Participants
Names and roles follow the agenda masthead and the approved minutes. Where the dialogue file’s label or the transcript’s rendering differs, the difference is noted.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Candace Crawford | Board chair; Finance chair; SRVRTC Committee | Presided. Opened the regular meeting early; read a prepared statement on the superintendent search; read and put a resolution of thanks to Claremont Savings Bank; told a member that remote attendance at subcommittee meetings is “entirely appropriate” (flag 3); named the forum candidate in the meeting’s last minute. |
| Michael Petrin | Vice chair; SRVRTC Committee chair | Reported the committee’s meeting with the technical center director; said matters belong on the agenda through the chair, not through administration; asked for outreach to Riverview Charter School and about a firefighting program. |
| Heather Whitney | Board member; Ad Hoc Exploratory Reconfiguration chair | Moved the Kiwanis donation, the SRO agreement, tabling the by-laws, the SchoolCare resolution and policy BBBF; defended the reconfiguration committee’s work; proposed publishing fulfilled Right-to-Know responses; asked for treasurer’s reports and a policy on the office. |
| William “Bill” Madden | Board member; Capital Improvement chair | Pressed on whether the dress-code policy is enforced; asked whether opting out of state testing should affect the diploma of distinction; asked again for an SAT preparation course. |
| Loren Howard | Board member; Policy chair | Reported the Policy Subcommittee’s first meeting and carried policy BBBF; questioned the cost of counsel reviewing the by-laws; asked whether remote attendance at subcommittee meetings is allowed; said he would film the April 6 forum as a volunteer. |
| Donald Lavalette | Board member; Ad Hoc Exploratory Reconfiguration member | Put corrections to the March 18 minutes, including the line that the board “approved it by voice vote”; read the committee’s executive summary into the record; raised the unused metal detectors and board members’ social-media comments. |
| Brian Rapp | Board member | Called the reconfiguration work a distraction; asked whether SAU 6 staff bring bargaining agreements; asked about group e-mail addresses; asked that resolutions reach the board beforehand (per the minutes; labeled Unidentified at 0:41:27); stated the quorum point on remote participation. |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Called the roll, largely unintelligible on the recording; produced the minutes. |
| Lilly Clark | Student member, Stevens High School | Gave the student report: the senior play, the Cartwheel initiative and the first Stevens wellness week, a band prank, a student-organized 5K. Labeled “Lily Clark” in the dialogue file. |
| Makaila Gallow | Student member (substituting for Miles Sheehan) | Introduced by the chair; no attributed speech. Rendered “Michaela, Carol Gallo” in the transcript; spelled per the minutes. |
| Kerry Kennedy | Interim Superintendent, SAU 6 | Reported the September realignment, the preschool proposal and resignations; corrected the SRO figure; asked leave to explore enrolling students from neighboring districts at the technical center. |
| Matt Angell | Senior Comptroller / Interim Business Administrator | Reported no draw on the loan, a cash low of $64,000 and a $5 million state deposit; presented the pooled-risk resolution moving SAU 6 employees and retirees to Claremont’s benefits from July 1. |
| Jason Bonneville | Interim Technology Director | Presented the website rebuild and a shared drive per subcommittee with access tied to board membership. |
| Dr. Michael Herrington | Principal, Stevens High School | SAT date and finals-exemption incentive, state science assessment, the civics naturalization test, and his reading of the dress-code policy. Rendered “Doctor Harrington” in the transcript; distinct from Michelle Herrington of the technical center. |
| Dale Chenette | Interim principal, Claremont Middle School (per the agenda and minutes) | Reported the NAEP sitting (43 eighth graders, 85% participation), the state assessment window and the math team’s fourth-place finish. The minutes attribute this report to Dale Chenette. The transcript renders his self-introduction “Olson”, Whitney then says “Thank you for stepping up, Bill.” (William Madden speaks next, so the addressee is uncertain), and the dialogue file labels him “Bill Olson”; the conflict is unresolved. |
| Doug Beaupre | Presenter at the hearing | Described the failing twenty-year-old scoreboards, the Nevco quotation and the Kiwanis offer to fund purchase and installation; donor signs to be paid from gate receipts. |
| Mr. Dewey | Kiwanis Club of Claremont | Spoke for the club at the hearing and gave the dates of its online auction. First name not in the sources. The transcript renders the club “Cornice Club”. |
| Chief Brent Wilmot | Claremont Police Department | Presented the school resource officer program and the memorandum of understanding. |
| Van Holder | Citizens’ comments — Ward 2 | The only citizen speaker: moving former Bluff students again, diesel costs, and reopening Bluff rather than selling it. |
| Luke Diamond | Incoming treasurer, as the chair described him | Spoke briefly from the floor about an e-mail to the chair. Named in the dialogue file and by the chair; not in the minutes. |
Named on the record but not present: Timothy Broadrick, the superintendent candidate for April 6 (he signs his own name Broadrick; the minutes, the transcript and the Cablecast gallery spell it Broderick); counsel James O’Shaughnessy; Disnard principal Melissa Lewis and the preschool coordinator (transcript “Christina Sanford”), whose work was presented; school resource officer Crystal Simonds (per the minutes); Gillian Rapp (Maple Avenue grant applicant, per the minutes); and the students the minutes list for the wellness week. Fifty-four rows of the dialogue file are labeled Unidentified.
Agenda
Items as posted in “4.1.26 CSB Public Hearing & Meeting Agenda”, with the time each was taken up and its disposition per the approved minutes. The chair moved the SRO contract to first place among action items.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | Call to order and Pledge | Agenda: 6:30 p.m. The transcript renders the invitation to the Pledge as “join me in the pleasure of meeting.” |
| 0:00:37 | Roll call | Mostly unintelligible on the recording. Minutes: “All present”, printed again under the 7:00 p.m. heading although no second roll was taken (flag 2). |
| 0:01:00 | Public hearing on Kiwanis donation in excess of $20,000 | Agenda lists “Nevco Quote.pdf” and the hearing rules. Presentation, board questions, the donor’s remarks, two calls for further comment. Minutes: moved by Whitney, seconded by Lavalette, all in favor; no amount recorded. |
| 0:11:59 | Closing of public hearing | Agenda: 7:00 p.m. Closed and voted at 0:12:14. |
| 0:12:38 | General Business: student representatives | Opened early: “we're not supposed to start the regular meeting until seven, but let's go ahead.” Student report from 0:14:02. |
| 0:22:26 | Consent agenda | SRO contract moved to first place. Corrections to the March 18 minutes; 3.18.26 and 3.26.26 minutes approved by consent “with changes”. Asked whether a vote was needed, Whitney: “No, it's just that there's no objection.” |
| 0:26:40 | Chair’s statement (not an agenda item) | Her home phone not working; then a prepared statement on the superintendent search at 0:27:38. The minutes place both under Citizens’ Comments. |
| 0:33:36 | Citizens’ comments | One speaker, Van Holder. The chair asked twice more for speakers and closed at 0:38:17. |
| 0:38:28 | Finance update | No loan draw; cash low of $64,000; $5 million state deposit; loan balance zero. A resolution of thanks to Claremont Savings Bank moved by Lavalette, seconded by Rapp per the minutes, carried. |
| 0:42:12 | Follow-up items: realignment; preschool | Pre-K to grade 2 at Disnard and grades 3 to 5 at Maple Avenue (the minutes print these reversed); preschool proposal from 0:47:43; cost comparison deferred. |
| 0:59:43 | School Resource Officer contract | Moved at $70,053.70 (1:05:34), corrected on the floor to $70,353.08; minutes: moved by Whitney, seconded by Lavalette, all in favor, at $70,353.08. |
| 1:08:58 | School Board By-Laws | Agenda: “any changes to the By-Laws requires a ⅔ majority”. Counsel had not reviewed the proposed changes. Motion to table until reviewed, amended to obtain a cost estimate first; carried at 1:16:50. |
| 1:17:18 | Ad Hoc Reconfiguration Committee | About twenty-five minutes; no vote. Minutes: report due in May, with executive summaries meanwhile; two committee documents linked. |
| 1:44:11 | Staff approvals: non-renewals, resignations | Two paraprofessionals, two teachers, a substitute, the accounts-payable post and a counselor; names withheld. Exit interviews by the interim HR manager. |
| 1:45:43 | Tech update, part I | Website rebuild and shared-drive structure; proposal to publish fulfilled Right-to-Know responses. |
| 1:59:49 | CMS and SHS mid-year update | NAEP, state assessments, SAT incentive, civics test, and the dress-code disagreement, referred to the Policy Subcommittee. |
| 2:20:52 | SchoolCare resolution | Agenda subtitle “Returning Dow Employees to SchoolCare coverage”, with the resolution and staff report. Minutes: Whitney moved to authorize the chair to sign, Rapp seconded, carried at 2:24:32. See flag 4. |
| 2:24:41 | Maple Avenue reading grant | A $5,000 Dollar General literacy grant applied for; information only. |
| 2:26:14 | Subcommittee reports | Policy: first meeting that day; BBBF adopted at second read with “no later than July 1”. SRVRTC: met with the director. Communications: NH Listens. The agenda lists the Ad Hoc Leadership Search Subcommittee as “Chair William Madden, Michael Petrin”. |
| 2:43:10 | Other business | Treasurer’s reports; the business administrator’s report schedule; metal detectors; social media; policy BBAA; stipends. Minutes: “Candidate on Monday is Timothy Broderick”. |
| 2:51:08 | Future dates | April 6 candidate forum, 5 to 7 p.m. (filmed, not live); SAU 6 board April 9, 6 p.m.; Claremont board April 15. |
| 2:52:34 | Adjournment | By consent; minutes: 9:24 p.m. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics. Quotations are from the dialogue transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:02:25 | Scoreboards that report the wrong score | Beaupre: “It'll work fine, and then it will start going really wonky. You might be up by 30 points. And the next thing you know, the other team has over 100 points”. The units are about twenty years old. | |
| 0:06:58 | The gift and its size | “So the total would be a gift of $24,229.50. And and the club as the group, they, they are going to pay the entire amount.” Donor signs from gate receipts at 0:08:11: “So, so the, the general public would not be seeing any of this cost.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:09:37 | The motion, with a figure the minutes omit | Whitney: “I would like to make a motion with deep gratitude to the Kiwanis Club, to accept money, to purchase two Niko [Nevco] scoreboards with the necessary assessor's for a total no greater than $24,229.50.” Carried unanimously at 0:12:14. The minutes record the motion without an amount. | MEDIUM |
| 0:12:38 | The regular meeting opens early | “We are ahead of schedule, but I don't think anyone will cry. So let's go on to we're not supposed to start the regular meeting until seven, but let's go ahead. There's no reason why we cannot do that. Is there? Does anybody know?” And: “So we've already had roll call for the school board, so I don't think we need to do that again.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:14:02 | Student report | The senior play raised “$4,341 for a senior class”; the Cartwheel initiative and the first Stevens wellness week; prom May 16. At a member’s request the organizers are named for the minutes. | |
| 0:23:20 | Corrections to the March 18 minutes | Lavalette asks that the oath be recorded and the presentations added; at 0:24:34, on the by-laws item: “I thought it was important that we put the board, discussed that, and the board approved it by voice vote.” At 0:25:06: the Policy Subcommittee “should be changed to the chair as Lauren Howard and Brian Rant [Rapp].” Approved by consent: “No, it's just that there's no objection.” | |
| 0:27:38 | The chair’s statement on the superintendent search | “This process has had, to be frank, mixed results.” “We didn't need large community effort for a long process to figure that out.” At 0:29:42: “We probably should have kept the community more informed about the kind of leader we know we need for the short term future.” At 0:30:07: “We've had nine candidates so far and the application period extended through today.” | POSITIVE |
| 0:31:23 | Interviews held in private; a forum announced | “We have done free interviews with six candidates, and we have done in-person, second round full board interviews with two candidates. These were done in private as a courtesy to the candidates.” At 0:31:54: a citizens forum “from 5 to 7 p.m.” on April 6, “Open to the public.” At 0:32:30: “We have contacted CCTV and they will be covering the Q&A part of that meeting.” | POSITIVE |
| 0:33:47 | The only citizen to speak | Holder on moving former Bluff students again; at 0:35:30: “If we have all brand new smart boards in there, that's a couple of thousand of dollars by cluster”. The chair answered that the K–2 and 3–5 alignment was part of the budget and saves costs. | |
| 0:38:28 | $64,000, then $5 million | “We didn't draw down any money.” At 0:38:42: “We, we actually got down to $64,000. Two days ago. And then the state deposited $5 million. So we made it through the month without a loan.” At 0:39:45: “Our cash balance is 64,000. Our loan balance is zero.” | |
| 0:39:50 | A resolution of thanks, unseen by the board | The chair reads it at 0:40:24: the bank “provided a loan in a timely way to the school district for operations”. Rapp (per the minutes) at 0:41:27: “It it'd be great if obviously this was planned if you could get that to the, the board. So we could read it beforehand.” Carried. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:42:31 | September realignment | “the pre-K to to, at Maple. Excuse me at Disney [Disnard] and then 3 to 5 grades at Maple Avenue.” Staff preferences surveyed; start times and transport still open. | |
| 0:47:43 | Preschool proposal | The current drop-in model at 0:49:15: “It's not a full program, so it's not quite fully ready for, you know, a typical preschool readiness program.” Next year one classroom with three more paraprofessionals. At 0:57:33: “there's 42 students that received the services, and there's seven students who were in the referral process.” Whitney at 0:56:56: “No it's about 400,000 total difference.” Cost comparison deferred. | |
| 0:59:43 | School resource officer | Chief Wilmot at 1:01:08: “the district paid 50% of the burden cost.” The chair thanks the city for carrying the full cost this year (1:04:00). Moved at “$70,053.70” (1:05:34); Kennedy’s figure “$70,353.08.” (1:05:09) is the one the minutes record. | |
| 1:08:58 | By-laws tabled for counsel | Whitney at 1:10:29: “I'd like to make a motion to lay on the table, adopting the bylaws until reviewed by Mr. O'Shaughnessy.” At 1:11:06: “So if we have rigorous enough policies, we may not even need the bylaws.” Lavalette at 1:13:27: “it would be a hard no for me to, to abandon what we have here.” Amended to get a cost estimate first; carried at 1:16:50. | |
| 1:17:18 | The reconfiguration committee’s remit | Whitney at 1:18:16: “we wanted an opportunity to do a feasibility study, and if we found that we had a killshot moment”. At 1:20:38: “one of the executive summaries that were put out today was all about preschool options”. | MEDIUM |
| 1:21:55 | Committee work read into the record | Lavalette: “So I just want to read this comes from Doctor Harrington's work”; at 1:22:49, a challenge: the life-skills programs “can only house students together within a four year age span.” The committee’s own summaries date its meetings with Dr. Herrington (March 26) and Principal Lewis (March 30). | MEDIUM |
| 1:25:11 | “a distraction” | Rapp at 1:25:35: “We're going to have new saw staff. There is so much going on that needs to be dealt with in this district.” Howard agrees on timing; Petrin says the board approved the committee two weeks earlier. The chair at 1:28:16: “I hadn't seen this until I got here tonight”. | |
| 1:30:07 | The savings argument | Whitney: “we have no control over what the state does with the money.” At 1:31:18: “the idea that we could we could capture four, three, four, $5 million”. No source for the figure is given. | |
| 1:35:05 | How the committee proposes to report | “I don't I don't need to discuss anything in a board meeting other than handing out executive summaries, briefly going over it, handing it to Noelle, having her post it.” At 1:43:18 the chair: “Meetings, the two of you.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:37:40 | The chair on timing | “there has been some, some misunderstanding in the public that we're not looking for September 2026 to do anything. We are looking to gather data, gather data, for budget process for 2728.” No vote; a report in May. | |
| 1:44:11 | Resignations and exit interviews | Seven departures listed. Whitney at 1:45:34: exit-interview results are “supposed to be shared with us in a nonpublic”. | |
| 1:50:03 | A shared drive per subcommittee | Bonneville: each subcommittee “is going to have a folder that is posted to the website”. At 1:50:24: “as board members come on. They automatically gain access to this shared drive. And then as board members leave, they automatically lose access to it.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:53:29 | Publishing Right-to-Know responses | Whitney: “Have a link to documents that have been requested for right to know.” At 1:53:47: “so that they're not duplicate requests.” The chair at 1:54:46: “during the month of February, the Right to Know legal bill for that was over $12,400”. Angell at 1:55:55 asks that the folder’s contents sunset. | POSITIVE |
| 1:59:49 | Middle school | “on February 11th, 43 of our eighth graders took that test.” State assessment in May; the math team placed fourth among medium-sized schools. | |
| 2:04:54 | An incentive attached to the SAT | Herrington: “It's an incentive that gets students to engage a little bit. And I think what happens is that our scores have been artificially low.” On opting out at 2:09:03: “the fact that it does hurt, you know, our scores and our ratings with the Department of Education”. | |
| 2:17:37 | The dress code | Herrington: “in the last ten years, as far as I've gone back, hats have not been part of the prohibited dress of Stevens High School.” Howard at 2:19:53: the dress-code policy “is which is last review in 2005”. Petrin at 2:20:17: “The proper way to get it on the table is to get it on the agenda”. Referred to the Policy Subcommittee. | |
| 2:20:52 | SAU 6 staff moving to Claremont’s benefits | Angell: “with moving or transitioning, this, the saw six employees to the school, to Claremont School District”, and “a state statute that requires that we get a resolution from the school board when when contracting with the state pool.” At 2:22:37: “the amount that we're budgeting for superintendent services is less than what we budgeted for saw six.” Rapp at 2:22:58: “there are no bargaining agreements that have to be modified.” | OBSERVATION |
| 2:23:44 | The motion, restated | “To authorize Mister Angel to change our, for six employees starting July 1st.” Then at 2:24:20: “I like to make a motion to have Candy Crawford do one more thing, and that is to sign the resolution as presented.” Carried. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:26:14 | Policy BBBF adopted | Howard: “We had a great meeting today. It was our first meeting.” Adopted at 2:30:35 with the start date “no later than July 1st”. | |
| 2:32:46 | Technical center | Petrin: “we did. We meet with Michelle Harrington [Herrington] for some updates”. Enrollment drop between levels at 2:33:49; Kennedy at 2:35:04 asks leave to explore students from other districts. | MEDIUM |
| 2:35:55 | Remote attendance at subcommittee meetings | Howard at 2:36:14: “So I know there is policy about attending like official meetings remotely.” The chair at 2:36:43: “your participation via zoom for subcommittee meetings is entirely appropriate.” Rapp at 2:37:10: “There has to be a full, full quorum.” The chair at 2:37:21: “But for subcommittee meetings, it's entirely appropriate to to participate by zoom.” | MEDIUM |
| 2:43:10 | The treasurer | Whitney: “the treasurer is the only bonded, elected official for the school board”. At 2:44:28: “there's not one policy in here about the function of the of the treasurer”. At 2:45:28: “We as board members have no independent authority or no independent access.” | OBSERVATION |
| 2:46:51 | Metal detectors; social media | Lavalette: “the metal detectors, they were bought with grant money, and they're just sitting there, not used.” At 2:47:39: “You can't take that cloak off.” At 2:48:54: “I've noticed some board members have more insight, information and other board members”. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:51:08 | Future dates; the candidate named | The April 6 forum “from 5 to 7”. Howard at 2:51:40: “The thing on Monday will be filmed, but not live on CCTV. In fact, I'm bringing my camera as a volunteer to film it”. Asked by Whitney, the chair at 2:52:13: “It's Timothy Broderick [Broadrick] is the candidate who was going to be with us on Monday.” | POSITIVE |
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. Verify against the recording and the primary sources before relying on any of it.
MEDIUM Two subcommittees met before this meeting with no notice or statutory minutes found; the reconfiguration committee’s own written summaries partly fill the gap
The Ad Hoc Exploratory Reconfiguration Subcommittee (Whitney and Lavalette), created March 18, met school staff at least twice before April 1. Its two executive summaries, linked from the approved minutes, are headed “Meeting with Dr. Herrington on 3.26.26 regarding 7-12 grade configuration at SHS” and “Meeting with Principal Lewis on 3.30.26 regarding Preschool Expansion”, and the first ends “Respectfully Submitted on 4.1.26 by Don Lavalette and Heather Whitney”. Asked at 1:20:49 whether a summary was “based on a committee meeting”, the answer on the recording is yes; Whitney at 1:32:27 mentions a further planned meeting with the preschool coordinator, and the chair at 1:43:18 describes them as “Meetings, the two of you.” The SRVRTC Committee also met: “we did. We meet with Michelle Harrington [Herrington] for some updates” (2:32:46), and Howard says he joined “that meeting on zoom” (2:35:55).
RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) makes “any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body” of a school board a public body. RSA 91-A:2, II then requires notice of each meeting posted at least 24 hours in advance, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, and minutes with the members’ names, persons appearing, subject matter and final decisions, and the start and end times. The board’s own by-law 1.05 (live document, read 2026-09-25) requires subcommittee notice “at least 24 hours in advance on the SAU 6 website” and minutes available there “within 5 days”. No notice for any of these meetings, and no minutes for the SRVRTC meeting, were found in the packet folder or the district’s minutes share; the subcommittee folders linked from the board’s web page were empty when this project read them in August 2026.
Graded MEDIUM, on the mitigated limb. An earlier version of this page graded this HIGH. The reconfiguration committee’s summaries are dated, name the members and the staff met, and describe what was discussed; they were distributed at this meeting within five business days of the March 26 meeting and linked from the approved minutes. They lack the start and end times, and there is no evidence of posted notice. The SRVRTC meeting has no record found at all. The technology director’s shared-drive plan (1:50:03) is the district’s stated route to publishing such records. Negatives rest on the routes this project can read and may under-report.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025; text read 2026-09-25); Claremont School Board By-Laws, rule 1.05; Copy of Consolidation Exploration Ad Hoc Committee; Copy of Consolidation Exploration Ad Hoc Committee Executive Summary; approved minutes, 4/1/26.
MEDIUM The minutes give no start time, record a roll call that was not repeated, and omit the amount of the donation voted
Since August 22, 2025, RSA 91-A:2, II has required minutes to include “the start time and end time of the meeting, and name of the person who produced the minutes.” The minutes give “Consent adjournment at 9:24pm” and the clerk’s name, but no start time; the only times printed are the agenda’s scheduled hours, and the regular meeting in fact began about sixteen minutes before its noticed 7:00 p.m.
The minutes print “All present” under the 6:30 p.m. heading and again under the 7:00 p.m. heading. There was one roll call, at 0:00:37; the chair said at 0:12:38 that “we've already had roll call for the school board, so I don't think we need to do that again.”
The donation motion at 0:09:37 was “for a total no greater than $24,229.50.” The minutes record the mover, the seconder and the unanimous vote, but no amount. For a hearing required only because the gift is $20,000 or more, the amount is part of the final decision the statute requires minutes to describe.
Graded MEDIUM, mitigated: the minutes exist, name the producer, and record every motion with mover and seconder and its outcome; the missing facts are recoverable from the continuous recording. The minutes also reverse the realignment (“Pk-2 at Maple and 3-5 at Disnard”) against what the interim superintendent said at 0:42:31.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); approved minutes, 4/1/26; Nevco Quote.pdf.
MEDIUM The chair told a member that remote attendance at subcommittee meetings is “entirely appropriate”; state law sets the same conditions for subcommittees as for the board
Howard said he had joined a technical-center committee meeting by video and asked what the rule is (2:36:14). The chair answered at 2:36:43: “your participation via zoom for subcommittee meetings is entirely appropriate. Okay. I think the issue for zoom participation, when there's a vote that has to be done.” Rapp raised the quorum at 2:37:10; the chair repeated her answer at 2:37:21. The minutes: “for subcommittee meetings it is appropriate since votes are not being taken”.
RSA 91-A:2, III applies to meetings of any public body, which under RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) includes a subcommittee. A member may participate remotely “only when such attendance is not reasonably practical”, and “Any reason that such attendance is not reasonably practical shall be stated in the minutes of the meeting.” Except in an emergency, “a quorum of the public body shall be physically present”; remote members must be audible to the public and identify who is with them; and “All votes taken during such a meeting shall be by roll call vote.” Paragraph IV’s more permissive rule applies only to bodies of state government. The paragraph does not distinguish meetings with votes from meetings without them. The approved minutes of the March 26 special meeting, approved at this meeting, record “All present, Loren Howard virtually” and state no reason; that meeting’s votes were by roll call.
Graded MEDIUM: a misstatement by the presiding officer, in answer to a direct question, that governs how subcommittees meet. Mitigation: she added “I don't know the specifics, but should that occur, we get that clarified before the meeting.”
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, III and IV (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); 3.26.26 Approved CSB Special Meeting Minutes.
OBSERVATION Unity’s withdrawal from SAU 6 on July 1 reaches this agenda as a health-insurance resolution
The packet’s resolution recites: “WHEREAS, the Unity School District is leaving SAU 6, beginning July 1, 2026;” and “WHEREAS, the Claremont School District will assimilate SAU 6;”. The staff report of March 27 says: “It is anticipated at this time that SAU 6 will dissolve as a legal separate entity from the Claremont School District.” These are the documents’ words. The mechanism the record identifies is Unity’s withdrawal under RSA 194-C:2, IV; this page does not state in its own voice that the unit dissolves. On the recording the business administrator speaks of “transitioning, this, the saw six employees” to the district (2:20:52), and says the budget for superintendent services “is less than what we budgeted for saw six” (2:22:37).
The agenda item is titled for insurance (“Returning Dow Employees to SchoolCare coverage”), and neither Unity nor withdrawal appears on the agenda. RSA 194-C:2, IV assigns the study, fiscal analysis, plan, public hearing, state board review and three-fifths vote to the planning committee and the withdrawing district; those records are Unity’s and are outside the shares this project reads. On the Claremont side the documents were posted in the packet in advance and the change was explained on camera. Two documentary slips are recorded: the resolution is headed “Resolution Authorized Signatures for District Bank Accounts” and the staff report “Student Photo Services”; and the resolution’s operative clause authorizes the superintendent, while the motion authorized the chair to sign. An earlier version of this page graded this MEDIUM; no verified rule is engaged on Claremont’s side, so it is an observation.
Sources: Pooled Risk Management Programs Resolution.pdf; Staff Report - Employee Benefits.pdf; RSA 194-C:2, IV (2024, 250:1, 2, eff. July 1, 2024; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 5-B:5.
OBSERVATION The donation hearing the statute requires was held; the newspaper notice cannot be traced from the district’s shares
RSA 198:20-b, III(a): “For unanticipated funds in the amount of $20,000 or more, the school board shall hold a prior public hearing on the action to be taken.” The same subparagraph requires notice published in a newspaper of general circulation at least 7 days before. The $20,000 threshold dates from 2023, 38:1, eff. July 18, 2023. The hearing was run properly: rules stated, presentation, donor’s remarks, two calls for further comment, then the vote. The packet holds “Public Notice 4.1.26”, a drawing in the district’s share; a newspaper notice may have run and would not be visible from here. Paragraph I conditions the board’s authority on an enabling article adopted at an annual meeting, which is not in this packet.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(a) (2023, 38:1, eff. July 18, 2023; text read 2026-09-25); Nevco Quote.pdf; Public Notice 4.1.26.
OBSERVATION Three governance questions the board raised about itself
- A resolution written that day and voted that evening. The chair read a resolution of thanks to the district’s lender; a member asked at 0:41:27 that such items reach the board beforehand. No money was involved and no statute is engaged.
- The treasurer. Whitney noted there is no board policy on the office and that members “have no independent authority or no independent access” (2:45:28). RSA 197:22 requires the treasurer’s bond; RSA 197:23-a gives the treasurer custody of district money, paid out only on the board’s orders, with “a fair and correct account”. Neither sets a reporting interval to the board, so a reporting policy is the board’s to write, which is what was asked.
- Social media. Lavalette: “You can't take that cloak off.” RSA 91-A:2-a, II bars communications outside a meeting, “including, but not limited to, sequential communications”, from being used to circumvent the chapter, which reaches exchanges among a quorum online. The topic went to a future agenda.
Sources: RSA 197:22 (1997, 319:4); RSA 197:23-a; RSA 91-A:2-a, II (2008, 303:4).
OBSERVATION No election return is in the district’s shares; the record indicates the petitioned budget cap failed
Nothing at this meeting refers to a budget cap, in a meeting that covered cash flow, staffing and a consolidation argument about capturing millions. The March 18 meeting supplies the positive evidence (the interim superintendent’s “If the tax cap had gone through”), and the MS-22 filed for the year reports $42,957,715 voted. The city clerk’s return would settle it; this page treats the conclusion as supported, not documented. See the March 18, 2026 page and the February 18, 2026 page on the article.
Sources: MS22.pdf (March 18 packet); approved minutes, 3/18/26.
POSITIVE The chair opened the superintendent search to the public from the chair, with limits worth noting
Before citizens’ comments she read a statement setting out the process (nine applicants, screening interviews with six, second-round board interviews with two), conceded “We probably should have kept the community more informed”, announced a public forum with dates, hours and room five days ahead, invited written questions, arranged CCTV coverage, and promised a report on April 15. That answers, in part, the requests residents made on March 18.
Limits: the interviews “were done in private as a courtesy to the candidates”. RSA 91-A:3, II(b) permits nonpublic session for “The hiring of any person as a public employee”, and the March 26 special meeting used it properly: a motion under II(b), roll calls in and out, and “Minutes not sealed”, so RSA 91-A:3, III’s 72-hour disclosure applies to them. The March 18 session on the same search was moved under II(a) (see the March 18 page), and this meeting approved those minutes without comment on it. The candidate was named only at 2:52:13, seconds before adjournment, after Whitney asked.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(b), III (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023); 3.26.26 Approved CSB Special Meeting Minutes; approved minutes, 4/1/26.
POSITIVE The board proposed publishing fulfilled Right-to-Know responses after hearing of a $12,400 legal bill for one month
Whitney asked for “a link to documents that have been requested for right to know” so “that they're not duplicate requests”; the technology director agreed subject to a legal check, and the chair asked for a follow-up report. The chair reported the February legal bill for compliance at “over $12,400”. RSA 91-A:4, IV(d) forbids charging for inspection and allows only the actual cost of copies, so review time cannot be recovered from requesters; publishing once is a lawful way to reduce repeat work. A sunset on the convenience folder, as the business administrator proposed, would not change retention of the underlying records under RSA 189:29-a.
Sources: RSA 91-A:4, IV (2024, 49:1, 2, eff. Aug. 13, 2024); RSA 189:29-a.
Appendix — source files
Official and public sources
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Laws and rules cited on this page
- Right-to-Know: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d); RSA 91-A:2, II, III and IV (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); RSA 91-A:2-a, II; RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(b), III (2023, 189:1); RSA 91-A:4, IV (2024, 49:1, 2)
- School districts: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(a) (2023, 38:1); RSA 197:22; RSA 197:23-a; RSA 189:29-a; RSA 194-C:2, IV (2024, 250:1, 2); RSA 5-B:5
- Claremont School Board By-Laws (live document, read 2026-09-25), rule 1.05