Claremont School Board — August 18, 2021 | 2021-22 COVID matrix adopted, handbooks, vaccination incentives, new assistant superintendent

Participants

Everyone the recording shows taking part. Names follow the project's dialogue file; no minutes exist online to check spellings against, so non-member spellings are as heard and marked where unverified. Members are listed first.
Name	Role	Participation
Frank Sprague	Chair	Presided. Responded to the public comment; questioned high school staffing growth, reading from a letter he attributed to the Commissioner of Education; moved the $20,000 vaccination-incentive authorization; voted yes on the matrix and, as the record reads, no on the nominations.
Heather Whitney	Board member	Seconded several motions; urged the board to settle the plan that night; argued against incentivizing children directly; asked to report the superintendent evaluation work next time.
Steven Horsky	Board member	Moved the elementary and middle school handbooks and the nominations; asked for a policy committee review of the new discipline law; moved, then withdrew, adoption of the plan; abstained on the final matrix vote; opposed paying incentives.
Joshua Lambert	Board member	Asked about elementary grading policy and the spectator rule; voted yes on the spectator amendment, the matrix and the nominations.
Rob Lovett Jr.	Board member	Moved the agenda; corrected the August 4 minutes, which had recorded him voting although he was not present; moved the spectator-masking amendment and the final matrix; moved adjournment.
Nicholas Stone	Board member	Proposed basing the matrix on Claremont's own case rates, then withdrew; voted no on the spectator amendment and the matrix, yes on the nominations.
Michael Petrin	Board member	Absent. No answer at the opening roll call; recorded Absent. on the matrix roll call.
Michael Tempesta	Superintendent, SAU 6	Long COVID-19 data report and recommended matrix changes; introduced the new assistant superintendent; outlined the vaccination-incentive idea and the CARES reporting deadline; reported the elementary restructuring timeline.
Mary Ellen Janeiro	Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 (new)	Introduced herself and her entry plan. Spelling unverified; the transcript renders it `Gennaro` and `general`.
Nicole Gordon	Assistant Principal, Stevens High School	Presented the Stevens handbook changes and answered staffing questions; the handbook was tabled for a transcript section.
Frank Romeo	Principal, Claremont Middle School	Presented the middle school handbook, moving toward a digital version.
Ben Nester	Director of Special Education, SAU 6	Asked to join the discipline-law review. Identified by the content of his remarks, not named at the microphone (attribution report: medium).
Ronnie Irani	Nurse leader and COVID-19 coordinator, SAU 6	Explained how staff vaccination status at Maple Avenue was collected. Name from her self-introduction; spelling unverified.
Two interim elementary principals	Interim principals (Nicole Bailey and Christine Baker, as introduced)	Presented the elementary handbooks; the dialogue file leaves these rows Unidentified because the two voices cannot be told apart.
Mary Woodman	Clerk	Called the roll and three roll-call votes. The transcript renders her as `Mrs. Whitman` and `Miss Lupine`.
Mike Demers	Citizens' comments	Urged a careful, public process on any return of masks. The transcript renders his self-introduction as `I'm Michael Morris`; the chair spells it out as DEMARS Demers, and the superintendent later thanks `Mike Myers`. Spelling as the chair gave it.

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 on the recording. The chair reads from a written agenda (I can find your agenda). Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.

Taken up	Item	Agenda text / disposition
0:00:20	Call to order, pledge, roll call	Six members answer; Petrin absent.
0:01:31	Agenda	Lovett moved the agenda as presented, Whitney seconded; approved.
0:02:16	Minutes of August 4, 2021	Lovett's correction (he was not present); approved as amended by voice vote. The mover and seconder are hard to separate on the recording.
0:03:04	Citizens' comments	One speaker (Demers).
0:05:51	Superintendent's report	COVID-19 data, matrix changes, staff vaccination, incentive idea.
0:57:02	Elementary school handbooks	Horsky moved, Whitney seconded; approved by voice vote.
1:00:45	Claremont Middle School handbook	Horsky moved; the chair names Stone as seconder; approved.
1:02:21	Stevens High School handbook	Discussion of grading, community service and discipline staffing; tabled until a transcript section is added.
1:27:16	Introduction of the new assistant superintendent	Dr. Mary Ellen Janeiro.
1:34:48	Reopening plan review	Horsky's motion withdrawn; spectator amendment (Lovett) by roll call; Stone's local-rates motion withdrawn; matrix as amended adopted by roll call 4-1 with one abstention.
2:19:40	Vaccination incentives	The chair moved to authorize up to $20,000, reimbursed through CARES; seconded; not voted. The administration will bring a plan.
2:41:45	Nominations	Horsky moved, Stone seconded; approved by roll call, 5 yes and 1 no as the record reads, Petrin absent.
2:51:07	Elementary school restructuring update	Timeline report; no vote.
2:59:36	Next meeting items; adjournment	Discipline-law summary, entry plan, nominations, COVID-19 update, superintendent evaluation. Lovett moved adjournment.

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
0:01:04	Roll call; agenda	Roll call: Whitney (transcribed `I have a witness here`), Horsky, Lambert, Lovett, Stone and Sprague; no answer for Petrin. Agenda approved on Lovett's motion.
0:02:32	August 4 minutes corrected	Lovett: "On the closing activities, it said I voted in favor of closing by phone. I love closing the meetings, but I was not present." Approved as amended.	OBSERVATION
0:03:21	Citizens' comments: masks	Demers: "I'm hearing that there's a discussion about bringing masks back to school this year"; the process "should be more public"; "I felt like last year we didn't have an awful lot of public input on what was going on." Chair at 0:05:05: "we know the difference between a recommendation and a requirement now" and "we're going to approach it in a thoughtful and open way as we can."
0:05:51	Superintendent's report: packet and data	"I did present the board with a packet, I believe, 6 or 7 days ago" and "send the board a new packet this morning based on, on kind of a spike". Summer programs: about "250, 270 students" and "125 support staff" with "No incidence of spread infection." Matrix changes at 0:13:50: 14-day measurement period, cohort replaced by seating plans for contact tracing, and a proposed bar on spectators that the superintendent said he did not personally support.	OBSERVATION
0:20:12	Spectators; endemic outlook	Horsky: "I don't agree with the not allowing spectrum spectators to indoor sports". Chair: "I would love to see our vaccination rates go up in Claremont. We're one of the lowest in the state." Whitney at 0:22:10: "It's moving more towards an endemic and less as a pandemic."
0:40:15	Staff vaccination records	Asked why Maple Avenue figures were incomplete, the nurse leader: "this was just an off the cuff kind of thing that I started doing"; staff "came back with their cards" and copies are kept "in a locked cabinet, you know, in my office."
0:42:49	Incentive idea; whose money	Superintendent: incentives from about "$6 million outside of this", perhaps "$30,000 or something like that", and "that's not taxpayer money". Horsky at 0:43:52: "I think we need to be very careful when we say it's not taxpayer money, it's not local taxpayer money. It's from the federal level."	OBSERVATION
0:55:19	VLACS and adequacy aid	Chair: the October 1 count "is what our, aid from the state is based on our adequacy grant"; each student enrolled full-time elsewhere is "about $4,300, probably" off the district's books.
0:57:21	Elementary handbooks approved	New and interim elementary principals introduced ("Nicole Bailey who was at Maple" and "Christine Baker"); "There were no substantial changes as such." Horsky moved at 1:00:18; Whitney seconded; approved.
1:00:45	Middle school handbook approved	Romeo: moving to a digital handbook, but "We still will print probably 75 copies". Horsky moved at 1:01:48; "Seconded by Nick Stone." Approved.
1:02:44	Stevens handbook: grading, community service	Gordon: junior privileges now need 12 community-service hours instead of 24, seniors 24 instead of 36, and this "does not change our graduation requirement of 48 community service hours." Chair at 1:05:04: "I didn't see a plan for how transcripts would be managed with the blending of the old grading system in the new."
1:12:19	Discipline staffing and the new discipline law	Whitney asked whether new roles relate to "the dismantling of the Owls program". Gordon: "There are some new discipline, sort of law coming down from the state". Chair at 1:17:30, reading a letter he attributes to the Commissioner of Education (`Frank Edwards` in the transcript): "your costs have increased 85%, while the number of students has declined 23%. During this time, you had a 14% increase in staffing." Horsky at 1:20:36 asked the policy committee to review the law ASAP. Nester at 1:23:02: "the law pushes teams to refer kids to special ed more often".
1:23:38	Stevens handbook tabled	Horsky: "I'm not prepared to make a motion to approve until we get the transcript piece." Gordon at 1:26:46 confirmed the addition: "a section inserted, with an explanation of how the transcripts will morph with this."
1:27:16	New assistant superintendent	Superintendent: "doctor Janeiro comes from us with extensive experience" and was a "unanimous choice of the committee." Janeiro: "I have worked in 30 years over my career in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts" and "our pass rate went from less than 50% to 90% the second year and 92% the third year."
1:38:27	Plan motion, spectators	Horsky: "I make a motion to a approve the proposed plan as of 818 2021." Debate over spectators, visitor definitions, state guidance and CDC recommendations. Horsky at 1:54:29: "I'm actually going to withdraw my motion at this time".
1:54:47	Spectator amendment: roll call	Lovett: "spectators will be permitted so long as masks are mandatory and social distancing is observed." No second is audible. Roll call from 1:55:36: Whitney yes, Horsky yes, Lambert yes, Lovett yes, Petrin not present, Stone no. The chair's own vote is not called and no result is announced; at 1:56:25 the chair asks "Okay. So now where are we?"	OBSERVATION POSITIVE
2:00:53	Counsel's advice on liability	Superintendent: "when we were consulting with our, our attorney" on following "prevailing guidance". Chair at 2:01:46: "if board members, through irresponsible actions. Create conditions where someone is harmed, then they can become personally liable."
2:10:35	Claremont-only rates proposed and withdrawn	Stone: "I'll make a motion to, change the matrix from seven county rates to Claremont rates." Whitney seconded "so we can have a discussion". Lambert: "It's going to keep us in substantial probably all school year." Stone withdrew at 2:16:52.
2:17:16	Matrix adopted: 4 yes, 1 no, 1 abstention	Lovett: "I make a motion that we accept the matrix as it was amended tonight." Roll call: Whitney yes, Horsky abstained ("I don't believe I have enough information to vote properly"), Lambert yes, Lovett yes, Petrin absent, Stone no, Sprague yes. Chair at 2:19:18: "Yes. One abstention and one no."	POSITIVE
2:21:09	Vaccination incentive plan	Superintendent: "gift cards for people upon completion of vaccination", starting "with students and staff internally"; CARES spending categories are due "on Monday"; "let's say everything fell out and we're on the hook for 20 grand, I think we could find that in a $38 million budget." Whitney at 2:32:55: "I think we have to be very careful about specifically targeting students."	OBSERVATION
2:37:42	$20,000 motion left without a vote	Chair: "I'm going to make a motion that we authorize the administration to encumber $20,000 to be reimbursed through CARES funds to, investigate and develop incentives for students in their families". Seconded. At 2:39:08 he recast it: "I want to make the motion to to implement this plan, give you permission to implement." Whitney at 2:39:57: "Why don't we make a motion to have Mike present us with a plan"; chair: "We don't need a motion for that." Superintendent: "You'll have our plan for the next meeting." Horsky at 2:40:21: "I still have a very big problem with incentivizing."	OBSERVATION
2:41:53	Nominations: CARES-funded roles; a position conversion	Chair asked whether any listed positions are CARES-funded; superintendent: two partial positions, a nurse-leader stipend and a billing coordinator, "Nothing at all else on here is Covid related." The chair questioned a high school social studies position that went from part-time to full-time: "we've taken a 0.3, turned it into full time with benefits." Superintendent at 2:45:29: "I mean, I we shouldn't really talk about this."	OBSERVATION
2:48:53	Nominations approved by roll call	Horsky moved "to accept the nomination of everybody on this list"; Stone seconded. Roll call: Whitney, Horsky, Lambert, Lovett and Stone yes; Petrin absent (transcribed `Absolute.`); a No. from the chair's voice at 2:50:51.	OBSERVATION POSITIVE
2:51:12	Elementary restructuring	Superintendent: community meetings scheduled "September 1st" and October, then budget work in November. Pre-K would be folded into an elementary school: "the pre-K was a remnant of the tech program".
2:59:41	Next-meeting items; adjournment	Chair asked for an email summary of the discipline changes, the assistant superintendent's entry plan, "A truncated list of nominations next time" and a COVID-19 update; Whitney to report on superintendent evaluation. Adjourned at 3:02:01; chair: "Sorry it was so late."

Items flagged for review

Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on August 18, 2021. Each flag cites the text as it then read. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. 5 flags follow, ordered by severity.

OBSERVATION The spectator-masking amendment went to a roll call with no audible second, the chair's vote uncalled, and no result announced

At 1:54:47 Lovett moved that under substantial spread spectators "will be permitted so long as masks are mandatory and social distancing is observed." No second is audible before the chair calls for the roll at 1:55:10. The clerk polls Whitney, Horsky, Lambert, Lovett, Petrin (absent) and Stone, whose answers are four yes and one no; the chair is not polled, and no result is announced before he asks "Okay. So now where are we?". On the six members present the amendment passes whatever the chair's vote, and the final motion at 2:17:16 treats the matrix "as it was amended tonight", so the outcome is not in doubt.

What is in doubt is the record. RSA 91-A:2, II, as in force in 2021, required the minutes to record "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion" along with final decisions. If there was no second, the minutes cannot supply one; if there was one, the recording does not show who. The minutes, which are not available online, would settle it.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, so the text in force in 2021).

OBSERVATION A seconded motion to authorize up to $20,000 for vaccination incentives was never put to a vote or formally withdrawn

At 2:37:42 the chair moved to authorize the administration "to encumber $20,000 to be reimbursed through CARES funds" to develop vaccination incentives, and it was seconded. At 2:39:08 he broadened it to permission "to implement"; members questioned giving the administration, in Lovett's words, "free rein"; and at 2:39:57 the discussion ended with an informal directive that the administration bring a plan, the chair saying "We don't need a motion for that." The motion on the floor was not voted, and no withdrawal is heard. On September 1 the administration recommended dropping the idea and the board voted to table it (September 1, 2021 page), so no money was authorized.

No statute governs the disposal of a motion; the board's parliamentary rules, which are not available online for 2021, would. The practical point is that the minutes for August 18 must say something about a seconded motion to encumber money, and the recording gives them nothing to record. The superintendent's statement that CARES money is "not taxpayer money" was corrected on the spot by Horsky (federal, not local, taxpayer money); both are characterizations, not verified here.

Sources: No statute verified; the reference is the board's own parliamentary practice. RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, so the text in force in 2021) (final decisions and motions to be recorded in minutes).

OBSERVATION A part-time high school position became full-time with benefits before the board's vote on the nominations list; the record does not show when the contract was made

During the nominations item the chair objected that a social studies position had gone from a 0.3 assignment to a full-time position "with benefits" (2:47:44) while enrollment falls, and at 2:45:11 said, as transcribed, "we can't withdraw the contract". The superintendent explained the change as a merger of two part-time roles and ended the individual discussion in public: "I mean, I we shouldn't really talk about this." The board then approved the whole list by roll call, the chair voting no as the record reads (2:50:51).

RSA 189:39 provides that "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers". If a contract for this position was signed before the board's vote, the board's election came after the fact; if the chair meant only that the board could not undo an existing employee's assignment, there is no issue. The transcript is too garbled to tell which, and no personnel record is public. The superintendent's restraint in not discussing an identifiable employee's situation in open session is consistent with the purpose of the nonpublic exemption for matters affecting a person's reputation, although no exemption was invoked or needed here.

Sources: RSA 189:39 (superintendent nominates, board elects teachers; 1971, 371:2, never amended).

OBSERVATION No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting are posted online; the recording shows two packets and a correction to the previous minutes

MAP.md records that neither district Drive share holds a year folder older than 2022 and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (checked 9/26/26). That is a limit of what the district posts online, not by itself evidence that records were never made. The superintendent refers to a packet sent "6 or 7 days ago" and "a new packet this morning" (0:05:51, 0:07:09), and the board amends its August 4 minutes at 0:02:32 because they had recorded Lovett voting when he was not present. That correction bears on the August 4 page, where the dialogue file's attribution report lists him present. The limb of the project's missing-records rule applied is the online-availability observation.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, so the text in force in 2021); Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 149.

POSITIVE Contested decisions were taken by roll call, and an abstaining member gave his reason on the record

The board used roll-call votes for the spectator amendment (1:55:36), the adopted matrix (2:18:09) and the nominations list (2:49:13), so each present member's position on the most debated questions is in the recording. At 2:18:30 Horsky explained his abstention: "I don't believe I have enough information to vote properly." No statute required a roll call at an in-person meeting in 2021; it is a practice beyond the minimum. The chair also answered a citizen's comment in substance rather than letting it pass, and Stone withdrew his local-rates motion after the board worked through its effect in public rather than forcing a vote.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, so the text in force in 2021).

Appendix: source files

Official and public sources

Cablecast show 11825, "School Board live on 8/18/21": 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, packet, matrix document, handbook, nominations list or minutes were located.
Related pages: August 4, 2021 (reopening plan; incentive idea first raised) and September 1, 2021 (matrix amended; incentives tabled).

Project files

Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.

Dialogue/11825 SchoolBoard081821.mp4.CSV (1,021 attributed rows; the basis of this page)
Input/Videos/11825 SchoolBoard081821.mp4
Input/Transcripts/11825 SchoolBoard081821.mp4.json
Scripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/11825 SchoolBoard081821.mp4.md
Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 149

Laws and rules cited on this page

New Hampshire statutes, as in force on August 18, 2021. RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1, so the text in force in 2021) (notice and minutes, including mover and seconder). RSA 189:39 (superintendent nominates, board elects teachers; 1971, 371:2, never amended).