Participants
Everyone heard or recorded as present. Names follow the agenda and draft minutes; where the dialogue file labels a person differently, the label is noted.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Candace Crawford | Board chair; Finance Subcommittee chair | Presided throughout; called for “up or down” positions on hats, hoodies and midriffs (1:29:21); stated the $5 million deficit figure was “a reasonable estimation” and that there will be no special assessment (0:43:33); asked for concise reports after “a couple of meetings that have gone on for 3.5 hours” (0:22:52); met with the SRVRTC committee August 10. |
| Loren Howard | Board member; Policy Subcommittee chair | Framed the hats question as a choice between amending policy JICA and the handbook (1:33:35); moved the Stevens handbook (1:50:14), the elementary handbook (2:11:48) and the players’ athletics handbook, which he withdrew (2:24:39); seconded the bus purchase; reported the seven policies and moved IFA, EFAA and JLCJ to adoption (2:54:28) and JKAA and GBGA to second reading (2:59:22); raised the combined NHSBA resolution (3:10:14). Rendered “Lauren” in the transcript. |
| Donald Lavalette | Board member; Policy Subcommittee | Read corrections to the August 19 minutes (0:16:41 to 0:17:47); moved the bus purchase (1:06:36); asked about the bus monitors and policy GIC (1:03:47), ethics in the purchasing procedures (1:12:55), the CCTV lease’s video-production clause (1:16:02), Newport’s emergency-services program (1:17:41) and his request for a list of Right-to-Know requests since November 1 (1:27:09); read long lists of corrections to all three handbooks; moved the CMS handbook; seconded the nominations and the coaches’ handbook. Diarized in one cluster with Petrin. |
| William “Bill” Madden | Board member; Capital Improvement Subcommittee chair | Asked to keep the curriculum committee on the agenda and to add board visits to schools to future items (0:18:35, 0:18:54); submitted the eight manifest questions answered in the finance report and asked when procedures would let him sign “with confidence” (0:46:32 to 0:47:31); asked whether the principal and superintendent “have the authority to nullify specific items” of policy (1:32:31); voted against the Stevens and CMS handbooks per the minutes; made a statement on VLACS (3:08:56). |
| Michael Petrin | Board member; SRVRTC Committee chair | Suggested re-striping parking at Maple Avenue and Disnard (1:09:21); said he puts his “faith in our administrators” on dress code (1:35:01); disputed that the Tech Center had not expanded, citing the medical assistant and entrepreneurship programs (1:22:35); asked whether the bus’s $19,842 gap could be recovered (2:41:40); seconded the elementary handbook and the nonpublic motion. Diarized in one cluster with Lavalette. |
| Brian Rapp | Board member; Capital Improvement and Policy Subcommittees | Noted the district may still be paying for software for Unity and the Bluff School (0:50:49); said hats are fine but hoods should not be up (1:36:31, 1:37:01); read the field-license agreement as having no use limits (1:11:29); corrected the mouth-guard section against NHIAA rules (2:27:37); asked whether the handbook reflects the state phone law (2:06:58); objected to advancing policies the public had not seen and cast the lone no on JKAA/GBGA (2:59:58, 3:03:25, 3:04:41); seconded the CMS handbook and the players’ handbook. Diarized in one cluster with Dr. Herrington. |
| Heather Whitney | Board member; Ad Hoc Reconfiguration Subcommittee chair; Finance Subcommittee | Asked how the public can trust the year-end estimate and whether taxpayers face a special assessment (0:34:25, 0:41:10); argued the dress code should “promote professional image” (1:39:52 to 1:41:24); questioned the Stevens handbook on early graduation, Ed 306, grade redesignation, honor roll weighting, insubordination and the listed winter sports (1:52:50 to 2:04:38); moved the coaches’ handbook to force a vote and listed its gaps (2:30:53); moved the nominations, JF to second reading, and the nonpublic session (3:12:05); voted against the Stevens and CMS handbooks per the minutes. |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Called the roll (0:00:44) and the nonpublic roll call (3:12:55); asked for minutes corrections to be emailed (0:18:10). The chair addresses her as “Noel.” Recorded as present in the nonpublic session. |
| Dr. Timothy Broadrick | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Gave the finance report (DOE-25 extensions, “we will not have a surplus,” 0:36:22), the FY22 corrective-action update (0:55:13), the transportation and facilities updates, and the bus recommendation (1:05:57); answered Madden’s manifest questions; disclosed the athletics and principals’ checking accounts (2:38:15); said “if you don’t want me to try to add sports, you are going to have to fire me” (2:05:50); announced Teresa Taylor as business administrator starting October 1 (2:45:13). Rendered “Broderick” in the transcript. |
| Kerry Kennedy | Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, SAU 6 | Reported enrollment of 1,338 with kindergarten at 101, up from 88 (0:24:32, 0:24:44); explained the $52,000 Wit & Wisdom and Eureka Math quote and the ordering pause (0:25:35 to 0:26:32); distinguished extended school year services from credit recovery and gave the summer counts (0:26:40 to 0:29:54); reported about 35 new staff oriented (0:32:24). Rendered “Carrie” in the transcript. |
| Dr. Michael Herrington | Principal, Stevens High School | Said he would support a teacher who bans hats in class and that the policy left such calls to the principal (1:30:32, 1:30:33); explained early graduation, grade redesignation since about 2015 (1:57:46, 1:58:10), honor roll versus class rank, the insubordination chart and the phone rule (“There are no phones allowed at Stevens High School … due to a state law,” 2:07:13; “bullying has gone down,” 2:09:39). Rendered “Harrington” in the transcript; diarized in one cluster with Rapp. |
| Luke Diamond | School District Treasurer | Verbal treasurer’s report (0:20:02 to 0:21:31): payroll manifests now itemize direct deposits; payments had been added to a signed accounts-payable manifest; checks will now print with the manifest; electronic approval is next. |
| Courtney Porter | SAU 6 staff; presented the recognition (title not stated in the record) | Introduced Jacqueline Hall (0:01:09 to 0:03:17), describing the weekend food-bag program funded through Claremont Savings Bank grants, and invited the superintendent and chair to present the certificate (0:14:49). The superintendent’s report credits her with the district’s mandatory annual training. |
| Jacqueline “Jackie” Hall | Honoree; adult education and HiSET volunteer | Described the HiSET program: five subject tests, scaled scores of 1 to 20, a paper-based site at the Tech Center (0:08:15, 0:06:30); candidates from across the state; “I started in 1968” (0:14:20). |
| Noel (Ward 2 resident; surname not given) | Member of the public | Spoke from the podium during the handbook motion (1:50:54 to 1:51:52): as a teacher she “could not care less about the dress code” so long as students are ready to learn. Not recorded in the draft minutes. The dialogue file notes her voice is diarized in the clerk’s cluster; the record does not identify her further. |
| Amy Savage; Jason Bonneville | Human Resources Director; Technology Director (agenda header) | Listed on the agenda; not heard on the recording. The superintendent said he and Bonneville are untangling the policy files in Drive (3:00:09). |
| Teresa Taylor | Incoming business administrator (not present) | Announced at 2:45:13: joining from SAU 70 in Hanover on October 1 (rendered “sore, 70” in the transcript). |
| Referred to, not heard | Bob Gonyo (business office; “Mr. Garner” in the transcript); Michelle Herrington (SRVRTC principal; “Miss Harrington”); Doug Beaupre (athletic director); Ms. Mley (transportation); Mr. Holt (facilities); Mrs. Lewis (curriculum; “Melissa” in the transcript) | Named in the reports or the discussion; none spoke on the recording. |
Agenda
Items as posted in “CSB Agenda - September 2 2026”, with the time each was taken up and its disposition. The bus vote (V.2) was taken after the handbooks (V.3), and the dress code (V.1) produced no motion.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:05 | I. Call to order & Pledge | “6:30 PM Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance.” Called to order at 0:00:05 on the recording. |
| 0:00:44 | II. Roll call | All seven members answered; the nonpublic minutes list Howard, Lavalette, Madden, Petrin, Rapp, Whitney and Crawford present. The transcript garbles the names (“Lee Madden,” “Michael. Patron,” “Ryan. Rap”). |
| 0:00:55 | II. Recognition | “Jacqueline Hall, Adult education/HiSet volunteer.” Courtney Porter introduced her; Hall described the HiSET program; the superintendent and chair presented a certificate (0:14:49). |
| 0:16:10 | II. Consent agenda | “Amendments and Final Approval of Board Agenda; Approval of Minutes: August 19, 2026 Draft Minutes, August 19 Nonpublic Minutes; Review of Manifests.” Lavalette read four corrections to the August 19 minutes (0:16:41 to 0:17:47); Madden added the curriculum committee to subcommittee reports and board school visits to future items (0:18:35, 0:18:54). Taken by assumed consent at 0:19:33: “Seeing no other changes, we will assume … The board is consenting.” No motion or vote. |
| 0:19:33 | II. Citizens’ comments | “Please reference CSB Policy BEDH.” No one came forward (“It’s a quiet group tonight”). A Ward 2 resident spoke later, during the handbook motion (1:50:54). |
| 0:20:02 | III.1 Treasurer’s report | Verbal report by Luke Diamond: itemized direct deposits on the payroll manifest; payments added to a signed accounts-payable manifest; checks to be printed with the manifest; electronic approval planned (0:20:06 to 0:21:31). |
| 0:23:52 | III.2 Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment report | Kerry Kennedy: enrollment 1,338, kindergarten 101 (88 last year); October 1 is the official count date (0:24:50); Wit & Wisdom and Eureka Math quote of $52,000 “if we had ordered everything” (0:26:32); extended school year and credit recovery explained with summer counts; about 35 new staff. |
| 0:32:32 | III.3 Finance report | “FY26 Budget v Actual Report as of August 31 (attached); DOE-25 End-of-Year reporting; FY27 Cashflow Management Planning; Questions from FY26 AP Manifests; FY28 Operating Budget Preparation Schedule.” Expenditure report “relatively unchanged” with about $12,000 still to post (0:32:52); DOE-25 extensions; no surplus expected; first adequacy payment received (0:45:52); Madden’s manifest questions (0:46:00); proposed budget calendar deferred to the Finance Committee on September 15 (0:52:10). |
| 0:53:29 | III.4 Superintendent’s report | “Staff opening week; FY22 Audit Corrective Actions - draft; Transportation update; Facilities update; Adult Education program; Athletic Fields contracts with City & related costs; Feedback on proposed Board by-laws; Recovery Plan SWOT Analysis & Priorities.” Corrective actions at 0:54:52; transportation at 1:01:06; bus recommendation at 1:05:32; facilities at 1:06:46; adult education “covered” (1:11:01); field license at 1:11:19; bylaws deferred two weeks (1:11:53); SWOT draft handed out (1:12:04). Lavalette’s follow-up questions ran to 1:27:51. |
| 1:28:13 | V.1 SHS & CMS dress code | No motion. The chair polled members: hats allowed “5 to 2” (1:44:32); hoodies worn but not up, except under a 504 plan (1:46:31); midriffs left to the administration’s interpretation (1:48:45). Howard moved the handbook instead (1:49:39). |
| 1:05:32 | V.2 Authorization to purchase school bus | “Authorization to purchase school bus, as recommended.” Recommended at 1:05:57; Lavalette moved at 1:06:36, Howard seconded; taken up after the handbooks when Howard reminded the chair (2:41:18); restated at 2:43:22 as $146,342 from quote 1 with $19,842 to the district; passed without dissent at 2:43:51. |
| 1:50:14 | V.3 Handbooks | Stevens: Howard/Lavalette, passed 5–2 at 2:10:30 (minutes: Madden and Whitney opposed). CMS: Lavalette/Rapp, passed 5–2 at 2:11:20 (same two opposed per the minutes). Elementary: Howard/Petrin, passed unanimously with corrections at 2:17:41 (add Lavalette to the board list, name Teresa Taylor, spell out CHINS). Athletics, players: Howard/Rapp, motion withdrawn at 2:24:39, sent back by consensus (2:28:25). Athletics, coaches: Whitney/Lavalette, failed with all opposed at 2:40:36. |
| 2:52:28 | V.4 Policies | “EFAA, JLCJ, JF, JKAA, IFA, GBGA, and JIHC.” IFA, EFAA and JLCJ adopted unanimously in one motion (Howard/Whitney, 2:55:33); JF (enrollment, new) to second reading (Whitney/Howard, 2:58:52); JKAA and GBGA to second reading 6–1, Rapp opposed (Howard/Whitney, 3:04:41); JIHC held for the next agenda. |
| 2:44:56 | V.5 Personnel report | “Business Administrator; Nominations; Resignations; Central Office & Admin Job Descriptions & FY27 goals (in progress).” Teresa Taylor announced (2:45:13); nominations approved as submitted into the minutes (Whitney/Lavalette, 2:46:44); noncertified hires for information (2:46:45); resignations noted with the payroll-timing risk (2:47:13); job descriptions still coming (2:48:12). |
| 2:48:21 | V.6 Subcommittee reports | SRVRTC met August 10 (2:48:41). Ad Hoc Reconfiguration: Whitney and Lavalette to meet the superintendent for direction; Lavalette doubts anything can take effect before March (2:49:06, 2:50:05). Capital Improvement: September 15 time to be moved around the 4:00 Finance meeting (2:51:42 to 2:52:24). Policy: reported above (2:52:28). Curriculum: Madden to meet Mrs. Lewis (“Melissa” in the transcript) on the 9th or 10th (3:05:37). |
| 3:05:59 | VI. Other business | “Information: Email from CMS football coach regarding mascot; Croydon School Board Policy, Kearsarge and Claremont tuition agreements (public documents; may be discussed in nonpublic); Claremont Policy JFAB.” Mascot email (Eagles to Cardinals) put on a future agenda (3:06:29 to 3:07:55); tuition documents introduced for the nonpublic discussion (3:08:18); Madden’s VLACS statement (3:08:56); NHSBA combined resolution to be circulated (3:10:14 to 3:11:52). |
| 3:12:05 | VII. Nonpublic session | “Under RSA 91-A:3(II) c&k.” Whitney/Petrin; roll call begun at 3:12:55; the recording ends during it. Minutes: entered 9:43 p.m., returned 10:21 p.m. on Howard/Whitney by roll call; the unsealed nonpublic minutes record a tuition-agreement discussion and authorization for the superintendent to negotiate all tuition agreements. |
| not recorded | VIII. Future dates / IX. Adjournment | Not on the recording. Minutes: September 16 regular meeting (audit corrective actions update, special education update); October 7 (cash-flow management plan); future items include Tech Program expansion in October, the related-service-provider and central-office salary schedule, a transportation staffing analysis, and a preschool update. “Consent adjournment at 10:23pm.” |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics. Quotations are from the dialogue transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction. Times are taken from the dialogue transcript (Dialogue/17566 SchoolBoard090226.mp4.CSV) and link into the recording.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:55 | Recognition: Jacqueline Hall and the HiSET center | Porter: Hall taught fourth grade, became a counselor, and runs the weekend food-bag program “completely sponsored by grants through Claremont Savings Ba[nk]” (0:03:17). Hall: HiSET has five subject tests to the GED’s four; Claremont is “the only paper based site west of Concord” (0:06:30); candidates come from Lebanon, Keene, Nashua and elsewhere; “I started in 1968” (0:14:20). Broadrick: she “kept running the high set [HiSET] program and still does after funding went away” (0:16:00). | OBSERVATION |
| 0:16:35 | Corrections to the August 19 minutes | Lavalette: name the business office met with (Broadrick: “the wonderful business administrator from the Prospect Mountain Schools in Alton and Barnston [Barnstead],” 0:16:58); name the one-year consulting contract that ended (minutes: TMS); a stray “FAVOR” in caps (0:17:28); merge two personnel bullets (0:17:47). Kronberg asks for corrections by email (0:18:10). | POSITIVE |
| 0:19:33 | Consent without a vote; no citizens’ comments | Crawford: “Seeing no other changes, we will assume it’s. The board is consenting to the work here. Okay, so let’s move on to citizens comments. Do I have any citizens tonight … It’s a quiet group tonight.” Minutes, manifests and the amended agenda approved by assumed consent. | |
| 0:20:06 | Treasurer: manifests altered after signature | Diamond: payroll manifests now itemize direct deposits instead of “one lump sum” (0:20:06); on the accounts-payable manifest “you guys signed … two weeks ago. Other staff members added more items … there were checks that were for a different amount than what the manifest had said. And then there were checks that weren’t even in the manifest” (0:20:34); checks will now be produced with the manifest (0:21:04); online approval next (0:21:31). Lavalette: “in just two months we are rebuilding this house” (0:22:25). | MEDIUM |
| 0:22:52 | Shorter meetings | Crawford: “we’ve had a couple of meetings that have gone on for 3.5 hours”; reports go out ahead so administrators need not read them aloud (0:22:52, 0:23:22). This meeting’s public session ran 3:13. | |
| 0:23:52 | Enrollment and curriculum | Enrollment 1,338 as of today; kindergarten 101, “up from 88 last year” (0:24:32, 0:24:44); October 1 is the official submission date (0:24:50). Wit & Wisdom and Eureka Math quote “$52,000 this year” shows “if we had ordered everything”; ordering paused to avoid duplicates (0:25:35 to 0:26:32). Extended school year is IEP minutes, not summer school: 17 K-1 students, 11 in grades 2 and 3, 17 in grades 4 and 5, 6 in the self-contained program, 11 at the middle school (0:28:25, 0:28:50); credit recovery to move into the quarters via grants (0:29:13). Whitney: a drop of “roughly 17” students, who left and why (0:31:08). About 35 new staff (0:32:24). | |
| 0:32:52 | FY26 close and the DOE-25 extensions | Broadrick: expenditure report “relatively unchanged,” about $12,000 still to post (0:32:52); Crawford: “It still shows the 4,160,000” (0:33:08; the report itself is not in the packet folder, so the figure’s referent is not on the record). “A tremendous amount of grace by both the Department of Education and the Department of Revenue Administration” (0:33:38); 95% confidence by end of September (0:34:47); the FY26 starting assumption was a $5 million deficit (0:35:09); four pieces of receivables: tuition, special-education reimbursements, grants (0:35:33); past reports booked grant revenue “but then never did” collect it (0:35:58); “we will not have a surplus … I am guessing that we will still be in deficit” (0:36:22). | HIGH |
| 0:38:01 | What a lingering deficit means for taxpayers | Whitney asks for plain language (0:38:01, 0:38:09). Broadrick: the tax rate rests on the March appropriation, “no surplus funds going back” (0:38:33); “the $5 million was a guess in the first place … this is still a crisis” (0:38:59); “you’ve asked me to fund athletic programs out of a budget that had $1 for athletic programs … Let’s say that deficit is $700,000. I made that number up” (0:39:44, 0:40:08). Whitney: the deficit would most likely be absorbed by budgeted positions that go unfilled; Broadrick: “That is the most likely thing” (0:40:33, 0:40:58). “Am I going to be hit with … a special tax assessment?” / “We’re going to be okay” (0:41:10, 0:41:36). Crawford: the $5 million “was a reasonable estimation that wasn’t pulled out of the cloud” (0:43:33). First adequacy payment received on time (0:45:52). | |
| 0:46:00 | Madden’s manifest questions | Madden: “the transportation for $500 a day for one homeless kid, the the doctor bill of $6,500 … I signed them … believing that they’re not reasonable. But I don’t want to gum up the system” (0:46:47, 0:47:04); “why am I vouching for fireworks?” (0:47:04). Broadrick: “I’m glad we’re having this conversation in public”; McKinney-Vento transport must be paid at the only available price (0:47:54); “we’re paying for two time clocks” (0:49:31). Rapp: “probably paying still for unity and the Bluff School” (0:50:49). | POSITIVE |
| 0:51:05 | FY28 budget calendar; payroll cost | The superintendent’s proposed schedule (budget sessions November 4, November 18 and December 2; vote December 16; public hearing and vote January 6) goes to the Finance Committee on September 15 (0:52:10). Lavalette asks the cost of the retiree’s three years of benefits and what a two-week payroll costs (0:52:32, 0:52:44); Crawford: “don’t you take 42 million divided by 22?” / Broadrick: “I wish it would be so simple” (0:53:02, 0:53:06); the cash-flow project will answer it (0:53:11). | |
| 0:54:52 | FY22 audit corrective actions: 8 of 18 | Broadrick: “until this is done the fiscal 22 audit can’t be finalized. So you got a draft actually last November” (0:55:13); “18 corrective actions, we have to write a corrective action for each finding” (0:55:46); “We’ve written eight”; Plods and Sanderson [Plodzik & Sanderson] will accept them (0:56:10); later audits will cite “FY 22 Corrective Action number such and such” (0:56:36); “the most important thing being worked on in the district right now” (0:58:13). | HIGH |
| 0:58:37 | Questions in advance, answers in public | Whitney: “I’ve heard criticism … that we look like potted plants that are rubber stamping whatever comes in” (0:58:37); submit questions ahead if the answers are “built into the document” and “answered in a public forum” (0:59:01, 0:59:45). Rapp: “I wouldn’t want to see too much sort of get … pushed behind the scenes” (1:00:31, 1:00:56). | POSITIVE |
| 1:01:06 | Transportation: staffing, not money | “We are unable to do weekday afternoon athletic transportation. This is not like last year a cost saving measure. This is a staffing issue” (1:01:19). A 3:00 or 4:00 game at Fall Mountain is affected; Saturdays are not (1:02:32). Another driver would make 16 FTE; “the budget includes 17.6. I’m a little dubious about the budget” (1:03:17). Lavalette on three monitors and policy GIC (1:03:47, 1:04:04); one van driver training for a CDL (1:04:48). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:05:32 | Replacement bus: waive the new procedure | “Under our brand newly adopted procedures two week old procedure, we would go out to bid. We would issue an RFP and take sealed bids … wave [waive] those regular procurement rules which you have the authority to do” (1:05:57); “purchase the bus from Red truck [Reed Truck Services] at 146342 with … a net cost to the district. After our insurance settlement from the total bus of 19,84[2]” (1:06:20). Lavalette moves (1:06:36); the vote waits until 2:43:22. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:06:46 | Facilities: Disnard parking, Maple boiler, scoreboards | About $10,000 for thirteen parking spaces at Disnard against $40,000 in building lines, “25% of our building improvements money for the year”; $9,000 to repair a 30-year-old Maple Avenue boiler, “a third of the money in maples budget” (1:07:05, 1:07:29). Crawford: a capital improvements plan would mean “not surprised but informed” (1:08:41). Two scoreboards “on site and still in need of installation” (1:09:05). Petrin: re-stripe parking at Maple and Disnard (1:09:21, 1:09:40). | |
| 1:11:11 | Athletic fields license; bylaws; SWOT draft | The city field license is in the packet; Rapp: “it doesn’t look like there’s any specific limitations on use, just that they’re maintained properly” (1:11:29); the report puts the cost at $36,000 a year plus $10,000 for lighting. Bylaws feedback in two weeks (1:11:53). Broadrick hands out an incomplete recovery-plan SWOT draft: “I would place it behind the corrective actions in order of importance” (1:12:04); to be attached to the agenda online (1:12:31 to 1:12:38). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:12:55 | Purchasing ethics; Unity; the SAU 6 split | Lavalette asks where ethics appear in the purchasing procedures (1:12:55). Broadrick: the finance policies bar “two members of the same immediate family” from two parts of one purchase; “I’ll never be a signatory on a check for any purpose” (1:13:52, 1:14:17). Unity’s tech assistance not yet cut off (1:14:56); “it was not a failure of Claremont. It was a failure of a joint entity that both Claremont and Unity owned” (1:15:36). | |
| 1:16:02 | Tech Center programs: Newport, automotive, emergency services | Lavalette reads the CCTV lease, section five: “It is the intent of the parties to develop a new vocational program in the video production area” (1:16:02); “I was stunned to read that Newport now is offering an emergency services program” (1:17:41); “It sounds more like an edict instead of an agreement” (1:21:36). Broadrick: “there’s an automotive program in Newport, so the state won’t approve one. Here is what I understand” (1:19:14); statewide enrollment “down about 23% over the last 20 years” (1:23:22). Rapp: no real expansion since 2018 (1:22:08); Petrin: medical assistant and entrepreneurship were added (1:22:35). Lavalette asks for the regional agreement (1:26:30). Tech expansion is on the October agenda (1:26:19). | |
| 1:27:09 | Right-to-Know request list | Lavalette renews his request for “a basic list of all those right to know requests from November 1st” (1:27:09). Broadrick: “there are three open requests right now. Three. When I came here, there were 30 something. Since last November, there had been 90 something” (1:27:34). | |
| 1:28:13 | Dress code: hats, hoodies, midriffs | Crawford wants “an up and down, up or down vote” (1:29:21). Herrington would back a teacher who bans hats; the policy “allowed the principal to make certain decisions” (1:30:32, 1:30:33). Madden: do the principal and superintendent “have the authority to nullify specific items?” (1:32:31). Howard: policy JICA says “head coverings and sunglasses will not be worn,” so either the policy or the handbook must change (1:33:35). Rapp: hats fine, hoods not up (1:36:31, 1:37:01). Whitney: the code should “promote professional image” (1:41:24). Crawford: “on 5 to 2 people this is not an issue” (1:44:32); hoods up only under a 504 plan (1:46:31); midriffs: “I have 3 to 1” / Whitney “I’m a no” (1:47:28, 1:47:34); left to the administration (1:48:45). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:50:14 | Stevens handbook moved; a resident speaks | Howard moves the Stevens handbook “as written” with the dress-code procedures (1:50:14, 1:50:26); Lavalette seconds (1:50:33). “Noel Ward two. Most of you, I think, know that I am a teacher. And I will say that as a teacher, I could not care less about the dress code because my concern is whether the students are showing up ready to learn” (1:51:01); hats helped students with anxiety; “it is a big ask to then turn around and ask your teachers to police what their students are wearing all day long” (1:51:27, 1:51:52). | MEDIUM |
| 1:52:50 | Stevens handbook: credits, Ed 306, honor roll, phones | Whitney on early graduation under Ed 306 (1:52:50) and “306.27 Z” graduation competencies (1:54:46); Howard: the extended-learning policy covers it (1:56:12). Herrington on page 13: students are not redesignated for missing credits, a practice “like 2015 ish” (1:57:46, 1:58:10); honor roll is unweighted, class rank is weighted (1:59:55, 2:00:39); insubordination chart (2:02:21); alpine skiing and indoor track to be checked with Doug Beaupre (2:04:02 to 2:04:38). Broadrick: “we are not currently fielding a cross country team this fall” (2:05:25); “if you don’t want me to try to add sports, you are going to have to fire me” (2:05:50). Rapp on the phone law (2:06:58); Herrington: “There are no phones allowed at Stevens High School or any other school in the state of New Hampshire due to a state law” (2:07:13); Yonder [Yondr] pouches kept for repeat cases (2:08:45); “bullying has gone down” (2:09:39). | |
| 2:10:13 | Three student handbooks approved | Stevens, “includes the dress code”: “The motion carries 5 to 2” (2:10:30). CMS, Lavalette/Rapp: “Again it carries 5 to 2” (2:11:20); Lavalette commends the formatting (2:11:02). Elementary, Howard/Petrin: add Lavalette to the board list and Teresa Taylor as business administrator (2:11:54); Lavalette’s eleven items from attendance appeals to spelling out CHINS (2:12:38 to 2:16:57); approved with corrections, “unanimous” (2:17:41). | |
| 2:18:17 | Athletics handbooks sent back | Howard: approve “But to ask that it is not in Comic Sans next time” (2:18:17). Lavalette: no unified sports (2:19:24); “tradition … plays a part in the selection of athletes, that’s to me that’s a red flag” (2:21:32); an unknown appeals committee (2:24:07). Howard withdraws (2:24:39). Rapp: NHIAA does not require mouth guards in soccer or basketball (2:27:37). Whitney: captain criteria (2:28:43). Coaches’ handbook: no evaluation process, no reporting line for the AD (2:30:53, 2:31:18); “all coaching contracts are at will contracts” questioned (2:32:30); a travel dress code by sex (2:34:07); Eagle Times still cited (2:35:19). Fails, all opposed (2:40:36). | POSITIVE |
| 2:38:15 | Disclosure: athletics and principals’ checking accounts | “Each principal also has a checking account … That’s probably going to have to go away” (2:38:46); “an athletics checking account that the athletic director, the principal at Stevens and the assistant principals at Stevens have been signatories on … over $20,000 at the beginning of the year to pay game officials” (2:39:09); “members of the same immediate family … actually that is the case right now” (2:39:37); “I should disclose things to you as I learn about them” (2:40:00). | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 2:41:11 | Bus purchase voted | Howard: “I was second [to] Don’s motion made an hour and a half ago” (2:41:18). Petrin asks about recovering the gap (2:41:40); Broadrick: “It’s just under $20,000 … We’ll charge it to a line in the transportation function … likely to be in salaries and benefits for a couple of employees we don’t have right now” (2:41:49, 2:42:13); Primex is the insurer (2:42:42). Restated: $146,342, “the cost of the district will be $19,842” (2:43:22); “unanimous support” (2:43:51). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:44:56 | Personnel: business administrator, nominations, resignations | “Teresa Taylor, currently working for sore, 70 [SAU 70], in Hanover, New Hampshire, will be joining Claremont as our new business administrator on October 1st” (2:45:13). Nominations approved “as submitted into the minutes” (2:46:09, 2:46:44). Noncertified hires for information (2:46:45). Resignations: “one of the hazards … of starting payroll on the 14th of August was if somebody resigned prior to the first day of school … the Claremont taxpayers suffer a financial loss that I will work to recover” (2:47:13). | |
| 2:48:21 | Subcommittees | SRVRTC met August 10 (2:48:41). Ad hoc reconfiguration: Whitney seeks direction from the superintendent (2:49:06); Lavalette: “I don’t see anything that we could possibly do between now and March that would have any impact” (2:50:05). Capital Improvement to move its September 15 time around the 4:00 Finance meeting (2:51:42 to 2:52:24). | |
| 2:52:28 | Policies: three adopted, three advanced, one held | Howard: “I don’t think you guys got your policies on time” (2:52:35). IFA is a title change (2:52:50); EFAA sets up to three weeks to refund a meal-account balance (2:53:11, 2:53:30); JLCJ follows “new RSA requirements” on head injuries (2:53:48). Adopted together, “Unanimous” (2:55:33). GBGA: the district pays for drug tests it requests (2:56:54). JF (enrollment, a “completely missing policy”) to second reading (2:57:46, 2:58:52). Rapp: “Nobody’s getting a chance to really look at them” (2:59:58); Broadrick on the Drive folders (3:00:09 to 3:01:07); “First greed [read] public should have been able to read them. They weren’t” (3:03:25). JKAA and GBGA to second reading, “six one” (3:04:41); JIHC to the next agenda. | OBSERVATION |
| 3:05:59 | Other business: mascot, tuition documents, VLACS, NHSBA | A CMS coach asks whether the middle school teams could be “Cardinals like Stevens High School instead of the Eagles” (3:07:23); put on a future agenda (3:06:29, 3:07:55). Croydon’s policy, the Kearsarge and Claremont tuition agreements and policy JFAB introduced for a nonpublic conversation (3:08:18, 3:08:39). Madden on VLACS: “It was very, very difficult for my son to make up all that time and then accelerate”; “if I left, anyone with the impression that V lacks [VLACS] is a panacea, it’s not” (3:09:25, 3:09:54). The NHSBA attorney combined three resolutions into one; the chair will circulate it (3:10:47, 3:11:52). | |
| 3:12:05 | Motion to enter nonpublic session; recording ends | Whitney: “move into nonpublic per 91 a colon a colon, three Roman numeral two under C and K,” reading the tuition-contract ground (3:12:05, 3:12:33); Petrin seconds (3:12:44); the clerk begins the roll call (3:12:55). The recording ends at 3:13:05 after Whitney’s “Yes.” Minutes: in at 9:43 p.m., out at 10:21 p.m., adjourned 10:23 p.m. | MEDIUM |
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. Two of the items below (flags 3 and 5) and two of the positives also appear, from the minutes and the 22-minute excerpt, on the excerpt page; they are restated here because this page has the full recording.
HIGH The September 1 statutory deadline for the FY26 financial report passed with the DOE-25 unfiled; the statute has no extension provision, and the FY22 audit is still open
The finance report in the packet says: “Last week, we requested 30-day extensions to Claremont & Unity’s DOE-25 submissions. Those extensions have been granted,” and “I expect to request an additional 30-day extension of the DOE-25 submission in October.” On the recording the superintendent said the district is “being granted a tremendous amount of grace by both the Department of Education and the Department of Revenue Administration” (0:33:29, 0:33:38), that by the end of September he will give the state a year-end position with “95% confidence” (0:34:47), and that “we will not have a surplus at the end of fiscal 26, we will either still be in deficit or we will have about broken even” (0:36:22), which he said lets the tax rate be set without delay (0:37:35). RSA 198:4-d, III, as repealed and reenacted by 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586) effective July 1, 2026, requires the financial report “showing the summary of receipts and expenditures … and a balance sheet” to be “submitted on or before September 1 of each year,” with the chair’s certification “under the pains and penalties of perjury”; the section provides no extension for that report (its only extension language, in paragraph VIII, is for “disputed items” in an audit report). RSA 21-J:34, V separately requires school districts to “submit financial reports on or before September 1 of each year” to the Department of Revenue Administration. Paragraph VIII of the reenacted section now puts the audit report due “within 9 months of the end of the fiscal year” (March 31, 2027 for FY26) and directs that “The commissioner shall withhold state grant funding, not including RSA 198:40-a funding, allocated to any non-compliant … school district … until the audit or financial report is completed and submitted to the department, and any questions are answered to the commissioner’s satisfaction.” Adequacy aid under RSA 198:40-a is carved out of that sanction, which fits the superintendent’s assurance that the first adequacy payment, about $3.3 million per the finance report, arrived on time (0:45:52). The FY22 audit cannot be finalized until the board adopts eighteen corrective actions, eight of which were drafted (0:55:13 to 0:56:10); the FY23, FY24 and FY25 audits are also outstanding (0:38:59). The departments’ agreement to the timetable is a fact of the record; whether an administrative extension excuses a date the statute sets without one, and which grants the commissioner would treat as withholdable, are the questions for a reviewer. The gc.nh.gov page for RSA 198:4-d still showed the 2025 vintage (2025, 141:401) when read on October 1, 2026; the chaptered text of SB 586 is the source for the 2026 wording.
Sources: 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), 272:1, reenacting RSA 198:4-d (chaptered text at gc.nh.gov); RSA 198:4-d as shown at gc.nh.gov (2025 vintage); RSA 21-J:34, V (financial reports to DRA by September 1); Claremont Finance report - Sept 2 2026; Corrective Actions draft
MEDIUM Payments were added to an accounts-payable manifest after two board members had signed it
The treasurer, Luke Diamond, reported at 0:20:34 that a manifest “that you guys signed for accounts payable two weeks ago” changed after it was signed: “Other staff members added more items. And so when I came in to sign checks, there were checks that were for a different amount than what the manifest had said. And then there were checks that weren’t even in the manifest.” At 0:21:04 he traced it to a system in which “multiple people are able to add payments in,” and said the procedure has been changed so that checks are produced at the same time as the manifest, which “prevents other payments from slipping in after you guys have already reviewed and authorized it.” RSA 197:23-a lets the treasurer pay out district money “only upon orders of the school board or upon orders of 2 or more members of the school board empowered by the school board as a whole to authorize payments”; a check that is not on the signed manifest, or is for a different amount, has no such order behind it. The record does not say whether any of those checks were released; Diamond described finding them when he came in to sign. The district’s draft corrective action for audit finding 2022-008 (approval of vendor and payroll manifests) proposes electronic manifests with line-item backup and public posting of the signed PDFs by December 31, 2026, the same change Diamond described at 0:21:31. The chair (0:22:10) and Lavalette (0:22:25) treated the report as evidence of controls being rebuilt rather than of new loss.
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer pays only on orders of the board or of empowered members); Corrective Actions - Claremont FY22 Audit - Sept 2 2026 DRAFT (finding 2022-008)
MEDIUM An athletics checking account with more than $20,000 is signed by school staff outside the treasurer, and two of the signers are members of one family
Near the end of the coaches’-handbook debate the superintendent volunteered, at 2:39:09: “there is an athletics checking account that the athletic director, the principal at Stevens and the assistant principals at Stevens have been signatories on. And that checking account carries a five figure balance. Five over $20,000 at the beginning of the year to pay game officials.” Each principal also has a “principals account” that “is probably going to have to go away” (2:38:46). At 2:39:37 he connected the account to the policy line he had quoted earlier (1:13:52), that “two members of the same immediate family … cannot handle two parts of the same purchasing action,” saying “actually that is the case right now. And that is one thing I am already changing.” RSA 197:23-a gives the treasurer custody of the district’s money and lets it be paid out only on the board’s orders; a bank account that school administrators sign on their own sits outside that custody. Under GASB Statement 84, money a district controls and spends for its own programs, such as funds its staff hold to pay game officials, is generally the district’s own governmental activity rather than a fiduciary fund, so it belongs in the district’s accounts and statements. The FY22 auditors’ finding 2022-012 (student activity fund maintenance) is one of the eighteen the corrective-action plan must answer; the draft sets June 30, 2027 for a policy and procedures. The same account is flag 1 on the excerpt page, which was built from show 17575.
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (custody of district money; payment on the board’s orders); GASB Statement 84 (fiduciary activities; district-controlled funds are governmental); Corrective Actions draft (finding 2022-012)
MEDIUM The draft minutes omit a resident who addressed the board and record citizens’ comments as “none”
When the chair opened citizens’ comments at 0:19:33 no one came forward (“It’s a quiet group tonight”). During the motion on the Stevens handbook a speaker asked to go to the podium (1:50:54) and said, “Noel Ward two. Most of you, I think, know that I am a teacher” (1:51:01), then spoke against asking teachers “to police what their students are wearing all day long” (1:51:52). The draft minutes list Citizens Comments as “none” and do not mention this speaker anywhere. RSA 91-A:2, II says minutes “shall include the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions.” The requirement does not depend on which agenda slot a person speaks in. The dialogue file labels the speaker “Noel (Ward 2 resident; surname not given)” and notes that the voice is diarized in the same cluster as the board clerk’s; nothing in the record identifies the speaker further, so this page does not.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (contents of minutes); 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx
MEDIUM The nonpublic motion cited RSA 91-A:3, II(c) and (k); the unsealed minutes record a tuition-agreement discussion that fits (k) alone
Whitney moved at 3:12:05 “to move into nonpublic per 91 a colon a colon, three Roman numeral two under C and K,” reading the (k) ground at 3:12:33; Petrin seconded; the clerk began a roll call at 3:12:55, and the recording ends during it at 3:13:05. The draft public minutes record the roll call as “all present voting in favor” and entry at 9:43 p.m. The unsealed nonpublic minutes record one subject: “Discussion of tuition agreements and anchor school identification; the Board authorized the Superintendent to review and negotiate all tuition agreements.” That fits II(k), a school board’s consideration of a pupil tuition contract under RSA 194 or RSA 195-A. Nothing recorded fits II(c), matters which “would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the public body itself.” RSA 91-A:3, I(b) requires the motion to “state on its face the specific exemption” relied on, which this motion did; when the record of the session bears out only one of two cited exemptions, a reader cannot tell what, if anything, was taken up under the other. The nonpublic minutes record the authorization without a motion, second or tally, and the roll-call table on the form is blank; the public minutes carry the vote to enter. The minutes were not sealed and were posted in the district’s Unsealed Minutes folder. The excerpt page raised the same point from the minutes alone.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), II(k) and III; RSA ch. 194 (tuition agreements); 9.2.26 Nonpublic Minutes.docx (unsealed); 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx
OBSERVATION A $146,342 bus was bought on three quotes under a waiver of the procurement procedure adopted two weeks earlier as an audit corrective action
At 1:05:57 the superintendent said: “normally under our brand newly adopted procedures two week old procedure, we would go out to bid. We would issue an RFP and take sealed bids to purchase something that’s going to cost on the order of $150,000. So what I’m asking you to do … is wave [waive] those regular procurement rules which you have the authority to do.” His written report lists the three quotes: $146,342 (Reed Truck Services), $161,325 and $167,785 (both W.C. Cressey), all 71-passenger diesels. Lavalette moved at 1:06:36; Howard reminded the board at 2:41:18 that he had seconded “an hour and a half ago”; the chair restated the motion at 2:43:22 and it passed without dissent at 2:43:51. The net cost after the Primex insurance settlement for the bus totaled this summer and a $1,000 deductible is $19,842, to be absorbed from transportation salary lines for positions the district has not filled (2:41:49, 2:42:13). No New Hampshire statute requires competitive bidding for a school district’s locally funded purchase, and no federal money is involved, so the federal procurement standards do not apply; the rule waived is the district’s own, adopted August 19, 2026 as the corrective action for audit finding 2022-017 (see the August 19 page). The draft plan already concedes that “It is likely too late for 100% adherence with these procedures during FY27.” How the FY27 auditor treats a board-approved waiver fourteen days into the procedure is the point to watch.
Sources: Claremont SB report - Sept 2 2026 (transportation update, three quotes); Corrective Actions draft (finding 2022-017)
OBSERVATION Policies were adopted or advanced, and a recovery-plan draft handed out, without the documents in the posted packet
Howard opened the policy report at 2:52:35: “I don’t think you guys got your policies on time, but you should have them now.” The board then adopted IFA, EFAA and JLCJ in one motion (2:55:00, carried at 2:55:33), sent the new enrollment policy JF to a second reading (2:58:09, 2:58:52), and sent the JKAA and GBGA revisions to a second reading 6–1 (2:59:22, 3:04:41). Rapp objected: “I would love to have the stuff before [the meeting]” (2:59:40); “We’re like racing through these policies. Nobody’s getting a chance to really look at them” (2:59:58); “First greed [read] public should have been able to read them. They weren’t” (3:03:25). Howard said he had sent the files “four weeks ago” and they “were missed at the last meeting … and they were missed for this meeting” (2:59:45); the superintendent described “multiple shared drives, multiple folders, multiple folders with the same names” and said “right now I can’t access these files” (3:00:09, 3:00:41). The meeting’s packet folder (25 documents) holds a policy-subcommittee agenda but none of the seven policy drafts; dated PDFs of them were filed in the September 16 folder (see the September 16 page). The recovery-plan SWOT draft the superintendent handed out at 1:12:04 was promised online (“will it be attached to the [agenda] … so people can go in and look at it” / “Absolutely,” 1:12:31 to 1:12:38) and is also absent from this folder; a dated draft is in the September 16 folder. RSA 91-A:2, II requires notice of the meeting, not posting of the papers, so this is an observation. The board held JIHC (metal detectors) to the next agenda “so people can open it during the week that it’s posted” (3:04:41).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (notice covers the meeting); Drive folder 6.9.2.2026--School Board Documents
OBSERVATION Dress-code positions were settled by informal polls, and the minutes record the tallies without names
The chair asked for “an up and down, up or down vote” on hats (1:29:21) and framed it as “how do the seven of us vote on hats being allowed in the school or not” (1:33:09). After each member spoke she summarized: “on 5 to 2 people this is not an issue” (1:44:32); hoodies may be worn but not up unless a 504 plan provides otherwise (1:44:59, 1:46:31); on midriffs, “I have 3 to 1” and “I’m a no” from Whitney (1:47:28, 1:47:34), then “do four or more people agree with one version” (1:49:17). No motion was made on any of these. Howard redirected the board to a motion on the handbook itself (1:49:39), and the Stevens handbook, with the administration’s dress-code procedures, passed 5–2 at 2:10:30; the draft minutes name Madden and Whitney as opposed. The minutes also record “5-2 believe hats should be allowed” without saying how each member answered or that it was a show of hands. RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to record “final decisions”; the final decision here was the handbook vote, which is recorded with names, so this page treats the informal tallies as an observation. The excerpt page, working from the minutes alone, rated the same item MEDIUM; the recording shows how the figure arose.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (final decisions in minutes); 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx
OBSERVATION A missed 2023 grant deadline ended the funded adult-education program; the HiSET center runs on volunteer effort until at least 2029
The superintendent’s report states that the adult diploma and HiSET programs “were operated under a federal grant administered by the New Hampshire Department of Education, until, in 2023, the district missed its deadline to submit the grant application. This grant runs on a three-year cycle; the next opportunity to apply for funds will be in 2029.” On the recording he said that “when funding for the adult ed program through a federal grant went away a few years ago, Jackie didn’t stop. She kept running the high set [HiSET] program and still does” (0:15:39, 0:16:00). Jacqueline Hall described Claremont as “the only paper based site west of Concord” (0:06:30), drawing candidates from Charlestown, Lebanon, Enfield, Canaan, Hillsborough, New Boston, Nashua, Alexandria and Keene (0:07:14, 0:07:30); asked how long she had done it, she answered “You mean without pay?” (0:14:11) and said she started in Claremont education in 1968 (0:14:20). The report calls reviving the program a goal the district cannot fund now. No rule is flagged; the record itself states the cause.
Sources: Claremont SB report - Sept 2 2026 (section 5, Adult Education)
OBSERVATION Transportation runs 15 employees against 17.6 budgeted positions, with no substitute driver and no weekday afternoon athletic trips
The superintendent’s report counts eight CDL drivers, four van drivers and three monitors, plus one substitute not on contract, against 17.6 FTE in the FY27 budget; a CDL candidate declined an offer. With no substitute, an absent driver means the department will “double up a route, and the children on one route will be late to school, then the children on the corresponding route will have to be dismissed early.” Athletic trips before 4 p.m. cannot be run, so families are signing transportation waivers. On the recording: “This is not like last year a cost saving measure. This is a staffing issue” (1:01:19); “the budget includes 17.6. I’m a little dubious about the budget and how related to reality it is, so I don’t mind that we’re under right now” (1:03:17). Lavalette asked why three monitors were hired when “last year I thought we had two,” who they report to and what they do off the bus, pointing to policy GIC (1:03:47, 1:04:04); one van driver is being trained for a CDL (1:04:48). The same unfilled positions are the source the superintendent named for the bus’s $19,842 (2:42:13) and for absorbing any FY26 deficit (0:40:33, 0:40:58). No rule is flagged.
Sources: Claremont SB report - Sept 2 2026 (section 3, Transportation update)
POSITIVE Board members’ manifest questions were answered in writing in the public packet and kept in public session
After signing manifests on August 19, Madden emailed eight questions; the finance report answers them in the packet: Frontline software at about $79,000 covers seven modules; Time Clock Plus duplicates Frontline’s time clock and will be dropped (“good catch, Mr. Madden”); Docstar is special-education documentation software to be replaced with Google Docs; elevator inspections at about $245 per elevator are required by the state while the Stanley Elevator service contracts are not; Follett library software costs $5,722.84 a year. At 0:47:54 the superintendent said, “I’m glad we’re having this conversation in public,” and explained that where federal law, McKinney-Vento, mandates daily transportation for a homeless student, “the only service we can find” at $500 a day must still be paid (42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(J)(iii) requires transportation to the school of origin). He also warned in writing against holding payments until all seven members’ questions are answered. When the chair asked for shorter meetings, Whitney agreed to submit questions in advance only if the answers are “built into the document” and “answered in a public forum” (0:59:01, 0:59:45), and Rapp said he would not want discussion “pushed behind the scenes” (1:00:31, 1:00:56).
Sources: Claremont Finance report - Sept 2 2026 (section 4); 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(J)(iii) (McKinney-Vento transportation)
POSITIVE The superintendent disclosed the athletics and principals’ checking accounts as soon as he learned of them
The disclosure at 2:38:15 to 2:40:00 was unprompted: “I want to bring your attention to something that I plan to report on in greater detail in the future, but because I know about it now, even though I don’t know everything about it now”; “I do feel like I should disclose things to you as I learn about them when when they’re clearly a little problematic.” He said the family-member signatory problem is “one thing I am already changing” (2:39:37, 2:40:00) and that principals “have been very receptive” (2:39:09). The weakness itself is flag 3; the practice of surfacing it in open session before the fix is complete is what this flag records. The excerpt page recorded the same disclosure.
Sources: Corrective Actions draft (findings 2022-006, 2022-012)
POSITIVE The board read both athletics handbooks line by line and refused to approve them as drafted
Howard’s motion on the players’ handbook (2:18:36, seconded at 2:18:50) was withdrawn at 2:24:39 after Lavalette’s list: no mention of unified sports (2:19:24), “tradition … plays a part in the selection of athletes” as “a red flag” (2:21:32), an appeals committee no board member had heard of, a 30-year-old statistics citation and a broken link. Rapp corrected the mouth-guard section against NHIAA rules (2:27:37); Whitney asked for captain-selection criteria with a leadership component (2:28:43). The chair recorded the consensus that the draft “needs a lot more work” (2:28:25) and asked members to send their notes to the superintendent (2:29:32). Whitney then moved the coaches’ handbook (2:30:30) so the board could reject it on the record: no coach-evaluation process or rubric and no stated reporting line for the athletic director (2:30:53, 2:31:18); Lavalette questioned the “at will” contract language (2:32:30) and a travel dress code written separately for boys and girls (2:34:07). The motion failed with every member voting no (2:40:36; the minutes: “all present voting in opposition”). The excerpt page covers the same debate from show 17575.
Sources: Stevens_Athletic_Handbook.docx.pdf; SHS Coaching Handbook (DB).docx.pdf; 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx
POSITIVE Draft minutes were produced within the statutory window, the prior minutes were corrected on the record, and the nonpublic minutes were released
The Drive copy of “9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx” was created September 9, 2026, the fourth business day after the meeting once the Labor Day holiday is excluded, inside the five business days RSA 91-A:2, II allows. Lavalette read four corrections to the August 19 minutes at 0:16:41 to 0:17:47 (name the business office the superintendent met with, which turned out to be Prospect Mountain’s, 0:16:58; name the ended consulting contract; fix a typo; merge two bullets), and the chair thanked him “for being so assiduous in reading these minutes” (0:18:04). The nonpublic minutes were not sealed; they were filed in the district’s Unsealed Minutes folder, so the public can read what was decided there (the citation gap is flag 5).
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (five business days; holidays excluded); 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx (Drive metadata: created 2026-09-09); 9.2.26 Nonpublic Minutes.docx
Appendix — source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast: Claremont School Board 9/2/26 (show 17566, full meeting); Cablecast: Claremont School Board -Athlete’s Handbook Discussion - 9/2/26 (show 17575); Cablecast: Claremont School Board - Handbook Discussion - 9/2/26 (show 17574, not transcribed)
- Drive folder: 6.9.2.2026--School Board Documents — 25 documents, listed by their Drive names:
- Agenda and reports: CIA Director Report-Sept. 2, 26.pdf; CIA Director Report-Sept. 2, 26 (Google Doc); Corrective Actions - Claremont FY22 Audit - Sept 2 2026 DRAFT.docx.pdf; Claremont SB report - Sept 2 2026.docx.pdf; Claremont Finance report - Sept 2 2026.docx.pdf; CSB Agenda - September 2 2026.pdf; CSB Agenda - September 2 2026 (Google Doc)
- Handbooks: SHS Coaching Handbook (DB).docx.pdf; Stevens_Athletic_Handbook.docx.pdf; 2026-2027 elementary student handbook-DRAFT.pdf; CMS Parent-Student Handbook 26-27.pdf; 11.1 26-27 SHS Student Handbook .pdf
- Personnel: Personnel - Resignations - 9-2-2026; Personnel - Noncertified - 9-2-2026; Personnel - Nominations - 9-2-2026; 202608280-SAU6-Business-Administrator-Media-Release.pdf
- Policies and information items: NHSBA Nonpublic Checklist.pdf; JFAB Admission of Nonresident Students and Tuition Students (Also JCA).pdf; croydon policy - agreements.pdf; CMS mascot email.pdf; BEDH APPROVED Public Comment and Participation 9.6.23.pdf; September 2nd Policy Agenda.pdf the lower-case “croydon” and the “masco” link text on the agenda are the district’s
- Prior meeting, filed here: CSB Non-public minutes - Aug 19 2026.pdf; 8.19.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.pdf; CSB Non-public minutes - Aug 19 2026.pdf (second copy)
- Minutes: 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx (2027 Meeting Minutes folder; created September 9, 2026); 9.2.26 Nonpublic Minutes.docx (Unsealed Minutes, 2027 Non-Public); PDF copies 9.2.26 DRAFT CSB Minutes.docx.pdf and 9.2.26 Nonpublic Minutes.docx.pdf in the September 16 packet folder
- Not located in the packet folder: the FY26 budget-vs-actual expenditure report and Madden’s emailed manifest questions, both described as “attached” in the finance report; the three bus quotes; the seven policy drafts (IFA, EFAA, JLCJ, JF, JKAA, GBGA, JIHC), later filed as dated PDFs in the September 16 folder; the recovery-plan SWOT draft and the bylaws feedback, which the superintendent’s report links as two further Drive files not opened for this page; the manifests.
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:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), II(k), III
- School money and filings: RSA 197:23-a; RSA 21-J:34, V; RSA 198:4-d, III and VIII, as reenacted by 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586), 272:1, eff. July 1, 2026 (chaptered text at gc.nh.gov; the RSA page at gc.nh.gov still showed the 2025, 141:401 vintage on October 1, 2026); RSA ch. 194 (tuition agreements, referenced by RSA 91-A:3, II(k))
- Accounting: GASB Statement 84, Fiduciary Activities
- Federal: 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(J)(iii) (McKinney-Vento transportation)