Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part. Names follow the project's dialogue file and the 2015 to 2023 roster; no minutes are online to check spellings against. Where the dialogue file says Unidentified, this page does too.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Brian Rapp | Chair (transcript Brian Rath in the roll) | Presided; added the nonpublic session to the agenda; abstained on minutes of a meeting he missed; presented the food service committee's scoring; asked about blocking websites, remote participation and the blanks in the meal-charge policy. |
| Chris Irish | Vice chair (arrived after the roll) | Seconded the food service award after pressing on the guaranteed surplus and contract length; asked about staff turnover and the March salary action; opposed the rules-of-order policy and remote participation; praised the conflict-of-interest policy. |
| Michelle Pierce | Member; food service committee member | Asked about i-Ready consistency and parent access; argued for the Abbey Group from the committee's site visits; moved nonpublic return, the resignation second, the new hires and the policy readings; asked to bring back the lice policy. |
| Frank Sprague | Member | Moved the minutes; flagged a handbook typo; argued for growth measures over single test snapshots; asked how the food service surplus affects taxes; questioned two nominees' credentials; moved adjournment. |
| Patrick Adrian | Member | Asked what i-Ready scores mean and whether teachers have time for the analysis; asked about the vendor's surplus guarantee; moved the nonpublic session and the resignation. |
| Rebecca Zullo | Member | Asked about classroom averages and time on i-Ready; relayed a student's question on food waste; spoke for the Abbey Group's food; asked what a simple majority means. |
| Michael Petrin | Member (attribution medium-high) | Suggested summer use of i-Ready; confirmed the difference in surplus guarantees; moved the food service award. |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Superintendent's report (immunization award, lead article); introduced the handbook, i-Ready results and nominations; recommended cancelling July 5; presented the four policies, describing the meal-charge policy as required by USDA. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant superintendent, SAU 6 | Presented the first-year i-Ready growth results; answered on parent reports and teacher workload; proposed vendor-neutral wording for the meal-charge policy. |
| Michael O'Neill | Business administrator, SAU 6 (surname from the roster, not this recording) | Explained the vendors' budgets, the surplus rules and contract term; confirmed the motion's language. |
| Paula Fitzgerald | Principal, Claremont Middle School (dialogue file name; the superintendent also says Paulette; spelling unresolved in the roster) | Presented handbook changes and the middle school's i-Ready experience. |
| Patricia Barry | Principal, Stevens High School (transcript Pat Berry) | Presented the high school's i-Ready baseline and plans; received the immunization award. |
| Dan | Elementary principal (surname and school not on the recording) | Described the elementary schools' first-year i-Ready experience. |
| Unidentified | Teacher, and food service committee member (dialogue file Role) | Spoke on i-Ready in her classroom; later defended the committee's unanimous choice of the Abbey Group. |
| Unidentified | Other short voices | Roll-call responses, seconds and brief interjections not attributable to a named speaker (176 of 922 rows). |
Citizens' comments were opened at 0:06:31 and closed at 0:06:39; no one spoke. A student representative, Prescott Herzog, is mentioned as having asked about food waste (1:24:59) but is not heard.
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted in any district share, so this list is reconstructed from the chair's transitions (the chair refers to "our agenda in front of us" at 0:00:49). Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:02 | Call to order, pledge, roll call | Roll names Pierce, Sprague and Rapp; Irish arriving. See Board composition. |
| 0:00:49 | Agenda amendments | Two added nominations; a nonpublic session "RSA 91832 C" [RSA 91-A:3, II(c)] added after the middle school handbook. Agenda approved as amended by voice vote (mover and seconder not named). |
| 0:02:06 | Minutes of the previous meeting | Sprague moved; approved by voice vote, the chair abstaining because "I missed that meeting." |
| 0:02:23 | Superintendent's report | Immunization award to Stevens High School; lead article; tech center meeting. Informational. |
| 0:06:31 | Citizens' comments | Opened and closed; no speakers. |
| 0:09:32 | Claremont Middle School 2017-18 handbook | Presented by Principal Fitzgerald; approved by voice vote at 0:15:02 (no motion is heard; Sprague asked whether one was needed). |
| 0:15:46 | Academic achievement goals (i-Ready growth) | LeClair and the three levels' principals. Informational. |
| 1:18:06 | Nonpublic session, RSA 91-A:3, II(c) | Adrian moved; roll call partly captured; return moved by Pierce at 1:19:10 and approved by voice vote. No decision or sealing vote announced. |
| 1:19:17 | Food service vendor selection | Committee recommendation of the Abbey Group (90 to 93 points). Petrin moved "to award the RFP to Abby Group" (chair's restatement); Irish seconded; voice vote at 1:39:20, no opposition heard. |
| 1:40:19 | Summer 2017 meeting schedule | July 5 meeting cancelled; superintendent authorized to offer contracts to new hires over the summer (mover and seconder unidentified); voice vote at 1:42:25. |
| 1:42:41 | Resignations and nominations | Resignation of a middle school teacher accepted (Adrian, Pierce), voice vote at 1:43:45. Nominations accepted (Pierce, Sprague), voice vote at 1:47:44. |
| 1:51:00 | Policies, first read | Rules of order: set aside. Quorum (with remote participation): set aside at 2:00:47. Board member conflict of interest: moved to second read, voice vote at 2:05:25. School lunch meal charges: moved to second read for July 19, voice vote at 2:12:55. |
| 2:13:03 | Adjournment | Sprague moved, Pierce seconded; voice vote at 2:13:31. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, taken from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:49 | Nonpublic added | Rapp: "I think I was going to ask for a nonpublic, RSA 91832 C and I think we can put that in", after the middle school handbook. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:02:17 | Minutes | Rapp on the prior minutes: "And I will abstain. I missed that meeting." | |
| 0:02:26 | Immunization award | McGoodwin: the state immunization program recognized Stevens High School "for achieving a high student immunization coverage for 1617"; at 0:06:11: "Your schools percentage of up to date students 98.91. State of New Hampshire's percentage. Up to date students 97.29." | |
| 0:03:22 | Lead | McGoodwin circulated an article on "School suspensions, test scores and lead poisoning"; a Vermont pediatrician called to ask about the district's lead policy; a meeting on federal funding for trades students' lead education is set with the tech center director (transcribed Joel Schneider). | |
| 0:09:51 | Middle school handbook | Fitzgerald: the handbook goes into student planners, due "by the 27th of June". Changes: tardiness after 7:45 means "an after school detention for the next school day"; "All bags, purses totes etc. must be stored in student lockers." About 389 students (0:12:52). Rapp asks about the one-month medication limit and inhalers. Approved at 0:15:02. | |
| 0:16:52 | i-Ready results | LeClair: first year after switching from NWEA MAP; administrative-team goals of 70% of K-5 students meeting their math growth target and 80% in reading, part of "a five year plan". Grade one reading: "we started the year with 14% of our students on grade level. We ended the year with 67%" (0:23:16). | POSITIVE |
| 0:24:42 | Elementary | Principal Dan: the expectation is "45 minutes a week in reading and in math", and "in our first year implementation, we really struggled to hit that target." At 0:32:25: "Don't underestimate full day kindergarten two." | |
| 0:35:32 | What the scores mean | Adrian: "I guess I don't really understand what the numbers mean". Sprague (0:45:27): "I'm a fan of showing growth as a measure of our district as opposed to a single snapshot kneecap" [NECAP]. | |
| 0:48:26 | Parent reports | LeClair: "That was one of the reasons we switched to irony [i-Ready] is because the parental reports were much more robust." | |
| 0:50:50 | Middle school | Fitzgerald: testing conditions affected validity; "the online instructional component caps out at eighth grade". | |
| 1:05:49 | High school | Barry: "the ninth and 10th grade kind of flatlined in both math and reading"; semester scheduling put three times as many students in math in the fall; the school will test in classes rather than the library. | |
| 1:17:02 | Summation | McGoodwin: with full-day kindergarten, intervention and i-Ready "you're going to see ongoing improvement". | |
| 1:18:06 | Nonpublic session | Rapp: "I'll need a motion to go to nonpublic RSA 91 a three two. See." Adrian: So moved. Roll call (1:18:31): "Chris. Irish. Yes." and "Michelle Pierce. Yes." are captured, with other yes answers. The tape resumes at 1:19:06 on the motion to return; no decision is announced. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:19:17 | Food service: scoring | Rapp: "We we met before this meeting"; each part of the proposals had to be scored. "Innovation, marketing promo cafe services was five. Abby Group was ten." "The point totals are 90 to 93" (1:21:27). | OBSERVATION POSITIVE |
| 1:21:52 | Site visits | McGoodwin: committee members "visited local schools to see our Fresh Picks Cafe and Abby Group in action". | POSITIVE |
| 1:22:32 | Budgets | O'Neill: "cafe services was looking at a surplus of 20,771. Abby was looking at a surplus of around 10,000"; the incumbent "guarantees that 20,000 are they take no management fee." | |
| 1:24:32 | Control of the vendor | McGoodwin: "the vendor works for us." O'Neill (1:24:47): "The agreement becomes a up to a five year agreement with one year renewal". | POSITIVE |
| 1:27:02 | Committee member's case | Pierce: "Cornish has now gone with Abby Group after being with fresh picks for five years." | |
| 1:29:27 | Surplus and taxes | O'Neill: "under the federal regulations, that money cannot be used for anything but food service. So there would not be a tax impact." Sprague (1:37:18): the excess "will not lower the tax rates." O'Neill: past transfers from the general fund were "in the 10 to $20,000 range" (1:37:04). | POSITIVE |
| 1:32:36 | Committee vote | An unidentified committee member (a teacher): "we went to many different schools" and "it was unanimous." Rapp: "It was unanimous to recommend Abby Group." | |
| 1:38:14 | Contract term | Irish asks whether it must be five years. O'Neill: "the RFP is good for five years. So we can do one year and we can change our mind." | POSITIVE |
| 1:38:53 | Award | Petrin moves "We accept the committee's proposal of Gabby Brewer" [Abbey Group]; Irish seconds; Rapp restates "to award the RFP to Abby Group"; O'Neill: "That is direct language." Voice vote; no opposition heard. | |
| 1:40:24 | Summer schedule | McGoodwin recommends "that we do not meet on July 5th and only meet once in July." On summer hiring he says the authority "has to be a vote of of the the board" (1:41:17) and asks for "Authority to to provide contracts to the, the the employees during the summer" with reports "At every board meeting" (1:41:54). Approved. | OBSERVATION MEDIUM |
| 1:43:08 | Resignation | A Claremont Middle School teacher "has accepted a position in another school district"; accepted. | |
| 1:43:50 | Nominations | McGoodwin presents nominees for business teacher, grade three, guidance, grade five and high school English, and a candidate for the middle school (names as transcribed include James Gallo, Laura Lee Smith, Joshua Snell). Sprague questions a listed beginning-educator certificate; McGoodwin (1:45:28): "that certification is incorrect. He he's he's licensed." For a counseling candidate (1:46:10): "Is going to be receiving her license next month." Accepted at 1:47:44. | OBSERVATION |
| 1:47:50 | Turnover | Irish asks about open positions; McGoodwin (1:49:15): teachers leave for "other districts where there is quite a salary gap". | |
| 1:48:11 | Lice policy | Pierce asks to "bring back to the table the lace [lice] policy"; Rapp: "That can be an agenda for another meeting." | |
| 1:51:34 | Meal charging announced | McGoodwin: meal charging "comes from, federal law that goes into effect July 1st." "We're okay because we'll be long prepared for that." | MEDIUM |
| 1:54:02 | Rules of order | Irish: "everything in that is in Robert's Rules of Order", and "It's not a state law." Set aside at 1:58:00. | |
| 1:58:14 | Quorum and remote participation | McGoodwin: revised "to conform with the legislative amendment of the right to know law". Rapp (1:59:31): "the only difference is that there's an addition about having somebody participate electronically". Irish (1:59:54): "if you can't be here, you can't be part of this part." McGoodwin (2:02:12): "If you as a board do not wish to have this protocol, then the board doesn't have to change the policy". Set aside. | |
| 2:03:07 | Conflict of interest | McGoodwin: revised "to incorporate the restrictions imposed by RSA 951" [section not identifiable from the transcript], adding a mechanism for conflicts between a superintendent and a prospective employee. Irish: "I actually liked this policy." Moved to second read. | |
| 2:05:31 | Meal-charge policy | McGoodwin: "Districts are required now by the United States Department of Agriculture regulation to have a policy in place on meal charges"; in Claremont "It's been an ongoing practice, but it's not in writing" (2:05:53); "no student will be subject to different treatment from the standard school lunch meal or school cafeteria procedures" (2:06:21). | MEDIUM |
| 2:08:51 | Vendor-neutral wording | Rapp: "there are blanks in it for checks made out to". An unidentified speaker (2:10:22) asks for "language that's not specific to a particular vendor or provider"; LeClair (2:10:33): "could you say the school board approved food service provider instead of Abby Group". | |
| 2:11:50 | Skipping readings | McGoodwin: "the board may skip some readings. You could go from first read to approval." The board instead moves the policy to second read; McGoodwin (2:12:19): "this will be before you again on July 19th please." | MEDIUM |
| 2:13:03 | Adjournment | Sprague: "Motion to adjourn." Pierce: "I second." The joint meeting with the council is noted for the next evening at 6:00. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on June 21, 2017, cited as it then read. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. 6 flags follow, ordered by severity.
MEDIUM A written meal-charge policy was due by July 1, 2017; the board put it on first read ten days before, cancelled its July 5 meeting, and set approval for July 19
The U.S. Department of Agriculture required every school food authority in the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program to have a written meal-charge policy "No later than July 1, 2017". The superintendent told the board the requirement "goes into effect July 1st" (1:51:34) and that in Claremont "It's been an ongoing practice, but it's not in writing" (2:05:53). The board moved the policy to a second read (2:12:55) after cancelling the July 5 meeting (1:40:24), with the next reading set for "July 19th" (2:12:19), although the superintendent had just advised that "the board may skip some readings. You could go from first read to approval" (2:11:50). On the recording, then, the district's written policy could not have been board-approved before the federal date. Mitigation, stated fairly: the practice described (every child receives a meal, "no student will be subject to different treatment") matches the state rule then in force, RSA 189:11-a, VIII, which since July 2, 2016 required a meal payment policy to ensure "all students have access to a healthy school lunch" and no different treatment; the blanks in the model policy (payee, mailing address) depended on the vendor chosen that night; and the recording cannot show whether an administrative written procedure existed by July 1. Graded MEDIUM as a probable process gap against a dated federal requirement, not a finding that any child was denied a meal.
Sources: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Unpaid Meal Charges: Local Charge Policy Requirement ("No later than July 1, 2017 ... must have a written policy in place"); RSA 189:11-a, VIII (2017 codification; added by 2016, 48:1, eff. July 2, 2016).
OBSERVATION Nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c): motion and roll call on tape, no sealing vote, and no minutes of it or of the meeting online
The chair added the nonpublic session to the agenda at the start (0:00:49) and at 1:18:06 asked for "a motion to go to nonpublic RSA 91 a three two. See", which is RSA 91-A:3, II(c) (matters that would likely affect adversely the reputation of a person other than a board member). Adrian moved; a roll call follows (1:18:31 to 1:18:44), though not every name is captured. As far as the recording shows, that meets RSA 91-A:3, I(b) as it read in 2017: a motion stating the exemption and a recorded roll call. No vote to withhold the nonpublic minutes is on the tape, so under RSA 91-A:3, III those minutes and any decisions were to be publicly disclosed within 72 hours. Neither the nonpublic minutes nor the public minutes of this meeting are in the district's online shares, which begin in 2022 (MAP.md section 35). That is a limit of what the district posts online, not evidence that minutes were not kept (the board approves prior minutes at 0:02:06), so the grade is OBSERVATION under the project's missing-records rule.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), III (2016 codification; source note ends 2016, 30:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017, and 280:1, so the text in force in 2017); RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification): minutes open to inspection "not more than 5 business days after the meeting".
OBSERVATION The food service committee, a committee of the board, met and scored the proposals before this meeting; no record of its meetings is online
The chair reports "We we met before this meeting" and that each part of the proposals was scored (1:19:17); board members Pierce and Rapp, a teacher and others sat on the committee, which visited schools served by both vendors (1:21:52, 1:32:36). Under RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) a "public body" includes "any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto", so the committee's meetings carried their own notice and minutes duties under RSA 91-A:2. Nothing on the recording says how the committee's meetings were noticed or minuted, and the district's shares hold nothing from 2017. Graded OBSERVATION: the absence is of online records only. The committee's work product (the score sheets) was distributed to the board in public, which the next flag credits.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (source note ends 2008, 354:1, so the same text governed in 2017); RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification).
OBSERVATION The board authorized the superintendent to offer contracts to new hires over the summer; the statute has the board elect teachers
With the July 5 meeting cancelled, the board voted to give the superintendent "Authority to to provide contracts to the, the the employees during the summer" (1:41:54), with the information to come to the board "At every board meeting". The superintendent himself noted the authority "has to be a vote of of the the board" (1:41:17). RSA 189:39 provides that "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers". A delegation to offer contracts is consistent with that only if the board later elects each nominee; the recording does not say whether the summer hires came back for election, and without the July and August minutes that cannot be checked here. The same night the board elected a counseling candidate whose license was expected "next month" (1:46:10); no rule on the timing of certification was verified for this page, so that is noted without a flag.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (source note ends 1971, 371:2; unchanged throughout the corpus).
POSITIVE The food service award was made on scored evaluations and site visits, with the federal money rules explained accurately to viewers
The committee scored both proposals category by category and reported the scores publicly (90 to 93 points, 1:19:17 to 1:21:27); members visited schools served by each vendor (1:21:52). The business administrator told the board that food service money "cannot be used for anything but food service" (1:29:27), and Sprague made a point of telling "the taxpayers that are watching" that a surplus would not lower the tax rate (1:37:09); that matches 7 CFR 210.14(a), under which revenues are "to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food service". The contract structure described (a one-year term renewable up to five years, 1:24:47, 1:38:14) matches 7 CFR 210.16(d), and the superintendent's reminder that "the vendor works for us" (1:24:32) reflects the district's duty under 210.16(a) to retain control of its food service. The motion's wording was restated by the chair and confirmed before the vote (1:39:01).
Sources: 7 CFR 210.14(a) (2017 annual edition); 7 CFR 210.16(a), (d) (2017 annual edition: contract "of a duration of no longer than 1 year", renewals "may not exceed 4 additional years").
POSITIVE First-year i-Ready results were reported in public by grade and level, with their limits stated
The assistant superintendent and all three levels' principals presented aggregate growth and on-grade-level results (0:16:52 to 1:17:02), said where the first year fell short (elementary usage below target at 0:24:42; a flat ninth and tenth grade at 1:05:49; an online component that stops at eighth grade at 0:50:50), and answered members' questions on what the scores mean. Only grade-level and building aggregates were shown. No rule requires this report; it is noted as good practice.
Sources: the recording at the times cited.
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 9171, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 6-21-17": Claremont Community Television. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- No Drive material: neither the Claremont nor the SAU 6 share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (MAP.md section 35, checked 9/26/26).
- Related recordings (pages named by recording): the vendors' presentations at the May 31, 2017 meeting (show 9128); the joint meeting with the City Council the next evening (show 9170).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9171 SchoolBoard062117.mp4.CSV (922 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9171 SchoolBoard062117.mp4Input/Transcripts/9171 SchoolBoard062117.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9171 SchoolBoard062117.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 35
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on June 21, 2017. RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (public body includes committees; unchanged since 2008). RSA 91-A:2, II (notice and minutes; 2016 codification). RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(c), III (nonpublic sessions; 2016 codification). RSA 189:11-a, VIII (meal payment policy; eff. July 2, 2016). RSA 189:39 (board elects teachers).
- Federal. 7 CFR 210.14 and 7 CFR 210.16 (2017 annual edition). USDA FNS local meal-charge policy requirement (written policy by July 1, 2017).