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; introduced the student representatives; called the votes; reported the Finance Subcommittee’s budget calendar (November 5, November 17, December 9, a full-board presentation December 16, adoption at the first January meeting). |
| Loren Howard | Board member; Policy Subcommittee chair | Seconded the JIHC motion; moved adoption of JF, JKAA and GBGA; seconded the Tibbetts reappointment; reported category D finance policies coming October 7; asked to add the NHSBA resolutions vote to October 7. |
| Donald Lavalette | Board member | Read corrections to the September 2 draft minutes; asked about posting manifests, the 2024–25 grant claims, the forensic audit, NHIAA sports, transportation staffing and bus aides, and the retiree health-insurance cost; seconded the donation, realignment and JF/JKAA/GBGA motions and the motion to enter nonpublic session. |
| Brian Rapp | Board member | Moved the elementary grade-level realignment; questioned the use-of-force language in JKAA; asked about donated scoreboards and the athletics Facebook page; prompted the chair to state the exemption before the nonpublic vote. |
| Heather Whitney | Board member | Recorded absent at roll call; the draft minutes put her arrival at 7:01. Asked about kindergarten enrollment projections and the Bluff School and Masonic Temple sales; moved JIHC to second reading; the only vote against JF, JKAA and GBGA (“just because I have more questions”); raised priority policies on board information. |
| William “Bill” Madden | Board member; Capital Improvement Subcommittee chair | Reported the September 15 subcommittee meeting: the facilities director absent, an asset inventory to be kept by administration, a five-year plan and federal documentation to be brought up to date. |
| Michael Petrin | Board member; SRVRTC Committee chair | Spoke once, on the mascot proposal: it would reach the elementary schools, so the input should be broadened “and maybe even, I would say include the students.” |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Named on the agenda; addressed by Lavalette as “Noel” while he read minutes corrections. Not separately identified in the dialogue file; the roll-call responses are labeled Unidentified. |
| Byron DeCamp | Student representative; Senior Class President | Introduced himself (football and lacrosse captain). Rendered “Byron Camp” in the transcript. |
| Faith Norton | Student representative; Senior Class Vice President | Introduced herself (girls soccer captain, student council officer). |
| Dr. Timothy Broadrick | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Gave the finance and superintendent’s reports; asked to take the forensic-audit scope into nonpublic session; presented the $3,000 grant, FY22 corrective actions (11 of 18 drafted), the Region 10 agreement, kindergarten capacity, the recovery plan and the grade-realignment request; nominated Autumn Tibbetts; reported the retiree insurance cost. |
| Kerry Kennedy | Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment | Reported DIBELS testing under way and $680,447.22 in federal grant reimbursements drawn down since July; announced a September 28 family engagement night. |
| Michelle Herrington | Principal, Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center | Described the new LNA program, the middle-school exploratory program and enrollment growth; asked to use a $2,000 gift for the exploratory program. The transcript renders the surname “Harrington”; the agenda, the draft minutes and the dialogue file spell it Herrington. |
| Melissa Lewis | Principal (Disnard Elementary) | Explained how restraint thresholds differ by age under JKAA: “the need to put your hands on children needs to be incredibly high. And after many de-escalation attempts have been made.” |
| Luke Diamond | District Treasurer | Gave the August treasurer’s report; outstanding-checks list not yet producible; the first September payroll lacked the itemized direct-deposit list; said manifests are “not available to, the public.” |
| Hope Damon | Citizens’ comments — State Representative | Reported her appointment to the Department of Education screen-time task force (draft proposal targeted for October 13), a working group on Right-to-Know requests, and her candidacy in the November 3 general election. |
Named on the record but not present: Autumn Tibbetts (teacher reappointed), Teresa Taylor (incoming business administrator), Ian Gates (middle-school football coach; letter in the packet), Melvin Wadleigh (donor, per the draft minutes), Commissioner of Education Caitlin Davis, Jeff Beard (Department of Education), Amy Savage (HR director), and grant staff Cheryl Mayberry, Katie Bullock, Beth Ann Drinker and Courtney Porter. Fifty rows of the dialogue file are labeled Unidentified, most of them roll-call and voice-vote responses.
Agenda
Items as posted in “CSB Agenda - September 16 2026”, with the time each was taken up and its disposition. Future dates were taken before the nonpublic session, not after it.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:04 | I. Call to order & Pledge | “6:30 PM Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance.” |
| 0:00:42 | II.a Roll call | Draft minutes: present Howard, Petrin, Lavalette, Madden, Rapp, Crawford; “Absent: Heather Whitney (7:01 arrival).” |
| 0:00:50 | II.b Recognition | “Introduction of Student Representatives to the School Board: Byron DeCamp, Senior Class President; Faith Norton, Senior Class Vice President.” They will report monthly. |
| 0:03:53 | II.c Consent agenda | “Amendments and Final Approval of Board Agenda; Approval of Minutes: September 2 DRAFT School Board Minutes, September 2 DRAFT Nonpublic Minutes; Review of Manifests.” Lavalette read nine corrections; the chair took the consent agenda by general consent at 0:07:59 (“Seeing no, arguments? … see that as a consent”). No motion or vote. |
| 0:08:32 | II.d Citizens’ comments | One speaker, State Representative Hope Damon. |
| 0:11:18 | III.a Treasurer’s report | Luke Diamond. Report; no action. |
| 0:17:32 | III.b Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment | Kerry Kennedy. Report; no action. |
| 0:24:37 | III.c Finance report | “FY26 Budget v Actual Report is unchanged since September 2.” Forensic-audit update deferred to nonpublic session. |
| 0:27:04 | III.d.1 Public Health Council / Dartmouth Health Food Shelf grant | $3,000 grant for Courtney’s Closet. Moved (Rapp), seconded (Lavalette); accepted by voice vote at 0:27:39, no opposition heard. The draft minutes record only “Brian Rapp, Don Lavalette”. |
| 0:27:49 | III.d.2 FY22 Audit Corrective Actions – update | Three more drafted, 11 of 18; board vote targeted for October. No action. |
| 0:29:36 | III.d.3 CVTE programs update | New LNA program; enrollment report; “Donation to benefit SRVRTC-Claremont programs” ($2,000, acknowledged at 0:43:22, no vote taken or required). |
| 0:45:45 | III.d.4 Kindergarten and Preschool concerns | Introduction only; research to follow before FY28 budget work. |
| 0:49:40 | III.d.5 Feedback on proposed Board Bylaws | Received the annotated draft that night; deferred to a future agenda. |
| 0:50:27 | III.d.6 District Recovery Plan Working Draft | Nine domains documented; the superintendent will run electronic stakeholder surveys “without any objection from you.” None stated. |
| 0:52:10 | III.d.7 “Claremont Schools” exhibit | Reception September 22, 4–5 p.m., at the planning office visitor center, 14 North Street. |
| 0:52:32 | III.d.8 Visit from the Commissioner of Education | Informal gathering at the Tech Center, 4:30–5:30 p.m. Friday, before the football game. |
| 1:02:07 | V.1 2026–2027 Grade-level Alignment | “Requires School Board action.” Moved (Rapp), seconded (Lavalette); carried by voice vote, “unanimously”, at 1:04:45. See flag 6 on the wording. |
| 1:04:45 | V.2 CMS Mascot: Eagles or Cardinals? | Letter from coach Ian Gates. No motion; the chair summarized the board as “directing Doctor Broderick and the administration to conduct a survey.” |
| 1:08:08 | V.3 Policies | EFAA, JLCJ, IFA adopted September 2 (no action). JIHC (metal detectors) moved to second reading, Whitney/Howard, voice vote at 1:09:42. JF, JKAA, GBGA adopted on second reading, Howard/Lavalette, voice vote at 1:16:46; Whitney opposed. The draft minutes leave “In favor:” blank. |
| 1:17:06 | V.4 Personnel report | “Nominations (at table).” Autumn Tibbetts nominated for reappointment; moved (Whitney), seconded (Howard); ratified by voice vote at 1:17:46. No resignations. Director of Facilities & Maintenance job description presented. |
| 1:18:51 | V.5 Subcommittee reports | SRVRTC: no meeting. Reconfiguration: to be scheduled. Capital Improvement (September 15), Finance (September 15), Policy (September 16) reported. |
| 1:24:50 | VI. Other business | Scoreboards, athletics social media, priority policies, retiree health insurance. |
| 1:34:22 | VIII. Future dates / future agenda items | October 7: special education staffing, athlete and coach handbooks, new-teacher mentoring, DOE-25 update, cashflow plan; NHSBA resolutions vote added. “Additional tech programs expansion” struck from future items. |
| 1:37:04 | VII. Nonpublic session | Agenda: “Under RSA 91-A:3(II) a&k.” Motion by the chair’s call (“So move”), seconded by Lavalette; roll call at 1:37:35. The chair: “we don’t anticipate any action after this nonpublic.” See flag 1. |
| 8:35 p.m. (scheduled) | IX. Adjournment | Not on the recording, which ends after the nonpublic roll call. The draft minutes record no adjournment time. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological topics. Quotations are from the dialogue transcript as transcribed; bracketed text is an insertion or correction.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:50 | Student representatives | Crawford: “we are going to have a report from these folks once a month.” DeCamp (football, lacrosse) and Norton (girls soccer, student council) introduce themselves. | |
| 0:03:53 | Corrections to the September 2 minutes | Lavalette, item by item: add the adequacy dollar amount; record his request for “a list of all right to know requests dating back to November 1st, 2025”; note “Newport created their emergency services program without discussion and notification to the Claremont School District”; record that “the board voted 5 to 2 to allow hats and Stevens”; fix “next week’s agenda” to next meeting. | POSITIVE |
| 0:07:24 | When minutes are due | Crawford: minutes available “five days after today’s meeting”; an unidentified voice corrects, “Five business days”; Crawford: “So by next Wednesday.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:08:32 | Citizens’ comments: Rep. Hope Damon | “I was asked by the Commissioner of Education to be part of the Department of Ed’s task force on screen time … There will be a draft proposal, I believe by October 13th.” Also a group on Right-to-Know requests; “The general election is November 3rd.” | |
| 0:11:18 | Treasurer: outstanding checks, direct-deposit detail | “I’m still working on getting a handle on the outstanding checks.” For the second August payroll “we actually got an item list of for the direct deposits … But we didn’t have it in the September the 1st September payroll.” Advice to members: “if you don’t see that as part of the payroll voucher, you should see a list of each person who got a check.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:14:00 | Posting manifests online | Broadrick: scanned documents cannot be read by OCR, and “We are actually violating a federal regulation or law”; as a stopgap he is “airing on the side of scan the materials,” “not consistently right now.” Diamond at 0:16:22: “we’re all getting copies of them, but they’re not available to, the public.” New software from Tyler Technologies will produce searchable PDFs. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:18:57 | Federal grant reimbursements | Kennedy lists drawdowns by grant and month (Perkins $1,835.21; Title II $4,789.89; Title I, including $246,336.76 from June), for “the grand total since July … $680,447.22.” 2024–25 “closes on September 30th.” Broadrick at 0:22:08: “I ball parked it I think in the spring at a couple of million dollars.” At 0:22:28: “15 more days.” “It’s not negotiable.” | MEDIUM POSITIVE |
| 0:23:16 | Why the drawdowns matter | Crawford: “prior administrations were reporting that the receipt of those monies from grants, when in fact they were only anticipated they hadn’t been asked or received.” | |
| 0:24:49 | Finance report | Broadrick is “looking forward to Teresa Taylor’s first day” as business administrator; nothing big has changed in the FY26 budget-versus-actual report. | |
| 0:25:27 | Forensic audit | Broadrick: “I would like to take that up a non public tonight because I want to be very specific about the scope of that project.” The firm “responded to your attorney … we never got the check. Cancel it.” At 0:26:11: “This is certainly a valid public conversation. A narrower scope of forensic audit will control the cost potentially.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:27:04 | $3,000 grant accepted | “the school board is supposed to vote to accept donations exceeding $2,500. The first item in my report is about a $3,000 grant from the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley and Dartmouth Health, which is to benefit Courtney’s Closet.” Voice vote; “With gratitude. We accept the $3,000.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:27:49 | FY22 audit corrective actions | “we’re at 11 out of 18.” Goal: all drafted by the end of October so the board can approve them and the auditor can finalize FY22; later audits may then note “You’re already addressing this.” | |
| 0:30:27 | LNA program at the Tech Center | Herrington learned by chance that Newport was not running its LNA program, got approval, and the state (Jeff Beard) said Claremont could add it “because we’re already in that career cluster.” Broadrick at 0:35:33: the Commissioner can move state- or federally-funded equipment when a program moves. | POSITIVE |
| 0:40:47 | CTE enrollment | “142.6% increase in enrollment”; Crawford reads 338 high-school CTE students and about 350 middle-schoolers expected in exploratory programs. | |
| 0:43:22 | $2,000 gift for the Tech Center | Herrington: the donor “said, hey, by the way, I put $2,000 in Lovell’s [LaValley’s] and an account for you to be able to go to it.” She wants it for the exploratory program; “I got to make sure we get this approved before we before we use it.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:44:36 | Region 10 agreement | Broadrick: the Region 10 agreement “does not appear to me to have been renewed appropriately upon expiration”; because Perkins funding continues, he concludes the Commissioner “is exercising her authority to extend it year by year.” Lavalette at 0:45:29: “the last slide mentions renewing agreement, but it was never done.” | MEDIUM |
| 0:45:45 | Kindergarten capacity | “right now we have over 100 students in five kindergarten classrooms. That is not a class size that we want.” Two early-entry requests denied (“We don’t have the capacity”; the families also missed the policy deadline). At 0:48:58: money for a sixth teacher might be found, but “We don’t have a room now in the new configuration.” | |
| 0:49:47 | Draft bylaws; recovery plan | Annotated bylaws handed out that night; Crawford: “We just got it tonight.” Recovery plan at 0:50:41: nine domains documented; next, electronic-only stakeholder surveys, then timelines and “measurable deliverables.” | |
| 0:53:40 | Commissioner’s visit | “I’ll send out some emails tomorrow morning to remind all of you … invite anybody who wants to come meet and informally chat with the commissioner from 430 to 530.” | OBSERVATION |
| 0:55:13 | Low-cost NHIAA sports | Lavalette hands over NHIAA listings: bass fishing, cross country, co-ed esports, unified soccer, wrestling. Broadrick at 0:57:52: “we don’t have a unified sport in the fall … Next year we will have unified soccer.” | |
| 0:58:31 | Transportation staff and bus aides | Drivers “drive more than you might think”; some punch out between runs. “just because I’m answering the question doesn’t mean I’m satisfied.” At 0:59:50: an aide on a bus is there because “The presence of that aid is prescribed in a student’s IEP.” | |
| 1:00:23 | Bluff School and Masonic Temple sales | One inquiry on Bluff this week. On the Masonic Temple, “I can’t say that I’ve done anything to try to promote the sale.” Crawford at 1:01:20: “I don’t think it was posted … to save the cost of the listing.” | |
| 1:02:26 | Grade-level realignment vote | “What the Department of Education is looking for is clear minutes that show the board … a second, and a vote to assign these grade levels to these schools and that we haven’t been able to find.” Rapp’s motion at 1:04:18: “Desired [Disnard] hosting preschool, kindergarten, first and second grades. Maple Ave hosting grades two through five.” Carried at 1:04:45. | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 1:05:36 | Middle-school mascot | Broadrick recommends principal-run surveys and a cost estimate for “signs and murals and. Scoreboards and paraphernalia.” Petrin: reach the elementary schools and students. Whitney: the rationale is “that sense of community.” | |
| 1:11:16 | JKAA use-of-force wording | Rapp reads the policy: force is allowed to defend oneself or a third person “and the actor does not immobilize a child or restrict the freedom of movement of the torso, head, arms, or legs … it doesn’t make sense, right?” Howard: reviewed by counsel and principals. Lewis on age-based thresholds. | |
| 1:16:28 | JF, JKAA, GBGA adopted | Howard: “This is the second reading, so I’m moving to adopt them.” Voice vote; Whitney: “I have to say no just because I have more questions.” | MEDIUM |
| 1:17:09 | Teacher reappointment | “an old friend coming back … I would like to nominate Autumn Tibbetts for reappointment by the school board.” Moved, seconded, ratified by voice vote. | MEDIUM |
| 1:18:01 | Director of Facilities job description | Drafted as issues arise; covers federal building requirements “since the 1980s” such as a mitigation plan in every building. | |
| 1:19:28 | Capital Improvement Subcommittee | “Our paperwork, not surprisingly, like everywhere else, is not up to date.” The administration will maintain the complete asset inventory; a five-year plan and federal documentation to follow; audit findings on purchase limits and bidding “already being addressed.” | |
| 1:21:53 | Finance Subcommittee and budget calendar | “next meeting, in nonpublic, we would like to discuss, some ideas of where you think the budget should go and some guidelines for the administration.” Budget to the full board December 16, adoption at the first January meeting, hearing at the second. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:25:12 | Donated scoreboards | In storage, “no movement.” Broadrick called the seller, “come pick them up,” and “they will be installed next Wednesday.” | |
| 1:26:06 | Athletics social media | Rapp: the athletics Facebook page is “pretty much non-existent.” Broadrick at 1:27:37: an account representing the district should be “controlled by a district employee”; he sees “the district itself is doing little, and individuals who are not necessarily authorized to represent the district are doing more.” | |
| 1:30:18 | Priority policies | Whitney wants policies on “the what and the, and the when information gets to the board from the administration,” and notes the vacancy-appointment process “was essentially nonexistent in the policy.” Howard: fewer than 25 priority policies this year, 15 done. | |
| 1:33:16 | Retiree health insurance | “fiscal 27 is going to be a total of $33,360”; five months in the following year at about $13,900 if premiums held, “a total … of $47,260.” Whether Unity shares the cost: “I really need to do more work to answer that.” | |
| 1:34:53 | NHSBA resolutions | Howard: the vote goes on October 7; “We will not have another chance after that. The meeting is October 17th in Concord.” Whitney: the NHSBA email said Claremont had not voted on its own resolutions; “I think it’s just an error.” | |
| 1:36:21 | Family engagement night | Author visit at Claremont Middle School, Monday, September 28, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. | |
| 1:37:04 | Motion to enter nonpublic session | “I will entertain a motion to go into nonpublic. So move. Is there a second?” Lavalette seconds. Rapp: “We need to state the specific.” The reading is garbled in the transcript (“Dash a column three. Two. Eight.”). Roll call at 1:37:35: six “Yes” responses are audible. | 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.
MEDIUM The nonpublic motion stated no audible exemption, and the subject announced for it fits neither ground on the agenda
The superintendent asked at 0:25:33 to take the forensic audit into nonpublic session “because I want to be very specific about the scope of that project,” while saying at 0:26:11 that “This is certainly a valid public conversation.” The agenda gives the grounds as “RSA 91-A:3(II) a&k.” Paragraph II(a) covers the dismissal, promotion, compensation or discipline of an employee; II(k) covers a school board’s consideration of a pupil tuition contract. A forensic-audit vendor’s scope is neither. If the discussion turned on the attorney’s response mentioned at 0:25:48, the matching ground is II(l), consideration of legal advice, and it was not cited. On the recording the motion was made and seconded without a stated exemption; Rapp prompted, “We need to state the specific,” and the reading that followed at 1:37:28 is unintelligible in the transcript. Paragraph I(b) requires the motion to “state on its face the specific exemption,” and I(c) confines the session to “the matters set out in the motion.” The draft minutes repeat the agenda line and record no motion, seconder or roll call. Mitigation: the chair said no action was expected, and the roll call was taken in public.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), I(c), II(a), II(k), II(l) (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023; text read 2026-09-25); agenda “CSB Agenda - September 16 2026”; draft minutes.
MEDIUM The draft minutes leave out several final decisions and required elements
RSA 91-A:2, II requires minutes to include “a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions, the start time and end time of the meeting, and name of the person who produced the minutes,” and the names of each mover and seconder. Against the recording, the draft minutes: (1) record the $3,000 grant item only as “Brian Rapp, Don Lavalette”, with no amount and no statement that the board accepted it (0:27:26); for a gift under $20,000, RSA 198:20-b, III(b) requires the board to “include notice in meeting minutes”; (2) list the personnel nomination as “HW, LH” without naming Autumn Tibbetts or recording that the board ratified her (1:17:09–1:17:46); (3) leave “In favor:” blank on the JF/JKAA/GBGA vote (1:16:46); (4) give only the agenda’s scheduled times, not the actual start or end; (5) record no motion or roll call for the nonpublic session; and (6) name the clerk in the header without stating who produced them. At 0:07:36 the meeting correctly noted that minutes are due within five business days. These are drafts and can be corrected when the board approves them on October 7.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025; text read 2026-09-25); RSA 198:20-b, III(b) (gifts under $20,000: notice in the agenda and the minutes; 2023, 38:1); 9.16.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes.pdf.
MEDIUM About $680,000 of an estimated “couple of million” in 2024–25 federal reimbursements was in hand, with 15 days left
Kennedy reported $680,447.22 drawn down since July (0:20:22), with 2024–25 closing “on September 30th” (0:21:42). The superintendent’s spring estimate of the total to be claimed was “a couple of million dollars” (0:22:08), and he put the time left at “15 more days.” On those figures, well over a million dollars of expenditures already made remained unclaimed two weeks before the deadline the administration was working to. Federal law keeps formula funds available for one additional fiscal year, and the administration treats September 30 as the last day to claim 2024–25 money. Mitigation: Rapp and Broadrick noted that 2025–26 grants have a further year, and staff were hired to do this work. The October 7 meeting should report the final 2024–25 figure.
Sources: 20 U.S.C. §1225(b) (one additional fiscal year of availability); 2 CFR 200.303 (internal control over federal awards); the recording at the timestamps above.
MEDIUM Board members signed payroll without the itemized direct-deposit list, and the outstanding-checks report still cannot be produced
The treasurer reported that the itemized list of direct deposits produced for the second August payroll was missing from the first September payroll (0:12:09), and advised members not to sign a payroll voucher without it (0:12:33). He also said he was “still working on getting a handle on the outstanding checks” because the person who ran that report has left (0:11:18). The treasurer may pay out district money “only upon orders of the school board” or of members it empowers; an order for a lump-sum direct deposit with no payee list gives the signers nothing to check. Checks cut and held were described at the August 12 finance meeting as a mechanism behind the district’s misstated balances. Mitigation: the treasurer raised it himself, and the incoming software is expected to produce itemized, signed records.
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer pays only on orders of the board or its empowered members); 2 CFR 200.303 (internal control).
MEDIUM The superintendent reports that the Region 10 CTE agreement was not renewed when it expired
At 0:44:36 the superintendent said the Region 10 agreement “does not appear to me to have been renewed appropriately upon expiration,” and that the Commissioner is, in his reading, extending it year by year because Perkins funding continues. A regional career and technical education agreement is to be “renewed every 4 years and submitted to the commissioner for review and approval.” Claremont hosts the Sugar River Valley center; the agreement governs tuition, transportation and program sharing with Newport and the other sending districts, which matters in the same meeting that reports Newport dropping its LNA program. The page does not verify the agreement’s dates; the superintendent said he will bring it back as a future item.
Sources: RSA 188-E:1-a (regional CTE agreements renewed every four years and submitted for approval; 2022, 272:2).
OBSERVATION As spoken, the realignment motion puts grade 2 in both elementary schools; the draft minutes say 3–5
The vote was taken because the Department of Education wants “clear minutes” showing the board assigned grades to schools (1:02:26), and the superintendent will send tonight’s minutes to the Department. The motion on the recording reads “Desired [Disnard] hosting preschool, kindergarten, first and second grades. Maple Ave hosting grades two through five” (1:04:18). The draft minutes record “Disnard Elementary School hosting grades PreK-2 and Maple Avenue Elementary School hosting grades 3-5,” which matches what the schools are doing. The difference is almost certainly a slip of the tongue or a transcription error, but because this record is being filed with the state, the board may want to confirm the wording when it approves the minutes.
Sources: the recording at 1:04:18; draft minutes, item V.1.
OBSERVATION Manifests are kept off the website pending searchable files, but the federal deadline cited for this has not arrived
The superintendent said posting scanned documents means “We are actually violating a federal regulation or law” (0:14:22), and the treasurer said manifests are “not available to, the public” in the meantime (0:16:22). The Department of Justice’s web-accessibility rule for state and local governments sets compliance dates that, as amended in April 2026, fall in April 2027 and April 2028; neither has arrived, so a scanned PDF is not yet a violation of it. Searchable files are still the right goal. Manifests remain public records that anyone can request in the meantime.
Sources: 28 CFR 35.200 (compliance dates as amended by 91 FR 20912, Apr. 20, 2026); RSA 91-A:4 (public records open to inspection).
OBSERVATION A $2,000 gift for the Tech Center sits as an account at a local business, outside the district treasury
The principal described the gift as money the donor “put … in Lovell’s [LaValley’s] and an account for you” (0:43:41); the draft minutes say it went “to Lavalley’s so the Tech can use it for whatever they need.” The district treasurer has custody of “all moneys belonging to the district.” A store account in the school’s name is spent at the vendor’s counter rather than through a board-approved manifest. Mitigation: the principal sought approval before spending it, the gift is below the $20,000 hearing threshold, and it appears on the agenda and in the minutes as that threshold requires.
Sources: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer’s custody of all district moneys); RSA 198:20-b, III(b).
OBSERVATION The Finance Subcommittee proposes to take budget guidance into nonpublic session next meeting
The chair said the subcommittee would like, “next meeting, in nonpublic,” to discuss “where you think the budget should go and some guidelines for the administration” (1:21:53). General budget direction is not among the grounds in RSA 91-A:3, II. Strategy for the teacher negotiations she also mentioned is different: collective-bargaining strategy is excluded from the definition of a meeting altogether. If the October 7 session is noticed, its motion should say which of the two it is.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(a) and II; RSA 91-A:2, I(a) (collective-bargaining strategy excluded from “meeting”).
OBSERVATION Every board member was invited to an informal session with the Commissioner
The superintendent will email “all of you” and invite anyone to “informally chat with the commissioner” on Friday (0:53:40). Under RSA 91-A:2, I, “A chance, social, or other encounter not convened for the purpose of discussing or acting upon such matters shall not constitute a meeting if no decisions are made.” A gathering convened to discuss district business with the Commissioner, attended by a quorum, sits closer to the line than a social event. Mitigation: it was announced in open session, broadcast, and open to anyone; the chair said she could not attend.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, I (definition of meeting; chance or social encounters).
POSITIVE Federal reimbursements are being claimed and reported in public, grant by grant
Kennedy read each drawdown by grant and month, $680,447.22 in all (0:19:15–0:20:22), and named the staff who did the work. Crawford explained the history plainly: “We’ve had the grants, we’ve spent the money, but we haven’t sent in the receipts to get reimbursed” (0:20:42). The Tech Center’s same-week move to pick up the LNA program Newport dropped (0:30:27) shows the same readiness to act and report.
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; 20 U.S.C. §1225(b).
POSITIVE The board repaired a missing vote and corrected its own record in public
Last year’s grade realignment was built into the budget without a board vote; the board took the vote the Department of Education needs (1:02:26–1:04:45). Lavalette read nine specific corrections to the September 2 minutes (0:03:53–0:06:56), including the 5–2 hat vote and a request for a list of Right-to-Know requests, so the record will show what was decided.
Sources: the recording at the timestamps above; RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes record final decisions).
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:2, I and II (2025, 112:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025); RSA 91-A:3, I(a)–(c), II(a), II(k), II(l) (2023, 189:1, eff. Oct. 3, 2023); RSA 91-A:4
- School money: RSA 197:23-a; RSA 198:20-b, III(b) (2023, 38:1, eff. July 18, 2023)
- Career and technical education: RSA 188-E:1-a (2022, 272:2)
- Federal: 20 U.S.C. §1225(b); 2 CFR 200.303; 28 CFR 35.200 (compliance dates as amended by 91 FR 20912)