Claremont School Board — December 17, 2025

Participants

Everyone heard or recorded as present. Names, wards and roles follow the agenda and approved minutes; where the dialogue file labels a person differently, the label is noted. Public speakers are in the order they first spoke.
Name	Role	Participation
Heather Whitney	Board chair	Presided; read the comment rules (30 minutes in total, three minutes each, six on agenda items); asked about a contingency for a building failure with reserves depleted and for an end-of-life study of roofs and mechanicals; asked that the recording advisory go to counsel; introduced the clerk-stipend item; seconded the motion into nonpublic session.
Michael Petrin	Vice chair	Absent per the roll call and minutes.
Arlene Hawkins	Board member; Policy Subcommittee chair	Moved the ski donations, the retiree list, EBBCA, IKC, the GBGBA withdrawal, the comment extension and the clerk stipend; asked the cost of keeping the current configuration one more year; asked what “athletics restored” funds; asked about the attendance officer’s dollar-an-hour driving increase.
Candace Crawford	Board member; Finance Subcommittee chair	Read the finance subcommittee’s statement of budget premises; walked the board through the budget’s column layout and its benefit errors; moved the tuition rates; asked that budget comment wait until after the presentation.
William “Bill” Madden	Board member; Ad Hoc Superintendent Search Subcommittee	Presented IKC (honor roll, class ranking): “I want to change the culture.” Moved the budget calendar; supported the attendance secretary but asked to present one meeting and vote the next; asked about the attendance officer driving unhoused students and a psychological-evaluation charge.
Frank Sprague	Board member	Seconded the ski donations, retirees, policies and stipend; moved into nonpublic session and moved the two Stevens positions; asked whether the model totals include revenues (they do not) and whether principals were consulted on custodial and secretarial cuts.
Loren Howard	Board member	Relayed community feedback to keep the elementary schools K–5 next year; asked whether the default budget would reflect the current configuration; seconded the tuition rates, the SHS positions, the comment extension and the motion out of nonpublic session.
Noelle Kronberg	School Board Clerk	Called the roll, kept time on public comment (2:03:46), took the nonpublic roll calls and signed both sets of minutes. Her stipend was the last vote.
Kerry Kennedy	Interim Superintendent, SAU 6	Presented the ski program, the two models and the recommendation for the four-school model; pulled the CMS band donation for want of a warned hearing; read the retiree list; brought the Department of Education’s advisory on recording students; clarified that the alternative program and a special-education collaborative are separate ideas.
Matt Angell	Senior Comptroller / Interim Business Administrator	Gave the finance update, the budget calendar, the NESDEC enrollment projection and the model totals; said the default budget must follow the chosen model; recommended the tuition rates. Rendered “Mr. Angel” in the transcript.
Dr. Michael Herrington	Principal, Stevens High School	Asked for the attendance secretary and a restorative school day position, funded from the line Paige Jarvis vacated. Called “Doctor Harrington” on the recording.
Chelsea Weatherford, Paige Jarvis, Jason Bonneville	Interim HR Manager; Interim Student Services Director; Interim Technology Director	Listed in the agenda’s administration header. Jarvis and Bonneville were welcomed under follow-up items; Herrington said HR (“Chelsea”) had supplied position costs. None is heard on the recording.
Sarah Ferland	School counselor, Claremont Middle School	Organized the ski and snowboard program; the minutes record her confirming it is open to any student regardless of finances.
Don Lavalette	Citizens’ comments — Ward 2	On the leadership model: “the current model has not helped our students, our educators, or our taxpayers. It has been a failure.” Recommended an open search.
Matt Bean	Citizens’ comments — Ward 1	Coach and special education teacher; on the posting of his stipends and the treatment of educators; later opposed putting all self-contained programs in one school.
Erica Abby	Citizens’ comments — Ward 3	Asked about the tech program funding and athletics; spoke about her daughter’s exclusion. Labeled “Abby” in the dialogue file.
Kara Girardi	Citizens’ comments — district staff	“We are not getting treated the way we should be treated.” Introduces herself on the recording as “Karen Girardi”; the minutes’ spelling is used here.
Shaylor Duranleau	Citizens’ comments — temporary plumbing and heating teacher	Urged reopening the SREA agreement to staff the tech programs; later asked about one-time moving costs and proposed banking three-school savings in reserves. Labeled “Shayla Duran” in the dialogue file.
Cassandra Edwards	Citizens’ comments — Ward 3	Disnard second-grade teacher and SREA building representative; answered the December 12 finance discussion of dental coverage; warned against another transition.
Rebecca (surname as printed in the minutes: Vinduska)	Citizens’ comments — Ward 1	Claremont Middle School sixth-grade science and social studies teacher; thanked the CMS PTO and Tech Center students; later spoke on certification limits. The dialogue file gives no surname; district records spell it several ways.
Tammy Yates	Citizens’ comments — SREA president; Maple Avenue teacher	Asked for the research behind repeated moves and for the status quo for one year.
Michelle Springer-Blake	Citizens’ comments — Ward 2	On inclusion and what an alternative program must contain. Labeled “Michelle Springer” in the dialogue file.
Molly DeLuca	Citizens’ comments — Ward 1	Parent; Superintendent’s Advisory Committee member; opposed moving grades 7–8 to the high school.
Leslie Peabody	Citizens’ comments — Ward 1	Parent and Stevens science teacher; asked for a multi-year plan.
Sam Torres	Citizens’ comments — Ward 1	On playgrounds and on consolidation closing the door to new families.
Michelle Beaton	Citizens’ comments — Ward 2	On preschool data, staff departures, secretaries and grade 6 science and social studies. Labeled “Michelle Bian” in the dialogue file.
Mimi Rhines	Citizens’ comments — Ward 1	Stevens staff; asked where renovation money for an upper elementary school would come from; asked members to visit schools.
Tyler	Citizens’ comments — district substitute	2020 Stevens graduate; on repeated transitions and the Bluff closure. No surname on the recording or in the minutes.
Amanda Barton	Citizens’ comments — Ward 2	Parent and teacher; asked to pause restructuring for a year and gather intervention data.
Ken Lowney	Citizens’ comments — Ward 2	Asked the board to direct a third option: the current configuration. Labeled “Ken Lownie” in the dialogue file; the minutes spell it Lowney.
Cameron Lowney	Citizens’ comments — Ward 2	On the burden of proof for a large change. Labeled “Camron Lownie” in the dialogue file.
Alicia Simino	Citizens’ comments — Maple Avenue teacher	Former Bluff teacher; on moving first-graders a third time. Labeled “Alicia Simoneau” in the dialogue file; the minutes spell it Simino.

One unidentified public commenter speaks briefly at 2:14:40 (not in the minutes). Named on the record but not present: the five retirees read by Kennedy, Scott Maple (attendance officer), and Josh Nelson (CCTV).

Agenda

Items as posted in “CSB 12.17.25 Agenda Final (1).pdf”, with the time each was taken up and its disposition from the recording and the approved minutes.
Taken up	Item	Agenda text / disposition
0:00:00	I. Call to order & Pledge	Scheduled 6:30 p.m.
0:00:40	II. Roll call	Minutes: present Crawford, Hawkins, Howard, Madden, Sprague, Whitney; absent Petrin.
0:01:10	II.a Consent agenda	Agenda, 12/3/25 minutes, manifest. Amended by general consent: Hawkins’s follow-up items and a technology advisory added as item 10. Approved “Seeing no objection” at 0:04:52; no motion or vote.
0:05:29	II.b Citizens’ comments	Seven speakers on non-agenda items; the chair asked that budget comment wait until after the presentation.
0:16:56	II.c Finance update	Report. See flag 7.
0:18:59	II.d Follow-up items	Professional development calendar, Title IX investigators, new administrators, room audio (about $10,000), board email replies, preschool services.
6:55 p.m. (scheduled)	III.1 Executive summary	Not taken up as a separate item; the minutes record nothing under it.
0:22:55	III.2 Donation acceptances (vote)	Agenda: “$4000 financial aid from Mt. Sunapee Ski Club”, “$2800 Kiwanis Donation”; the Kiwanis figure was given on the recording as 3,000 (0:27:23). Moved (Hawkins), seconded (Sprague), voice vote at 0:29:19. The CMS band donation ($49,775 toward a $50,750 need) was pulled to January 7 for a warned public hearing (0:29:41). See flag 9.
0:31:28	III.3 Budget calendar (vote)	Public hearing moved from January 14 to January 20; deliberative session February 7, snow date February 9. Moved (Madden), seconded (Sprague), voice vote at 0:36:03.
0:36:18	III.4 Default budget & options summary (discussion)	Presentation, board questions, then public comment from 1:36:46; comment extended 15 minutes at 2:06:03; board responses from 2:17:36. No vote. See flag 5.
2:27:01	III.5 Elementary and middle school tuition rates (vote)	$15,000 elementary, $15,500 middle school for FY2026–27. Moved (Crawford), seconded (Howard), voice vote at 2:31:45.
2:31:45	III.6 Acceptance of retirees (vote)	Five retirements. Moved (Hawkins) “as presented with regret”, seconded (Sprague), voice vote at 2:34:06.
2:34:23	III.7 SHS positions (vote)	Agenda: “Attendance Secretary (RIF)” and “Restorative School Day (RIF)”. Moved (Sprague), seconded (Howard), voice vote at 2:42:00. See flag 8.
2:42:14	III.8 Subcommittee reports	EBBCA adopted on first read at 2:48:00 and IKC at 2:48:45 (both Hawkins/Sprague); GBGBA withdrawn at 2:49:19. Ad hoc search: executive summary promised for the next meeting. SRVRTC: cocoa kits.
2:53:28	III.9 Nonpublic session	Agenda heading “RSA 91-A:2, III”. Moved (Sprague), seconded (Whitney); roll call at 2:54:11; in 9:24, out 10:22 p.m. (Whitney/Howard). See flags 1, 2 and 11.
2:54:42	III.10 School board clerk stipend (vote)	An additional $300 a month. Moved (Hawkins), seconded (Sprague), voice vote at 2:56:08. See flag 4.
2:56:30	Added item 10: technology advisory	Department of Education advisory on parental consent to record students; referred to counsel. No vote.
3:00:20	IV. Other business	Attendance officer driving; a psychological-evaluation charge.
3:03:35	V. Future dates; adjournment	Next meeting January 7, 2026; public budget hearing; technology audit update; preschool cost per student. Minutes: “Consent adjournment at 10:31pm”.

Discussion timeline

Chronological topics. Quotations are the transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction.
Time	Topic	What was said	Flags
0:01:44	When budget comment will be heard	Crawford hopes people “can wait until after the presentation of the budget”. Whitney at 0:02:30: policy BEDH “allows for 30 minutes in total”; at 0:03:12, “Speakers will each be allotted three minutes to speak.”	POSITIVE
0:06:17	A resident rethinks the leadership model	Lavalette: “with the exception of one Jackie Guillet, they were all terrible educational leaders, nice human beings, certainly not leaders.” At 0:07:21: “the current model has not helped our students, our educators, or our taxpayers. It has been a failure.”
0:07:47	Educators’ treatment	Bean: “my stipend earnings were blasted on. What’s up? Claremont?” At 0:09:04: “Was being lied to by the former HR director and being told I was not a good fit by someone who never worked in education or lived here.” Girardi at 0:11:31: “We are not getting treated the way we should be treated.”
0:12:37	Staffing the tech programs	Duranleau: “I would encourage the board to look at opening up negotiations with the Sri [SREA].” At 0:13:19: “I’m willing to come in and do it at a huge financial loss to myself, but I can’t do it at like a 75% pay loss”.
0:14:20	Dental coverage, answered	Edwards: teachers skip district dental “because we find better value other places. I was quite appalled by the tone of that discussion when I watched it.” (The discussion was at the December 12 finance session.)
0:16:56	Cash, a bank loan, and a possible deficit article	Angell: “today our cash balance in the general ledger is just over $900,000.” “Claremont Savings Bank loan currently is at 1,917,000.” At 0:17:25: “So I’m going to draw down on the loan for the end of this week just to pay for some of the bills”; revenues through November $18,612,000, expenditures $12,441,000. At 0:17:50: “Encumbrances are $21,573,000”, plus the $868,000 SchoolCare assessment. At 0:18:18: “a possible warrant article to fund the deficit”.	OBSERVATION
0:19:29	Follow-ups	“Every building will have its own investigator now” for Title IX. Room audio at 0:20:57: “roughly $10,000”. Whitney at 0:22:13: replies to emailed questions are “often very generic” so she does not speak for other members. Hawkins at 0:22:33: are 15 identified preschoolers “not receiving services”?
0:23:21	Ski and snowboard program	One day a week for five weeks, 46 places; missed work made up after school. Kennedy at 0:27:23: “Kiwanis is going to donate 3000. So we have $7,000 total”. Crawford at 0:27:58: “anybody can take advantage of this program.” Accepted at 0:29:28.	POSITIVE
0:29:41	Band donation pulled for a proper warning	Kennedy: “there was a hiccup, a mayor [mea] culpa on that one that is on me. I thought I had put it on the agenda to be warned it was not a sufficient enough and I apologize.” “we are now actually tabling it until the January 7th one.” At 0:30:51: “what we needed was $50,000 and we have … almost 49,775”.	POSITIVE
0:32:04	Budget calendar	“It has the public hearing on January 14th. We’d like to move it to the deadline of January 20th.” At 0:32:39: January 13 “the last day to post notice of a budget hearing”; filing period from January 21; deliberative February 7 (0:33:35); ballot March 10.
0:36:33	The finance chair’s premises	Crawford: “no decisions will be made tonight. This is an information session.” “last year’s budget had many flaws, including missing and incorrect data” (0:37:53). No reduction in teaching staff; “a 11.8% increase in health care costs”, about $600,000 (0:39:38); alternative programs out of the Tech Center “and we think into Bluff School” (0:40:37); “There is no money budgeted for any upgrades or repairs for any of our old school buildings” (0:41:12); SAU staff “from 16 to 14 positions” (0:42:03). At 0:43:22: “It is about a 200 page budget”; “The rest of the board did not have it until tonight.”	OBSERVATION
0:45:14	The models and their rationale	Kennedy: “the four school model is not as schools exist today.” Pre-K–2 in one elementary, 3–5 in the other, CMS 6–8, Stevens 9–12; the three-school model puts 3–6 at CMS and 7–12 at Stevens (1:02:55). Angell at 0:52:29: the NESDEC study “is free with our, our membership”; at 0:53:04, “They’re projecting 1089 students districtwide” in ten years, against about 1,400 now. At 1:01:52: eventually “a two school model”; rehabbing the middle school “between 1 million and $4 million” (1:02:12).
1:09:47	The two numbers	“currently the the total budget that’s been approved for this fiscal year is $43,179,564.” “for a for [four] school model, it’s $44,861,008. That represents a 3.89% increase over the current year.” Tax rate “$18.88 $0.82” as transcribed; the minutes give 18.82 (1:10:28). At 1:11:04: “It’s $43,968,104 or 1.83% increase, or $788,580. The tax rate would be $18.09 per thousand.”	OBSERVATION
1:11:34	Uses for Bluff	Kennedy: moving behavior programs into Bluff, or a special-education collaborative with other districts that would rent the building: “right now we’re sending students out of district at a very high cost, some to Massachusetts, some to Vermont” (1:12:30).
1:14:22	A missing account, and benefit errors	Angell: the PDF budget is “missing one account”, “for $190,000. And it’s a contribution to, to food service.” Crawford at 1:18:41: benefits for vacant positions were put in manually and “sometimes there’s a variance between the three and the four”; Angell: “She picked up my mistakes.” Sprague at 1:20:37: the totals do not reflect revenues.
1:21:36	Board questions: keep K–5 for a year?	Howard: feedback “has been to try to keep these schools k through five next year”; the models are “jarring” (1:22:15). Hawkins at 1:23:21: “what would be the cost of maintaining the schools as they are for one more year?” Sprague at 1:26:25 on custodial and secretarial cuts; Angell at 1:27:35: “We’re not meeting a lot of those needs.”	OBSERVATION
1:27:54	No capital for a building failure	Whitney: “we have nothing built in to these models to sustain our infrastructure”. At 1:28:25: “Our reserve funds are. Depleted or depleted.” “we had spent almost $300,000 on roofs repairs for Stevens High School alone”. Crawford at 1:32:23: the tech renovation “was $20 million, and the state would cover 75% of that with current legislation.”	OBSERVATION
1:35:10	Ground rules for comment	Whitney: at the public hearing “There is essentially no time limit.” At 1:36:22: “it’s going to be three minutes per person”, 30 minutes in total, then the board decides whether to extend. A public forum was promised for January 5 or 6 (1:34:35).	POSITIVE
1:36:46	The SREA president asks for the research	Yates: “Research consistently shows that frequent school moves negatively affects students achievement”. At 1:38:26: “What matrix will the board use to evaluate the impact of these building changes? And what is the plan if student outcomes decline?” At 1:39:06: “I respectfully ask the board to maintain a status quo for the coming school year.”	OBSERVATION
1:40:00	What an alternative program requires	Springer-Blake cites “34 CFR 300.11” [as transcribed; the least-restrictive-environment rule is 34 CFR 300.114] and state rules by number (not verified here). At 1:42:09: “A legitimate alternative program requires a full time administrator, a school nurse, certified special educators, general education teachers”.
1:43:04	“Slow this process down”	DeLuca: “I have serious concerns about moving the seventh and eighth grade to the high school.” At 1:45:39: “Urge the board to slow this process down.” Peabody at 1:46:41: “The transition from five schools toward a consolidated two school model appears rushed and lacks the comprehensive transparency required for such a permanent change.”	OBSERVATION
1:49:20	One-time moving costs; banking savings	Angell: “It’s not captured. Actually the cost to move bluff really wasn’t that significant.” Duranleau at 1:50:12: set half the three-school savings aside to start “rebuilding your capital reserves”.	OBSERVATION
1:50:50	Teachers at the end of their rope	Edwards: “Teachers are right now at the end of their rope.” At 1:51:40: “Why would I not choose to start over in a district that is more stable and will pay me more?”
1:53:05	Inclusion of special education students	Abby: “if you are even considering segregating special education”. At 1:54:05: her daughter “is not included in anything at any time since the third grade.” Kennedy at 2:14:11: “That’s an out of district discussion.”
1:56:12	Consolidation and new families	Torres: “we are shuttering up and locking the door on any new families wanting to come here.” On playgrounds at 1:55:54: “they’re not moving.”
1:58:37	Staff departures and secretaries	Beaton asks how many staff resigned since the Bluff closure and how many new hires came from outside; at 1:59:29, whether two secretaries are funded per school.
2:02:24	Renovation money	Rhines: moving third graders to CMS means “there is going to be money in the budget to renovate that building”? At 2:03:30: visiting schools “would maybe help with the trust issues”.	OBSERVATION
2:04:29	A substitute on the Bluff closure	Tyler: “I don’t feel like Miss Hawkins question was adequately answered”. At 2:04:51: “you closed bluff to claim savings you’ve emitted [admitted] that there wasn’t as many savings as you want, and now you want to utilize it in a different capacity.” At 2:05:36: “It’s a slap in the face to everybody.”
2:05:41	Comment extended 15 minutes	Whitney: “Anybody would like the motion to make a motion to extend the time beyond 30 minutes.” Hawkins at 2:05:55: “I’ll move to extend the time 15 minutes.” Carried at 2:06:03, “seeing none opposed.” Six more speakers named in the minutes followed.	POSITIVE MEDIUM
2:06:49	Certification limits	Rebecca: “I can’t do another certification. I had to update my social studies. I’m in the middle of my science.”
2:09:10	Self-contained programs in one school	Bean: “please to I would love to see the the proposal even thought about of putting all the special needs self-contained programs in one school to please remove that from our brain”. At 2:09:45: “That is segregating.”
2:12:23	A third option: the current configuration	Ken Lowney: “a little disingenuous to come with two options, but not the obvious third option, which is leaving the current configuration the way it is.” Cameron Lowney at 2:13:04: “The burden of proof for a massive change is correspondingly massive.” “comparing model A and model B, while providing only qualitative contrast with the status quo, is insufficient.”	OBSERVATION
2:16:23	A former Bluff teacher	Simino: “I will not put it up at my new school because I respect the decision that was made.” At 2:16:45: “They will have to move my little first grade babies if you change them to Disney [Disnard]”.
2:17:36	The default budget is not the status quo	Howard: “is the default budget option going to be a true representation of the budget that we had to do this year for five of those schools?” Angell at 2:17:55: “it’s going to have to mirror the model to get selected.” Howard at 2:18:40: “a default budget does not mean the status quo”; at 2:19:00, “that is clearly an option that was not laid out tonight”.	OBSERVATION
2:20:49	What “athletics restored” means	Hawkins: sports in the CBA “are not running at all”; “They’re in the CBA, but they’re not funded and they’re not occurring.” Angell at 2:22:09: “right now I’m essentially over funding athletics in comparison to the current year”.
2:24:10	The alternative program, clarified	Whitney: reopening Bluff would house “the alternative program that exists at the tech right now”, “which is out of compliance”. Kennedy at 2:25:48: “there had been not a line. Item created before.” “To. Fund the alternative programs in our existing budget.”
2:27:01	Tuition rates, discussed earlier in nonpublic	Whitney: “We did discuss this at a previous nonpublic.” Angell at 2:27:32: “I’m recommending 15000 for elementary and and 15,500 for middle school.” Comparisons at 2:30:44. Carried at 2:31:45.	MEDIUM
2:36:19	Balancing an equation at Stevens	Herrington: “I am looking at all of pages [Paige’s] salary and benefits, which are now being pulled from the SA [SAU] budget line”; “it seems to be an even switch off to pull back the attendance secretary and also fund a restorative justice, excuse me, a sort of school day person”. At 2:37:01: HR’s numbers “were on the high end”; the attendance secretary “would not need to take insurance this year.”	OBSERVATION
2:40:20	Present one meeting, vote the next	Madden: “why can’t we present something when we discuss it. Vote on it the next meeting? I want to change the way we make decisions”. Whitney at 2:41:33 calls the question on “the budget neutral additions”.	OBSERVATION
2:43:51	Honor roll policy	Madden: “we did not have an honor roll. So I think it’s a matter of changing the culture.” Adopted on first read at 2:48:45.
2:53:47	Into nonpublic session	Sprague: “Make a motion. We go to nonpublic session under RSA 91, dash a colon, two comma three, for the purpose of discussing, a matter of which the public body has supervision, control and so on.” Roll call at 2:54:11 (responses only, as transcribed); out at 2:54:24.	MEDIUM MEDIUM POSITIVE
2:54:42	The clerk’s stipend	Whitney: the clerk’s role “has expanded exponentially with the absence of an administrative assistant”. Hawkins at 2:55:49: “An additional $300 a month”. Whitney at 2:56:08: “We’ll remove it if we if if that role changes.”	OBSERVATION
2:56:31	Recording students	Kennedy: the advisory concerns “written and parental consent prior to audio and video recordings of students”; ACCESS testing in January records speech (2:57:16). Whitney at 2:59:26: “Drummond Woodson [Woodsum] should be managing this”.
3:00:24	Attendance officer’s driving pay	Madden asks whether Scott Maple will drive unhoused students; Kennedy: “right now that does not seem to be able to be done.” Hawkins at 3:01:59: “So he basically got a dollar an hour increase in his salary.” Kennedy: Yes.
3:02:46	A psychological evaluation charge	Madden: “I was led to believe it was one at $5,500.” He will check it.

Items flagged for review

These flags are a reviewer’s aid. 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.

MEDIUM The nonpublic session was noticed, moved and minuted under RSA 91-A:2, III, which is the remote-participation paragraph

The agenda heads item 9 “RSA 91-A:2, III”, prints under it the definition of a meeting, then the collective-bargaining exclusion from RSA 91-A:2, I(a) and the tuition-contract exemption from RSA 91-A:3, II(k). On the recording Sprague moved “under RSA 91, dash a colon, two comma three” (2:53:47), with no lettered ground audible. The approved minutes record the motion as “RSA 91-A:2, III (a & k)” and, under the same heading, swap in the text of RSA 91-A:3, II(a), employee compensation. RSA 91-A:2, III governs members attending by electronic means; it authorizes no nonpublic session. RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires the motion to “state on its face the specific exemption under paragraph II”, by roll call. What went right: the roll calls were taken in public both ways, the times are minuted, and the separate nonpublic minutes form ticks RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and II(k) correctly. The defect is in the three documents a resident reads first.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I(a) and III (text read 2026-09-25); RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a), II(k) (2023, 189:1; text read 2026-09-25); CSB 12.17.25 Agenda Final (1).pdf; approved minutes; nonpublic minutes.

MEDIUM The tuition-contract exemption was invoked with no tuition contract in the disclosed business, and tuition rates were earlier discussed in nonpublic

The nonpublic minutes list three matters: “Discussion of personnel matters”, administrators’ negotiations (with a roll-called authorization for Hawkins to negotiate the CAA agreement), and “Discussion of board clerk compensation”. All fit II(a) or the collective-bargaining exclusion in RSA 91-A:2, I(a). None is a pupil tuition contract, which is what II(k) covers. Separately, before voting the elementary and middle school tuition rates in public, the chair said: “We did discuss this at a previous nonpublic” (2:27:01). Setting a general tuition rate is not “entering into a student or pupil tuition contract”, and where II(k) does apply it carries its own duty to publish the contract and the nonpublic minutes before approval. RSA 91-A:3, I(c) confines a session to the matters in the motion. The rates themselves were decided in public, which was correct; the flag concerns the fit between the grounds announced and the business done.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), I(c), II(a), II(k); RSA 91-A:2, I(a); 12.17.25 CSB Nonpublic Meeting session minutes unsealed.

MEDIUM The approved minutes omit the start time and the outcome of the vote to extend public comment

For meetings from August 22, 2025, RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to include “the start time and end time of the meeting, and name of the person who produced the minutes”, as well as final decisions and the mover and seconder of each motion. The approved minutes carry the end time (“Consent adjournment at 10:31pm”) and the producer (“Respectfully submitted by Noelle Kronberg”), and name the mover and seconder on every recorded motion. They give no call-to-order time; only the agenda’s scheduled 6:30 appears. They record “Arlene Hawkins made a motion to extend the time 15 minutes, Loren Howard seconded the motion” with no result, though the motion carried on the recording (2:06:03). The public roll call into nonpublic session names no individual votes on the tape; the minutes’ “all present voting in favor” is the only record. Mitigation: the draft minutes were posted within five business days (the Drive copy was created December 22), and the omissions are small.

Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025; text read 2026-09-25); 12.17.25 Approved CSB Meeting Minutes.

OBSERVATION The clerk’s stipend was raised $300 a month with no annual cost and no end date

Straight after a nonpublic session that discussed “board clerk compensation”, the board voted the increase in public (2:54:42–2:56:08). The reason was concrete: the clerk has absorbed an administrative assistant’s work. The motion names a monthly figure only, and on duration the chair said “We’ll remove it if we if if that role changes.” The public vote is the order RSA 197:23-a requires for the treasurer to pay, so no rule is breached. The same evening Hawkins found the attendance officer receiving about a dollar an hour for driving he is not doing (3:01:59): two pay decisions whose annual cost was not stated.

Sources: RSA 197:23-a (payment on the board’s order); approved minutes.

OBSERVATION Two restructuring models were presented; the costed current configuration most speakers asked for was not, and the default budget will not supply it

Both models change the current layout: Kennedy said the four-school model “is not as schools exist today” (0:45:14). Hawkins asked the cost of keeping schools as they are for a year (1:23:21); Yates asked for the research and the status quo (1:36:46–1:39:06); Ken and Cameron Lowney asked for the current configuration as a third, costed option (2:12:23–2:13:04). Angell told Howard the default budget must follow the chosen model (2:17:55). That is broadly consistent with RSA 40:13, IX(b): the default budget is last year’s operating appropriations adjusted for debt service, contracts and legal obligations, reduced by one-time items “and by salaries and benefits of positions that have been eliminated in the proposed budget”, so eliminations in whichever model is proposed flow into it. No rule requires a board to present a no-change option, so this is an observation. The answers document promised for January 7 is where it will be tested, and XI(a) requires the default budget to be disclosed and discussed at the first budget hearing.

Sources: RSA 40:13, IX(b) and XI(a) (2019, 192:2); CSD FY 26-27 Budget Presentation.pdf; approved minutes.

OBSERVATION Both models rest on buildings the budget sets aside nothing to repair

Crawford’s premises include “no money budgeted for any upgrades or repairs for any of our old school buildings” (0:41:12). The chair said reserve funds are “Depleted” and recalled nearly $300,000 of roof work at Stevens (1:28:25); the four-school path needs a $1–4 million middle-school rehab (1:02:12); Rhines asked where conversion money would come from (2:02:24). Under RSA 35:15 capital reserve money stays with the trustees until the district votes to withdraw it for the fund’s purpose, so capital work on reserves is a warrant-article question for the voters. No rule is breached; the capital assumptions behind both models were unfunded and unpriced when presented. The $20 million tech renovation figure and 75% state share are Crawford’s and were not verified here.

Sources: RSA 35:15 (capital reserve withdrawals by district vote); approved minutes.

OBSERVATION Payroll bridged on a bank loan until January’s state aid, with a deficit warrant article under consideration

Angell reported about $900,000 in cash before the next day’s manifests and Friday’s payroll, a Claremont Savings Bank loan at $1,917,000 to be drawn that week and repaid in January when state aid arrives, $21,573,000 in encumbrances to year end, and the $868,000 SchoolCare assessment (0:16:56–0:17:50). He then flagged “a possible warrant article to fund the deficit” for the next meeting (0:18:18). The report was candid. No statutory authority for the loan was named, and this page cites none: RSA 33:7, the tax-anticipation-note section, does not by its terms reach school districts. RSA 198:4-b, II (retained fund balance, with a hearing before it is spent) is a different instrument from a deficit appropriation. Read the January article against these figures.

Sources: RSA 198:4-b, II (2020, 38:25); approved minutes.

OBSERVATION Two positions cut in the reduction in force were restored the night they were proposed, as budget neutral, with no figures on the record

Herrington asked for the attendance secretary and a restorative school day position, funded from Paige Jarvis’s vacated line, as “an even switch off” (2:36:19), noting HR’s numbers were “on the high end” and the returning secretary would not take insurance this year (2:37:01). Carried at 2:42:00; the chair called it budget neutral. No dollar figure was given for either post or for the vacated line, and one employee’s insurance choice is not a durable saving. Madden supported the secretary but asked to present one meeting and vote the next (2:40:20). No rule requires costed figures before such a vote; the case for the posts is strong on the record.

Sources: approved minutes; the recording at the timestamps above.

POSITIVE A $49,775 donation was held for the public hearing the law requires, and the ski gifts were handled cleanly

RSA 198:20-b, III(a) requires a prior public hearing, with newspaper notice, before a school board accepts unanticipated funds of $20,000 or more. The interim superintendent stopped the band donation herself: “I thought I had put it on the agenda to be warned it was not a sufficient enough and I apologize”, re-noticed it in the newspaper and moved it to January 7 (0:29:41). Taking the money that night would have been the easy path while students were without a music program. The ski gifts ($4,000 and $3,000), below the threshold, were on the agenda, explained, confirmed open to any student, moved, seconded and voted (0:23:21–0:29:28), as III(b) contemplates.

Sources: RSA 198:20-b, III(a) and III(b) (2023, 38:1, eff. July 18, 2023; text read 2026-09-25); Mt Sunapee Ski Club 25-26.pdf; Corrected ski snowboard.pdf.

POSITIVE Public comment was placed after the presentation and extended past its 30 minutes

RSA 189:74 requires school boards to take public comment, and the board’s policy BEDH sets at least 30 minutes in total. The board went further: comment on the budget was taken after the presentation so speakers could address figures they had seen (0:01:44), the materials were shared by QR code and posted, and when the 30 minutes ran out with people waiting the board extended by 15 minutes (2:06:03). Six more people named in the minutes spoke, several sharply critical, and members then answered on the record. The minutes summarize each speaker with ward and substance, more than “persons appearing” requires.

Sources: RSA 189:74 (public comment at school board meetings; 2022, 333:1); Policy BEDH; approved minutes.

POSITIVE The nonpublic minutes were not sealed and say who was present and what was decided

The nonpublic minutes leave the sealing section blank, so RSA 91-A:3, III’s default applies: minutes and decisions are public within 72 hours. The form names the three non-members present (clerk, interim superintendent, interim business administrator), ticks the grounds against their full text, records the times, and states the one decision: a unanimous roll-call authorization for Hawkins to negotiate the CAA agreement. Caveat: the Drive copy was created December 26, 2025, nine days after the meeting; that date shows when this copy was uploaded, not when the minutes were first made available, so the 72-hour limit cannot be tested from it.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, III (disclosure within 72 hours unless sealed); 12.17.25 CSB Nonpublic Meeting session minutes unsealed.

Appendix — source files

Official and public sources

Cablecast: Claremont School Board: 12/17/25 (show 17046)
Drive folder: 14. CSB 12.17.25 — 10 items, one a subfolder
Agenda: CSB 12.17.25 Agenda Final (1).pdf
Minutes: 12.17.25 Approved CSB Meeting Minutes; 10. DRAFT 12.17.25 CSB Meeting Minutes.pdf; 12.17.25 CSB Nonpublic Meeting session minutes unsealed
Budget: 4-School Model - FY 26-27 Operating Budget 12.16.2026.pdf; 3-School Model - FY 26-27 Operating Budget 12.16.2026.pdf the “2026” in both file names is the district’s typo; CSD FY 26-27 Budget Presentation.pdf; 25ClaremontNH (2).pdf (NESDEC enrollment projection)
Donations and personnel: Mt Sunapee Ski Club 25-26.pdf; Corrected ski snowboard.pdf; Retiree Notification List - 25-26.pdf
Policies: First Read Policies (subfolder); GBGBA Use of Automated External Defibrillator(s) (withdrawn)
Companion pages: Finance Committee, December 12, 2025; December 3, 2025; January 7, 2026 (band-donation hearing; budget answers).

Project files

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

Dialogue/17046 SchoolBoard121725.mp4.CSV (963 rows)
Input/Videos/17046 SchoolBoard121725.mp4
Input/Transcripts/17046 SchoolBoard121725.mp4.json
Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 108

Laws and rules cited on this page

Right-to-Know: RSA 91-A:2, I(a), II and III (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); RSA 91-A:3, I(b), I(c), II(a), II(k), III (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023)
Budget and money: RSA 40:13, IX(b), XI(a); RSA 35:15; RSA 198:4-b, II; RSA 198:20-b, III; RSA 197:23-a
Public comment: RSA 189:74