Claremont School Board — August 17, 2022

Regular meeting summary generated from the meeting recording, the posted agenda and the district's minutes. The board heard the new curriculum team's plan for district-wide baseline assessments, elected a slate of new staff, tabled the student handbooks to a special meeting a week later because members had not had time to read them, declared a local critical shortage for a library media specialist, and heard a resident's questions about audits that the board itself had not seen. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.

Body
Claremont School Board (SAU 6)
Date
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Start time
6:30 p.m. scheduled (agenda). The minutes record the call to order at 6:30 p.m. and adjournment at 8:15 p.m. On the recording the chair calls the meeting to order at 0:02:59 and the vote to adjourn follows the motion at 1:39:13, about 1 hour 36 minutes later, which puts adjournment near 8:06 p.m. if the gavel fell at 6:30. The minutes' 8:15 p.m. is the agenda's scheduled time for closing activities. No nonpublic session.
Location
Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center, Claremont NH (per the agenda and the minutes; audio broadcast on CCTV Channel 8)
Recording
Cablecast: Claremont School Board Meeting of 8/17/22 (the dialogue file runs to 1:39:29; the recording opens with about three minutes of pre-meeting conversation and ends on the adjournment vote)
Minutes
CSB minutes 8.17.22.pdf, "submitted by Melissa Small", filed in the packet folder for the August 24, 2022 special meeting (Drive created time August 25, 2022, 9:00 a.m. Eastern). See flag 2 on their accuracy.
Board composition
Seven members: Chair Michael Petrin, Vice Chair Heather Whitney, Steven Horsky, Joshua Lambert, Bonnie Miles, Frank Sprague and Whitney Skillen (agenda masthead). Six present; Skillen absent (minutes; the chair says "Unfortunately, she's not here" at 1:32:08). The elected school district clerk's office was vacant; the SAU administrative assistant took the minutes.

Participants

Everyone in the record. Names follow the agenda and minutes; the dialogue file's labels are used for who said what, and where the dialogue file says Unidentified, so does this page. 209 of 694 dialogue rows (30.1%) are unidentified, mostly because the diarizer merged the female board voices.
NameRoleParticipation
Michael PetrinChairPresided. Added two agenda items (local critical staffing shortage; a New Hampshire School Board Association delegate, vacant since Carolyn Towle, rendered "Carolyn Toll"). Answered the agenda question: "It is. It's on the website." offered his view of why the guidance counselor was placed at the middle school; asked whether the board wanted new policies routed through the policy subcommittee; said he would not be available for the following Wednesday.
Heather WhitneyVice ChairAsked to add committee chairs and meeting dates to the agenda; moved approval of the July 20 minutes and thanked the secretary for "wonderful minutes". Told the citizen commenter the board had not received the auditors' paper report: "No, we just knew that we were on schedule as of last meeting." Asked the curriculum team about horizontal alignment. The minutes also give her the capital-improvement citizen request and the concern about a job posting with spelling errors; the dialogue file leaves those later segments Unidentified because her voice cannot be separated from Bonnie Miles's.
Steven HorskyBoard memberAdded the Claremont Savings Bank donation to the agenda. Called a point of order during citizens' comments. Moved the staff nominations and amended the motion to add Heather Pelkey; moved to table the handbooks; moved the critical-shortage approval; nominated Frank Sprague as NHSBA delegate; argued the clerk vacancy is filled by the board because "it is an elected position"; moved to adjourn. Spoke at length on the policy backlog: "We're just extremely overdue."
Frank SpragueBoard memberMoved approval of the amended agenda. Questioned the curriculum team on state data ("the Zillow effect"), science release items and pacing. Asked for a summary of handbook changes. Reported for the tech-center visioning committee with Bonnie Miles. Noticed that the agenda he had was a newer version than the one he had printed. Volunteered as NHSBA alternate. Seconded the nominations amendment.
Bonnie MilesBoard memberGave the visioning committee report ("usually about 12 to 15 members who attend"); announced that the state's career and technical education director would speak at the next meeting. Identified by the handoff "Bonnie's taking the lead on it" at 1:00:23.
Joshua LambertBoard memberSeconded the agenda, the July 20 minutes and the adjournment (named by the chair each time). The dialogue file attributes a few policy-subcommittee remarks to him with low-to-medium confidence.
Whitney SkillenBoard memberAbsent (minutes). Suggested in her absence as NHSBA delegate; the decision was pushed to the August 24 meeting.
Michael TempestaSuperintendent, SAU 6Superintendent's report: principals' academy, safety planning with the new police chief, restructuring and scheduling committees, COVID guidance ("there is no set guidance for reopening plans"). Presented the nomination list; said three positions were ESSER funded; apologized for the late handbooks; recommended the library media critical shortage under RSA 189:39-a.
Michael KoskiAssistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, Innovation & Assessment (agenda)Presented the curriculum plan: universal assessments for a baseline, common assessments, pilots of national curricula. Introduced by the superintendent as "Mr. Costa", a known garble. Identification medium-high.
Richard SeamanAssistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources (agenda)Said the 2020 audits of "the three entities" were on the auditors' schedule; distinguished unspent ESSER money from unreimbursed spending; promised a grant update.
Dr. Heather PelkeyK-12 Math Curriculum Specialist (minutes)Introduced; brief thanks. Added to the nomination slate by amendment.
Melissa SmallSAU 6 administrative assistant; recording secretaryCalled the roll; submitted the minutes. Asked on the record by Horsky whether she would consider the clerk vacancy; answered "Think about it." Identification medium.
Matt UptonDistrict counsel, Drummond Woodsum (identification medium)Heard before the gavel explaining remote participation: members must be heard "Contemporaneously" and "you have to have a majority, a quorum. Present." The identification rests on a single "Thank you. Matt." and on the superintendent's later "we did consult with Matt".
Candace CrawfordCitizens' comments, Ward 2Introduced herself as "Candy Crawford, board two" [ward two]; the minutes say "Candy Crawford". Asked when the agenda is posted, where the audits stand and whether the auditors report to the board, about roughly $1 million in ESSER reimbursements, about the counselor position voters supported at the deliberative session, and for the 2022 graduation rate.
Hannah PetrinStudent representative (agenda)Not present: the chair says "our student rep is not here"; minutes: "Student Representative Report - none this evening".
UnidentifiedBoard members and staffSeveral substantive turns cannot be assigned: the question whether handbooks had to be approved that night, the request that agenda materials go out "seven days before the meeting", the reading of the policy-adoption rule, the Perkins-money question and the job-posting complaint. The minutes resolve two of them to Heather Whitney (see her row).

Agenda

From the posted Claremont School Board Agenda 8.17.22, with dispositions from the recording and the minutes. Agenda and minutes wording is quoted as such. The floor amendments added items 3A, 5 and 6.

Taken upItemAgenda text / disposition
0:02:59I. Call to Order and PledgeAgenda: "6:30PM Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance". Called to order by the chair.
0:03:38II. Roll callMinutes: "Present: Joshua Lambert, Bonnie Miles, Michael Petrin, Heather Whitney, Steven Horsky, Frank Sprague, absent- Whitney Skillen".
0:03:54II. Agenda: amendments and approvalAdded: item 5, local critical staffing shortage; item 6, NHSBA delegate; item 3A, Claremont Savings Bank donation of $1,000. Whitney's request for committee chairs and meeting dates was folded into committee reports. Sprague moved, Lambert seconded; carried by voice vote.
0:05:46II. Minutes approval: July 20, 2022Whitney moved, Lambert seconded; carried. Minutes: "all in favor via voice vote with Frank Sprague and Steven Horsky abstaining" (the abstentions are not audible on the recording).
0:06:31II. Citizens CommentsCandace Crawford (Ward 2). Closed at 0:16:37.
0:16:37II. Student Representative ReportNone; the student representative was absent.
0:16:56III. Superintendent ReportPrincipals' academy, new curriculum specialist, safety planning, restructuring and scheduling committees, curriculum plan (Koski), COVID guidance.
0:43:22IV.1 Staff NominationsHorsky moved the list by name; amended to add Heather Pelkey, Sprague seconding the amendment. Amendment and main motion carried by voice vote.
0:52:04IV.2 School Handbook approvalsTabled on Horsky's motion to a short special meeting the following Wednesday (August 24), with changes to reach members by Friday; minutes name Heather Whitney as seconder; carried.
0:57:35IV.3 Crown Point Cabinetry Donation; $2,500.00A basketball rebounding and feeding machine for Stevens High School. Acknowledged with thanks; the superintendent said "It's under 5000" and no vote was taken.
0:58:53IV.3A Claremont Savings Bank donation (floor addition)$1,000 toward the Back to School festival, Saturday August 27. Acknowledged; no vote.
0:59:56IV.4 Report out from CommitteesTech visioning committee (Miles, Sprague); policy subcommittee (not yet met); budget subcommittee (not met; teachers' negotiation session August 31 at five); capital improvements (a citizen's request for reserve balances); the superintendent's curriculum, elementary restructuring and scheduling committees. Chairs deferred to the next meeting.
1:26:12IV.5 Local critical staffing shortage (floor addition)Library media specialist. Horsky moved approval under RSA 189:39-a; seconded by an unidentified member; carried by voice vote.
1:30:04IV.6 NHSBA delegate (floor addition)Horsky nominated Sprague; Sprague volunteered as alternate; Whitney Skillen suggested as delegate; decision pushed to the next meeting. No vote.
1:33:04V. Other BusinessSchool board clerk vacancy (interview fell through; to be reposted, to be revisited next month); a job posting with spelling errors.
1:39:03VI. Closing Activities / VII. AdjournmentHorsky moved to adjourn; Lambert seconded; carried. Agenda had scheduled "8:20PM Adjournment"; minutes record "Adjournment 8:15pm".

Discussion timeline

Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited row. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.

TimeTopicWhat was saidFlags
0:01:32Before the gavel: remote participationCounsel (identified as Matt Upton): "So if the person wants to zoom in, you can." Members must "Just see them or at least hear them. Yeah. Contemporaneously. And they have to declare that they're on vacation and that where they're at. And anybody who's in the room with them." Then: "you have to have a majority, a quorum. Present."POSITIVE
0:03:54Agenda amendedChair: the NHSBA delegate "was Carolyn Toll [Towle]. And since then, we haven't had anybody." Horsky adds the $1,000 Claremont Savings Bank donation "in tonight's packet".
0:06:54Citizens' comments: when is the agenda posted?Crawford: "Is the agenda published before the school board meeting?" Chair: "It is. It's on the website. I, I don't know which day it goes up usually." Crawford: "I looked last night and it wasn't there last night." Unidentified: "It was there on Friday."OBSERVATION
0:07:51Citizens' comments: auditsSeaman: "Is 2020 on each of the three entities and still on schedule for the schedule that was provided by the auditors?" Asked whether the auditors report to the board, Whitney: No. Tempesta: "They haven't presented. Well, they haven't had a lot to present since, since we've been here with all the cleanup." Whitney, on whether members got the paper report: "No, we just knew that we were on schedule as of last meeting."MEDIUM
0:09:51Citizens' comments: ESSER reimbursementCrawford: "It was still about $1 million outstanding from 2019 2020 2021." Seaman: "there's a approximately $1 million on, on the s for funds that haven't been expended yet. So it's not a matter of not getting it back." "we have until September of 2023 for the SR two grant, until 2024 for the SR three." Crawford: in June he had told her "the $2 million was money that had already been spent". Grant update promised for the next meeting.
0:12:35Citizens' comments: the counselor the deliberative session supportedCrawford: voters "supported a full time counselor position at the tech center." Tempesta: "the guidance position wasn't for the tech center. It was put at the middle school". Horsky, calling a point of order: "we were waiting on legal counsel to answer the question as to whether how the money had to be spent directly by the line item or not, and it did not receive that answer. So I'm kind of shocked the positions filled at this point."OBSERVATION
0:16:11Citizens' comments: graduation rateCrawford asks for the 2022 Stevens graduation rate. Tempesta: "We're still working on that." Crawford: "Okay, I'll keep asking."
0:18:20New curriculum specialistTempesta introduces "Doctor Pelkey", who "just finished her her doctoral program in Stem leadership."
0:21:02Safety planning; restructuring committeeTwo meetings with the new police chief ("Wilmot"). Restructuring committee: "Ben Nester, Richard Seaman, in all the principles [principals] are on that," with staff, parents and community members.
0:25:53Curriculum plan (Koski)"we're going to start by trying to get some measurements across the entire district, what are called universal assessments. So we have a baseline." Horsky: "it's been a long time coming. But we've been looking for a plan. And I finally see one." Sprague on "the Zillow effect"; science release items; coaching on pacing. Whitney on horizontal alignment.
0:38:59COVID guidance for the fall"there is no set guidance for reopening plans." The matrix is "not in play for, for the fall." County figure: "49 new reported cases for every 100,000". "We don't expect it to change."
0:43:22Staff nominations"approximately 5 or 6 teaching positions still open throughout the district". Shortage areas: "special ed science and math". Horsky moves the list by name, then adds Pelkey. Asked which are funded, Tempesta: the curriculum specialists and the eighth-grade dean of students are ESSER; "Everyone else is replacement. Regular budget." Unidentified member: "So how will that work when the Esser funding goes away?"POSITIVE OBSERVATION
0:52:04Handbooks tabledUnidentified member: "I did not feel I had enough time to review the handbooks. I couldn't find it." Tempesta: "We tried to get that out on on Friday and we we had it on we we didn't get it out". Sprague: "an appendix that told us what the changes were rather than go through and just have to discover it." Horsky: "I don't feel it's right for us to issue something that we can't fully back". Tabled to Wednesday August 24.OBSERVATION
0:57:35DonationsCrown Point Cabinetry, $2,500, a rebounding "feeding machine for basketball"; Claremont Savings Bank, $1,000, Back to School festival.OBSERVATION
1:00:24Tech visioning committeeMiles: strategic plan, "Formal career pathways", collaboration with Newport; next speaker "Doctor Jeff Beard, who is the, Korea [career] and Technical education, the state director". Unidentified: was Perkins money discussed for consultants? Tempesta: "we did put the money in expressly for that for the visioning committee in terms of outreach."
1:04:53Two versions of the agendaSprague: the newer agenda has "policy discussion on this one and update on school board clerk position". Unidentified: "Can we somehow make a commitment to have the agenda and the supporting documents out seven days before the meeting? I think that is a policy that we actually have."OBSERVATION
1:08:45Policy subcommittee and the policy backlogAn unidentified member reads the adoption rule: "The the board may adopt, amend or repeal written policies at any meeting by a majority vote of board members and attendance, provided that notice of the proposed action was given at a previous board meeting". Horsky: "we are severely behind on several ones that are required by statute to be reviewed and amended". Sprague found a policy requiring new hires to the board "by April 15th".
1:18:55Budget and capital improvement subcommitteesBudget subcommittee has not met. Next teachers' negotiation session: "31st at five." Capital improvements: "I have had a private citizen ask for, balances and, identification of what was done with money in the past in a readable format".
1:21:10Who chairs committees; serial emailHorsky: the full board should elect chairs, to avoid "a situation" where "we've created a chain that could show a quorum accidentally". Chairs deferred to the next meeting.
1:26:20Local critical staffing shortageTempesta reads the statute ("RSA 189339 a" [RSA 189:39-a]); the Department of Education is notified within "30 days from determination". A library media specialist already in the district. Sprague: "they would still have to meet the basic criteria for a statement of eligibility." Tempesta spoke with "Steve Appleby today, who runs the Department of Credentialing". Approved.POSITIVE MEDIUM
1:30:04NHSBA delegateHorsky: "I nominate Frank Sprague." Sprague: "I will I will be an alternate, a volunteer to be the alternate." Chair: "let's for now push that to the next meeting."MEDIUM
1:33:04School board clerk vacancyInterviews "fell through". Horsky: "because it is an elected position, is that doesn't that fall under the preview that us as a school board would make a nominee?" Tempesta: "we did consult with Matt on this"; "it's the interim till the election." To be revisited next month.OBSERVATION
1:36:34A job posting with spelling errorsUnidentified member (the minutes say Heather Whitney): a posting "for our restorative justice position that had 22 grammar and spelling errors"; "we're struggling with our image right now". Tempesta: "We took it down immediately upon hearing that."
1:39:13AdjournmentHorsky moves to adjourn; Lambert seconds; carried.

Items flagged for review

Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the state and federal law in force on August 17, 2022, not today's text. 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. 10 flags follow, ordered by severity.

MEDIUM In August 2022 the district's FY2020 audits were still in progress, and the board had not seen the completed FY2019 audit report

Asked where the audits stood, the assistant superintendent for finance answered that "2020 on each of the three entities" was "still on schedule for the schedule that was provided by the auditors" (0:07:51); the vice chair added that "2019 was done". Asked whether members had received the auditors' paper report, she answered "No, we just knew that we were on schedule as of last meeting" (0:09:35), and the superintendent said the auditors "haven't presented" because of "all the cleanup" (0:08:45). The FY2020 fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, more than two years earlier.

For a district that expended $750,000 or more in federal awards in a fiscal year, the Uniform Guidance as it read in 2022 required a single audit, with the reporting package due "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." OMB Memorandum M-21-20 (March 19, 2021) let entities with fiscal year-ends through June 30, 2021 that had not yet filed "delay the completion and submission of the Single Audit reporting package...to six months beyond the normal due date." On that arithmetic the FY2020 package fell due by September 30, 2021 at the latest. This recording does not state the district's FY2020 federal expenditure, so the threshold is not established here; the ESSER reimbursements discussed the same night (about $1 million outstanding) show that federal money was flowing. Graded MEDIUM, not HIGH, because the threshold is not proven on this record and the finance officer described the work as on an agreed schedule. Separately from any federal rule, a board that has not read its own completed audit is a governance gap the resident put to it directly.

Sources: 2 CFR 200.501(a) (2022 edition: $750,000 threshold); 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (2022 edition: nine months); OMB M-21-20, Appendix 3, section IX (six-month extension, fiscal year-ends through June 30, 2021).

MEDIUM The minutes omit the seconder of the critical-shortage motion and misstate the NHSBA item

RSA 91-A:2, II, in force from January 1, 2019, requires that "The names of the members who made or seconded each motion shall be recorded in the minutes." The minutes record the RSA 189:39-a motion as "Steven Horsky made a motion to approve the 189:39a recommendation by Superintendent Tempesta; all in favor via voice vote", with no seconder; a second is heard on the recording at 1:29:50 from a member the dialogue file cannot identify. On the NHSBA item the minutes say "Steven Horsky has nominated Frank Sprague for the position to represent the Claremont School Board", which leaves out what the recording shows: Sprague offered to serve as alternate, Whitney Skillen was suggested as delegate, and the chair deferred the decision (1:32:20, 1:32:48). The minutes also record adjournment at 8:15 p.m. (the agenda's scheduled time for closing activities), where the recording puts it near 8:06 p.m. if the 6:30 call to order is right.

Mitigation: the minutes are otherwise detailed, record movers and seconders for every other motion, and were praised on the record for being "really readable and usable". Timeliness cannot be tested from Drive: the file was created on August 25, the sixth business day after the meeting, but Drive creation dates measure when a packet was assembled, not when minutes were written.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; mover/seconder sentence added by 2018, 244:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019); CSB minutes 8.17.22.pdf.

OBSERVATION Two agendas and late handbooks: members asked for materials seven days ahead

A resident could not find the agenda the night before; someone at the table said "It was there on Friday" (0:07:10). Drive confirms an agenda file created Friday August 12 and last modified Tuesday August 16. But Sprague found that the agenda in front of him differed from the one he had printed, adding "policy discussion" and an "update on school board clerk position" (1:04:53); the agenda now in the district's Drive folder carries neither item, so the public copy is not the version the board worked from. The student handbooks, which the superintendent said were meant to go out "on Friday", had not reached members, and the board tabled them to a special meeting (0:53:14). A member asked for "the agenda and the supporting documents out seven days before the meeting" and said board policy requires it (1:05:15).

RSA 91-A:2, II requires 24 hours' notice of the meeting, not a final agenda, and this page has not seen the board policy the member referred to; so no statutory lapse is shown. Recorded as an observation because the record shows the public and the board working from different documents.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification; notice); Claremont School Board Agenda 8.17.22 (1).pdf (Drive created August 12, 2022; modified August 16, 2022).

OBSERVATION A counselor the deliberative session discussed for the tech center was placed at the middle school before counsel answered the board's question

The resident said voters "supported a full time counselor position at the tech center" (0:12:35); the superintendent said it "wasn't for the tech center. It was put at the middle school", as a feeder into tech-center enrollment (0:12:54). Horsky said the board had been "waiting on legal counsel to answer the question as to whether how the money had to be spent directly by the line item or not, and it did not receive that answer", and was "kind of shocked the positions filled at this point" (0:15:28). This page has not seen the deliberative-session minutes or the warrant language, so it cannot say whether the position was a separate warrant article or a line within the operating budget, which is what decides how far the money could move. Recorded as an observation; the unanswered legal question is the point.

Sources: the recording at the cited times. No statute is cited because the warrant language was not reviewed.

OBSERVATION New hires on ESSER money, with no stated plan for when it ends

The superintendent identified the curriculum specialists and the eighth-grade dean of students as ESSER funded (0:47:05); a member asked "So how will that work when the Esser funding goes away?" (0:49:12) and how a teacher moved half-time into a dean role returns to full time "within the budget". The answers were partial and the superintendent offered to follow up. The finance officer gave the deadlines as "September of 2023 for the SR [ESSER] two grant, until 2024 for the SR three" (0:11:49). No rule is broken by funding positions from a time-limited grant; recorded because the recurring cost will fall on a later local budget.

Sources: the recording at the cited times (the ESSER dates are the finance officer's statement).

OBSERVATION The elected school district clerk's office was being filled through a job posting and interviews

The chair reported that interviews for the clerk position "fell through" and the superintendent said it would be reposted (1:33:04). Horsky asked whether, "because it is an elected position", the board should simply appoint a qualified resident, "like a school board vacancy" (1:33:46). The statute supports his framing: RSA 197:26 provides that "The school board shall fill vacancies occurring on the board, and in other district offices, except that of moderator, until the next annual meeting of the district." A posting and interview are not forbidden, but the appointment itself is the board's act, and the superintendent confirmed it runs only "till the election". The item was carried to the following month.

Sources: RSA 197:26 (vacancies; unamended since the 1942 revision).

OBSERVATION One of the two gifts was not on the posted agenda

As it read in 2022, RSA 198:20-b, III(b) provided that "For unanticipated funds in an amount less than $5,000, the school board shall post notice of the funds in the agenda and shall include notice in the minutes of the school board meeting", and that acceptance "shall be made in public session of any regular school board meeting." The $2,500 Crown Point Cabinetry gift was on the posted agenda; the $1,000 Claremont Savings Bank gift arrived "in tonight's packet" and was added by floor amendment (0:04:39). Both were acknowledged in public session and both appear, with amounts, in the minutes. The chair and superintendent treated the $5,000 figure as meaning no action was needed ("It's under 5000"); the statute's smaller-gift route still carries the agenda-notice step. This page has not verified that Claremont voters adopted the paragraph I authority the section rests on.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III (2022 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1; the threshold was raised in 2023).

POSITIVE The critical-shortage determination followed the statute's structure, on the record

RSA 189:39-a lets "a superintendent, with the approval of the local school board," determine a critical staffing shortage in a specific teaching area, with the Department of Education notified "within 30 days of such determination." The superintendent read the provision aloud, explained why the library media position qualified, said he had spoken with the department's credentialing office and would send the letter on the vote, and the board approved by motion (1:26:20 to 1:30:04). Sprague put the eligibility condition on the record before voting. The section has been unamended since 2002.

Sources: RSA 189:39-a (critical staffing shortages; 2002, 117:1, eff. July 2, 2002).

POSITIVE New staff were elected by the board by name, and members asked which positions were grant funded

RSA 189:39 provides that superintendents nominate and school boards elect all teachers. The superintendent presented the list; a member moved it by reading every name into the record, amended it on the floor to add a nominee he had skipped, and the board voted the amendment and the main motion separately (0:45:32, 0:51:10). Before voting, a member asked "which of these nominations are funded", which drew the ESSER disclosure in flag 5.

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

POSITIVE Counsel was consulted on remote participation before the meeting

Before the gavel, counsel explained that a member may join remotely if members can hear the person "Contemporaneously", the person states where they are and who is with them, and a quorum is physically present (0:01:32 to 0:02:30). RSA 91-A:2, III as it read in 2022 set those conditions: a quorum physically present, each member able to hear and speak to the others simultaneously, and the remote member identifying anyone present with them. One nuance: counsel paraphrased the trigger as "anytime somebody can't make it", while the statute allows remote participation only when attendance "is not reasonably practical" and requires the reason to be stated in the minutes. No member attended remotely on August 17.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III (2022 codification; source note ends 2018, 244:1).

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