Claremont School Board — May 6, 2020

Organizational meeting, two public hearings and a regular meeting, held remotely by video and telephone during the COVID-19 state of emergency and summarized from the Claremont Community Television recording and its speaker-attributed transcript; no agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting are posted in the district's online shares. Frank Sprague was re-elected chair and Heather Whitney elected vice chair; the board moved $325,000 from the special education trust fund into the FY2021 budget, set a half day on June 5 as the last day of school on a 5 to 2 vote, declined a raise for its clerk 2 to 5, and heard the business administrator say the district was still working on its fiscal 2018 audit. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.

Body
Claremont School Board (SAU 6)
Date
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 (the chair: "I'm going to call the meeting of May 6th, 2020 to order", 0:29:59)
Start time
Scheduled time not stated in any available record. The recording opens at 0:01:29 with the organizational meeting run by the superintendent; the public hearings follow (0:11:10); the regular meeting is called to order at 0:29:59; roll-call vote to adjourn at 2:22:42. The dialogue file runs to 2:23:31, with no dialogue between 0:15:07 and 0:19:41 while the audio failed.
Location
Held remotely by video conference with telephone access; the technology director was at the technology center, "and Keith is in the booth" (0:10:59). No physical location is stated.
Recording
Cablecast: SCHOOL BOARD Hearing & Meeting of 5/6/20 (dialogue file runs 2:23:31; the CCTV feed joined at 0:19:56, after both hearings had begun, and the chair reopened them)
Minutes
None located in the district's public shares: neither Drive share reaches back before July 2022 (MAP.md, checked 9/26/26). These minutes were approved with corrections on June 3, 2020 (see the June 3 page).
Board composition
Seven members, all present. Frank Sprague (chair, re-elected tonight), Heather Whitney (vice chair, elected tonight), Rebecca Zullo (vice chair until tonight), Jason Benware, Rob Lovett Jr., Michael Petrin and Carolyn Towle.

Participants

Everyone in the record, as named in the dialogue CSV. No agenda or minutes are available to confirm spellings; spellings follow the project roster, and the transcript's renderings are given where they differ. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
NameRoleParticipation
Frank SpragueChair (re-elected)Elected chair by unanimous roll call; took over at 0:05:18 ("I'm running the meeting now"). Ran both hearings, relying on the technology director to spot callers; called every roll; moved the clerk's raise to $85 (1:41:03), which failed; said he would call U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster's office about rural internet access (1:24:43). Rendered Frank SP once.
Heather WhitneyBoard member; elected vice chairNominated by Lovett and elected unanimously (0:06:44); asked about senior failure risk, a forecast of COVID-closure savings (0:57:54) and the cost of the school-funding lawsuit (1:00:01); moved the $325,000 transfer (2:11:26). Abstained on the March 4 minutes (0:35:11). Rendered Nether Whitney.
Rebecca ZulloBoard member (vice chair until this meeting)Nominated for vice chair by Benware, then withdrew in favor of Whitney (0:06:11). Argued for ending the school year early for struggling families (1:16:20); voted nay on the last-day vote and on the clerk's raise; abstained on the March 4 minutes ("I wasn't there"). Rendered Rebecca Zulu.
Jason BenwareBoard memberCaught that no nomination had been made before the first "unanimous" chair vote (0:03:47) and nominated Sprague; moved the agenda, the tabling of the February 23 minutes, the March 4 minutes, the policies, the handbooks, the nominations, the donation and adjournment. Opposed ending school early: "I don't really feel the need to punish those who are excelling with it either." (1:20:56). Rendered Mr. Bender, Ben where, Benwell.
Rob Lovett Jr.Board memberNominated Whitney for vice chair (0:05:56); asked for data on remote learning; voted nay on the last-day vote and the clerk's raise ("I'm not interested in increasing that."). Rendered Mr. love junior and Junior smiley.
Michael PetrinBoard memberAnswered roll calls and attested he was alone ("It's Mike patron. I'm here alone."); has no diarized cluster of his own, so his answers were reassigned by name cue. Voted nay on the clerk's raise. Rendered Mike. Patron.
Carolyn TowleBoard memberRaised the alone-in-the-room attestation (0:07:51); asked that the February 23 minutes be tabled because she had not got back to the clerk (0:32:58); proposed a remote capital improvement committee session (1:07:35); seconded the $325,000 transfer; offered to sign vouchers. Rendered Carolyn toll, Carol Ann Toll.
Michael TempestaSuperintendent, SAU 6Opened the organizational meeting (0:01:37); explained the $325,000 transfer (0:21:59) and answered the reporter's questions; superintendent's report (0:43:20) including that the district "did officially join the Carnival [ConVal] lawsuit for school funding and equity" (0:46:26).
Donna MagoonAssistant Superintendent, SAU 6Presented the last-day calculation: 990 instructional hours reached with a half day on June 5 (1:10:42); introduced the suicide-prevention policies as required by "Senate Bill 282" (1:33:05); told viewers the presentation was posted on the SAU website (0:50:04). Rendered Donna McGowan.
Richard SeamanBusiness Administrator, SAU 6Proposed raising the clerk's pay to $95 or $100 per meeting hour (1:36:32); food-service report (1:44:49); audit status (1:58:51); vouchers.
Matt UptonSchool district attorney (Drummond Woodsum, per the project roster)Advised that the attestation requirement might be suspended under the governor's order but "it doesn't hurt" (0:09:06); advised roll calls (0:04:29); alerted the chair that community TV had joined (0:19:56).
Jeff SmallDirector of Technology, SAU 6Watched the phone lines for public callers during the hearings (0:12:04, 0:29:58); reported the CCTV feed restored (0:20:18).
Patrick AdrianPublic, by telephone: Ward 1, Eagle Times reporter (a former board member, per the project roster)"Patrick. Adrian. Ward one. Eagle times reporter." (0:25:39). Asked how much of the $325,000 would fund new social workers and whether the money was being used "for positions that was not part of the original description to the voters" (0:26:11).
Tyler SullivanStudent representativeStudent report (0:35:36); "remote learning is not easy, and it's not for everybody" (0:38:09); supported looking at an earlier end for struggling students.
UnidentifiedMale SAU administratorSpoke on the remote extended school year (1:07:12) and on the New England Center for Children paraprofessionals (2:10:33); possibly Ben Nester or the superintendent, not named. 49 rows (5.4%) are Unidentified overall.

Order of business (reconstructed)

No agenda for this meeting is posted in any district share, so this list is reconstructed from the chair's transitions. The chair refers to hearing item B and to "page three" of the agenda, so a written agenda existed. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.

Taken upItemAgenda text / disposition
0:01:37Organizational meeting: election of chairThe superintendent presides. A first roll call is declared "unanimous" (0:03:42) before any nomination; Benware: "Wait, wait. We haven't actually made that nomination yet." He nominates Sprague (0:03:58); seconded; roll call, all seven yes. See flag 4.
0:05:25Election of vice chairBenware nominates Zullo; Lovett nominates Whitney (0:05:56); Zullo declines in Whitney's favor; the chair: "Jason has rescinded his nomination" (0:06:44). Roll call, all seven yes.
0:07:51Remote-meeting attestationRaised by Towle; the attorney thinks it may no longer be required; each participant states who is with them.
0:11:10Public hearing A: $8,877.67 donation, NH Charitable Foundation, Stevens High School libraryNo public comment; reopened at 0:20:25 after the CCTV feed joined; closed at 0:21:38.
0:12:12Public hearing B: transfer from the Special Education Trust Fund to the FY2021 budgetSuperintendent's explanation, interrupted by the audio failure and repeated from 0:21:59; one caller, Patrick Adrian (0:25:39). Hearings closed at 0:29:59. See flag 2.
0:29:59Regular meeting: call to order, pledge, rollThe chair calls the roll: all seven present.
0:31:38AgendaBenware moved "the agenda as presented"; the chair credits Zullo with the second; a voice vote is taken, then repeated by roll call after Magoon's reminder; the chair: "every vote tonight has to be roll call" (0:32:12).
0:32:50Minutes: February 23 retreat and March 4February 23 minutes tabled (Benware, Whitney), roll call unanimous. March 4 minutes approved (Benware, Towle) with Zullo and Whitney abstaining as absent from that meeting.
0:35:17Student representative reportTyler Sullivan.
0:41:26Superintendent's reportRemote learning, device distribution, the school-funding lawsuit, the trust-fund plan, a COVID-19 testing site; questions to 1:09:56.
1:09:56Last day of schoolHalf day on June 5 to reach 990 hours. Motion attributed on the recording to Benware ("Jason's got a motion.", 1:31:23), its wording not audible; Towle seconded per the chair. Roll call: "passes 5 to 2" (1:32:20), Zullo and Lovett nay. See flag 4.
1:32:28Policies JLDBB and JLDBBR (suicide prevention), first readMoved directly to "a third and final read" (Benware, 1:34:35; Whitney second per the chair); roll call unanimous. See flag 7.
1:35:43School board clerk compensationSeaman recommends $95 or $100 per meeting hour, up from $75 set "10 and a half years ago". Sprague moves $85 (1:41:03), Whitney seconds; roll call fails, "5 to 2 against" (1:42:28), Sprague and Benware aye.
1:42:43Food service updateReport only.
1:58:51AuditReport only. See flag 1.
2:02:29Parent-student handbooksBenware moved the preschool, elementary, middle and high school handbooks "as written" (2:04:07); the audible second follows a prompt to Zullo, but the chair credits "Heather"; roll call, approved.
2:06:07Teacher nominationsPaula Brault (guidance), Jesse Mast (biology), Charles Mo (English), as rendered in the transcript. Benware / Whitney; roll call, approved.
2:08:31Acceptance of the $8,877.67 donationBenware / Zullo; roll call, approved.
2:09:32Acceptance of the $325,000 transferWhitney moved (2:11:26); Towle: "325,000. I'll second." Roll call: "Passes unanimously." (2:13:03).
2:13:07VouchersArrangements for the chair and Towle to sign during the closure.
2:15:21Future agenda items; good of the order; adjournmentRetreat date, nominations, the Abbey Group contract (up at the end of June), capital improvement. Benware moved to adjourn (2:22:18); roll call.

Discussion timeline

Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, taken from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.

TimeTopicWhat was saidFlags
0:01:37A chair vote before any nominationSuperintendent: "I'd like to have a motion for the election of chair and vice chair." After a roll: "All right, so we're unanimous then. So the chair is is Frank Sprague." (0:03:42). Benware: "Wait, wait. We haven't actually made that nomination yet." Tempesta: "It was a roll call just for attendance." (0:03:51). Magoon thinks it "has to be a voice vote"; Upton: "Roll call. Mike. All of them." (0:04:29).OBSERVATION
0:06:11Vice chairZullo: "I was going to nominate Heather"; "I'm not really sure if I'm going to be running again next year." Whitney: "Thank you for the honor." (0:07:32).OBSERVATION
0:07:51Who is in the room?Towle: "we all have to, announce that we are meeting by ourselves." Upton: "I don't believe you have to do that anymore" but "as a precaution, why doesn't everybody announce who's with them" (0:09:21). Answers include "Nobody here but me in this terrific wig." (Benware) and "Like Tempesta. Solitary man." (0:10:05).POSITIVE
0:11:46Hearings, an outage, and a restartThe chair relies on the technology director to watch for callers: "I do see one phone call out there, but they are on mute." (0:12:04). The dialogue stops at 0:15:07; at 0:19:41 the chair tells phone listeners "we are experiencing some technical difficulties"; Upton: "an alert that the community TV has just joined." The chair reopens both hearings "just in case" (0:20:04): the donation "requires having a public hearing before the board can act on accepting that donation" (0:20:48).POSITIVE
0:21:59$325,000 from the special education trust"we're proposing to move the sum of $325,000 to, the FY 21 budget from the Educational trust that was established back in the fall": the New England Center for Children autism classroom, 190,000 with $20,000 for supplies (0:23:01), plus "two more social workers" (0:23:32); "We only want to access 325,000, which is half of the money" (0:14:45). "If we don't use all of that, we will give a complete accounting" (0:25:01).OBSERVATION
0:25:39A reporter's question on purposeAdrian: "when this money was appropriated, there was never any mention about social workers"; "you're using money for positions that was not part of the original description to the voters?" Tempesta: the autism program "is definitely what we presented to the, to the voters" (0:26:37); "All we're really going to need is $60,000 for, for one social worker at the elementary" (0:27:56).OBSERVATION
0:32:12Roll call on every vote"We have to do all every vote tonight has to be roll call."POSITIVE
0:32:50Retreat minutes tabled againTowle: "I never did I never did get back to Mary." The chair: "So should we table that I mean, it's understandable given what happened." Tabled.OBSERVATION
0:46:26Joining the school-funding lawsuit"we did officially join the Carnival [ConVal] lawsuit for school funding and equity". Whitney asks about costs "for transparency" (1:01:33); Tempesta: "there's no cost to us or anything like that. It's not going to hit the taxpayers." (1:00:14).
0:57:54Closure savings and devicesWhitney asks for a forecast of what "the savings to the district will be from reduced energy costs" so the board knows "if we're going to have a budget surplus". Seaman (1:05:53): "I really can't quantify it just yet." Students keep their Chromebooks over the summer.
1:07:35Capital improvementTowle: "We've been just kind of flying by the seat of our pants for the last month"; proposes a remote session with the capital improvement committee. Sprague (1:08:20): "if we do it remotely, that means other people could could join in"; "we wouldn't be in the danger of a quorum or something."
1:10:42Last day of schoolMagoon: the high school has "5.92 hours of instructional time a day"; "according to the state, we need 990" (1:11:57); school would end "with a half day on June 5th", confirmed with "someone from the Department of Education" (1:12:33). Zullo asks about waivers (1:13:24) and argues for ending early for struggling families; Benware (1:20:29) disagrees. Passes 5 to 2 (1:32:20).OBSERVATION
1:33:05Suicide-prevention policiesMagoon: "Senate Bill 282 has said that we need to adopt this policy, adopt this policy by July 1st", covering staff training, student education and points of contact. Chair: "So this this is language that's come directly from the state." (1:34:02); moved from first read to "a third and final read".POSITIVE
1:35:50The clerk's paySeaman: $75 per meeting hour "was set at $75.10 and a half years ago" (1:36:00), covering only time in the meeting, while minutes take "another 3 to 4 hours at home" (1:37:25). Zullo: "Just tough when you say out loud, $95 an hour." The $85 motion fails 2 to 5.
1:44:49Free meals run a surplus"our reimbursements were actually $8,037 greater than what the cost was" in April; reimbursement of $3.50 per lunch and $2.23 per breakfast (1:47:22). Benware (1:46:10): "So we're making money giving free lunches." and, at 1:46:25, "we could probably eliminate that $30,000 worth of food debt."
1:58:51Audit: fiscal 2018 still open"Right now we are working with Nick on our fiscal 18 audit"; the auditors cannot come on site; the aim is "to get that fiscal 18 done so we can immediately jump into fiscal 19" (1:59:39); then, in the transcript's words, "the 18 hour 19 needs to be completed by September 15th, and especially the single audit, which needs to be delivered to the federal clearinghouse" (2:00:12); meeting it "will be the first time that we will have met that in a number of years" (2:00:35).MEDIUM
2:10:33Paraprofessional qualificationsAn unidentified administrator answers Whitney: "No, they don't have to have a bachelor's."
2:14:16Vouchers during the closureTowle offers to sign at "the law office"; the chair: "I think there's a chair signature required so I can just come down." (2:14:46).
2:20:35Thanks to staff; adjournmentMagoon: "we just want to just give a big shout out for all of our staff". Adjourned by roll call (2:22:42).

Items flagged for review

Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on May 6, 2020, including the Governor's COVID-19 emergency orders and the federal Uniform Guidance as it then read. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on; where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. Seven flags follow, ordered by severity.

MEDIUM In May 2020 the district was still working on its fiscal 2018 audit, and the business administrator said meeting the single-audit deadline would be a first "in a number of years"

At 1:58:51 the business administrator reported: "Right now we are working with Nick on our fiscal 18 audit", and described pulling invoices for auditors who could not come on site. The aim was "to get that fiscal 18 done so we can immediately jump into fiscal 19" (1:59:39). He said the next audit "needs to be completed by September 15th, and especially the single audit, which needs to be delivered to the federal clearinghouse" (2:00:12), and that hitting it "will be the first time that we will have met that in a number of years" (2:00:35). The Uniform Guidance in force (2 CFR 200.512(a)(1), 2019 edition) required the single audit to be completed and submitted "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". If fiscal 2018 ended June 30, 2018, as New Hampshire school fiscal years ordinarily do, that deadline was March 31, 2019, a year before the pandemic closed the SAU office. The single-audit duty applies to an entity that spends $750,000 or more in federal awards in a year (2 CFR 200.501(a)); the business administrator's reference to the single audit and the federal clearinghouse concerns the audit now due, and the recording does not state the district's federal expenditures for fiscal 2018.

This is graded MEDIUM rather than HIGH because whether the district crossed the $750,000 threshold in fiscal 2018, and so was bound by the nine-month deadline that year, is not established on the recording. The delay itself, admitted by the responsible official with a statement that earlier years were missed too, is on the tape. Mitigation on the record: the pandemic had moved the auditors to remote work and left the office thinly staffed. The September 15 date he gives for the next audit may reflect a COVID-era extension from the federal Office of Management and Budget; that relief was not verified from its primary text for this page, and no relief identified here reaches the fiscal 2018 audit. The audit firm is rendered Nick, Platnick and plastic, and its contact Mike Campos; the firm is not reliably named on this recording.

Sources: 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (CFR 2019 annual edition): earlier of 30 days after the auditor's report or nine months after period end; 2 CFR 200.501(a) (2018 annual CFR edition): single audit at $750,000 in federal expenditures (the threshold in force for fiscal 2018).

OBSERVATION Half of a new special education trust fund was moved into the FY2021 budget partly for social workers, after a reporter asked whether voters had been told of that use

The superintendent described the source as "the Educational trust that was established back in the fall" and the request as "half of the money" (0:14:45, 0:21:59): $190,000 for the New England Center for Children autism classroom, $20,000 for supplies, paraprofessionals, and new social workers. Patrick Adrian, calling in as an Eagle Times reporter, asked whether the district was "using money for positions that was not part of the original description to the voters" (0:26:11). The superintendent answered that the autism program was "definitely what we presented to the, to the voters" and that social work was one part of the behavior programs discussed, with the new cost "$60,000 for, for one social worker at the elementary" (0:27:56), and promised "a complete accounting" and to return unused or grant-replaced money to the trust (0:25:01). The board approved the transfer unanimously by roll call (2:13:03).

A trust fund voted by the district meeting may be spent only for the purposes stated when it was created. The warrant article that established this fund, the purposes it stated, and the statute under which it was created are not in any record available to this project (a gap the project has logged as open), so whether social workers fit those purposes cannot be tested here. What the recording does show is that the question was asked in public and answered on the record, and that a hearing preceded the vote (flag 6).

Sources: no verified statutory rule for this fund; dialogue rows at 0:21:59, 0:26:11, 0:26:37 and 2:11:26. The December 12, 2019 special district meeting in the project's corpus may be the fall vote the superintendent refers to; that link is not established here.

OBSERVATION No agenda, notice or minutes for this meeting are posted online; the February 23 retreat minutes were tabled a second time

MAP.md records that neither district Drive share holds anything before July 2022 (checked 9/26/26). The recording shows minutes being kept: the March 4 minutes are approved at 0:34:25, and these May 6 minutes were corrected and approved on June 3. The February 23 retreat minutes, which a member had called incomplete on March 4, were tabled again at 0:32:50 because she had not yet sent her additions to the clerk. RSA 91-A:2, II, as in force in 2020, required minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting"; a draft satisfies that, and approval has no statutory deadline. Whether it was met cannot be tested from here. The limb of the project's missing-records rule applied is the online-availability observation, because the recording itself shows minutes existed.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, so the text in force in 2020); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 126.

OBSERVATION Three points where the record of this meeting's votes is unsettled: a premature chair declaration, a last-day motion never stated aloud, and a later correction that does not match this recording

First, at 0:03:42 the superintendent declared "we're unanimous then. So the chair is is Frank Sprague" after a roll call that he then said was "just for attendance" (0:03:51); Benware pointed out that no nomination had been made, and the election was then done properly by nomination, second and roll call. Second, the last-day-of-school vote (1:31:23 to 1:32:20) was taken on a motion whose wording is not audible; the recording has Towle saying "Jason's got a motion." and the chair announcing "passes 5 to 2", with Zullo and Lovett voting nay. On June 3 the chair corrected these minutes because they had recorded that vote as unanimous. Third, the same June 3 correction (Cablecast show 10876) stated that Benware nominated Zullo and that Zullo then nominated Whitney. On this recording Benware nominates Zullo (0:05:33), but the nomination of Whitney is spoken in the voice the dialogue file attributes to Lovett ("I'd like to nominate Heather Whitney.", 0:05:56), and Zullo says only that she "was going to" nominate Whitney (0:06:11). The attribution report rates that cluster high-confidence. RSA 91-A:2, II, as in force in 2020, required the minutes to name the mover and seconder of each motion. Which account of the nomination the approved minutes finally carry is not known.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification): movers and seconders recorded in the minutes; related page: June 3, 2020 (the correction).

POSITIVE Roll calls on every vote, and each participant said who was in the room

A member raised the requirement to "announce that we are meeting by ourselves" (0:07:51); the attorney thought it might no longer apply but advised it "as a precaution" (0:09:21), and every member and staff participant answered. After one voice vote on the agenda, the chair ruled that "every vote tonight has to be roll call" (0:32:12) and every later motion was decided that way. RSA 91-A:2, III(c) and (e), as in force in 2020, required a remote participant to "identify the persons present in the location from which the member is participating" and all votes in such a meeting to be by roll call; Emergency Order #12 waived the physical quorum, not these.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III(c) and (e) (2019 codification); Emergency Order #12 (March 23, 2020).

POSITIVE Both hearings were reopened when the television feed joined late, and a telephone caller was heard

The donation hearing and the trust-fund hearing began before CCTV's feed was connected. When the attorney reported at 0:19:56 that "the community TV has just joined", the chair reopened both hearings "just in case" (0:20:04) and restated that the $8,877.67 donation "requires having a public hearing before the board can act on accepting that donation" (0:20:48). The technology director monitored the phone lines, and a caller's questions on the trust fund were taken and answered (0:25:39). RSA 198:20-b, III(a), in its 2019 codification, required a public hearing, with newspaper notice at least 7 days ahead, before a board accepts unanticipated money of $5,000 or more, with acceptance in public session; the hearing was held and the donation accepted by roll call (2:08:31). Emergency Order #12 conditioned remote meetings on public access, and the recording shows access being provided and checked. Whether the newspaper notice ran cannot be tested here.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1, so in force until 2023, 38:1): $5,000 hearing threshold; Emergency Order #12.

POSITIVE Suicide-prevention policies adopted before the new state requirement took effect

The assistant superintendent introduced policies JLDBB and JLDBBR as required by "Senate Bill 282", covering staff training, student education and points of contact (1:33:05), and the board moved them straight to "a third and final read" and adopted them unanimously (1:34:35). Senate Bill 282 became RSA chapter 193-J (2019, 315:1), effective July 1, 2020, which requires each school district to develop a suicide-prevention policy covering staff training, student education, designated points of contact and referral information. The district adopted its policy about two months before the chapter took effect. Skipping the second reading is noted for completeness; the board's own policy-adoption procedure is not available to test it against.

Sources: RSA 193-J:2 (2019, 315:1, eff. July 1, 2020): district suicide-prevention policy.

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