Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part, as named in the project's dialogue file. Where the dialogue file leaves a voice Unidentified, this page does too.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Brian Rapp | Chair | Presided; said he had raised the Sinton Street traffic issue with the police chief (0:11:51); said the September 30 target read as "a directive" (1:13:06) and that a motion to reconsider could be made (1:08:46); called the crisis framing "an opinion" (1:25:55). |
| Chris Irish | Vice chair | Argued the September 30 motion could not be reconsidered (1:07:55); asked when the regional tech center agreement ends (1:49:06); moved to accept the grants (2:25:17) and seconded the policies (2:27:10). |
| Michelle Pierce | Member | Announced Christmas in Claremont (0:18:36); raised adult bullying (0:51:16); seconded the lead policy (1:01:32) and the fund balance motion (2:06:08); moved to accept the donation (2:12:44) and to move five policies to second reading (2:27:00). |
| Frank Sprague | Member | Moved the lead policy rewrite (1:01:24, 1:03:10); "Claremont's insolvent" (1:17:07); moved the fund balance use (2:05:57); seconded the donation (2:12:58); questioned student conduct policy wording (2:27:16). |
| Michael Petrin | Member | Moved the October 4 minutes (0:03:23); described the September 30 figure as "a lofty goal" (1:12:02); moved the teacher nomination (2:26:07). |
| Rebecca Zullo | Member | Asked for administrative staffing counts going back five years (1:33:04) and for a breakdown of per-pupil cost (2:33:39). |
| Middleton McGoodwin | Superintendent, SAU 6 | Deferred his report (0:08:06); set out the vacancy process (0:56:42); asked the board to reconsider the September 30 target (1:04:00); reported a Newport superintendent's question about the tech center (1:45:46). |
| Michael O'Neill | Business administrator, SAU 6 | Presented the fiscal year 2017 year-end report and tax rate projection (0:01:59, 1:53:07 to 2:11:27). The dialogue file names him from the roster; the superintendent's references are transcribed as "Michael Niklas". |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Presented three grants (2:13:33 to 2:25:09); explained average daily membership (2:35:41). |
| Dr. Diane Edwards | Director, early childhood program | Presented the program (0:25:35 to 0:39:50): three classrooms, 52 children and a wait list (0:43:44). |
| Chris (surname not on record) | Director of special education (inferred) | Opened the early childhood presentation (0:20:16); spoke on out-of-district programs (1:39:46) and the student conduct policy (2:30:51). |
| Josh Malloy (uncertain) | Director of technology | Explained average daily membership (2:35:07). Attribution is a single-cue hypothesis in the attribution report. |
| Lexi | Student representative | Student report (0:03:39); corrected the grammar of the lead policy (1:02:35, 1:02:43). |
| Unidentified residents (names not on the recording) | Citizens' comments, Sinton Street and Canterbury Street | Asked for action on speeding and blocked driveways at school drop-off (0:08:49 to 0:16:51). Irish asked whether the clerk had their names (0:17:05); the names are not audible. |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted online, though the board works from one and amends it at the table. This outline is reconstructed from the chair's transitions. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:12 | Call to order; pledge; roll call | Chair Rapp; late start; six members present (0:00:48, 0:00:52). |
| 0:00:58 | Agenda | Amended at the superintendent's request to add acceptance of a donation, three grants and a nomination, and to change a budget bullet (0:01:05 to 0:01:20); the business administrator added the year-end report (0:01:59). Approved as amended, voice vote (0:02:57). |
| 0:02:57 | Minutes of October 4, 2017 | Approved; motion Petrin (0:03:23), voice vote (0:03:27). |
| 0:03:39 | Student representative's report | Lexi. |
| 0:08:03 | Superintendent's report | Deferred for time (0:08:06). |
| 0:08:22 | Citizens' comments | Residents on school traffic; Pierce on Christmas in Claremont; closed at 0:19:24. |
| 0:19:38 | Discussion: school district early childhood program | Presentation. No vote. |
| 0:47:59 | Discussion: school district community conversation | Update on survey responses and a diversity consultant. No vote. |
| 0:56:40 | Discussion: school board vacancy | Process for filling Patrick Adrian's term to March 2018. No action on the resignation (0:59:08). |
| 1:00:32 | Action: lead screening policy | Rewrite moved by Sprague, second Pierce (1:01:24, 1:01:32); amended for grammar; approved as amended, voice vote (1:03:10 to 1:03:18). |
| 1:03:42 | Consideration of the September 30 fiscal year 2019 budget study session | Superintendent asked for reconsideration of the reduction target; no motion made; the superintendent closed the item (1:23:49). |
| 1:30:00 | Fiscal year 2019 budget discussion | Board requests for information; the superintendent to report November 1 (1:52:31). No vote. |
| 1:53:07 | Year-end report (added at the table) | Motion Sprague to use $326,329 of fund balance to reduce taxes and retain $197,765, second Pierce, voice vote (2:05:57 to 2:06:17); signatures requested (2:11:27). |
| 2:12:04 | Acceptance of donation (added) | $13,320 from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation for the early childhood sensory room (2:12:19); motion Pierce, second Sprague, voice vote (2:12:44 to 2:13:04). |
| 2:13:11 | Acceptance of three grants (added) | Intel mathematics professional learning grant (Title II; "I believe our award is for $100,000", 2:17:29) and two robotics grants of $1,250 and $2,250 (2:21:03, 2:21:30); motion Irish, second, voice vote (2:25:17 to 2:25:31). |
| 2:25:38 | Nomination (added) | A Title I teacher, replacing a teacher who moved to a classroom position (2:25:39, 2:25:50); motion Petrin, voice vote (2:26:07 to 2:26:15). |
| 2:26:23 | Policies: behavior and conduct | Five policies (one new, four revised) moved to second reading, motion Pierce, second Irish (2:27:00, 2:27:10), with student conduct wording to be revised; voice vote (2:33:25). |
| 2:33:39 | Member questions | Per-pupil cost questions. The recording ends at 2:38:54 without an adjournment. |
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 |
|---|
| 0:01:05 | Items added to the agenda | McGoodwin: "I'd like to add on the action items, except acceptance of a donation." "Acceptance of three grants." (0:01:15); O'Neill: "I got a year end report so that we can set the tax rate that I finished today, that I'd like to get approved." (0:01:59). | HIGH MEDIUM |
| 0:08:49 | Citizens' comments: school traffic | "we're from Sinton Street, the street that, drivers have to go down to, to pick up their children and drop them off." Rapp had raised it with the police chief (0:11:51); McGoodwin: "I will contact chief Chase tomorrow." (0:13:13). Irish: "Did you get the names for Mary?" (0:17:05). | POSITIVE |
| 0:20:16 | Early childhood program | Expanded days and hours, transport "now offered for all" (0:28:05); a sensory room paid for by a grant (0:35:44); "right now we have, 52 children" and "a wait list of five" (0:43:44). | |
| 0:48:03 | Community conversation | "almost 70 responses" to the October 13 letter; a consultant with "25 years of experience dealing with the issues of diversity and race" (0:48:33). Rapp reported contact with Mothers United for Social Change (0:49:55); a presentation on how bullying is handled was requested for the next meeting (0:53:47). | |
| 0:56:42 | Vacancy process | Adrian's term "ends in March of 2018"; parents contacted, notice "going out to the media" (0:58:06); candidates to "introduce themselves and to have a dialog with you" before a nonpublic session (0:57:14). Rapp: the appointee "would serve until the next election, which would be in March" (0:58:35). | POSITIVE |
| 1:00:38 | Lead screening policy | The draft carries an opt-out: parents "may choose to opt out from the requirement of submitting documentation that their child has been tested for lead blood or blood lead level." McGoodwin: "For the record, the superintendent has been corrected by a senior" (1:02:43). | |
| 1:04:00 | Request to reconsider the September 30 target | McGoodwin: "I wanted to bring this forward again for reconsideration." "if we come into this budget, wishing it to be a million plus below this year's budget" (1:05:25). Rapp: "I don't think there's 1.2 million without major staffing cuts." (1:07:11). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:07:55 | Reconsideration dispute | Irish: "We can't reconsider that motion. There's no legal process that we can take to open it back up again. Too much time has passed." Rapp: "Even if somebody wanted to make a motion to reconsider, they could." (1:08:46); "Nobody has made any motion." (1:09:16); Irish: "Would you like me to read? Robert says about this, you know you're wrong, Brian." (1:09:35). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:12:02 | Goal or directive | Petrin: "that September 30th meeting, we came up with a goal and a number to go with that goal." Rapp: "what came across was a directive" (1:13:06). Sprague: "Claremont's insolvent. That's where we are." (1:17:07). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:21:02 | Grants and supplanting | O'Neill: "It's difficult to write grants to lower the budget because that's supplanting." | |
| 1:25:14 | Crisis framing | Irish: "Our job is to make that hard financial decision in the crisis that we are, it's not yours." Rapp: "That's an opinion, by the way." (1:25:55). | |
| 1:30:03 | Budget information requests | Zullo: increases in administrative positions over five years (1:33:04); Pierce: transportation and special education out-of-district ratios (1:34:48). High school: "55 classes that have 13 or less" (1:43:11). | |
| 1:45:46 | Regional tech center | A rumor, relayed by the Newport superintendent, that the Claremont center was closing: "I said, that's not correct." The agreement ends in 2022 (1:49:12); Irish: "the board chairs don't have the authority to move on that without a vote of us anyway." (1:49:13). | |
| 1:52:31 | Year-end report moved up | McGoodwin: "Could we move the 025 and miss 25 into the action item now that you now have it in front of you?" | HIGH |
| 1:53:52 | Fund balance | O'Neill: "last year the board made a motion and to hold over $388,714 a fund balance. Ever since 2012, we're allowed to carry over some money." Total available "524 00094" (1:54:41). | OBSERVATION |
| 1:56:57 | Catastrophic aid | "the amount of the catastrophic aid that we are entitled to this year in Claremont is $400,000. They're going to pay us 280." Later "the reduced amount of 277,500" (2:00:01) and "they figured at the 70% and then they reduce it to 66% of the 70%" (2:00:28). Projected tax rate impact $0.36 (1:59:15). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:04:25 | Fund balance decision | O'Neill: "the first year I was here, we returned $1.8 million" and the taxes went up the next year (2:04:47). Sprague moved to "Use the 326329 to reduce taxes and retain. 197765 in the fund balance." (2:05:57); Pierce seconded; voice vote (2:06:16). | OBSERVATION |
| 2:09:33 | Cost per pupil | Irish: "our average cost per student is 16,842. What is the state belief that an adequate education cost a student in New Hampshire?" O'Neill: "3000 $603,980." (2:09:45). | |
| 2:11:27 | Signatures | O'Neill: "The only other thing I need is to have two of these signed by people on the board chair and the superintendent". | HIGH |
| 2:12:19 | Byrne Foundation donation | "The Jack Dorothy Byrne Foundation for the sensory. Room at the Early Childhood program. A donation of $13,320." Accepted on motion (2:12:44 to 2:13:04). | MEDIUM |
| 2:13:33 | Three grants | Intel mathematics grant "through title two funds and the Department of Education" (2:17:11), "I believe our award is for $100,000." (2:17:29); robotics grants "$1,250 for the elementary team" (2:21:03) and "a total of 2250" (2:21:30). Accepted on motion (2:25:17 to 2:25:31). | MEDIUM |
| 2:25:39 | Teacher nomination | Superintendent's nomination of a Title I teacher; LeClair: the departing teacher "moved from a title and position to a classroom position" (2:25:50); accepted on Petrin's motion (2:26:07). | POSITIVE |
| 2:27:16 | Student conduct policy | Sprague questioned "an informal evaluation of the student's placement" after a suspension (2:28:09); McGoodwin: "I will change it to a reentry meeting for the student." (2:29:27). | |
| 2:35:41 | Average daily membership | LeClair: "I think we have 1801 students right now" but the cost figure divides by average daily membership (2:35:59). | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on October 18, 2017. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag names the rule it rests on; where no verified rule applies, it is recorded as an observation. Ordered by severity.
HIGH The fiscal year 2017 year-end financial report was finished on October 18, nearly seven weeks after the statutory September 1 filing date
The business administrator asked to add "a year end report so that we can set the tax rate that I finished today" (0:01:59); the superintendent later asked to move "the 025 and miss 25" (the DOE-25 and MS-25 annual reports, as transcribed) into the action items (1:52:31); the business administrator updated the estimated revenues in the same presentation (1:56:15) and asked for signatures from the chair and the superintendent (2:11:27). The law then in force required school districts to file their financial report, receipts and expenditures for the preceding fiscal year with a balance sheet, "on or before September 1 of each year", and to file the report revising estimated revenues "by September 1 of each year". On the recording, the report for the year ended June 30, 2017 was completed 47 days after that date. HIGH under the severity rule for a missed statutory deadline, because the lapse appears on the recording itself in the business administrator's own words. The other reading should be stated: an earlier version may have been filed on time and tonight's document be a revision for tax-rate setting. Nothing on the recording says so, and the business administrator's request tonight for the chair's and superintendent's signatures on the report points the other way; the filing record is not online. Paragraph V, unlike paragraph I of the same section, provides no extension of its date.
Sources: RSA 21-J:34, III and V (2017 codification; source note ends 2007, 182:2, eff. April 1, 2007): revised estimated revenues "shall be filed by September 1 of each year"; "School districts shall submit financial reports on or before September 1 of each year."
MEDIUM A $13,320 donation and a grant stated at $100,000 were accepted with no public hearing on the record, after being added to the agenda at the table
At the start the superintendent added "acceptance of a donation" and "Acceptance of three grants" to the agenda (0:01:05, 0:01:15). Late in the meeting the board accepted a $13,320 donation from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation (2:12:19 to 2:13:04) and three grants, one stated as "I believe our award is for $100,000" and two of $1,250 and $2,250 (2:17:29 to 2:25:31). The law then in force, for a district that has adopted the enabling article, required that "For unanticipated funds in the amount of $5,000 or more, the school board shall hold a prior public hearing on the action to be taken", with newspaper notice at least seven days ahead, and for smaller amounts that the board "shall post notice of the funds in the agenda and shall include notice in the minutes". No hearing is opened on this recording, and the two small grants reached the agenda only by amendment at the table. Mitigating points: the meeting began late because an earlier meeting ran over (0:00:18), and what that meeting was is not stated; whether the district had adopted the enabling article, and whether the Title II money counted as unanticipated, cannot be checked from here. A year later the same board did hold a donations hearing before acceptance and held two small grants over because they had not been warned on the agenda (see the November 7, 2018 page). MEDIUM: a probable process gap under a binding rule.
Sources: RSA 198:20-b, I and III(a)-(b) (2017 codification; source note ends 2005, 188:1, eff. Aug. 29, 2005; the threshold rose to $20,000 only in 2023).
OBSERVATION The September 30 budget study session that set the $1.2 million target has no public record online, and neither does this meeting
An agenda item tonight was "Consideration of the September 30th School board fiscal year 19 budget study session" (1:03:42); members describe a motion made there (1:07:55) and a goal "and a number to go with that goal" (1:12:02); Pierce said she followed it from "the notes" (1:11:13). That Saturday session has no recording in the corpus, no MAP.md section and no minutes online; this meeting's minutes and packet (the green annual report sheet, the saturation study, the year-end report) are not online either. The district's Drive shares begin in 2022 and 2023, so this is a finding about online availability, not evidence that records were never kept. A session of a quorum of the board is subject to notice and to minutes open for inspection within five business days.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification; source note ends 2016, 29:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017, so the text in force throughout 2017): notice "of the time and place of each such meeting"; minutes "open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting".
OBSERVATION Chair and vice chair disagreed on the record over whether the September 30 motion could be reconsidered; no motion was made
The vice chair said "There's no legal process that we can take to open it back up again" (1:07:55) and offered to read from Robert's Rules (1:09:35); the chair replied that a motion to reconsider could be made (1:08:46) and told him "You need to you need to be quiet." (1:09:12). No motion was made, and the superintendent closed the item without a vote (1:23:49). No statute verified for this page governs reconsideration of a school board motion, and the board's own rules of procedure for the period are not available, so neither position can be checked here. Recorded because the exchange shows the board without an agreed procedure on a question that decided the budget process.
Sources: No verified rule; recorded as an observation.
OBSERVATION Catastrophic special education aid was described as 70% of costs above the threshold; the statute said 80 percent, with proration allowed
The business administrator said the district's entitlement was about $400,000 and the State would pay about $277,500 to $280,000 (1:56:57, 2:00:01), and described the formula as "they figured at the 70% and then they reduce it to 66% of the 70%" (2:00:28). The section as it read both before and after its July 1, 2017 amendment made the State liable for 80 percent of costs above 3 1/2 times the state average expenditure per pupil, and 100 percent above 10 times, and directed that if the appropriation fell short it "shall be prorated proportionally based on entitlement". So the reduced payment he described is what the statute provided for, not a State failure; the 70% figure does not match the text. There was no floor on the proration in 2017 (the 80% floor on entitlement dates from 2025).
Sources: RSA 186-C:18, III (2017 codification; source note 2017, 156:96-100, eff. July 1, 2017); RSA 186-C:18, III (2016 codification; source note ends 2011, 224:227): same 80 percent and proration language.
OBSERVATION Fund balance was retained and applied by board motion; the statutory cap cannot be checked from the record
The board voted to apply $326,329 to reduce taxes and retain $197,765 (2:05:57 to 2:06:17), after the business administrator explained that "Ever since 2012, we're allowed to carry over some money" (1:53:52). The law then in force allowed the legislative body to authorize a district to retain year-end unassigned general funds "in an amount not to exceed, in any fiscal year, 2.5 percent of the current fiscal year's net assessment", for emergency expenditures and overexpenditures or to reduce the tax rate. The decision was taken openly by motion, which is to the board's credit. The recording does not state the authorizing warrant article or the net assessment, so whether the amounts retained this year and in earlier years (including a first-year $650,000, 1:54:15) fell within the cap cannot be checked here.
Sources: RSA 198:4-b, II (2019 codification; source note ends 2014, 190:6, so this text governed until the 2020 amendment raised the cap to 5 percent).
POSITIVE The vacancy was advertised publicly, with candidates to be heard at the next meeting and the term stated
The superintendent reported that parents had been contacted, the notice was "going out to the media", and candidates would appear before the board on November 1 before it chose (0:56:42 to 0:58:06); the chair confirmed the appointee would serve only until the March election (0:58:35). The law then in force directed the school board to fill its own vacancies, with appointees serving "until the next district election". The November 1 page shows the process carried out.
Sources: RSA 671:33, II(a) (2017 codification; source note ends 2017, 3:2, eff. May 30, 2017).
POSITIVE Residents' traffic complaint was heard at length and answered with a named follow-up; the vice chair asked that their names be taken
Sinton Street residents spoke for about eight minutes with questions from members (0:08:49 to 0:16:51). The superintendent committed to call the police chief the next morning and asked for specifics by email (0:16:19), and the vice chair asked "Did you get the names for Mary?" (0:17:05), the clerk. The law then in force required minutes to include "persons appearing before the public bodies". The names are not audible on the recording, so the page leaves the speakers unidentified.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification): minutes "shall include the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions".
POSITIVE A teacher hire was nominated by the superintendent and elected by the board in public session
The superintendent put the nomination of a Title I teacher before the board, the assistant superintendent explained the vacancy, and the board accepted it on a motion (2:25:39 to 2:26:15). That is the statutory division of labor: the superintendent nominates, the board elects.
Sources: RSA 189:39 (source note ends 1971, 371:2; unamended across the corpus): "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers".
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 9385, "SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 10-18-17": Claremont Community TV. 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 44, checked 9/26/26). The agenda, packet, year-end report, donation letter and minutes were not located.
- Related page: November 1, 2017 (candidate interviews and appointment; the superintendent's response to the September 30 target).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9385 SchoolBoard101817.mp4.CSV (1,111 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9385 SchoolBoard101817.mp4Input/Transcripts/9385 SchoolBoard101817.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9385 SchoolBoard101817.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 44
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 21-J:34, III and V (text in force from April 1, 2007): September 1 filing dates for school district financial reports and revised revenue estimates.
- RSA 198:20-b, I and III (text in force from 2005 until July 2023): unanticipated funds, $5,000 hearing threshold, agenda notice below it.
- RSA 91-A:2, II (2016 codification, text in force during 2017): notice and minutes.
- RSA 186-C:18, III (2016 and 2017 codifications): catastrophic aid, 80 percent above 3 1/2 times, proportional proration.
- RSA 198:4-b, II (text in force until September 2020): retention of year-end unassigned funds up to 2.5 percent of net assessment.
- RSA 671:33, II(a) (text in force from May 30, 2017 until July 2021): board fills vacancies until the next district election.
- RSA 189:39: superintendent nominates, board elects teachers.