Participants
Everyone heard or named on the recording. Spellings follow the agenda and draft minutes. The dialogue file merges several men's voices into shared clusters; where the draft minutes credit a remark or motion to a different member than the dialogue file's label, this page follows the minutes and says so (see flag 5 and the footer). The two Special Olympics honorees are described by role, not named.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Candace Crawford | Chair | Presides throughout. Amends the agenda to add a personnel report and a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) (0:04:40, 0:05:19). Reports the FY26 result, "less than, than budgeted by $4,364,000" (0:34:36). Says the departed employee's health-insurance arrangement "was done without board approval" (0:40:40). Frames the vote on releasing the draft audits and cautions readers (1:09:38, 1:13:38). Declines public comment on the Recovery Plan item (1:34:04). Explains the Unity agreement's item 7 and the September 15 date "from, O'Shaughnessy" by recollection (2:10:56, 2:15:42). |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair; SRVRTC Committee chair | Says of the Unity agreement: "Front of me still says June 30th" and that he missed the previous meeting (2:15:11, 2:15:22). Asks that librarians from other schools see the Bluff books first (2:23:59). Seconds resolution 2 (2:34:06) and moves the nonpublic session (2:38:54). The minutes also credit him with the question about using voting days for professional development and with relaying counsel's view that fighting the agreement would cost more in legal fees; the dialogue file labels those remarks Don Lavalette (2:08:47, 2:17:08). |
| Heather Whitney | Member; Finance Subcommittee; Ad Hoc Reconfiguration chair | Adds the NHSBA resolutions to the agenda (0:05:38). Asks for a treasurer's report on a future agenda (0:13:16). Raises a point of order that the 6/17 minutes were not separately approved (0:36:25). Corrects the business-administrator dates in the audit presentation (0:48:10). Seconds the motion to release the drafts and proposes a disclaimer (1:10:54, 1:13:02). Asks for a defined agenda for the goal-setting meeting (1:37:36). Moves the Unity agreement (2:11:46). Presents the three NHSBA resolutions (2:27:03). |
| William Madden | Member; Capital Improvement chair | Asks what the district has been paying for in curriculum (0:23:31, 0:24:20). Says "five year plans don't work. December doesn't work" (1:30:37) and asks for "dramatic opening of school with a new sheriff in town" (1:31:58). Will vote for the Unity agreement "grudgingly" (2:14:46). Votes against resolutions 2 and 3 (minutes). The dialogue file also labels him the mover of the agenda motion (0:06:29); the minutes name Brian Rapp. |
| Loren Howard | Member; Policy Subcommittee chair; NHSBA delegate | Reminds the board it received the FY20 and FY21 audits in late August and FY22 in November (1:08:25, 1:08:42). Moves the calendar with the November entries reordered (2:07:28, 2:08:12). Asks about the Bluff playground animals (2:24:43). Moves resolutions 2 and 3 (2:34:00, minutes). Reports that policies passed since March are not on the website (2:38:04). |
| Don Lavalette | Member; Finance and Policy Subcommittees | Asks about grant paperwork for prior years (0:22:12). Raises Bedford's posted check register, the departed employee's three-year health insurance, and a FY2025 study hall monitor paid "$20,064.54 plus $1,700 in benefits" (0:38:04, 0:38:35, 0:41:34). Moves to release the draft audits (1:10:48). Votes against the Unity agreement, "I'm a hard no" (2:13:16). Moves to take the resolutions one at a time; votes against resolutions 2 and 3 (2:32:35, 2:35:08). Reports the finance committee meeting was recorded (2:38:22). Per the minutes he moved the library-books plan, though on tape the words I moved fall in a cluster the file labels Loren Howard (2:23:43). |
| Brian Rapp | Member; Capital Improvement and Policy Subcommittees | Seconds the Unity agreement: "we'll have to live with September 15th, I guess" (2:12:03); asks for an accounting of IT time (2:19:39). Seconds resolution 3 and the nonpublic motion (named by the chair, 2:37:00, 2:38:54). Per the minutes he moved the agenda, objected to releasing the FY23 draft because of "bad dates" and missing lines, cast the one vote against release, and raised cataloguing the Bluff books; the dialogue file labels those passages William Madden or Loren Howard (0:06:29, 1:11:08, 2:24:17). |
| Noelle Kronberg | School board clerk | Takes the roll call (0:04:30) and the nonpublic roll call (2:39:12), per the minutes. Asks for a copy of the amended agenda "so I can take minutes" and says she is "concerned that the public now doesn't know" what is on it (0:10:36, 0:11:04). Describes using the CCTV website's transcript to check minutes (0:37:24). The dialogue file labels her rows "Noel (surname not stated)"; the agenda, the minutes and Whitney's reference to "for Miss Kronberg, the email" (2:27:03) settle the name. |
| Dr. Timothy Broadrick | Superintendent, SAU 6 (since July 1, 2026) | Introduced by the chair (0:12:17). Explains agenda posting (0:11:41). Presents the FY26 budget-to-actual (0:32:05), the audit-cycle presentation and the disclaimers (0:43:38, 0:57:24), the Recovery Plan "foundation" (1:16:49), school-opening staffing (1:38:37), the personnel report (1:57:18) and the calendar (2:03:02). ASR renders his name "Broderick". |
| Kerry Kennedy | Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Grants | Curriculum, instruction and assessment report: STAR assessment, federal grants, summer programs (0:13:56); grant deadline "September 30th" (0:22:27). Relays that "September 15th is the date that was agreed upon" (2:17:02). The dialogue file also labels her the presenter of the Special Olympics recognition (0:01:03), but the chair introduced that segment as Courtney Porter's (0:00:33); the recording alone does not settle who spoke. |
| Courtney Porter | Staff (title not stated) | Named by the chair to introduce the honorees (0:00:33). No dialogue row carries her name. |
| Dr. Michael Herrington | Principal, Stevens High School | Arrives late to sign and present certificates (0:04:02). ASR renders the name "Harrington". |
| Luke Diamond | District Treasurer (took office July 1, 2026); Ward 3 | Citizens' comments: describes the treasurer's role as "accountable only to the public" and offers regular reports to the board (0:06:54, 0:07:23, 0:07:55). |
| Two honorees | A student and a staff member | Recognized as 2026 USA Special Olympics medalists (0:01:03). The agenda and minutes name them; this page does not. |
| Unidentified member(s) of the public | Audience | The minutes record that a member of the public wished to comment on the Recovery Plan and that a member of the public asked about the backup plan for Maple Avenue staffing; the recording does not identify them (1:34:47, 1:55:38). |
| Named, not heard | Staff and advisers | Matt Angell (on the agenda masthead as Senior Comptroller/Interim Business Administrator; spoken of in the past tense, 1:32:32); Jason Bonneville (Technology Director); Michael Campo (Plodzik & Sanderson, auditor, expected August 5); James O'Shaughnessy (district counsel). |
Agenda
Items from the posted agenda (Google Doc in the 29. CSB 7.21.26 archive folder) as amended at the meeting, with dispositions from the recording and the draft minutes.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:02 | Call to order; Pledge | Agenda: 6:30 p.m. Chair calls the meeting to order. |
| 0:00:33 | Student recognition | Agenda lists one student honoree; the meeting recognized a student and a staff member, both Special Olympics medalists (minutes). |
| 0:04:26 | Roll call | All seven present (minutes; roll at 0:04:30). |
| 0:04:40 | Consent agenda: amendments and approval of agenda; 6/17 minutes; manifest | Chair adds a personnel report and a nonpublic session under "RSA 91-A:3,II(c)" (minutes text); Whitney adds the NHSBA resolutions (0:05:42). "Motion to approve, as amended" (0:06:29); voice vote, all in favor (0:06:36). The minutes name Brian Rapp as mover and Don Lavalette as seconder; the dialogue file labels the mover William Madden and the seconder unidentified. Whitney's point of order at 0:36:25 on whether the 6/17 minutes were approved is answered by the chair: "I thought if we accepted the consent agenda that was approving of the minutes" (0:36:43). The manifest is not mentioned on tape. |
| 0:06:37 | Citizens' comments (Policy BEDH) | Treasurer Luke Diamond (0:06:54). Clerk's question about the agenda's public posting and the superintendent's answer (0:10:36–0:12:07). |
| 0:13:43 | Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment report | Kennedy's report; questions from Crawford, Lavalette, Madden and Whitney; curriculum documents set as a follow-up item (0:31:10). No action. |
| 0:31:54 | Finance update: Budget v. Actual Report, FY26 (as of July 20, 2026) | 60-page report "printed today" (0:32:05); expenditures under budget by $4,364,000, preliminary (0:34:36). Lavalette's finance questions (0:37:58–0:42:33). No action. |
| 0:36:02 | Superintendent's report; follow-up items | Agenda: "defer to discussion/action items"; follow-up items none (agenda text). |
| 0:43:16 | FY22 & FY23 Draft Audit Reports | Presentation on the audit cycle. Lavalette moves to release the drafts the next day, Whitney seconds (1:10:48, 1:10:54); "the motion carries 6 to 1" (1:13:38). Minutes: Brian Rapp against. |
| 1:16:15 | Initial Entry Report & Proposed "Recovery Plan" Draft (discussion) | Nine-block "foundation" framework for the July 29 goal-setting meeting; plan targeted for December 31 (1:27:44). Public comment declined (1:34:04). No action. |
| 1:38:21 | School Reopening Plans | Staffing by school; Maple Avenue needs four classroom teachers (1:50:48). No action. |
| 1:57:04 | Personnel Report (added at the meeting) | Certified hires and two resignations; "So, no action tonight" (1:59:00). See flag 1. |
| 2:02:56 | 2026–2027 School Calendar | 186 scheduled days per the SREA agreement; first student day August 31, last day scheduled June 21. Howard moves with two November entries put in order, Whitney seconds (2:08:12, 2:08:19); voice vote (2:09:47). Minutes: all in favor. (The transcript renders the call for opposition as Opposed? Nay.; the minutes record no opposition.) |
| 2:10:07 | Vote on SAU Disengagement with Unity MOU | Whitney moves "to accept the agreement for unity" (2:11:46); Rapp seconds (2:12:03). Voice vote; "We have one dissension. It passes." (2:22:23). Minutes: in favor Howard, Madden, Petrin, Rapp, Whitney, Crawford; against Lavalette. |
| 2:22:23 | Disposition of Bluff School Library Books and Other School Furnishings and Supplies | Books first to new classroom teachers, then nonprofits, then the back-to-school festival (2:22:35). Motion (2:23:43), Whitney seconds (2:23:53); voice vote (2:25:55). Minutes: Lavalette moved; all in favor. Superintendent to report on playground equipment. |
| 2:26:42 | NHSBA Resolutions (added at the meeting) | Three resolutions for the delegate assembly. Resolution 1 (finance workforce pipeline): voice vote, minutes "All present voting in favor" (2:33:42). Resolution 2 (state certification of business administrators): Howard moves, Petrin seconds; "The motion carries on a 5 to 2 vote" (2:35:24). Resolution 3 (continuing education with assessment): Howard moves, Rapp seconds; "Motion carries 5 to 2" (2:37:19). Minutes: Lavalette and Madden against 2 and 3. |
| 2:37:28 | Subcommittee reports | SRVRTC meets August 10; Finance the second Wednesday in August; Policy pausing new policies until adopted ones are posted (2:38:04). |
| 2:38:31 | Non-Public Session RSA 91-A:3, II(c) | Petrin moves, Rapp seconds (2:38:54); roll call, all yes (2:39:12). Minutes: in at 9:08 p.m., out at 9:57 p.m.; nonpublic minutes: "Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken" (nonpublic minutes text). See flag 3. |
| Not recorded | Other business; future dates; adjournment | After the recording ends. Minutes: other business none; adjournment on Rapp's motion, Lavalette seconding, at 9:57 p.m. |
Discussion timeline
Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/Claremont School Board 72126.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:33 | Special Olympics recognition | A student and a staff member honored for medals at the 2026 Special Olympics in Minneapolis; certificates presented with Dr. Herrington. | |
| 0:04:40 | Agenda amendments | Personnel report and a nonpublic session "under RSA 91, a three two part C" added; NHSBA resolutions added, "Were sent out on June 23rd" (0:06:16). Approved by voice vote. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:06:54 | Treasurer introduces the office | Diamond: the treasurer "makes sure that all checks are approved by the board prior to issuing them" and is "accountable only to the public" (0:07:23); offers "a regular update that I would hope would be a regular part of your agenda" (0:07:55). | POSITIVE |
| 0:10:36 | Was the amended agenda public? | 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." Chair: the agenda "Was published last night, was updated as online last night within within 24 hours" (0:11:15). Superintendent: "So 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." (0:11:41). | MEDIUM |
| 0:13:56 | Curriculum, assessment and grants | STAR interim assessment to replace NWEA MAP or i-Ready, starting midyear; ESEA consolidated application; summer boost about 100 students, grant funded (0:21:38); prior-year grant paperwork due "September 30th" (0:22:27). | |
| 0:23:31 | What has the district paid for in curriculum? | Madden: "all those years we were paying for curriculum and it seems we never got it right" (0:24:20). Broadrick: "I'm not going to sit here days on the job and tell you that those things definitely don't exist" (0:26:46); Claremont has "federal grant support for this work like I've never seen" (0:28:18). Set as a follow-up item. | |
| 0:32:05 | FY26 budget to actual | "60 pages. This was printed today." Audited statements normally go to NHDOE and DRA in September; "That's probably not what's going to happen here" (0:33:14). "As of today, we're a little more than $4 million under almost 11%" (0:33:38). Chair: under budget "by $4,364,000" against a deficit of about $5 million at the start of the year (0:34:36). Packet to be posted "online tomorrow" (0:34:27). | MEDIUM OBSERVATION |
| 0:36:25 | 6/17 minutes | Whitney's point of order; the chair treats approval of the consent agenda as approval of the minutes. The clerk: on the CCTV website "You can view the transcript" when checking minutes (0:37:24). | |
| 0:38:04 | Lavalette's finance questions | Bedford posts its full AP check register. A departed business-office employee: "we're on the hook for three years of her health insurance now, even though she's left" (0:38:35); he would move to have the policy committee write a policy. Chair: Unity shares the cost under the withdrawal agreement, and "That was done without board approval" (0:40:40). Study hall monitor "$20,064.54 plus $1,700 in benefits" (0:41:34); Broadrick: "It doesn't exist anymore" (0:42:24). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:43:38 | FY22 and FY23 draft audits | Drafts "are not public by definition"; accepting them is "very different than voting to endorse anything" (0:44:04). Superintendent and business administrator for both years: Michael Tempesta and Richard Seaman (0:47:16). "You have received a disclaimer of opinion in the fiscal 22 and fiscal 23 reports." (0:57:24). "There's a core failure in the general ledger"; "the district has a terrible, terrible track record of grant management" (0:57:43). Root cause: "excessive turnover in management, a lack of oversight, and no maintenance of internal controls" (0:59:52). Auditor to attend August 5; FY24 and FY25 expected "by Thanksgiving" (1:06:43). | HIGH |
| 1:07:27 | The DOE-25 for FY26 | "It's due September 1st. You can get an extension till the end of the month, if you ask nicely." Closing out FY26 without the FY24 and FY25 audits is "a challenge that I'm exploring right now" (1:07:49). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:10:48 | Vote to release the drafts | Motion to release "tomorrow". Objection (minutes: Brian Rapp): FY22's auditors "Had plenty of time to go through and correct typos", but FY23 has "Some bad dates in there" (1:11:08, 1:11:17). Whitney: release with a disclaimer (1:13:02). "The motion carries 6 to 1" (1:13:38). Chair cautions readers on page titles, retirement accounting and capital assets (1:14:12–1:15:43). | POSITIVE OBSERVATION |
| 1:16:49 | Recovery Plan framework | "What happened here was not the fault or the result of dysfunctional schools" (1:18:00); "a crisis of district wide leadership and administration" (1:18:30). Nine foundation blocks; no capital asset list "that the auditors can consider completely valid right now" (1:22:32). Plan "pretty darn close by December 31st" (1:27:44). | |
| 1:29:43 | Madden: faster | "So five year plans don't work. December doesn't work." (1:30:37); "You were billed as the Second coming" (1:30:45); "I see complacency coming back" (1:32:32). | |
| 1:34:04 | Public comment declined | Chair: "because we're not acting on taking action tonight. This is merely a discussion for the school board" and "I'd like to just limit it to the school board at this point" (1:34:34). | |
| 1:34:52 | Purchasing guide | Broadrick shared a purchasing guide with Angell around January; an administrator has requisitions "for five different purchases in amounts over $10,000" and "I will virtually guarantee that my three quote system has not been employed" (1:35:18). | |
| 1:38:37 | School opening staffing | Stevens hiring its last content-area teacher (music); special educators needed everywhere (1:39:01). Tech center hired four teachers and an exploratory teacher (1:40:10). Middle school: "15 teachers returning and eight additional have been hired" (1:41:09); 325 to 330 students; cross-curricular approaches to standards (1:45:08). Maple Avenue "needs for classroom teachers" (1:50:48). One-year eligibility certificates for bachelor's-degree holders (1:52:00). | |
| 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." The certified staff listed "have been hired" (1:57:35); "I've been hiring people because we needed to" (1:58:02). Chair: "So, no action tonight." (1:59:00). | HIGH |
| 2:03:02 | 2026–27 calendar | 186 days; last year's 172.5 scheduled days after four snow days fell short of state regulations and required a State Board waiver (2:03:27). Voting days as PD days to be raised in SREA negotiations (2:08:54). Adopted. | |
| 2:10:56 | Unity withdrawal agreement | Board had asked to limit IT support to August 15; Unity proposed September 15. Rapp: "we'll have to live with September 15th, I guess" (2:12:03). Lavalette: "I'm a hard no" (2:13:16). Petrin: "Front of me still says June 30th" (2:15:12). Chair recalls counsel's email: "915 26 I don't have my computer in front of me" (2:15:42). Broadrick: "nobody's going there" (2:20:04). Whitney: "the agreement was signed before it was discussed" (2:21:02). Passed with one dissent. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:22:35 | Bluff library books | Three-step giveaway approved; books need cataloguing out of the library system (2:24:17); playground animals referred for a follow-up report. | |
| 2:27:03 | NHSBA resolutions | Whitney: "it has to be by a two thirds majority per our old bylaws" (2:31:46). Resolution 2 debate: Madden on why certification was dropped (2:34:22); Lavalette "certification, especially the superintendent level, meant nothing" (2:35:08). Results 7–0 (minutes), 5–2, 5–2. | |
| 2:38:04 | Policies not posted | Howard: "every policy we've passed since March has not been on the site"; four or five policies expected August 21. | |
| 2:38:54 | Nonpublic session | "Mike makes a motion. Second Brian seconds it." Roll call, all yes (2:39:12). Chair: no further business after the session (2:39:20). Recording ends. | MEDIUM |
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 July 21, 2026, or is labeled an observation where no verified rule applies.
HIGH Twenty certified staff were reported as already hired with no board election, on the strength of a June 17 authorization the approved June 17 minutes do not record
The personnel report lists twenty certified hires (eighteen teachers and counselors, an assistant principal at Stevens and a career coordinator at the tech center) and states: "The Claremont School Board voted at its June 17 meeting to authorize the superintendent to hire certified staff during the summer months. Therefore, these employees have been hired, and no board action is required" (personnel report text, dated 7/22/2026). The superintendent told the board "the board has not been approving or notified of every hire, and you are supposed to be" (1:57:18) and "I've been hiring people because we needed to" (1:58:02); the chair closed the item with "So, no action tonight." (1:59:00). RSA 189:39 reads: "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers employed in the schools in their school administrative unit" (statute text). The board's own by-laws say the same: rule 5.01 requires "a nomination for election by the board", rule 5.03 bars any employee from beginning work "without the approval of the CSB" except under 5.04, and Appendix A, item 1 allows delegation "excepting that no teacher shall be employed who has not been nominated by the superintendent and elected by CSB" (by-laws text, live Google Doc modified March 23, 2026). The approved June 17 minutes record no vote authorizing summer hiring: the motions they record concern the Bluff student-activity fund, the negotiation-team appointment, the nonpublic session and its sealing, and volunteer painting at the middle school. Mitigation: the superintendent raised the problem himself and presented the list openly; rule 5.04 and Ed 302.02(i) let a superintendent provide "temporary staff to fill vacancies" with notice at the next meeting; and the August 5 packet carries a Personnel_Nomination Report.pdf, which may show later board action this page has not examined. Graded HIGH because the statute and the by-law both reserve election of teachers to the board and the record of this meeting shows hires made and no election.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (superintendents nominate, school boards elect all teachers); Claremont School Board By-Laws (rules 5.01, 5.03, 5.04; Appendix A, item 1); N.H. Admin. Rules, Ed 302.02(i) (temporary staff to fill vacancies); Personnel Report, Certified Staff; 6.17.26 Approved CSB Meeting Minutes
HIGH The FY22 and FY23 audits, which include the federal single audit, arrived as drafts more than two years after the Uniform Guidance deadline, and both are disclaimers of opinion
The FY22 draft is titled with a November 19, 2025 date and the FY23 draft is stamped "DRAFT - 7-15-2026" (packet documents). The FY23 draft's contents list includes the "Single Audit Act Schedules", the "Report on Compliance for Each Major Federal Program ... Required by the Uniform Guidance" and the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (draft report text), so the auditor treats the district as subject to the single audit. 2 CFR 200.501(a) requires one of any entity that "expends $750,000 or more" in federal awards in a year, and 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) requires the reporting package within "the earlier of 30 calendar days after receipt of the auditor's report(s), or nine months after the end of the audit period" (2023 CFR text). For years ending June 30, 2022 and June 30, 2023 that is March 31, 2023 and April 1, 2024 (March 31, 2024 was a Sunday). On tape: "You have received a disclaimer of opinion in the fiscal 22 and fiscal 23 reports." (0:57:24) and "There's a core failure in the general ledger" (0:57:43). The FY23 draft gives the basis: "bank accounts were not reconciled to the general ledger", the Major Grants Fund "lacked a functioning subsidiary ledger", capital-asset records were unreliable, and the General Fund cash account "was overdrawn by $757,639" at year end (draft report text). The superintendent noted the board had expected FY22 through FY25 by July and now expects FY24 and FY25 "by Thanksgiving" (1:05:57, 1:06:43). Mitigation: both years fall under the prior superintendent and business administrator (0:47:16), and the current administration presented the findings in public. The grading rests on the federal deadline, not on any finding about who caused the delay.
Sources: 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (single audit reporting package due within nine months); 2 CFR 200.501(a) (single audit at $750,000 in federal expenditures); FY23 draft audit report (7-15-2026); FY22 draft audit report (11-19-2025); Understanding Annual Audits presentation
MEDIUM The nonpublic minutes record a vote to seal with no mover, no seconder and no reason, a vote the public minutes do not mention; the minutes then appeared nine days later
The board entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) by a 7–0 roll call in public (2:38:54, 2:39:12), which meets ¶I(b). The nonpublic minutes form, after "Public session reconvened at 9:57 p.m.", leaves blank the lines for who moved and seconded sealing and ticks none of the three grounds, yet records a seven-member "Roll Call Vote to seal minutes" and "Motion: PASSED" (nonpublic minutes text). RSA 91-A:3, III allows withholding only "by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session" with a stated determination (statute text). The draft public minutes go from the return to public session straight to adjournment at 9:57 p.m. and record no seal vote, and the board's own by-laws Appendix D says the reason for sealing "must be stated immediately after the non-public session and must appear on the record of the open meeting" (by-laws text). The recording ends at the nonpublic roll call, so it cannot show what happened after 9:57. If no valid seal was voted, ¶III required disclosure "within 72 hours"; the minutes document was created in Drive on July 30, nine days after the meeting (file metadata), and MAP.md records it as unsealed. The form's ground (f), "applications by the adult parole board", is a repealed paragraph of RSA 91-A:3, II; nothing turned on it here because (c) was ticked. Graded MEDIUM because the minutes exist, were published, and record "Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken" (nonpublic minutes text); the defect is in the record of the seal decision and its timing.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c) and III (nonpublic sessions; sealing by 2/3 vote taken in public session); Claremont School Board By-Laws (Appendix D); 7.21.26 Non-Public Meeting Session Minutes.docx; 7.21.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes
MEDIUM The board packet, including the FY26 report and the draft audits, reached the public share two to three days after the meeting
The packet folder 1. 7.21.26 -- School Board Documents was created July 23, 2026; the Unity agreement was uploaded July 23 and the two draft audits and the posted agenda PDF on July 24 (file metadata). On tape the superintendent said the FY26 report was "printed today" (0:32:05) and "We will be scanning and posting everything in this packet online tomorrow." (0:34:27); Whitney said "we just received it last minute" (1:37:36); the clerk raised that the public could not see the amended agenda (0:11:04). RSA 91-A:2, II requires only a posted notice of "the time and place" at least 24 hours ahead and sets no agenda or packet requirement (statute text), so the superintendent's account at 0:11:41 matches the statute. The board's by-laws go further: rule 4.03, item 4 assigns the clerk's office to "Post online any and all agenda materials not-exempt from public dissemination by RSA 91-A in conjunction with the posting of any board or committee agendas" (by-laws text). The board also voted to release the drafts "as of tomorrow morning" (1:13:38), and they were uploaded a day after that. Graded MEDIUM because the departure is from the board's own rule, not a statute, and because which copy of the by-laws governs on a given date cannot be established from here.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (notice of time and place; minutes); Claremont School Board By-Laws (rule 4.03, item 4); Drive folder 1. 7.21.26 -- School Board Documents
OBSERVATION The draft minutes and the dialogue file credit several motions and remarks to different members
RSA 91-A:2, II requires that "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion shall be recorded in the minutes" (statute text). The draft minutes do record names, but in these places the dialogue file's speaker labels differ: the agenda motion (minutes: Rapp moved, Lavalette seconded; file: mover labeled William Madden, seconder unidentified, 0:06:29); the objection to releasing the FY23 draft and the one vote against it (minutes: Rapp; file: Loren Howard, 1:11:08); the library-books motion (minutes: Lavalette; file: I moved labeled Loren Howard, 2:23:43) and the cataloguing remark (minutes: Rapp; file: Howard, 2:24:17); the voting-days question (minutes: Petrin; file: Lavalette, 2:08:47); the remark relaying counsel's opinion (minutes: Petrin; file: Lavalette, 2:17:08); and the resolution 1 motion and second (minutes: Lavalette and Rapp; on tape the chair asks "Who's the second on that" and no name is audible, 2:33:42). The file's voice clusters mix these men: one cluster carries rows labeled Howard, Rapp, Petrin and Lavalette. Where a name is spoken on tape (the chair naming Petrin and Rapp as seconders at 2:34:14 and 2:37:00, and the nonpublic motion at 2:38:54), the minutes agree with it. This page follows the minutes; the recording alone does not settle the rest.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (notice of time and place; minutes); 7.21.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes
OBSERVATION The FY26 financial report is due September 1 with no statutory extension, and the FY26 audit now has a March 31, 2027 deadline backed by withholding of state grants
The superintendent said the DOE-25 "It's due September 1st. You can get an extension till the end of the month, if you ask nicely." (1:07:27). RSA 198:4-d, III, as reenacted by 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, effective July 1, 2026, requires the financial report "on or before September 1 of each year" and contains no extension clause for it; any extension would be administrative, not statutory. The same chapter's ¶VIII requires "The audit report for the last completed fiscal year" within "9 months of the end of the fiscal year" (March 31, 2027 for FY26) and directs the commissioner to "withhold state grant funding, not including RSA 198:40-a funding" from a non-compliant district (chaptered text). The superintendent described closing FY26 without the FY24 and FY25 audits as "a challenge that I'm exploring right now" (1:07:49). Nothing was late on July 21; this is the deadline the district now faces.
Sources: 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, eff. July 1, 2026, reenacting RSA 198:4-d
OBSERVATION The Unity withdrawal agreement was approved while a member's printed copy carried a different IT-support date, and it carries a retiree health benefit the chair said was never board-approved
Unity's withdrawal took effect under RSA 194-C:2, IV, which the agreement itself cites (agreement text). Petrin said his copy still read June 30: "Front of me still says June 30th" (2:15:12); the chair gave the replacement date from memory of counsel's notice, "915 26 I don't have my computer in front of me" (2:15:42), and Kennedy relayed "September 15th is the date that was agreed upon" (2:17:02). The text posted on July 23, titled "Board Approved (7-22-26)", reads "Direct Support of IT services shall not continue past September 15, 2026", shows Unity's chair signing electronically on July 22, and leaves Claremont's signature line blank (agreement text). The same agreement provides that for "one current SAU 6 employee who retires prior to June 30, 2026" Unity will reimburse 10.81% of a two-person health premium "for the lesser of 3 years or" Medicare eligibility (agreement text). That matches Lavalette's question at 0:38:35, and the chair said the underlying benefit "was done without board approval" (0:40:40). The page has not located the instrument that granted the benefit or verified which body had authority over SAU 6 compensation, so it rests no rule-based finding on it.
Sources: RSA 194-C:2, IV (withdrawal from an SAU); Unity withdrawal agreement as posted
POSITIVE The board released the draft audits before accepting them, and the administration committed to monthly public budget-to-actual reports
The superintendent told the board the drafts "are not public by definition" and need not be released (0:44:04); the board voted 6–1 to publish them anyway with a draft caution (1:13:38), and the chair walked the audience through how to read them (1:14:12). The superintendent undertook to "scan and put that on the district website on a monthly basis" for budget-to-actual reports (1:00:44) and to report grant allocations and claims monthly (0:58:08), and the newly elected treasurer offered regular independent reports (0:07:55). Releasing a draft before acceptance and posting monthly financials go beyond what RSA 91-A requires.
Sources: Understanding Annual Audits presentation; FY23 draft audit report (7-15-2026)
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 72126.CSV (870 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/Claremont School Board 72126.mp4Input/Transcripts/Claremont School Board 72126.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 308
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 189:39 (superintendents nominate, school boards elect all teachers): superintendents nominate, school boards elect all teachers (1971, 371:2)
- RSA 91-A:2, II (notice of time and place; minutes): 24-hour notice of time and place; movers and seconders in minutes; five business days (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025)
- RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c) and III (nonpublic sessions; sealing by 2/3 vote taken in public session): nonpublic motions; sealing only by 2/3 recorded vote taken in public session; 72-hour disclosure (2023, 189:1)
- 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), approved July 2, 2026, eff. July 1, 2026, reenacting RSA 198:4-d: RSA 198:4-d reenacted; ¶III financial report by September 1; ¶VIII audit within 9 months, state grant withholding
- RSA 194-C:2, IV (withdrawal from an SAU): withdrawal of a district from an SAU
- N.H. Admin. Rules, Ed 302.02(i) (temporary staff to fill vacancies): Ed 302.02(i), superintendent provides temporary staff to fill vacancies
- 2 CFR 200.501(a) (single audit at $750,000 in federal expenditures) and 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (single audit reporting package due within nine months) (2023 annual edition): single audit at $750,000; reporting package due within nine months
- Claremont School Board By-Laws: rules 4.03, 5.01, 5.03, 5.04; Appendix A, item 1; Appendix D (board rule, not statute)