Participants
Everyone in the record. Board attendance and speaker spellings come from the approved minutes and agenda; where the recording and the minutes disagree on a name, both are given (flag 8). Row counts are from the dialogue file (334 rows).
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Heather Whitney | Board chair; Finance Committee member | 93 rows. Presided; read the citizens’-comment policy; asked for the consensus that let middle-school staff speak before their item (0:09:12); questioned the attorney on thresholds (0:37:39) and a city workforce grant (0:38:59); per the minutes, moved the return from nonpublic and seconded the 50-year seal and the paraprofessional ratification. |
| Frank Sprague | Vice chair; Finance Committee chair; board representative on the custodial and maintenance negotiating team | 35 rows. Moved nonpublic entry, the seal, the paraprofessional ratification, the calendar and the budget (1:05:15); presented the CAMCE agreement (0:44:34) and the Finance Committee report (1:00:20); abstained on the secretaries’ contract per the minutes. |
| Candace Crawford | Board member; Finance Committee member | 21 rows. Questioned whether the paraprofessional negotiation was complete (0:01:45) and whether the board was ratifying a proposal (0:53:22); moved both the CAMCE and CAS ratifications per the minutes; said twice that her budget vote only moved it to hearing (1:04:01, 1:05:36). |
| Jennifer Gallagher | Board member | Present from 6:34 PM per the minutes, which record her as seconder of the nonpublic entry, both named ratifications, the calendar and the budget motion. Not identified as a speaker on the recording; the clerk’s roll reading of her name is rendered “Senator Gallagher? Yes.” (0:08:44). |
| Bonnie Miles | Board member | Present per the minutes, which list her among those voting for the CAS contract. No row is attributed to her. |
| Whitney Skillen | Board member | Absent per the minutes. |
| Arlene Hawkins | Board member | Absent per the minutes. |
| Noelle Kronberg | School board clerk | Took the roll-call votes and signed the minutes. Three rows survive transcription (0:07:57, 0:08:33, 0:08:44). |
| Michael Tempesta | Superintendent, SAU 6 | 29 rows. Asked to add the paraprofessional ratification (0:01:21); presented the CAS and paraprofessional agreements, including “an overall increase of 189,000 in the first” and an ESSER-funded bonus (0:52:12). |
| Mike Koski | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | 3 rows: the calendar swap of 16 and 23 January for the presidential primary (0:59:26). |
| Mary Henry | Business Administrator, SAU 6 | 9 rows, all on contract costs: the CAMCE tax impact, worked out live (0:47:32), and the CAS scale (0:49:51). Her monthly financial report was removed from the agenda. |
| Matthew Upton | Attorney for the board (labeled “Matt Upton” in the dialogue file) | 42 rows. Presented advice on non-CTE programs at the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center after research and calls with “Jeffrey Beard, who is the director of overseeing all the CT [CTE] programs in the state” (0:24:52). |
| Hope Damon | Citizens’ comments — State Representative, Sullivan District 8 | Previewed the 2024 session: HB 268 background checks, HB 601 Medicaid direct certification for free and reduced meals, and bills she co-sponsors (0:03:24). Rendered “Daimon” in the transcript. |
| Alex Hill | Citizens’ comments — Ward 3; Claremont Middle School teacher | Quantified instruction time lost under the proposed seven-period schedule (0:11:32). |
| Sarah Ferland | Citizens’ comments — Ward 3; CMS school counselor | “I have not spoken to one teacher who I have felt is in favor of this proposed schedule” (0:12:56). The minutes call her a CMS teacher; she describes herself as the school counselor. |
| Tom Smith | Citizens’ comments — CMS music teacher; unified arts team leader | Spoke for the staff’s “strong disagreement” (0:15:29). The minutes list him as “Tom Smith-Knox.” |
| Rebecca (surname not spoken) | Citizens’ comments — Ward 1; CMS sixth-grade science teacher | The longest comment; on the principal’s position and staff retention (0:16:46–0:18:57). She gave only “Rebecca, Ward one.” The minutes print “Rebecca Vendesco”; the dialogue file labels her “Rebecca Duska”; a February 2023 foundation letter to a CMS teacher uses “Vinduska.” This page prints no surname as fact. |
| Russ Fernald | Citizens’ comments — CMS civics teacher | Compared six 48-minute classes in Texas (0:19:40). Gives his name as Fernald on tape; the minutes print “Russ Ferland.” |
| Katie Smith Knox | Citizens’ comments — CMS sixth-grade ELA teacher | On staffing consistency (0:21:56). The minutes hyphenate the surname. |
| John Lambert | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 property owner; substitute teacher | Spoke in support of the technical center’s director and was told “We can’t speak to that” (0:23:29). The minutes: “Spoke in support of Alex Herzog.” |
| Unidentified | Unattributed rows | 53 rows: roll answers, the Pledge, room responses, and three that matter: the second to enter nonpublic (0:07:50), “I move to accept it. Second.” on the CAMCE contract, and a member’s question on paraprofessionals with higher-needs students (0:55:31). |
Named but not present: Frank Romeo, CMS principal, named by four of the middle-school speakers; Alex Herzog, technical center director; Chris Pratt, Stevens High School principal, author of the packet’s principal’s report (not taken up). Ben Nester, Jeff Small and Angela Vivian appear on the agenda masthead only.
Agenda
Items as posted in “_CSB Agenda 12.20.23.docx (6).pdf” (the agenda’s own numbering skips III), with the time each was taken up and its disposition from the recording and the approved minutes. Quotations in the third column that are agenda or minutes text are attributed.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:02 | I. Call to order and Pledge | Scheduled 6:30 PM. Whitney: “Sorry for the delay here, folks.” |
| 0:00:34 | II. Roll call | The names are not in the transcription; only “This is.” and three answers of Here survive. Minutes: “Present: Heather Whitney, Frank Sprague, Bonnie Miles, Candace Crawford, Jennifer Gallagher (6:34PM) Absent: Whitney Skillen, Arlene Hawkins.” |
| 0:00:55 | II. Consent agenda: minutes of 12.6.23 | Agenda: “Consent Agenda (vote required)”. Whitney: “There’s been no request to amend the minutes.” No motion, second or vote. Minutes: “No corrections”. See flag 6. |
| 0:01:07 | II. Consent agenda: amendments and final approval of agenda | Paraprofessional ratification added by absence of objection after Crawford’s doubt: “So we have just approved adding a ratification of the Paraprofessional Collective Bargaining agreement to item two” (0:02:08). No motion or vote. See flag 6. |
| 0:02:24 | II. Citizens’ comments | Policy read in full; one speaker, Rep. Hope Damon. |
| Not reached | II. Student board members | Agenda: “Student Board Members-Nicole Bouchard and Alex Barney”. Minutes: “not present”. See flag 8. |
| 0:07:26 | IV.1 Nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II | The agenda quotes exemptions (a) and (c). Spoken motion: “under the gist of that” (0:07:46); roll call. Minutes: moved under “RSA 91-A:3,II(a,c)”, 6:39 to 9:08 PM; minutes sealed 50 years (0:08:50). See flag 4 and flag 5. |
| 0:09:12 | Public comment on a future agenda item (added by consensus) | Seven speakers on the proposed CMS schedule and one on the technical center director. Minutes: “Consensus to take public comment on future agenda item”. See flag 16. |
| 0:24:34 | IV.3 Non-CTE programs at SRVRTC (taken out of order) | Presentation by Matthew Upton, Esquire, about nineteen minutes; no motion. See flag 13 and flag 17. |
| 0:44:15 | IV.2 Ratification of CAS and CAMCE contracts; paraprofessional agreement added | CAMCE carried by voice vote at 0:48:49 (minutes: Crawford/Gallagher, “passes unanimously”). CAS carried at 0:50:48 (minutes: four in favor, Sprague abstaining). Paraprofessionals carried at 0:58:14 (minutes: Sprague/Whitney, “unanimously approved”). No tally announced on the recording. |
| 0:59:04 | IV.4 Monthly financial report | Removed by consent. Minutes: “Removed for the sake of time”. See flag 10. |
| 0:59:26 | IV.5 School calendar change | Swap of 16 and 23 January. Moved by Sprague; minutes: seconded by Gallagher, “unanimously approved”. See flag 14. |
| 1:00:20 | IV.6(b) Finance Subcommittee recommendations | Motion to move $36,313,407.97 to the 3 January hearing (1:05:15); carried at 1:05:59. Minutes record mover (Sprague), seconder (Gallagher) and “unanimously approved”, but no amount. See flag 2. |
| 0:59:10 | IV.6(a), (c)–(f) Other subcommittee reports | All bypassed “With the exception of finance.” Minutes: each “Removed for the sake of time”. |
| 1:06:26 | V. Other business; VI. Future dates; IX. Adjournment | Adjourned by consensus, no motion. Future dates in the minutes (hearing 1.3.24, ratification 1.17.24, deliberative session 2.3.24) are not spoken on the recording. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics from the dialogue file. Quotations are the transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction, and garbled wording stays visible where a correction changes the sense.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:55 | December 6 minutes pass without a vote | Whitney: “Minutes for approval for December 6th, 2023. Is there any request from the board?” Then: “There’s been no request to amend the minutes.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:01:21 | A third contract added over a member’s doubt | Tempesta: “One addition is the ratification also of the power [para]professional contract.” Crawford at 0:01:45: “I don’t think we were ready for the ratification.” Tempesta at 0:01:58: “Go to nonpublic. Will give the update.” Whitney at 0:02:08: “So we have just approved adding” the item. No vote was taken. | MEDIUM |
| 0:02:24 | The comment policy | “The floor is open to citizens comments on non-agenda items” … At 0:02:49: “The board will not hear personal personnel complaints regarding personal complaints regarding school personnel, or complaints against any person connected to the school system.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:03:24 | Rep. Damon on the 2024 session | “I’m Hope Daimon [Damon], state representative for Sullivan district eight.” HB 268 “would require nonpublic schools and education service providers if they accept public funds to perform background checks” (0:03:51); HB 601, “Medicaid direct certification for free and reduced meals” (0:04:16). The chair cut her off on time (0:07:26). | |
| 0:07:26 | Into nonpublic, “under the gist of that” | Whitney: “we are moving into nonpublic session for RSA 91. Dash a colon three comma two. Do you want me to read this completely out or we would.” Sprague at 0:07:46: “I make a motion that we move into nonpublic under the gist of that.” Second at 0:07:50; roll at 0:07:57. | MEDIUM |
| 0:08:23 | Out of nonpublic, 37 seconds later on tape | “I’d like to make a motion to Madam Public” (unidentified; the minutes name Whitney, seconded by Sprague). The minutes put 6:39 PM and 9:08 PM on these two motions. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:08:50 | Fifty years | Sprague: “I like to make a motion to seal the minutes for 50 years.” Whitney: Second. Four answers of Yes. No ground stated. | MEDIUM |
| 0:09:12 | Comments before the item, by consensus | Whitney: “We apologize for the long pause in the meeting” … “I’d like to ask the board for a consensus in allowing, comments from the public prior to the agenda item.” At 0:10:12 she invites people to stand in support: “we will take note of that support.” | POSITIVE |
| 0:10:41 | Alex Hill: instruction time | At 0:11:32: “that would go from a 55 minute class to a 45 minute class, and over the course of a one quarter” … “that is ten minutes times 45 days, which is 4450 minutes of instruction time lost.” | |
| 0:12:33 | Sarah Ferland: “the proverbial straw” | “this proposed schedule would be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back for a lot of the teachers at CMS.” At 0:13:40: “But the kids, unfortunately, they have to stay.” At 0:14:03: “There are no deans to deal with some of the behaviors that are going on. One less counselor.” | |
| 0:15:29 | Tom Smith for the unified arts team | “My colleagues and I are here this evening to express our strong disagreement concerning the proposed schedule and staffing changes at Claremont Middle School.” At 0:16:15: more workload “will lead to a decrease in staff morale and a decrease in retention.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:16:46 | Rebecca, Ward 1: the principal’s position | “So when he gets put in a position to have to come back to us to say this was not something that I chose, but there are positions on the line here.” At 0:18:30: “you have 11 teachers here now.” At 0:18:57: “You will lose. I would say at least half of your teachers right now.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:19:40 | Russ Fernald: 48-minute classes | “By [My] name is Russ Fernald.” “I was teaching last year six classes in high school, 48 minute classes. I can tell you that at the end of the school day, we were whipped.” At 0:20:16: “We actually talk about kids.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:21:56 | Katie Smith Knox: consistency | “the biggest problem that they faced is a lack of consistency in staffing.” At 0:22:36: “That consistency is going to just completely bottom out, fall through.” | |
| 0:23:29 | An endorsement interrupted | Lambert: “I’m here to express my support for Doctor Herzog’s as the director of the school. And I understand he’s coming to some, scrutiny.” Whitney at 0:23:47: “We can’t speak to that.” He finished with thanks. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:24:52 | Counsel on the CTE question | Upton: “I think there’s been a lot of confusion about what can and cannot be located here in the CTV [CTE] center.” At 0:26:26: “There is a statute that talks about once a CTE program is built it shall be used exclusively for CTE programing.” | POSITIVE |
| 0:27:28 | Vacant space and the impediment test | “But you can allow them to exist in what I would call vacant space.” At 0:28:29: “if it does create an impediment, then I think it probably is violative of the exclusivity requirement.” | |
| 0:28:48 | Grant risk | “you run the risk of creating the impression or the inference that there’s not the need for the space.” At 0:30:02: “If this becomes known as the building that houses all the special ed programs for the school district, is it still a CTE program or is it a special ed program?” | |
| 0:32:27 | State rules; Perkins V | “last year, the state doled out little over $6.5 million of Perkins five money.” At 0:32:52: “All the Perkins five money is is governed by a four year plan that’s put together by the state.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:37:39 | “anything beyond incidental use” | Whitney asks for a percentage. Upton at 0:38:06: “Like if you add 5% to 10% of the use of this facility for non CTE uses, I don’t know that that would draw much attention.” | |
| 0:38:59 | A city workforce grant | Whitney: “Is there any way there could be hybrid utilization of the tech center without violating the spirit of the RSA?” At 0:39:28: “budget neutral, but opportunity positive.” | |
| 0:41:00 | A community preschool | Upton: a community preschool “is actually a great opportunity to get atypical peers to work with your developmental preschool.” At 0:42:07: “childcare is the workforce behind the workforce.” | |
| 0:44:34 | CAMCE agreement | Sprague: “I’m speaking because I was the the board rep on that negotiating committee.” At 0:45:32: “we actually focused our many of our resources toward the entry level parts.” At 0:46:58: dental “from 750 to 1500.” | |
| 0:47:32 | CAMCE tax impact, worked out live | Henry: “We decided that for every 100,000, it was, $0.08 on the tax rate”; then “Sorry, 87,000”; “A lot, a little less than that.” Sprague: “So if you’re if you have a $300,000 home it’s about $0.18.” At 0:48:34: it “will appear in a separate Warren [warrant] article.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:48:49 | CAMCE ratified | “I move to accept it. Second.” (unidentified). Voice vote; “Motion passes.” No tally. | POSITIVE |
| 0:49:09 | CAS agreement | Henry at 0:49:51: “They added $1.40 to the first year and every step, and then 3% and 3% over the next two years.” Carried at 0:50:48; Sprague is heard saying “Aye or abstain.” | POSITIVE |
| 0:51:16 | Paraprofessionals: a one-year reopening | Tempesta at 0:51:44: “we struck a one year deal.” At 0:52:12: “we added two, $2 to every, every step. And for an overall increase of 189,000 in the first” … “We still have money in the esser [ESSER] money to give a bonus.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:53:22 | “This is a proposal” | Crawford: “Just a question. This is a proposal.” Tempesta: “They agreed to it. I met with them today.” | |
| 0:54:03 | “As I shared last night” | Sprague: “As I shared last night, I’d like to see us, try to attract retired teachers.” Last night was Tuesday 19 December; no public meeting of the board or its Finance Committee is recorded that night. | HIGH |
| 0:55:31 | Paras with higher-needs students | An unidentified member raises compensation for paraprofessionals with “higher needs students.” Tempesta at 0:55:55 on Para 2 certification. | |
| 0:57:23 | “a stopgap” | Whitney: “this was kind of an emergency situation” … “a stopgap to at least get us on par with other districts.” Carried at 0:58:14. | |
| 0:58:35 | Items dropped for time | Whitney: “Is there anything we can pass up on this agenda this evening and move?” At 0:59:04: “can I get consent to remove the monthly financial report on the agenda?” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:59:26 | Calendar swap | Koski: “we’d like to make the 23rd the teacher workshop day and have school on the 16th. And it’s just a trade of those two dates.” | OBSERVATION |
| 1:00:20 | The Finance Committee reports | Sprague: “We’ve met I don’t know how many times. A lot.” At 1:00:44: “if anybody wants to see them, they’re all televised” … “We have come up with with a number. However, I personally would like to have a little bit more time.” | HIGH |
| 1:01:14 | Moving, not approving | Sprague: “we’re not going to necessarily approve the budget tonight, but we’re going to move the budget forward. And there’s a distinction to that.” | POSITIVE |
| 1:01:56 | “the minutes of that meeting will be on the website” | Whitney: “We have been committed to having all of our discussions in public. There has been one brief meeting, that occurred this week, and the minutes of that meeting will be on the website.” | HIGH |
| 1:04:01 | “I still haven’t seen the the copy” | Crawford: “Each time we meet, we get a different version. And I still haven’t seen the the copy that will be going to the, hearing.” At 1:04:43: “So this is probably version five, right.” “And there are still many answered questions” is transcribed without the negation the sense suggests; no word is supplied. | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 1:05:15 | The motion | Sprague: “I would like to make a motion to move the budget in the amount of $36,313,407.97 to the budget hearing scheduled for January 3rd to 2024.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:05:36 | “the limit of my acceptance” | Crawford: “I’m voting in favor simply to move it forward to the hearing phase. That is, that’s the limit of my acceptance at this point.” Carried at 1:05:59: “Seeing none opposed. Motion passes.” | POSITIVE |
Items flagged for review
These flags are a reviewer’s aid, read against New Hampshire and federal law in force on 20 December 2023. They are not findings of violation and not legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on; an Observation rests on no confirmed rule. Missing records are graded HIGH where the absence is unmitigated and MEDIUM where the record mitigates it, and each card says which limb applies.
HIGH The approved minutes tell the public that Finance Committee minutes are online; none exist in any district share
Under the Finance Subcommittee item the approved minutes record: “Subcommittee meetings and minutes are available online for people to review.” Five Finance Committee sessions were broadcast between 30 November and 18 December 2023; no minutes of any of them exist in the district’s packets or Meeting Minutes shares (MAP.md search record, verified 2026-08-28). On tape, Sprague pointed to the broadcasts, not to minutes (1:00:44), and Whitney said of “one brief meeting, that occurred this week” that “the minutes of that meeting will be on the website” (1:01:56). None was posted. The 6 December minutes had put it accurately: “Sessions have been recorded on CCTV.”
Limb and grade: on this recording someone says minutes are coming, which is the mitigated limb for the missing subcommittee minutes themselves; that absence is graded on the 18 December page. This card is HIGH on a different ground: an approved public record states that a required record exists when it does not, a material misstatement. RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) makes a subcommittee a public body (“or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto”), and RSA 91-A:2, II requires its minutes within five business days. The 18 December session ended with the chair announcing a caucus of all three members after the cameras stopped, and Sprague’s “As I shared last night” (0:54:03) refers to a Tuesday discussion that appears in no public record. Mitigation: the committee televised its working sessions, and both chairs said on this record that they wanted the process public.
Sources: approved minutes, 20 December 2023; CSB draft minutes 12.6.23; RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification (2023, 188:1).
MEDIUM The board sent $36,313,407.97 to public hearing, and its approved minutes do not record the amount
The motion at 1:05:15 named the figure to the cent. The minutes record: “Frank Sprague made a motion to move the budget forward to the hearing phase, Jennifer Gallagher seconded” and “Vote on the motion: unanimously approved”. No dollar figure appears anywhere in the minutes. RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to include “a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions.” The decision is recorded; its size is not, and the size was what the motion fixed for the hearing at which, under RSA 32:5, all purposes and amounts must be disclosed or discussed. The figure survives only in the recording and on page 55 of a budget document posted the day after the vote (flag 7). Nothing in the record ties any part of the later $196,001.10 reduction to this meeting.
Regraded from HIGH on the archived page: a description of the decision is present, so this is a gap in what the minutes describe rather than a likely breach of the minutes duty.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification; RSA 32:5, 2023 codification; approved minutes, 20 December 2023; Updated Claremont School District Budget 12.20.23.
MEDIUM The minutes reached the public share on the ninth business day; the statute allows five
The approved minutes were created in the district’s Meeting Minutes share on Thursday 4 January 2024 at 10:13 a.m. Eastern (Drive createdTime 2024-01-04T15:13Z). Counting from 21 December and excluding Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, the fifth business day was 28 December. RSA 91-A:2, II: minutes “shall be promptly recorded and open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting.” A draft would have satisfied it. Limb: mitigated. The minutes exist and are detailed, and the delay ran through the school holiday break. Drive metadata shows when the file entered the share; it cannot exclude inspection by request at the office sooner.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification; approved minutes (file metadata).
MEDIUM The motion to enter nonpublic session did not state the exemption on its face
The chair announced “RSA 91. Dash a colon three comma two” and asked whether to read it out; Sprague moved “under the gist of that” (0:07:46). Neither subparagraph was spoken. RSA 91-A:3, I(b): “Any motion to enter nonpublic session shall state on its face the specific exemption under paragraph II which is relied upon as foundation for the nonpublic session.” The roll-call requirement was met. Mitigation: the posted agenda quotes exemptions (a) and (c) in full, and the minutes record the motion as under “RSA 91-A:3,II(a,c)”. The superintendent’s stated reason for going into nonpublic was the paraprofessional negotiation (0:01:58); collective-bargaining strategy is excluded from the definition of a meeting by RSA 91-A:2, I(a) and needs no exemption. What filled the remaining time is not in the public record, and this page draws no inference from the timing.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b) and II(a), (c) (last amended 2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 91-A:2, I(a), 2023 codification; agenda.
MEDIUM Nonpublic minutes sealed for fifty years with no determination stated, under a ten-year review rule eleven weeks old
“I like to make a motion to seal the minutes for 50 years” (0:08:50); four answers of Yes are audible, and the minutes record “all present voting yes”. RSA 91-A:3, III allows nonpublic minutes to be withheld only if a recorded two-thirds vote in public session determines that disclosure would likely affect adversely the reputation of a person other than a member, render the proposed action ineffective, or pertain to terrorism-related functions, and requires a disclosed list identifying the body, the session, the exemption relied on and the date of the decision to withhold. The vote clears two-thirds; no determination is stated on the recording or in the minutes. RSA 91-A:3, IV, added by 2023, 189:1 effective 3 October 2023, requires review of withheld minutes no more than ten years after the vote absent an adopted procedure, so the fifty-year figure does not control. This page does not assert that no withheld-minutes list exists.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III and IV (text read 2026-09-25; unchanged since 2023, 189:1); approved minutes.
MEDIUM The consent agenda, marked “vote required” on the district’s own agenda, was taken with no motion or vote
The agenda heads the two items “Consent Agenda (vote required)”. On tape, the December 6 minutes passed on “There’s been no request to amend the minutes” (0:01:07) and the agenda amendment on the absence of objection, followed by “we have just approved” (0:02:08). No motion, second or vote occurs, and the minutes record none. RSA 91-A:2, II has required the names of each mover and seconder since 2018, 244:1 (eff. Jan. 1, 2019); where no motion is made there is nothing to record, which is the defect when the body’s own agenda says a vote is required. The document approved has a related gap: the 6 December draft minutes dispose of that meeting’s consent agenda, approving the 15 November minutes, with “No discussion, unanimously approved” and no mover or seconder, while naming both for every other motion. Mitigation: nothing was contested and the business was done in open session.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification (mover/seconder clause, 2018, 244:1); agenda; CSB draft minutes 12.6.23.
MEDIUM The budget the board voted on was posted the morning after the vote, and a member said she had not seen it
The agenda was created in the packet folder on 19 December 2023 at 9:04 a.m. Eastern, about 33 hours ahead. The budget document was created on 21 December at 10:43 a.m. Eastern; its footer reads “Printed: 12/20/2023 2:06:15 PM”. Crawford at 1:04:01: “I still haven’t seen the the copy that will be going to the, hearing”; the chair pointed her to “The back of your folder”; Crawford: “So this is probably version five, right.” RSA 91-A:2, II requires 24-hour notice of the meeting, not a packet, so no notice rule was breached. The grade rests on the process gap: the document fixing the amounts for a statutory hearing reached the public after the vote that sent it there. Mitigation: the board said repeatedly that it was not adopting the budget, and the document was published.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification; RSA 32:5, 2023 codification; packet folder 28. CSB 12.20.23 (file metadata read 2026-09-25).
MEDIUM The minutes misname people who appeared, and name a student member found in no other record
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to include “the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies.” Against the recording: (1) the minutes list “Tom Smith-Knox” and “Katie Smith-Knox”; on tape the first says “My name is Tom Smith” (0:15:29); (2) the speaker who gave only “Rebecca, Ward one” is printed “Rebecca Vendesco”; other district and third-party documents spell a surname for a Ward 1 CMS teacher Rebecca differently, and this page prints none as settled; (3) “Russ Ferland” in the minutes is “Russ Fernald” on tape (0:19:40), and Ferland is another speaker’s surname that evening; (4) the agenda and minutes both read “Student Board Members-Nicole Bouchard and Alex Barney” while their mastheads read “Nicole Bouchard and Kylee Plummer”. Mitigation: the substance of each comment is accurate, and the minutes supply the name the recording garbles (“Spoke in support of Alex Herzog”).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification; approved minutes; agenda.
OBSERVATION The published recording removes two and a half hours without an audible break, and the minutes’ clock does not reconcile with what remains
The motion to enter nonpublic is at 0:07:46 and the motion to leave at 0:08:23; the minutes put 6:39 PM and 9:08 PM on them. The largest gap between consecutive rows anywhere in the file is under four seconds. From 0:09:12 to the last row at 1:06:36 is about 57 minutes of continuous recording, but the minutes allow 44 (9:08 to 9:52 PM). One of the two clock times is likely an estimate; the record does not say which. Removing a nonpublic session from a broadcast is correct, and no rule requires a recording at all; the point is that elapsed recording time after 0:08:23 is not the meeting’s clock.
Sources: the dialogue file’s segment times; approved minutes.
OBSERVATION The monthly financial report and five subcommittee reports were dropped for time on the night the budget went to hearing
At 0:58:35 the chair asked what could be passed over. The monthly financial report was removed by consent at 0:59:04, and every subcommittee report but Finance was bypassed. The minutes record each as “Removed for the sake of time” (one as “Removed for the sake fo time”, the district’s typo). About three-quarters of the meeting’s elapsed time was nonpublic. No rule requires these items, and two subcommittee chairs were absent.
Sources: approved minutes; agenda.
OBSERVATION The CAMCE contract’s tax impact is stated two different ways
On tape (0:47:32): “$0.08 on the tax rate” per 100,000, then a revised base of 87,000 and “a little less than that”; Sprague: “if you have a $300,000 home it’s about $0.18.” The minutes: “is about 6.5 cents per $100,000.” Eight cents per $100,000 implies about 24 cents on a $300,000 home; the 18-cent figure fits the minutes’ rate. The headcount was left at “12 maybe” or “13 or 14” (0:48:23). The contract was headed for a separate warrant article, where the per-household cost is what voters use. No rule governs how a tax impact is stated at ratification, and the arithmetic was done openly.
Sources: approved minutes; the recording at the timestamps above.
OBSERVATION A paraprofessional settlement pairs a permanent $2-per-step raise with a one-time bonus from ESSER
Tempesta at 0:52:12: “an overall increase of 189,000 in the first” year and “We still have money in the esser [ESSER] money to give a bonus.” The minutes: “adding $2 per step and a bonus with ESSER funds”, with no dollar total. The raise is carried by local appropriation in the budget moved the same night; the bonus does not recur, and ARP ESSER funds had to be obligated by 30 September 2024. The board called it “a stopgap” (0:57:23). One-time retention payments were a permitted use, and the funding source was stated openly.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, ARP ESSER obligation deadlines memo (June 2024); approved minutes.
OBSERVATION The district’s legal advice on the technical center exists only as video and a nine-bullet summary, and the statute has since changed
No memo or opinion accompanies the presentation. The operative minutes bullet reads: “As long as non-CTE programs do not hinder or interfere with CTE programs, it is allowed (described as ‘vacant space’” (the unclosed parenthesis is the district’s). The checkable statements were accurate for the date: RSA 188-E:3, II then made a completed facility district property “for use by the career and technical education center exclusively” (2021, 210:2; the current text carries a repurposing exception added later), and 20 U.S.C. §2342(a)(1) requires a Perkins V State plan “for a 4-year period.” The percentage thresholds (0:38:06) are counsel’s judgement, not rules. A board may take advice orally; the point is durability.
Sources: RSA 188-E:3, II, 2023 codification; 20 U.S.C. §2342(a)(1) (read 2026-09-25); approved minutes.
OBSERVATION The minutes do not say which calendar days changed
Koski asked to swap 16 and 23 January for the primary (0:59:26). The minutes record “Discussion regarding changing two days for professional development purposes”, the motion and the vote, and neither date. A one-line description is defensibly brief under RSA 91-A:2, II; the point is that a minutes reader cannot tell what changed.
Sources: approved minutes; Updated 11.20.23---23-24 School Year Calendar (1).pdf.
OBSERVATION A speaker praising a district employee was told the board could not speak to it, under a policy that bars complaints
The policy read at 0:02:49 bars complaints about school personnel. Lambert endorsed the technical center director and mentioned “scrutiny”; the chair said “We can’t speak to that” (0:23:47). He was not removed and finished his remarks. The narrow reading is that the board could not respond on a personnel matter; no violation is asserted. RSA 189:74 requires a public comment opportunity “for no less than 30 minutes”; the two periods ran about nineteen minutes and the chair asked whether anyone else wished to speak, so no violation of that section is asserted either.
Sources: RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1); approved minutes.
POSITIVE The board set aside its non-agenda comment rule so staff who waited through the nonpublic session could be heard, and recorded silent support
The policy limits comments to non-agenda items. At 0:09:12 the chair asked for consensus to take comments “so these folks can get back to their families”, and at 0:10:12 invited people to stand in support. The minutes record “General agreement from other staff present” after each speaker and “Several audience members stood in support of what had already been said”.
Sources: RSA 189:74; approved minutes.
POSITIVE The board took its attorney’s advice in open session when the law offered two ways not to
RSA 91-A:2, I(b) excludes “consultation with legal counsel” from the definition of a meeting, and RSA 91-A:3, II(l) permits a nonpublic session for legal advice. The board noticed the item by name and heard it on camera, including points against the direction it was moving (0:30:02, 0:38:06). Counsel stated the limits of his view rather than overstating it.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I(b), 2023 codification; RSA 91-A:3, II(l).
POSITIVE Minutes with clock times, a named author, and movers and seconders for every motion
The minutes name mover and seconder for all eight motions, record the split CAS vote by name (“voting in favor: Heather Whitney, Bonnie Miles, Jennifer Gallagher, Candace Crawford, abstained: Frank Sprague”) where the recording holds only “Aye or abstain”, carry clock times for each section, and end “Respectfully submitted by Noelle Kronberg, school board clerk”. Start time, end time and minutes producer were not required until 2025, 112:1 (eff. Aug. 22, 2025). Four of five packet documents went up about 33 hours before the meeting.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II, 2023 codification; approved minutes.
POSITIVE Finance Committee members put their reservations and the limit of their votes on the record
Sprague: “we’re not going to necessarily approve the budget tonight, but we’re going to move the budget forward” (1:01:14). Crawford, before and after the motion (1:04:01, 1:05:36), said her vote only moved the budget to hearing and urged the public to watch the committee sessions. The minutes kept the distinction: “Discussion to make clear that this is just moving forward the budget to the public hearing, not approving the budget”.
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; approved minutes.
Appendix — source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: Claremont School Board 12/20/23 (show 15483)
- Drive folder: 28. CSB 12.20.23 — 5 documents:
_CSB Agenda 12.20.23.docx (6).pdf (posted 19 December, 9:04 a.m.);
Updated Claremont School District Budget 12.20.23.pdf (55 pages; posted 21 December, 10:43 a.m.);
SHS Principal’s Report December 2023.pdf (not taken up);
Updated 11.20.23---23-24 School Year Calendar (1).pdf;
CSB draft minutes 12.6.23 (1) (2).pdf
- 21. approved CSB meeting minutes 12.20.23.pdf, in the Meeting Minutes share (created 4 January 2024)
- Approved 6 December 2023 minutes
- Not located: minutes of any 2023 Finance Committee session; any written legal opinion on the CTE question; the paraprofessional agreement text.
- Related pages: Finance Committee, December 18, 2023; Finance Committee, December 13, 2023; School Board, December 6, 2023; FY25 budget hearing, January 3, 2024
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
- Right-to-Know: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, I(a), I(b), II (2023, 188:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023; mover/seconder clause 2018, 244:1; the 2025, 112:1 additions do not apply); RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), (c), (l), III, IV (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023)
- Budgets: RSA 32:5 (2023 codification; later amended 2025, 144:1)
- Schools: RSA 189:74 (2022, 333:1); RSA 188-E:3, II (2023 codification; 2021, 210:2)
- Federal: 20 U.S.C. §2342(a)(1); ED ARP ESSER obligation deadlines memo