Participants
Everyone in the record. Names follow the dialogue file; where the file says Unidentified, this table says unidentified, and any name the draft minutes suggest is given as the minutes' account, not as an identification. Spellings in brackets are the district's documents.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Tracy Pope | School District Moderator | Presided throughout. Read the rules of procedure, explained that she had missed the February 9, 2022 deliberative session after breaking her leg ("On February 7th of this year. I fell and I broke my leg"), and caught that the February 1, 2021 minutes had never been approved. The rules sheet in the packet is headed "Tracy Pope, Moderator", which settles the surname the dialogue file had carried as uncertain for 2022. |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Introduced the administration at 0:02:02. No other attributed speech. |
| Heather Whitney | Vice Chair, Claremont School Board | Introduced the board members (her words are inside a moderator segment the dialogue file could not split). No row is attributed to her. The draft minutes record her speaking in favor of the article as written, asking whether the amendment would stop the district from spending on reading and language arts only, moving the February 1, 2021 minutes, and moving the question. |
| Joshua Lambert | Board member; co-chair, Curriculum Subcommittee | Amended the February 9, 2022 deliberative minutes to record that he and Rob Lovett were present, and moved them. Read the warrant article and spoke for it at 0:10:07: "I'm the only parent educator serving on the school board, having recently taken on the role of classroom teacher." Opposed amending it: "The Warren article as written is exactly how it should be." |
| Steven Horsky | Board member | Introduced (heard as Steven Frank Sprague). No attributed speech. The draft minutes record him seconding both sets of minutes and the motion to move the question. |
| Frank Sprague | Board member | Introduced. No attributed speech. The draft minutes record him speaking in favor of amending the article. |
| Bonnie Miles | Board member | Led the pledge (the moderator's request comes through as one miles; the introduction as Bonnie Wise). |
| Whitney Skillen | Board member | Introduced (heard as Whitney skilling). No attributed speech. |
| Michael Petrin | Chair, Claremont School Board | Not introduced on tape and not listed among the board members in the draft minutes. The record points to his absence but does not say so. |
| Michael Koski | Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum | Walked the room through a spending spreadsheet at 0:14:20: two K–5 English language arts pilots, "Wit and Wisdom" and a program the transcript renders "a L a, which stands for Knowledge Language Arts" (the minutes: CKLA), with the grant to buy whichever wins, plus behavioral supports and teacher training. The moderator's recognition calls him Assistant Superintendent Richardson and Lambert calls him Cassidy and Mr. Cosby. |
| Richard Seaman | Assistant Superintendent for Finance (minutes: "Director of Finance") | Introduced. No attributed speech. The minutes also say the moderator recognized "Assistant Superintendent Richard Seaman" with Lambert; on tape the one presenting is Koski. |
| Matt Upton | District counsel (Drummond Woodsum) | Introduced. No row is attributed to him. The draft minutes record him answering Whitney's question ("he believes that this would be fine and the District would not be prohibited") and explaining that the Department of Education must approve the plan. |
| Ben Nester; Jeff Small | Director of Special Education; Director of Technology | Introduced. Small was thanked for coordinating the meeting's technology. |
| Chelsea Weatherford | Administrative assistant to the superintendent | Thanked for organizing and posting the notices; author of the draft minutes. |
| Joshua Nelson | Executive Director, CCTV | Thanked for filming the meeting for CCTV Channel 8 (name as given on tape and in the minutes; not otherwise verified). |
| David Putnam | Voter, Ward 2; proponent of the amendment | Presented the written amendment (recognized at 0:16:49). Spoke again at 0:29:10: the statute "requires ... You to submit a plan for approval", and money already budgeted for student achievement can be swapped for grant money only under a plan approved by the state. The dialogue file also attributes to him the answer at 0:26:34 ("this is why I was straight out of the statute"), by voice cluster only; the draft minutes give the answer to Whitney's question to Attorney Upton. |
| Unidentified speaker(s) | Voters and officials not named on tape | A speaker for the amendment at 0:24:20 ("I support the event"); a questioner at 0:25:50 asking "Whether or not this would be restrictive"; a speaker at 0:27:44 explaining that the amendment "does add science and technology"; a speaker at 0:31:07 cautioning that the state must approve the plan; a self-described "former school board member" at 0:32:59; and procedural voices at 0:13:22. The draft minutes name Gary Merchant (Ward 2) as seconder and supporter of the amendment, Heather Whitney as the questioner and Matt Upton as the explainer of state approval. The content lines up in places, but the dialogue file does not make those identifications and neither does this page. |
Agenda
From the posted 11.3.22 Agenda Special District Meeting, with dispositions from the recording and the draft minutes. Quoted agenda and minutes wording is marked as such. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:01:16 | I. Call to order; A. Pledge; B. Introductions; C. Rules of Procedure | Agenda: "Call to Order for the Special District Meeting", pledge, introductions of "Administration School Board and Officers", and "Rules of Procedure for the Special District Meeting". Minutes: called to order by Moderator Tracy Pope at 6:30 p.m.; Bonnie Miles led the pledge. Rules read from 0:03:36. |
| 0:05:52 | II.A. Minutes: February 9, 2022 Deliberative Session | Lambert moved an amendment adding that "Myself and Rob Lovett are not listed as being" present. Minutes: "Joshua Lambert made a Motion to Approve the Amended Deliberative Session Minutes, Seconded by Steven Horsky, all were in favor via voice vote." The February 9, 2022 minutes themselves record Rob Lovett moving Article 2 that night, which supports the correction. See flag 1. |
| 0:07:03 | II.B. Minutes: February 1, 2021 Virtual Deliberative Session | The moderator explained that the 2021 minutes "should have been approved at the February 9th, 2022 meeting and only the February 4th minute were approved." On tape the motion is in the moderator's segment ("I'll make a motion to approve the minutes from. February 1st, 2021"); the minutes record the motion as Heather Whitney's, seconded by Steven Horsky, voice vote. |
| 0:07:55 | III.A. Warrant Article 1, appropriation, pursuant to RSA 197:3-a | Warrant: "to raise and appropriate an additional FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO THOUSAND NINETY-FOUR DOLLARS AND ONE CENT ($482,094.01) ... for the purposes of improving student achievement, such sum to come from increases in the District's Adequate Education Grant (RSA 198:41) ... pursuant to Senate Bill 420, with no money to be raised from taxation." Lambert read it at 0:08:58; the motion to move the article came from the floor at 0:13:42. David Putnam's written amendment was taken up at 0:16:49. The motion to move the question carried at 0:34:29, the amendment carried on a voice vote at 0:34:55, and the article as amended carried on a voice vote at 0:35:24. No count was taken. |
| 0:35:52 | IV. Closing Activities | Moderator: "This concludes my speaking on behalf of myself and the school district. Thank you for your attendance tonight." Minutes: "There being no further business to discuss, the Moderator adjourned the meeting." |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, 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 |
|---|
| 0:01:16 | Opening and introductions | "And I'll give you the November 3rd special district meeting." Pledge led by Miles. Tempesta introduced "Business and finance director Richard Seaman, an attorney for the district. Matt Upton, Ben Nestor [Nester], our special editor [education] director. And Jeff Small, our technology director." Whitney introduced the board: "Joshua Lambert, Steven Frank Sprague, Whitney skilling [Skillen], and Bonnie Wise [Miles]". Thanks to CCTV's executive director and to Chelsea Weatherford. | |
| 0:03:36 | Rules of procedure | "Proponents of an article will speak first and will be given five minutes to speak." Two minutes per speaker on a timer; speakers stand, are recognized, sign the sheet at the podium with name and ward; "Amendments us be in writing"; a second turn only after everyone has spoken. The printed sheet says more than she read, including that "Amendments, if carried, will be placed on the ballot in lieu of the original Warrant Article." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:05:27 | Moderator's absence in February; 2022 deliberative minutes | "I had the deliberative session was held two days later and I was not able to attend". Thanks to the person who "stepped in and acted as moderator" (the name is lost on tape; the minutes: Charlene Lovett). Lambert: "We're not listed as being present at the delivery of session for both of us. Were there?" Minutes approved as amended by voice vote at 0:06:57. | MEDIUM |
| 0:07:03 | 2021 deliberative minutes, never approved | "there were two deliberative sessions" in 2021; only the February 4 minutes had been approved, "I think this was just an accident because both me minutes for included in the package". Approved by voice vote at 0:07:55. | MEDIUM |
| 0:08:58 | Warrant read; Lambert's case for the article as written | Read "that was accepted by the school board on October 19th, 2022", including the transcript's Harris 81973 and RSA 19738 for RSA 197:3-a and Senate Bill for 20 for SB 420. Then: "I trust that when they say they're going to use these funds for the purpose of the tributes to achieve as written in this one article, they were using funds for. Just that". And on amendments: "If you type it up too much, it might not work." | |
| 0:13:22 | How to proceed: not an SB 2 session | An unidentified voice: "We are not in the traditional several two [SB 2] type format. We're actually going to move and then use the move in separate vertical to open up to." Then "Maybe somebody needs to move the article in the second." An unidentified attendee: "I'd like to make a motion to move the article." Seconded. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:14:20 | How the money would be spent | Koski: "There was a spreadsheet on the back table." Two K–5 ELA pilots, "First is in the middle column, Wit and Wisdom", with the district to buy one of them "So we do not have to wait until next year to purchase that", plus supplementary literacy materials, "behavioral supports and behavioral trainings". "So we're focusing on the literacy portion". | |
| 0:16:49 | Putnam amendment | "The moderator recognizes David Putnam as presented in writing to me." The next 184 seconds of tape yield no other transcribed words, and the following segment ("I'm going to wait a minute until copies of amendment") is followed by another 205-second stretch with only "Anyone opposed to this amendment like to speak." The draft minutes give the amendment's full text, Gary Merchant's second, and Frank Sprague's support; none of it is on the transcript. | OBSERVATION OBSERVATION |
| 0:24:20 | A voice for the amendment | Unidentified: "In order to help them close the gap, we need the money that we normally would not be able to raise taxes." "So I support the event. I support the collaboration". | |
| 0:25:50 | Would the amendment restrict reading-only spending? | Unidentified: "I have a question related to. Whether or not this would be restrictive." If the plan targeted "reading or language arts only, would we be prohibited from doing so?" Answer at 0:26:34 (the dialogue file: Putnam): "this is why I was straight out of the statute. So I think it's fine." and "There is some level of flexibility, in what the plan does." The minutes give this answer to Attorney Upton. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:27:44 | Flexibility argument | Unidentified: "it does add science and technology, which is not part of the building [bill?]. So in a lot of ways, and then as Rick, it provides more flexibility to the school board and construction to go beyond language arts and mathematics." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:29:10 | Putnam: the plan is the control | "if if the plan is not approved by the state, they will inform you of that and give you advice on how you should be changing it." And: "if you already have a plan in place using money allocated by the voters and it's in your budget to improve student achievement, you can swap in the money from this fund and use the money you've already allocated towards another program". | |
| 0:31:07 | Caution: the state decides | Unidentified: "however, we spend this money, it's going to ultimately have to be." "Approved by the independent." "the reason why it was written vaguely to begin with, was because it was absolutely no information coming out of the Doe [DOE]". "The amendment doesn't change that." | |
| 0:32:59 | A former board member | After the moderator calls on someone the transcript renders "Mr. Blackman": "it's been my experience as a former school board member." "So if there are issues with the plan, they will provide you guidance and input and how to correct the plan." | |
| 0:33:51 | Votes | Motion to move the question, voice vote at 0:34:29. "We have a motion and a second to amend the motion with this added language and like to have a voice vote." Carried. Then "I'd like to have a voice vote. All those in favor of my article, as amended". Carried. Between the two a fragment reads "Have 65 on the ballot and presented", which the record does not explain. | |
| 0:35:52 | Close | "Thank you for your attendance tonight." The recording ends shortly after. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the state law in force on November 3, 2022. RSA 197:3-a has not been amended since 2013; RSA 198:40-f has been rewritten twice since this meeting, so its 2022 text is cited. 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. 5 flags follow, ordered by severity.
MEDIUM A meeting the statute confines to the warrant also approved two sets of old deliberative-session minutes
RSA 197:3-a lets a governing body call a special meeting to act on changes in state education aid, and its paragraph VII closes the door on everything else: the legislative body "shall not approve greater reductions than what is in the warrant, or reduce or rescind an appropriation not specified in the warrant, or act on any other business at the meeting." The agenda nonetheless carried "Approval of District Session Minutes" for February 9, 2022 and February 1, 2021, and the voters approved both, the first as amended from the floor (0:05:52 to 0:06:57; 0:07:03 to 0:07:55). The warrant itself lists only Article 1.
On the other side: approving minutes appropriates nothing and changes no vote, the item was on the posted agenda, and the moderator's reason is sensible record-keeping (the 2021 virtual session's minutes had been missed a year earlier; the 2022 minutes omitted two members who were present). Whether approving minutes is "business" in paragraph VII's sense has not been tested here. The flag is MEDIUM because the text is plain and the district had a regular deliberative session three months later (February 8, 2023) at which the same minutes could have been taken up without the question arising.
Sources: RSA 197:3-a, VII (no other business; source 2013, 197:1, eff. Sept. 7, 2013, unamended); agenda, item II; warrant.
OBSERVATION The printed rules described an SB 2 ballot meeting, not the single session the board had called
The warrant calls "a single session Special School District Meeting ... for the purpose of explanation, discussion, debate and voting", which is the option RSA 197:3-a, I gives an SB 2 district: to hold the meeting "in a single session for deliberating and voting, and without regard to the provisions of RSA 40:13." The rules sheet handed to voters was written for a deliberative session instead. It says "Claremont is an SB2 community", "Amendments, if carried, will be placed on the ballot in lieu of the original Warrant Article" and "Warrant Articles do not require a motion to be passed on to the voters. They are automatically presented as written, or amended by the voters present." None of that fits a meeting that votes on the spot. The meeting corrected course orally at 0:13:22: "We are not in the traditional several two [SB 2] type format. We're actually going to move", after which the article was moved and seconded from the floor.
A related inconsistency sits in the board's own paperwork: the October 5 and October 19 hearing agendas described the item as a "Special Town Meeting (RSA 197:3)". RSA 197:3 requires any special-meeting appropriation to be voted by ballot, with a turnout floor; RSA 197:3-a, VIII disapplies RSA 197 for meetings held under it. The warrant cites the right section (197:3-a), and the voice vote is consistent with it. No harm is apparent, but voters reading the rules sheet were told their amendment would go to a ballot that never existed.
Sources: RSA 197:3-a, I and VIII; RSA 197:3 (ballot requirement for special-meeting appropriations); 11.3.22 Rules of Procedure.
OBSERVATION The floor amendment rewrote the article's purpose and widened the statute's accountability subjects
Per the draft minutes, the adopted amendment added a paragraph requiring that the money "shall only be used as outlined in the plan approved by the Claremont School Board and submitted to the State of New Hampshire Department of Education", with an accountability component measuring "knowledge and skills in reading, language arts, science, technology, and/or mathematics", and an annual progress report to the department and the board (minutes' wording). Putnam said the language came "straight out of the statute" (0:26:34, per the dialogue file). The statute as it read in 2022 is close but narrower: the plan's accountability component must measure "knowledge and skills in reading and language arts and/or mathematics". Science and technology are the amendment's own addition, which is exactly what the speaker at 0:27:44 defended ("it does add science and technology").
Two points for a reviewer. First, RSA 197:3-a, VII tells the voters what they may do with a proposed increase ("approve or disapprove"); it does not address amending an article's purpose language, and no one at the meeting, including district counsel, raised it. Second, the amendment adds a board-approval and board-reporting layer the statute does not require, which is a strengthening of local oversight rather than a conflict, and the grant still required the department's review of the plan. This is recorded as an observation because no verified rule bars either point.
Sources: RSA 198:40-f, II (2022 codification; enacted by 2022 N.H. Laws ch. 318 (SB 420), approved July 1, 2022, eff. July 1, 2022; since amended by 2023, 79:153-154 and 2025, 141:224); RSA 197:3-a, VII; draft 11.3.22 minutes (amendment text).
OBSERVATION The amendment's presentation is almost absent from the transcript, and the minutes reached the public share three months later
Two dialogue rows beginning at 0:16:49 and 0:20:55 span 184 and 205 seconds yet carry one sentence each. Those six and a half minutes are when, per the draft minutes, Putnam moved the amendment, Gary Merchant seconded it, Frank Sprague and Heather Whitney spoke, and copies were handed out. Whether the audio is silent, off-microphone or simply not recognized cannot be told from the transcript; the recording itself is the place to check. Several later speakers are also unnamed on tape, and three of them match, in content, people the minutes name (see the participants table). The minutes are therefore the only account of who seconded and who spoke.
The draft minutes first appear in the district's public Drive share on February 6, 2023, in the packet for the February 8 deliberative session, 95 days after the meeting. A Drive created time dates when the public share received a file, not when it was written. District-meeting minutes before July 2022 are generally not online at all, so this is an observation about online availability rather than evidence that minutes were not kept on time. They record movers and seconders for each vote, as RSA 91-A:2, II requires of minutes generally.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification: minutes, movers and seconders, five business days); draft 11.3.22 Special District Minutes.
POSITIVE The hearing and notice sequence RSA 197:3-a requires was met, with a margin
Paragraph IV requires a public hearing on the proposed increase "at least 14 days prior to the meeting", with notice of the hearing posted "at least 7 days prior to the hearing"; paragraph V requires notice of the meeting, including the warrant, "at least 7 days prior to the meeting". The board held its hearing on October 19, 2022, fifteen days before November 3 (and an earlier hearing on a different draft on October 5). The October 19 hearing notice was placed in the district's public share on October 12, seven days ahead; the November 3 notice and the signed warrant went into the share on October 21, thirteen days ahead. The October 19 notice still gave the meeting date as October 27, a date later changed. Drive timestamps show only when the files reached the share, and the statute also requires a second physical posting and newspaper notice, which this page cannot check. The meeting was televised on CCTV Channel 8, and the board and administration introduced themselves by name and role, which made a short meeting easy to follow.
Sources: RSA 197:3-a, IV and V; CSB Meeting Notice 10.19.22; CSB Special District Meeting Notice 11.3.22.
Appendix — source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 14693, "Claremont School Board Special Meeting 11/3/22": Claremont Community TV. Runs 0:36:28. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- Drive packet folder "8. CSB Special District Meeting 11.3.22": 6 documents, listed below by their exact Drive names.
Warrant-Claremont School Board Special District Meeting 11.3.22: the signed warrant, one article, "GIVEN UNDER OUR HANDS AND SEAL AT SAID Claremont this the 19th day of October 2022", with signatures dated October 20 and 21.CSB Special District Meeting Notice 11.3.22: public notice; location and broadcast links.11.3.22 Agenda Special District Meeting11.3.22 Rules of Procedure: headed "Tracy Pope, Moderator" (flag 2).2.9.22 District Meeting Minutes and 2.1.21 Minutes from Virtual District Meeting: the two sets approved at this meeting.- Minutes of this meeting:
draft 11.3.22 Special District Minutes, filed in the packet folder 5. CSB Deliberative Session 2.8.23.
- Related: the October 19, 2022 hearing and board vote that sent this article to the meeting, meeting page for October 19, 2022; and the October 5, 2022 hearing on the earlier three-article draft, meeting page for October 5, 2022.
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/14693 SchoolBoardSpecial110322.mp4.CSV (123 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/14693 SchoolBoardSpecial110322.mp4Input/Transcripts/14693 SchoolBoardSpecial110322.mp4.jsonInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 179
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes. RSA 197:3-a: special meeting for change in education funding; I (single session), IV (hearing 14 days before; hearing notice 7 days), V (meeting notice and warrant 7 days), VII (no other business), VIII (RSA 197 and other chapters disapplied); source 2013, 197:1, eff. Sept. 7, 2013. RSA 197:3: ballot requirement for appropriations at special meetings. RSA 198:40-f (2022 codification): extraordinary need grants; II (plan to the department, accountability component, annual progress report). RSA 91-A:2, II (2022 codification): minutes.
- Session law. 2022 N.H. Laws ch. 318 (SB 420), "establishing an extraordinary need grant for schools", approved July 1, 2022, eff. July 1, 2022 (bill status; its section 1 is RSA 198:40-f as cited above).