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.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | Chair | Ran the meeting. Opened with a statement on who answers mass emails to the board (0:04:56); asked whether the FY20 surplus was "2021 money or 1920 money" (0:12:34); set out his position on reopening: "I personally will will only support a, a phased in approach" (1:13:21), elementary first, secondary later; told the caller James Ward that board members could not all reply to him (1:59:52); recalled proposing a 12-hours-a-year community service schedule as Stevens principal (2:39:37). A second diarization cluster carries some of his segments (medium confidence). |
| Heather Whitney | Board member (vice chair per the project timeline) | Brought the NH Division of Public Health Services' September 1 transition guidance to the board (1:00:22) and proposed moving to full in-person school "a little bit sooner than November" (1:01:45). Asked about busing obligations and homeschool re-entry. Proposed "community experience versus community service" (2:44:51). Named alternate NHSBA delegate. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Board member | Supported the state guidance and asked for "a clear timeline" (1:10:31); argued for three weeks rather than two before any change (2:22:06); offered the caller help (2:04:41); relayed parents' questions on live instruction, windows and child care (2:30:52); seconded the community service motion. Rendered Rebecca. Zulu. in the roll call and Missoula in the caller's remarks. Two diarization clusters; one tied to her by content (medium confidence). |
| Michael Petrin | Board member | Proposed "a full return on Monday, the 28th of September" for all grades (1:35:39), later clarified as five days a week (2:06:40); argued that universal masking reduced the need for distancing (2:12:16); moved the NHSBA delegate appointment. Rendered Patrick. in the roll call. |
| Jason Benware | Board member | Had a statement attributed to him struck from the August 2 minutes (0:03:45); moved acceptance of the $3,000 donation; questioned the reliability of rapid antigen tests (1:18:10); proposed elementary return at the start of October; answered the business administrator's "reckless" remark (2:17:18); moved to keep the community service requirement (2:48:02); relayed the SAU 6 superintendent-evaluation reminder (3:01:49). Rendered Jason Benoit. |
| Carolyn Towle | Board member (remote) | Took on the Capital Improvement Committee meeting (0:24:35); favored full time for elementary but not high school until a committee studied it (1:22:58); suggested a special meeting (2:24:34); opposed dropping community service (2:45:34) and seconded the motion to keep it; named NHSBA delegate. Left the meeting briefly during the delegate vote ("That was a cat issue." at 3:00:50). Rendered Carolyn Toll, Carolyn 12, Caroline. |
| Rob Lovett Jr. | Board member (remote) | One attributed row: volunteered as second alternate NHSBA delegate (3:00:04). His vote on the community service motion was reported by the chair ("He votes yes." at 2:49:29) after the clerk said "Rob Lovett is not here." Rendered Red Robin. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Gave the opening report with slides: new furniture bought with CARES money, remote learning training, 161 remote elementary students, 63 homeschool requests (0:43:35). Presented a Harvard Global Health Institute matrix and proposed a subcommittee on reopening metrics (0:56:41). Said he had not yet read the state's new guidance (1:42:18). Disputed James Ward's account of unanswered messages (1:58:19). Rendered Mr. Thomas. |
| Donna Magoon | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Explained bus sign-ups and PowerSchool (0:37:28), the homeschool rules (0:48:47), the guidance's advice to monitor "for at least 2 to 4 weeks" (2:08:38) and her weekly calls with Dr. Chan (2:19:43); presented the Stevens administration's request to drop the 48-hour community service requirement (2:37:11). Rendered Mr. McGowan in the caller's remarks. |
| Richard Seaman | Business Administrator, SAU 6 | Reported the FY20 surplus (0:10:59) and the summer building projects (0:14:55). Later, speaking "as a voter and as a taxpayer", called a quick switch "reckless" (2:09:55) and asked what safety criteria any new plan must meet (2:26:51). The dialogue file places the chair's opening segments in the same diarization cluster and has split them out by content; the attribution report asks for a spot-check. |
| Mary Woodman | School district clerk and recording secretary | Called the roll on the community service motion (2:49:12) and asked how the September 23 item should appear on the agenda (3:01:02). Medium-high confidence attribution. |
| Amanda Watson | Public comment by phone; Stevens High School senior | Self-identified at 1:23:54. Asked for rehearsal space for student theater, noting a petition with "about 250 signatures" (1:26:39). Told by the superintendent to email the principal (1:31:35). |
| James Ward | Public comment by phone; parent | Self-identified at 1:50:00. Said repeated emails and calls to the administration and board had gone unanswered (1:51:30) and complained of "a real severe lack of transparency" (2:03:16). |
| Unidentified | Various | 84 of 991 rows (8.5%): vote choruses, clipped onsets, and the member who moved to table the August 5 minutes (0:04:26, 0:04:44), whose voice the attribution could not identify. |
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 "an agenda in front of us" (0:01:11) and reads items off it, so a written agenda existed. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:14 | Call to order, pledge, attendance | "Mrs. Woodman, could you do a roll call?" (0:00:33). The attendance answers are not individually transcribed; the chair notes "Rob is, though" and "Carolyn" (0:01:11). |
| 0:01:11 | Agenda amended and approved | The chair: "Are there any amendments to that agenda? I have one donation." The donation item is added under discussion items; agenda accepted "As amended" on a voice vote (0:02:15). |
| 0:02:15 | Minutes of August 2, 2020 (retreat) | Moved by Benware, seconded by the chair. Benware asks that a statement attributed to him be removed (0:03:45); a new motion to approve "as amended" passes on a voice vote (0:04:13). See flag 3. |
| 0:04:13 | Minutes of August 5, 2020 | An unidentified member: "I think that I would almost like to table these minutes to review them and to come back. I thought there was a lot of discrepancies". Motion to table, voice vote (0:04:44). See flag 3. |
| 0:04:56 | Chair's statement on board email | After consulting NHSBA counsel, the chair asks the public to email the member they want an answer from and copy the rest; the whole board cannot answer "because that's an unworn meeting". See flag 5. |
| 0:09:00 | Donations | $50 from an individual donor and $3,000 from "the National Field Reps Incorporated" for back-to-school supplies. Benware moves the $3,000 (0:10:04), Zullo seconds; the chair takes the two separately, both accepted on voice votes (0:10:11, 0:10:24). See flag 4. |
| 0:10:34 | Budget surplus (business administrator) | FY20 surplus projected at about $1 million to $1.1 million; options described as retaining "the 2.5%" or returning the balance through the December tax rate. No action. See flag 6. |
| 0:14:55 | Building projects report | Summer work at Bluff, the middle school, Disnard, Maple, the Regional Tech Center, the bus depot and the Dow building; a Capital Improvement Committee meeting to be set by Towle. No action. |
| 0:25:12 | Superintendent's report and reopening matrix | Opening-day report; the decision matrix (0:56:14); then a board discussion of the state's September 1 transition guidance running to about 2:24:14. No vote; a single-item meeting on September 23 is agreed (2:25:47). |
| 1:23:39 | Public comment: Amanda Watson (by phone) | Theater rehearsal space. Taken in the middle of the reopening discussion when the chair asks for callers. |
| 1:46:15 | Public comment: James Ward (by phone) | Unanswered communications from the administration and board. Benware tells the chair a caller is waiting (1:46:15); Ward speaks from 1:50:00 to about 2:06:24. |
| 2:37:05 | Community service graduation requirement | The Stevens administration asked to remove the 48-hour requirement. Benware's revised motion (2:48:02): "I move that we maintain the 48 hour requirement for community service at Stevens High School, with the, caveat that we go back and we reexamine how the hours are calculated and adding a community experience piece into it, potentially." Second by Towle (2:48:31); roll call, every audible answer Yes (2:49:12 to 2:49:48). |
| 2:50:12 | Stevens five-year graduation rates | Informational: 67 credits recovered over the summer, "65 classes that will not have to be retaken" (2:51:13). No action. |
| 2:52:42 | Capital improvement plan | Left to Towle to schedule the committee meeting (2:53:03). |
| 2:53:15 | 2021 school board goals | A goal-setting session to be scheduled, probably early November; the chair to work with the superintendent on dates. |
| 2:55:34 | NHSBA delegate | Chair's motion, Petrin second (2:59:37): Towle delegate, Whitney alternate; Lovett volunteers as second alternate. Voice vote (3:00:18); the chair: "Both Carolyn and Rob Carolyn left the meeting. Rob has voted yes. So everybody voted yes." See flag 1. |
| 3:00:55 | Future agenda items; SAU 6 reminder | Next meeting a single agenda item on reopening; regular meeting early in October; retreat in November. Benware relays that superintendent evaluations are due for the SAU 6 meeting on September 22 (3:01:49). |
| 3:02:33 | Adjournment | Benware moves, Lovett seconds; voice vote, the chair reporting that "Both. Carolyn and Rob voted I." (3:02:46). |
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.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:03:20 | August 2 minutes corrected | Benware: "It seemed like there was a fair amount that was sort of missed or just, maybe got misattributed to the wrong people." The draft said he "feels optimistic that the hybrid type of classes is a less risky type of school"; he: "I didn't say that. I've not said that at any meeting." (0:03:45). Approved as amended; the August 5 minutes are then tabled for "a lot of discrepancies" (0:04:26). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:04:56 | Who answers mass emails | The chair says he consulted "the the legal counsel at the, New Hampshire School Board Association" (transcribed "Barrett Christina"). "We can't do that. That's that's an unwanted meeting. So we we by statute, cannot answer emails en mass." (0:05:57). Community members should write to the chair and copy the board, "But don't expect an answer from everybody on the board" (0:07:28). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:09:06 | Donations accepted | Superintendent: "Two donations. The first is for $50 to the Claremont School District." Then "another great donation of $3,000 from the National Field Reps Incorporated" for back-to-school supplies (0:09:27). Both accepted on voice votes. | OBSERVATION MEDIUM |
| 0:10:59 | FY20 surplus | Seaman: "I'm anticipating that the surplus for last year will be in the million dollar. Maybe a little bit more. Million to million. One range." Expenses "at least $1 million lower than what we had anticipated". "we also agreed to put $650,000, I believe it was into the into the special ed, expendable trust" (0:11:52). Options: "The only thing that we really have available to us is to retain the 2.5%, which is voted on by the board" (0:13:26); the rest returns "as a part of the tax rate setting that takes place in December" (0:13:47). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:14:55 | Summer building projects | Roofs over the old section, gym and cafe at the middle school; heating controls; the Disnard fire panel ("We did replace the fire panel", 0:17:23); ductwork cleaning; the Regional Tech Center roof. Door orders delayed by the shutdown. The Dow building: an architect's design out "to a general contractor to get an estimate" (0:21:08). Asked whether state money paid for it, Seaman: the higher adequacy grant "allowed us to be able to do this" within the fiscal 21 budget (0:23:23). | |
| 0:25:39 | Opening-day report | Slides of new furniture bought "with the CARES money" (0:27:28), professional development on "the remote learning playbook", health checks at the door. "there were 161 remote students in the elementary school. We did not see that coming." (0:42:09). Homeschool: "last year at this time, we had six students requesting, to be homeschooled. This time we just from today from from Melissa, we had 63." (0:43:35). | |
| 0:47:42 | Homeschool, revenue and busing questions | Whitney on homeschool re-entry; Benware asks how long a returning student must be enrolled for the district to regain state aid (0:49:18); the chair guesses the October 1 count. Whitney: "Do are we required to provide bussing for every student in the district." (0:53:02); she suggests busing may be "a barrier to returning to, full end time school" (0:54:23). | |
| 0:56:17 | The reopening matrix | The superintendent shows a matrix borrowed "From the Harvard Global Health Institute" (0:56:41) and proposes a subcommittee with board and community members "so that we have kind of a decision on the matrix" (0:57:13). "our intent was to come back full in November" (0:59:31). | |
| 1:00:22 | The state's September 1 guidance | Whitney describes the NH Division of Public Health Services document on "considerations for transitioning between school instructional models" and proposes "that we maybe implement the full open concept a little bit sooner than November" (1:01:45). Petrin agrees (1:05:29); Zullo: "I would like to have like a clear timeline on when we might be able to review this." (1:10:31). The superintendent: "I haven't even seen the document yet. We've been too busy opening school" (1:03:39). | |
| 1:12:45 | Chair: phased return | "the first group back and the last group out are the little kids". "if we're talking about October for high school coming, I will not support that. That's a that's a hard no" (1:13:52). He floats buying a rapid-testing machine with CARES money (1:17:17); Benware warns that antigen tests get "a lot of false negatives" (1:18:32). | |
| 1:22:36 | Remote members asked in | The chair invites anyone on the phone, "or Carolyn or Rob". Towle: "I too would favor, full time for elementary. I would have a hard time with the high school until until the committee was formed" (1:22:58). | |
| 1:23:54 | Public comment: student theater | Amanda Watson: "theater was just never brought up in reopening discussions" (1:23:59); the school "has to be emptied to be cleaned by 215" (1:24:35); "last week I made a petition, and it currently has about 250 signatures" (1:26:39). The superintendent: "the first step would be to email the principal" (1:31:35). Zullo offers "to donate whatever to try and make that happen" (1:33:03). | POSITIVE |
| 1:35:39 | Petrin: everyone back September 28 | "I would like to see a review of the opening two weeks from tomorrow after the hybrid opening, with a plan to go to a full return on Monday, the 28th of September." The chair: "I can't support that" (1:37:15). Benware proposes elementary cohorts A and B four days a week at the start of October (1:38:25), secondary at the end of the quarter. | |
| 1:50:00 | Public comment: unanswered communications | James Ward: "I only heard from two members and no one else responded whatsoever" (1:51:30). "I'm losing confidence in what my tax dollars are being spent on." (1:55:55). The superintendent: "You and I have had conversations." Ward: "I have not received a direct response from either one of you." (1:58:51). The chair: "it's actually illegal for all of us to respond to you by statute" (1:59:52) and "We have not done that this particular time and I apologize for that." (2:00:24). | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 2:06:40 | Five days, and "reckless" | Petrin: "My proposal is for full reopening, which I would consider five days a week". Seaman: "I believe it's reckless to have a full discussion that took place before, get a document that happens to support what we're talking about here, and that becomes the document we use" (2:09:55); "I'm speaking like Mr. Ward was" (2:11:22). Benware: "if we want to talk about flavors of the week" (2:17:18). Magoon: "I've also received a lot of emails of people that are that are happy with what we've done." (2:19:00). | |
| 2:21:56 | A single-item meeting on September 23 | Zullo: "I would advocate for three weeks minimum" (2:22:55). Towle: "we can also have a special meeting warranted" (2:24:34). The chair: "a single agenda meeting. Single item agenda" (2:25:47), with "two different scenarios. One is the five day plan" and a phased plan (2:26:06). Seaman asks "What is the criteria that we need to ensure we comply with" (2:26:51); the discussion lands on three to six feet with masks. | |
| 2:30:52 | Parents' questions relayed | Zullo: "why are we not doing live instruction in the classroom for the kids at home?" The superintendent: 1,900 Chromebooks ordered in January were caught in the supply chain; about 500 due over three weeks (2:32:51). Windows may be opened but fans may not circulate air (2:34:43). On child care: "no, no money in the budget for child care" (2:36:45). | |
| 2:37:11 | Community service requirement kept | Magoon: the Stevens administration found "50% of the seniors are not completing this" and asked to remove the 48 hours. Benware: "This is a no for me." (2:38:28). Whitney proposes "community experience versus community service" (2:44:51); Towle: "It just doesn't need to go away at all." (2:46:03). Motion to keep the requirement and broaden its criteria passes by roll call (2:49:12). | MEDIUM |
| 2:51:13 | Credit recovery | "67 credits over the summer" recovered; Magoon: "the dropout rates declining" (2:51:58). | |
| 2:55:34 | NHSBA delegates | The chair explains the NHSBA delegate assembly: "the New Hampshire School Board Association is essentially a lobbying group" (2:56:25). Towle delegate, Whitney alternate, Lovett second alternate. Voice vote; Towle had dropped off ("That was a cat issue."). | MEDIUM |
| 3:01:42 | SAU 6 evaluations reminder | Benware: "we have a c six school board meeting on September 22nd of which we should have completed our evaluations of the superintendent". | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the state law in force on September 2, 2020, including the Governor's COVID-19 emergency orders then in effect. 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 Two members took part remotely, but only one of the evening's votes was a roll call
Carolyn Towle and Rob Lovett Jr. joined by computer ("Google meet", 0:06:48). In 2020, RSA 91-A:2, III allowed a member to participate remotely only when attendance was "not reasonably practical", with the reason "stated in the minutes"; required that each part of the meeting be audible to the public and that members be able to "simultaneously hear each other and speak to each other"; and, in III(e), provided that "All votes taken during such a meeting shall be by roll call vote." A quorum was in the room, so Emergency Order #12, which waived only the physical-quorum requirement of III(b), did not change these rules. The agenda (0:02:15), both sets of minutes (0:04:13, 0:04:51), both donations (0:10:11, 0:10:24), the NHSBA delegates (3:00:18) and the adjournment (3:02:41) were all taken as All those in favor voice votes. The chair plainly knew the rule: before the community service vote he said "for the purpose of the fact that we have Rob and Carolyn remote. Why don't we do roll call" (2:48:31). Two further points: on that roll call the clerk announced "Rob Lovett is not here." and the chair answered for him, "He votes yes." (2:49:24, 2:49:29); and on the delegate vote the chair reported "Carolyn left the meeting. Rob has voted yes. So everybody voted yes." (3:00:34), a unanimous count that included a member who had dropped off. Graded MEDIUM as a probable process gap: the outcomes do not appear to have been close, and the chair did relay the remote members' positions aloud on several votes, but the statute asked for a recorded roll call and the minutes that would show how the votes were entered are not available (flag 2).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III(a), (c), (e) (2019 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, unamended until 2023, 188:1): remote participation conditions; members simultaneously hear each other; all votes by roll call; Emergency Order #12 (March 23, 2020, under Executive Order 2020-04): waives only the physical-quorum requirement of RSA 91-A:2, III(b), on public-access conditions.
OBSERVATION No agenda, notice or minutes for this meeting are posted online, though the recording shows minutes being kept
MAP.md records that neither district Drive share holds anything before July 2022 (checked 9/26/26), so this page rests on the recording alone. The recording shows the board correcting and approving the August 2 retreat minutes and tabling the August 5 minutes (0:02:15 to 0:04:44), so minutes were being produced. In 2020, RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to be "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting" and to record "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion". Whether that was met for this meeting cannot be tested from here. The limb of the project's missing-records rule applied is the online-availability observation, because the recording shows minutes being kept and the absence is explained by where the district's public archive begins.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification; in force in 2020): minutes within 5 business days, movers and seconders recorded; Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 129.
OBSERVATION Members found the draft minutes of both August meetings inaccurate
Jason Benware said the August 2 retreat minutes had "a fair amount that was sort of missed or just, maybe got misattributed to the wrong people", and had a sentence attributing a view on hybrid classes to him removed ("I didn't say that.", 0:03:45). An unidentified member then moved to table the August 5 minutes because "I thought there was a lot of discrepancies" (0:04:26). Correcting draft minutes before approval is the process working, and a board that reads its drafts closely deserves credit for it. The point for a reader is different: the August 5 meeting adopted the hybrid reopening plan by a 5 to 2 roll call, and on that recording (Cablecast show 10942) the clerk said she would have to ask the chair after the meeting "to get the full content of that motion" (see the August 5, 2020 page). The minutes of the district's most consequential vote of the summer were disputed a month later, and neither version is available to the public.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2019 codification): minutes to include the names of members, persons appearing, a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions; dialogue rows at 0:03:20, 0:03:45 and 0:04:26.
OBSERVATION Two donations were accepted after being added to the agenda on the night
The chair added "one donation" to the agenda at the start of the meeting (0:01:11); the superintendent then presented two, $50 and $3,000 (0:09:06, 0:09:27), and each was accepted on a voice vote. Under RSA 198:20-b as it read in 2020, a school board could accept unanticipated money from a private source only if the district had adopted an enabling article (¶I). Gifts under $5,000 needed no hearing, but the board "shall post notice of the funds in the agenda and shall include notice in the minutes of the school board meeting in which such funds are discussed" (¶III(b)). Whether Claremont had adopted the ¶I article is not stated on the recording, and the posted agenda is not available, so neither condition can be checked. Adding the item by amendment the same night gave the public no advance notice through the agenda, which is the evident purpose of ¶III(b); whether the amended agenda satisfied the text is a question the minutes would answer. Acceptance in public session was done correctly.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(a)-(b) (2019 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1; threshold raised to $20,000 only by 2023, 38:1): enabling article; hearing at $5,000 or more; notice of smaller amounts in the agenda and the minutes.
OBSERVATION The chair's account of the email rule goes further than the statute's text
Twice the chair told the public that board members may not all answer an email: "So we we by statute, cannot answer emails en mass." (0:05:57) and, to James Ward, "if four of us respond to either an email or a Facebook post, that's actually a quorum. And so it's a non warrant meeting. So it's actually illegal for all of us to respond to you by statute." (1:59:52). The statute bars deliberation by a quorum outside a meeting: RSA 91-A:2-a says public bodies "shall deliberate on matters only in meetings" and that communications outside a meeting "shall not be used to circumvent the spirit and purpose of this chapter", and RSA 91-A:2, I defines a meeting as the convening of a quorum. Replies that go to the whole board can turn into exactly that kind of deliberation, which is why the chair's advice (write to one member, copy the rest) is sensible practice. But nothing in the text makes it unlawful for an individual member to answer a constituent's question; the risk arises when members discuss the matter with each other. The chair also said a designated responder is normally named for a hot topic and apologised that "We have not done that this particular time" (2:00:24). For a reader, the gap between the rule as stated and the rule as written matters, because it was offered as the reason a parent's repeated emails went mostly unanswered.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2-a, I-II (source note 2008, 303:4, unamended; in force in 2020): deliberation only in meetings; outside communications not to circumvent the chapter; RSA 91-A:2, I (2019 codification): a meeting is the convening of a quorum.
OBSERVATION The business administrator's account of surplus options matches the law as it stood that week, which changed 25 days later
Asked what could be done with a projected FY20 surplus of "Million to million. One range" (0:10:59), Richard Seaman said the district could "retain the 2.5%, which is voted on by the board", "basically a a emergency fund", with the rest going back "as a reduction of the tax rate" in December (0:13:26, 0:13:47). On September 2, 2020, RSA 198:4-b, II let the legislative body authorize retention of year-end unassigned funds "not to exceed, in any fiscal year, 2.5 percent of the current fiscal year's net assessment", for emergency expenditures and overexpenditures or to reduce the tax rate, so his description was accurate for that date (the authorisation comes from the voters, with the board then deciding the amount). The limit was raised to 5 percent, with a new requirement that the board hold a prior public hearing on how the funds are used, by 2020, 38:25, effective September 27, 2020. Readers comparing this meeting with later ones should not apply the 5 percent figure or the hearing requirement here. The $650,000 deposit to the special education expendable trust is the speaker's characterization; the vote that authorised it is not in this record.
Sources: RSA 198:4-b, II (2019 codification; source note ends 2014, 190:6): retention up to 2.5 percent of net assessment, authorised by the legislative body; RSA 198:4-b, current text (source note adds 2020, 38:25, eff. Sept. 27, 2020): 5 percent and prior public hearing.
POSITIVE Two call-in speakers were heard at length, including a sharp complaint about the board itself
The chair twice asked whether anyone on the phone wished to speak (1:22:36, 1:46:26). A Stevens senior spoke for about four minutes on theater rehearsal space and was answered on the spot by the superintendent and a member (1:23:54 to 1:35:10); a parent spoke for more than ten minutes about unanswered emails and "a real severe lack of transparency", and the board let him finish (1:50:00 to 2:06:24). No statute required a public comment period at a New Hampshire school board meeting in 2020: RSA 189:74 was enacted by 2022, 333:1, effective September 6, 2022. Providing remote public access and taking critical comment exceeded what the law then required.
Sources: RSA 189:74 (source: 2022, 333:1, eff. Sept. 6, 2022): school board public comment period, not in force in 2020.
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 10974, "SCHOOL BOARD meeting 9/2/20": Claremont Community TV. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- No Drive material: neither the Claremont nor the SAU 6 share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (MAP.md, checked 9/26/26). No agenda, notice, slides or minutes for this meeting were located. The superintendent's slides and the NH Division of Public Health Services guidance of September 1, 2020 discussed on the recording are not among the project's files.
- Related pages: August 5, 2020 (hybrid reopening adopted; its minutes are tabled here). The August 2, 2020 retreat, whose minutes are approved here, and the September 23, 2020 single-item meeting set here have no recording in the project's corpus as of this writing.
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/10974 SchoolBoard090220.mp4.CSV (991 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/10974 SchoolBoard090220.mp4Input/Transcripts/10974 SchoolBoard090220.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/10974 SchoolBoard090220.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 129
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on September 2, 2020. RSA 91-A:2, I, II and III (meeting defined; minutes; remote participation and roll-call votes; 2019 codification, source note ends 2018, 244:1). RSA 91-A:2-a (deliberation only in meetings; unamended since 2008). RSA 198:20-b, I and III (unanticipated funds; 2019 codification). RSA 198:4-b, II (retained unassigned funds, 2.5 percent; 2019 codification), with the current text cited only to date the later amendment (2020, 38:25, eff. Sept. 27, 2020). RSA 189:74 (school board public comment period), cited only to show it post-dates this meeting (2022, 333:1).
- Emergency orders. Emergency Order #12 pursuant to Executive Order 2020-04 (March 23, 2020), effective for the duration of the state of emergency, which was renewed until it lapsed at midnight on June 11, 2021 (NHPR, June 10, 2021, reporting).