agenda 2. Approval of Minutes: 6.17.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes 3. Approval of Manifests.” Floor amendments: personnel report and nonpublic session (Crawford), NHSBA resolutions (Whitney). Motion on the recording at 0:06:29, voice vote at 0:06:34. The June 17 minutes were revisited on Whitney’s point of order at 0:36:25; no corrections were offered. |
| 0:06:37 | II.c Citizens’ comments | One speaker, Treasurer Luke Diamond. |
| 0:13:43 | II.d Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment report | Kerry Kennedy. Report; Madden’s curriculum request made a follow-up item at 0:31:10. |
| 0:31:54 | II.e Finance update | Agenda: “Budget v. Actual report, FY26 (as of July 20, 2026).” Report; questions from Lavalette at 0:38:04. No action. |
| 0:43:16 | III.1 FY22 & FY23 draft audit reports | Superintendent’s presentation on the audit cycle. Motion to release both drafts to the public the next day, Lavalette/Whitney, at 1:10:48; carried “6 to 1” at 1:13:38. The draft minutes name Rapp as the vote against. |
| 1:16:15 | III.2 Initial entry report & “Recovery Plan” draft | Discussion only. The chair declined a public comment at 1:34:04 because no action was being taken. |
| 1:38:37 | III.3 School reopening plans | Staffing report by school. No action. |
| 1:57:04 | III.5 Personnel report (added) | Agenda: “New format for monthly nomination and hiring update.” Hires and two resignations presented. The chair at 1:59:00: “So, no action tonight.” See flag 5. |
| 2:02:56 | III.4 2026–2027 school calendar | Moved by Howard with a November listing correction, seconded by Whitney; carried by voice vote at 2:09:47, no opposition heard. |
| 2:10:07 | III.6 Vote on SAU disengagement with Unity MOU | Agenda: “Tentatively-agreed-upon document in board packet.” Whitney moved, Rapp seconded; carried at 2:22:11, Lavalette opposed. The minutes list Howard, Madden, Petrin, Rapp, Whitney and Crawford in favor. |
| 2:22:23 | III.7 Bluff School library books and furnishings | Agenda: “Admin request to distribute books to a) district staff for school-related purposes, 2) local nonprofits & youth organizations, and c)” (the posted PDF breaks off there; the minutes complete it as “annual back to school festival”). Approved by voice vote at 2:25:55. Follow-up report on the playground animals. |
| 2:27:03 | III.8 NHSBA resolutions (added) | Voted one at a time on Lavalette’s request. Resolution 1 (finance workforce pipeline) carried at 2:33:42, no opposition recorded. Resolutions 2 (state certification of business administrators) and 3 (continuing education with assessment) carried 5–2 at 2:35:24 and 2:37:19, Lavalette and Madden opposed per the minutes. |
| 2:37:28 | III.9 Subcommittee reports | SRVRTC meets August 10; Finance the second Wednesday in August; Policy: 4 or 5 policies for August; the Finance Subcommittee’s meeting was recorded. |
| 2:38:31 | Nonpublic session (added) | Chair: “91A-3. Part two C we need a roll call.” Petrin moved, Rapp seconded; roll call at 2:39:12. The nonpublic minutes: “Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken.” See flag 4. |
| 8:20–8:30 p.m. (scheduled) | IV–VI. Other business; future dates; adjournment | Not on the recording. Draft minutes: other business “none”; future dates July 29 (goal setting), August 5, August 19; adjourned at 9:57 p.m. on Rapp’s motion, Lavalette seconding. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics. Quotations are from the dialogue transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:33 | Special Olympics recognition | “So this year on live TV, Peyton Jones won the 100 yard backstroke on ESPN.” Rachel Maxim “came home with not one, not two, but three medals in bocce.” Dr. Herrington arrives at 0:04:02 to sign the certificates. | |
| 0:04:40 | Agenda amended from the floor | Crawford adds a personnel report and a nonpublic session “under RSA 91, a three two part C.” Whitney adds the NHSBA resolutions, “sent out on June 23rd.” “Motion to approve, as amended” at 0:06:29; voice vote. | OBSERVATION OBSERVATION |
| 0:06:54 | Citizens’ comments: the treasurer | Diamond: the treasurer “Writes the checks, makes sure that all checks are approved by the board prior to issuing them”; “I’m not accountable to the board. I’m not accountable to the superintendent, only to the public”; “kind of an independent second set of eyes on on the books.” | POSITIVE |
| 0:11:04 | Can the public see the amended agenda? | The clerk: “I’m just concerned that the public now doesn’t know unless they’re present here. They don’t know what is on the agenda.” Broadrick at 0:11:41: “an agenda has to be published 24 hours prior to the meeting. It only needs to include an estimate of what’s going to be discussed at the meeting.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:12:17 | New superintendent introduced | Crawford: he “began on July 1st” and there will be “some procedural changes as we go along.” | |
| 0:14:01 | STAR assessment; federal grants | A new interim assessment from Renaissance “in lieu of the, you know, the, the NWA maps or the I ready assessment,” starting mid-year. Title I, II-A, IV-A, V, IDEA and Perkins described; a consolidated ESEA application to “streamline all of our title funding.” | |
| 0:22:12 | Grant paperwork and the September 30 deadline | Lavalette: “Are we closing those gaps to get that paperwork in to get the cash?” Kennedy: “We have until September 30th to finalize everything, but we are trying to spend every penny that we can thoughtfully.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:23:31 | What has the district paid for in curriculum? | Madden: “I want to know what we’ve been paying for all these years. I want to see something.” Broadrick at 0:26:15: “the day I tell teachers what to teach, I’m making your problems worse”; scope-and-sequence documents may exist electronically. Made a follow-up item for the next meeting. | |
| 0:32:05 | FY26 budget to actual | “60 pages. This was printed today.” “we’re a little more than $4 million under almost 11%, just about 11% of the budget.” Crawford at 0:34:36: expenditures “less than, than budgeted by $4,364,000” against a hole of “about 5 million.” Audited statements due to DOE and DRA in September: “That’s probably not what’s going to happen here.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:38:04 | Lavalette’s finance questions | Bedford’s “entire AP check registers available for the public”; a departed business-office employee: “we’re on the hook for three years of her health insurance now, even though she’s left.” Crawford at 0:40:40: “That was done without board approval in inappropriately outside of the regulations that were in place.” A study-hall monitor paid “$20,064.54 plus $1,700 in benefits”; the position no longer exists. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:44:04 | What a draft audit is | “The draft audit reports are just that draft capital draft. That means they are not public by definition. You can make anything public that you want.” Accepting a report “is very different than voting to endorse anything that happened in either of these years.” | |
| 0:56:59 | Disclaimers of opinion | “a disclaimer of opinion means we can’t even tell.” “You have received a disclaimer of opinion in the fiscal 22 and fiscal 23 reports.” “There’s a core failure in the general ledger from fiscal 22 and fiscal 23.” “the district has a terrible, terrible track record of grant management.” | HIGH |
| 0:59:03 | Unclaimed federal money | “If we don’t accept 100% or darn close to it of our federal grant allocations, that money gets awarded to a different New Hampshire school district.” Root cause at 0:59:52: “excessive turnover in management, a lack of oversight, and no maintenance of internal controls.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:00:24 | Corrective actions | Corrective actions “which you will approve and then hold us accountable for implementing”; monthly budget-to-actual reports, which he is “happy, thrilled to scan and put that on the district website on a monthly basis.” Capital-asset records “hasn’t been maintained.” | POSITIVE |
| 1:05:57 | FY24, FY25 and the September 1 report | “I believe we will have fiscal 24 and five reported by Thanksgiving.” At 1:07:27: the audits were wanted by July “so we could submit our do 25 [DOE-25] report to the Department of Education during September. It’s due September 1st. You can get an extension till the end of the month, if you ask nicely.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:08:42 | When the drafts arrived | Howard: “We got 20 and 21 in late August and those were both made public. We got 22 in November.” | |
| 1:10:48 | Vote to release the drafts | Lavalette: “I’d like to make a motion that we release these tomorrow.” Objection (labeled Howard; the minutes say Rapp) at 1:11:11: “Going through the the 23, I did notice some. Some bad dates in there.” Whitney: the 11/19/25 draft was never revised, so release both with a disclaimer. Carried “6 to 1” at 1:13:38. | POSITIVE OBSERVATION |
| 1:13:38 | How to read an audit | Crawford: “be sure that you look at the title of every page you’re reading”; technical material “required by law”; “We have a horrible information on our capital assets right now”; separate statements for the general fund, grants and food service. | |
| 1:16:49 | “Foundation for Recovery” | “What happened here was not the fault or the result of dysfunctional schools.” “Everything you’re looking at is a crisis of district wide leadership and administration.” Nine domains; a recovery plan “done by December” at 1:28:36. | |
| 1:29:49 | Madden: not fast enough | “So five year plans don’t work. December doesn’t work.” “You were billed as the Second coming.” At 1:31:58: “I would like to see dramatic opening of school with a new sheriff in town.” | |
| 1:34:04 | Public comment declined | Crawford: “we’re really not in an action taking position right now.” “Therefore we don’t we can’t handle comments correctly correctly right now.” | OBSERVATION |
| 1:34:52 | Purchasing guide not in use | Purchase requisitions over $10,000 are awaiting approval, and “I will virtually guarantee that my three quote system has not been employed.” | |
| 1:39:01 | Reopening and staffing | Stevens hiring its last content-area teacher (music); “We need special ed teachers, special educators everywhere.” A plumbing teacher needs trade licensure, not a bachelor’s degree. Cross-curricular coverage at CMS: “There is nothing that I just described that violates a regulation or is illegal.” At 1:54:21: “we need for more teachers at naval [Maple].” | OBSERVATION |
| 1:57:18 | Personnel report | “I have seen some indications that the board has not been approving or notified of every hire, and you are supposed to be so.” At 1:58:02: “I’ve been hiring people because we needed to.” One person listed twice: “We only pay them once.” | MEDIUM |
| 2:03:02 | 2026–27 calendar | 186 days under the SREA agreement, six of them PD, “up to 180 hour days with students.” “scheduling only 100 and 72.5 days last year, after four snow days, led to the schools not being open enough to meet state regulations”; before the state board, “I promised them we won’t do it again.” Carried at 2:09:47. | POSITIVE |
| 2:10:07 | Unity withdrawal agreement | IT support: the board wanted August 15; Unity “proposed September 15th.” Rapp at 2:12:03: “It was their responsibility.” Lavalette at 2:12:56: “we shouldn’t be sending them anywhere without compensation, period.” Counsel’s advice relayed at 2:17:18: “It’s going to cost you more in lawyer fees if you fight it.” Carried at 2:22:11, one opposed. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:22:35 | Bluff School books | New teachers build classroom libraries first, then community nonprofits, then a tent at the back-to-school festival. The books need cataloging. Howard at 2:24:43: “does it count the hippo and the dinosaur and the other thing behind bluff?” | |
| 2:27:03 | NHSBA resolutions | Whitney: “Private sector accounting experience alone does not offer or provide the specialized knowledge necessary to administer public funds.” On certification: “So you don’t have to be certified for the state of New Hampshire to be a business administrator.” Lavalette at 2:35:08: “the certification, especially the superintendent level, meant nothing.” | |
| 2:38:04 | Policies not posted | Howard: “every policy we’ve passed since March has not been on the site.” Lavalette at 2:38:22: “We were able to tape or video our finance meeting.” | |
| 2:38:54 | Motion to enter nonpublic session | “Mike makes a motion. Second Brian seconds it. Roll call. Vote, please.” The clerk’s roll call is partly legible in the transcript. Crawford at 2:39:20: “For the public. There will be no.” … “Business when we come out of this non public meeting.” | MEDIUM |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer’s aid. They are not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on; an Observation rests on no confirmed rule.
HIGH The FY22 and FY23 audits carry disclaimers of opinion and arrived years after the federal nine-month deadline
The superintendent told the board that both draft reports carry a disclaimer of opinion, meaning the auditor could not form one (0:56:59–0:57:24), and read from them “a core failure in the general ledger” and missing subsidiary and capital-asset records (0:57:43, 1:01:40). Under the Uniform Guidance, a district that spends $750,000 or more in federal awards in a year (the threshold for fiscal years beginning before October 1, 2024) must have a single audit, and the report is due the earlier of 30 days after the auditor’s report or nine months after year end. For FY22 that was March 31, 2023; for FY23, March 31, 2024. The packet’s FY22 draft is dated November 19, 2025 and the FY23 draft July 15, 2026, and neither was final. The superintendent put the district’s federal grant work at a scale “like I’ve never seen” (0:28:18); the page has not seen an expenditure schedule and relies on that for the threshold. Mitigation: the board released both drafts the next day, and the superintendent committed to corrective actions for board approval.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.501 (single audit at $750,000; $1,000,000 for fiscal years beginning on or after Oct. 1, 2024); 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (due within nine months of period end); 10. 2022 Claremont SD-DRAFT Report-11192025.pdf; 11. Claremont SD FY23 7-15-26.pdf.
MEDIUM The FY26 financial report and audit now fall under the reenacted RSA 198:4-d, which ties both to state grant funding
The superintendent said the September 1 financial report (DOE-25) would likely not rest on audited figures and that “You can get an extension till the end of the month, if you ask nicely” (1:07:27); he expects the FY24 and FY25 audits “by Thanksgiving” (1:06:43). Three weeks before this meeting, 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586) repealed and reenacted RSA 198:4-d effective July 1, 2026. Paragraph III keeps the financial report due “on or before September 1 of each year,” with no extension provision. Paragraph VIII now requires that “The audit report for the last completed fiscal year shall be submitted to the department within 9 months of the end of the fiscal year,” which puts the FY26 audit due March 31, 2027, and provides that “The commissioner shall withhold state grant funding, not including RSA 198:40-a funding” from a non-compliant district “until the audit or financial report is completed and submitted.” The only extension it allows is for “disputed items.” Adequacy aid under RSA 198:40-a is not at risk. Nothing on the recording mentions the new law. Any extension the department grants for the September report is administrative practice, not a statutory right.
Sources: 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, eff. July 1, 2026: RSA 198:4-d, III and VIII (chaptered text).
MEDIUM Unclaimed federal grant money, with a September 30 deadline for 2024–25 claims
Kennedy said the district has “until September 30th to finalize everything” for the prior-year grants (0:22:27); the superintendent called grant management possibly “the biggest one so far” among the audit findings and explained that unclaimed allocations go to another district (0:59:03). Federal education formula funds stay available for one additional fiscal year only, and a recipient must keep internal control that gives reasonable assurance it manages awards in compliance. Expenditures already made but never claimed fall on the general fund. Mitigation: a new procurement document for grants, a grants manager working with Kennedy, and the superintendent’s plan to report allocations, budgeted activities and reimbursements monthly (0:58:08).
Sources: 20 U.S.C. §1225(b) (one additional fiscal year of availability); 2 CFR 200.303 (internal control over federal awards).
MEDIUM The nonpublic minutes record a vote to seal with no finding, and the record does not show it was taken in public
The motion to enter nonpublic session named its exemption on the record, “91A-3. Part two C” (2:38:54), and was followed by a roll call (2:39:12), as RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires. The nonpublic minutes form then records a roll call of all seven members to seal the minutes, but leaves the mover, the seconder and every one of the three statutory grounds blank. RSA 91-A:3, III allows minutes to be withheld only “by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session” on a determination that disclosure would harm a person’s reputation, render a proposed action ineffective, or pertain to terrorism. The draft public minutes record the return to public session and adjournment both at 9:57 p.m. and mention no vote to seal, and the recording ends before the session, so whether the vote was taken in public cannot be checked. The minutes describe only “Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken,” which fits II(c) only if a person’s reputation was at stake. Mitigation: the minutes are now posted in the district’s 2027 Non-Public folder. This page did not locate a vote to release them.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), III (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023); 7.21.26 Non-Public Meeting Session Minutes.docx.
MEDIUM Teachers were hired before the board elected them
The superintendent reported that the board “has not been approving or notified of every hire, and you are supposed to be” (1:57:18), and that he had “been hiring people because we needed to” (1:58:02). The certified staff on the report “have been hired” (1:57:35). By statute, “Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers.” The board took no action that night (1:59:00). Mitigation: the superintendent raised the gap himself and introduced a standing report to close it. Per the draft minutes of the August 5 meeting, a motion to approve the nominations failed 3–3 in public and the list was approved after a nonpublic session.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (superintendents nominate, school boards elect teachers); 6. Personnel Report - Certified Staff - July 21 2026.pdf.
OBSERVATION The recording and the draft minutes disagree on who made several motions and who cast the one vote against releasing the audits
On the recording, the motion to approve the amended agenda is labeled William Madden (0:06:29) and the seconder is unidentified; the minutes record “Brian Rapp made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, Don Lavalette seconded the motion.” For the Bluff books, the minutes name Lavalette as mover, while the dialogue file labels “I moved” as Howard (2:23:43). The minutes give the FY23 typo objection and the only vote against the audit release to Rapp; the dialogue file labels that speaker Howard (1:11:08–1:12:36), and the recording states only the 6–1 tally. The minutes also credit Petrin with relaying counsel’s opinion, which the file labels Lavalette (2:17:18). The dialogue file gives Rapp only three rows, so the diarizer may have merged his voice into another member’s. This page does not decide these attributions. The names of the members who made or seconded each motion must be recorded in the minutes, and the minutes were approved without correction on August 5; a check against the audio would settle them.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (movers and seconders recorded in the minutes); 7.21.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes.
OBSERVATION A departed employee’s contract commits the district to three years of health insurance that the board never approved
Lavalette reported that an employee who left the business office is owed “three years of her health insurance” (0:38:35) and asked for a policy barring such terms without “the express public consent of the school board” (0:38:58). The chair confirmed the board did not approve it: “That was done without board approval in inappropriately outside of the regulations that were in place. And so that was, a variance of procedure that was authorized” (0:40:40). The last clause reads “authorized” in the transcript where the context suggests “unauthorized”; the draft minutes say “unauthorized.” Unity bears a share under the withdrawal agreement (0:40:23). The page has not identified a statute that governs this contract term, so it is an Observation; the cost is still unquantified.
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; 7.21.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes.
OBSERVATION Three items, including a nonpublic session, were added from the floor, and a member of the public was declined during a discussion item
The personnel report, the NHSBA vote and the nonpublic session were not on the posted agenda (0:04:40–0:06:18); the clerk worried the public “don’t know what is on the agenda” (0:11:04). The Right-to-Know law requires notice of the time and place of a meeting at least 24 hours before it, excluding Sundays and legal holidays; it does not mention an agenda, so the superintendent’s account of an agenda requirement (0:11:41) is a paraphrase of practice, not the statute’s wording, and a floor amendment is not a violation. The NHSBA resolutions had gone to members on June 23. Later the chair declined a public comment on the recovery plan because the board was not acting (1:34:04). The citizens’ comment period had been held at 0:06:37, with one speaker and an invitation to others at 0:12:53, so no one was turned away from the statutory comment period.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (24-hour notice of time and place; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 189:74 (school board public comment period).
OBSERVATION The Unity agreement leaves Claremont’s IT support to Unity open-ended in scope and uncompensated
Item 7 of the agreement promises “short term support with IT services and internet changeover” (as read at 2:10:56), now running to September 15, 2026. Lavalette: “this is an open ended agreement, theoretically” (2:18:53). The superintendent understood Unity was waiting for a firewall and did not expect the technology director to go there (2:16:29). The board asked for an accounting of the time spent at the second September meeting (2:19:50). The legal mechanism is Unity’s withdrawal from SAU 6 under RSA 194-C:2, IV. The packet copy is titled “Board Approved (7-22-26)”, a date one day after this vote.
Sources: RSA 194-C:2, IV (withdrawal from an SAU); 9. Unity_Claremont Board Approved (7-22-26) Withdrawal Agreement (Final).
OBSERVATION Six weeks before opening, Maple Avenue still needed four classroom teachers
The superintendent reported four classroom openings at Maple Avenue (1:54:21), a need for special educators in every school (1:39:01), and a plan to cover middle-school standards across subjects (1:45:45). He described the one-year statement of eligibility and three-year alternative certification plan with a licensed mentor (1:52:43–1:53:55) and said he would answer the backup-plan question “in four weeks” (1:56:57). Follow-up: the August 5 draft minutes record that Maple Avenue had filled three of the four openings and that all schools would open on time.
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; 3 .Claremont SB - School Opening Update - July 21 2026.docx.pdf.
POSITIVE The new treasurer set out his independent role in public
Treasurer Diamond described custody of district money, payment only on board approval, independent records and monthly reporting, and asked for a regular spot on the agenda (0:06:54–0:09:16). The treasurer’s statutory role is to hold district money and pay it out “only upon orders of the school board.”
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer’s custody; payment only on board orders).
POSITIVE The board released both draft audits, and the superintendent committed to monthly public reporting
No statute required the board to publish unaccepted drafts; it voted to do so the next morning (1:13:38), and the chair gave the public specific guidance on reading them. The superintendent committed to post monthly budget-to-actual reports (1:00:44) and to report grant allocations, activities and reimbursements every month (0:58:08), and the nonpublic motion stated its exemption on the record (2:38:54).
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; RSA 91-A:3, I(b) (motion states the exemption).
POSITIVE The 2026–27 calendar schedules enough days to meet the state minimum
The adopted calendar schedules 186 staff days with up to 180 student days (2:03:27), after a 172.5-day schedule and four snow days left the district short last year and required a state board waiver. The state minimum is 180 days of instruction or the hour equivalents.
Sources: N.H. Admin. Rules Ed 306.15 (School Year, eff. 12-13-24); 2. 2026-2027 Claremont Calendar for website.pdf.
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.
Laws and rules cited on this page
- Right-to-Know: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), III (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023)
- School boards and districts: RSA 189:39; RSA 189:74; RSA 197:23-a; RSA 194-C:2, IV
- Session law: 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, eff. July 1, 2026 (RSA 198:4-d, III and VIII)
- Rules: Ed 306.15 (School Year)
- Federal: 2 CFR 200.501; 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1); 2 CFR 200.303; 20 U.S.C. §1225(b)