Regular meeting at which the board voted the fiscal 2019 (2018–19) budget it would take to public hearing, summarized from the CCTV recording and its speaker-attributed transcript; no agenda, packet or minutes are online. Students, staff and residents spoke for about 45 minutes against cuts; the board accepted $2,000 in grants, worked through members' budget questions, argued over who had done the budget work, and adopted $31,148,256.95 (a $328,980.05 reduction) on a roll call, after a proposal for $31.3 million drew no second. The public hearing was set for January 3, and the board went into a collective-bargaining session. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.
Body
Claremont School Board (SAU 6)
Date
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Start time
Not stated on the recording. Pledge at 0:00:15, roll call at 0:00:45; breaks at 0:38:45 and 2:21:59; the recording ends at 2:42:11 during the roll call to leave public session. The chair noted the previous meeting ran "till after midnight" (0:02:48).
Location
Not stated in any available record. The superintendent contrasts "the acoustics in this room" with the Stevens High School auditorium (2:39:44).
Recording
Cablecast: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING of 12-20 (dialogue file runs 2:42:11). Carried live on channel ten because "channel eight is having some issues" (0:02:48). CCTV's show metadata was not fetched.
Minutes
None located in the district's public shares as of September 26, 2026; the shares' year folders begin in 2022 (MAP.md section 52). On the January 3, 2018 recording (Cablecast show 9549) a member moves "we approve the minutes from December 20th", so minutes were kept.
Board composition
Seven members, all heard: Brian Rapp (chair), Chris Irish (vice chair), Alex Herzog, Michael Petrin, Michelle Pierce, Frank Sprague, Rebecca Zullo. The opening roll call is garbled in the transcript; the budget roll calls name all seven.
Participants
Everyone in the record. Names follow the dialogue CSV; where the CSV says Unidentified, this page says unidentified. ASR renderings are shown in code. No minutes were available to check spellings; residents' and students' names are as transcribed.
Name
Role
Participation
Brian Rapp
Chair (Ryan, Brian)
Ran the meeting; called two breaks; favored level funding and restoring positions; voted no on calling the question.
Chris Irish
Vice Chair (Bucyrus, Cyrus)
Argued for the administration's $328,980 counterproposal as a bottom line; called the question; told the chair he had missed the members' budget meetings.
Frank Sprague
Board member (Spread)
Moved the $31,148,256.95 budget; asked about Medicaid capture and the saturation study.
Alex Herzog
Board member ("I'm new")
Seconded the budget motion, then proposed $31.3 million (no second); moved grant acceptance; seconded the move to the closed session.
Michelle Pierce
Board member (Shall Pierce, Michelle Pearce)
Questioned substitute days, out-of-district placements and costs.
Rebecca Zullo
Board member (Rebecca. Zula, Becky)
Read the members' written budget questions; argued lines were overestimated.
Michael Petrin
Board member (Mike)
Leaned toward level funding; voted no on calling the question and on the main motion. Some of his rows are split across clusters in the CSV.
Middleton McGoodwin
Superintendent, SAU 6 (Doctor Goodwin)
Added a grant to the agenda; answered on substitutes, buildings, the hearing deadline; stated the closed-session provision.
Cory LeClair
Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 (Corey)
Presented the grants; explained level funding and the hearing process; offered childcare at the hearing.
Michael O'Neill
Business Administrator, SAU 6 (Mike)
Answered the members' questions on fund balance, transfers, buses, purchasing and tax impact.
Chris
SAU 6 special education administrator (surname not stated on the recording)
Answered on paraprofessionals, Medicaid billing and out-of-district placements.
Mary Woodman
Recording secretary (surname per the project roster)
Called the roll-call votes and advised on the failed amendment.
Melissa Lewis
Principal, Disnard Elementary (Disney)
Explained the ExxonMobil grant's use.
Unidentified
SAU 6 staff member
Gave substitute-coverage figures (1:04:18); the attribution report could not tell whether this is LeClair or O'Neill.
Jesse Burrill
Student, Stevens High School junior (Jesse Burrell)
Invited members to shadow students; introduced the student voice team.
Prescott Herzog
Student, Stevens High School
Spoke on world languages and English.
Lexi Grenier
Student, Stevens High School senior (spelling unverified)
Spoke on the crisis counselor and social worker.
Chelsea
Student, Stevens High School senior (first name only)
Spoke on guidance counselor turnover.
Matt Bean
Citizens' comments, Ward 2; special education para and coach
Spoke for the crisis counselor.
Gary Collison
Citizens' comments; Stevens world languages team leader, "not a citizen of Claremont"
Spoke against the language cuts.
Joyce Heinsberg
Citizens' comments, Ward 2 (spelling unverified)
Asked about the substitute coordinator stipend and sub pay.
Tom Rock
Citizens' comments, Ward 2 (surname from a later reference; medium confidence)
Presented tax-burden comparisons.
Jonathan Young
Citizens' comments, Ward 1
Spoke for counselors, the resource officer and the social worker.
Andy
Citizens' comments, Ward 3 (first name only)
Spoke on tax burden relative to income.
Rod Beaton
Citizens' comments, Ward 2 (spelling unverified)
Spoke on growing the tax base.
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda is posted in any district share, although members refer to one ("if you look on your agenda for tonight on the back side", 1:35:54). This list is reconstructed from the chair's transitions. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
Superintendent added "acceptance of a Exxon Mobil $500 grant for Stevens High School as well" (0:01:14); Sprague moved "We accept the agenda, as amended"; carried on a voice vote (0:01:31).
With "an addendum going around for after we came back from our nonpublic"; motion "to accept" by an unidentified member; carried on a voice vote (0:02:31).
Two ExxonMobil grants of $500 (Disnard, Stevens) accepted on Herzog's motion, voice vote (0:50:02); Frank M. Barnard Foundation $1,000 for the One for All family space accepted, voice vote (0:50:38). See flag 2.
Sprague moved a reduction of $328,980.05, "31.14825695" [$31,148,256.95] (2:23:30); Herzog seconded. Herzog's request to amend to $31.3 million drew no second: "For lack of a second." (2:32:56). Irish called the question; the call carried on a roll call. Main motion carried on a roll call (2:36:45). See flag 3.
Motion citing "91 a two Roman numeral one, a" [RSA 91-A:2, I(a)] (2:41:13), Herzog second, roll call; recording ends. See flag 6.
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Each time is the start of the cited row, from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
Burrill: "I would like to invite members of this board to accompany myself and a couple of other students through a day of classes at Stevens"; "In short, we don't want to see any cuts to the current budget proposal." (0:05:37).
Bean: "I can tell you from experience that that job saves lives point blank." (0:18:09); "The city manager said last week or last meeting that a school budget cut would not make a significant difference" (0:18:36).
Heinsberg: "we pay, $3,000 stipend for a sub coordinator"; "Why is that not done through the Dow?" Chair: "We can go over that in our budget discussions." (0:25:19).
Rock: "we have a lower tax burden on a homeowner than 35% of the other 234 communities." (0:34:21). Irish replied about median income; chair: "We're not doing comments. This is citizens time." (0:38:19); "we're going to take a break. If you can't be quiet." (0:38:37).
LeClair: "three grants this evening evening totaling of $2,000, two from ExxonMobil and one from the Frank Frank M Barnard Foundation." (0:48:33). Lewis: the grant "has to be funneled to math and science efforts" (0:49:12).
Zullo: "did the board transfer any appropriations into another line out of budget during the year?" O'Neill: "it's not really the board doing it. It's really the administration moving." (1:14:34); "as long as we don't overspend the appropriation, we really don't have to come to the board every time" (1:15:28).
Superintendent on a local program to "reduce the number of children leaving Claremont" (1:19:26); Pierce: Brattleboro Retreat "is between 87,000 and 116,000" (1:24:47).
Irish: "I really don't have an interest to get micromanaging this line by line, because one, we legally can't." "the fund balance that's been returned was $2.3 million." (1:45:45); "they can do what they want with the number." (1:47:09).
Chair: "I'd like to see it level funded." O'Neill: "you'd be looking at, let's see, 170 for, you know, $0.45 increase." (1:58:06). Chair on the administration's cut list: "they're they're unbearable." (1:59:40).
McGoodwin: "the last thing I would ever do was to put items here to get attention, to get people worked up." LeClair: "We were still making adjustments until about an hour or two before the last meeting." (2:08:08).
Sprague: "in our follow up discussion on Saturday, there were a number of ideas floated by the school board". LeClair: "Oh, I watched the tape. All of it." (2:17:48). Pierce: "We didn't ask for that to be chopped." (2:20:10). Chair: "It's not their fault." (2:21:29). Irish: "You weren't at that meeting. You weren't at the other meeting" (2:21:44).
Sprague: "go with the the number that the administration presented and does not necessarily agree with and go with a reduction of $328,980.05." Herzog: "I'll second that." (2:23:09). "It is a significant, concession by the board on the original number" (2:24:17).
Herzog: "I was wondering if you would amend the motion to bring it to 31,000 31,300,000." Sprague: "I don't want to rescind my motion." (2:26:12). Woodman: "Before you do that, you have to vote on the amendment." (2:32:38); Irish: "For lack of a second." (2:32:56).
Chair explained the vote to stop debate. First roll call (2:34:35): Irish yes, Petrin no, Pierce yes, Sprague yes, Zullo yes, chair no, one further no (No, no.) before Petrin's name. Second roll call (2:36:45): Irish yes, Herzog no, Petrin no, Pierce yes, Sprague yes; the transcript then reads "Rebecca. Yes and no." and "One. Three."
McGoodwin: "We must have a public hearing no later than January 16th." LeClair: childcare offered (2:39:12); McGoodwin: at "Stephen's High School auditorium" a "TV would be able to telecast it" (2:39:44); LeClair: "the budget you pass tonight is the budget. You move forward to public hearing and you still have an opportunity to adjust after that." (2:40:36).
Chair: "If you have the RSA in front of you." McGoodwin: "Over, say 91 a two Roman numeral one, a." (2:41:13); Herzog second; roll call, recording ends (2:42:11).
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the state law in force on December 20, 2017. They are not findings of violation and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on; where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. No HIGH flag was found.
MEDIUM The business administrator said line-to-line transfers are made by the administration without coming to the board; the statute gives transfer power to the governing body
Asked whether "the board" had transferred appropriations during the year, the business administrator answered "it's not really the board doing it. It's really the administration moving" (1:14:34), described an internal approval form signed by the superintendent or himself, and said "as long as we don't overspend the appropriation, we really don't have to come to the board every time" (1:15:28). The vice chair put the same view as board policy: "they can do what they want with the number" (1:47:09). RSA 32:10, I, as amended effective August 15, 2017, provides that "the governing body may transfer to that appropriation an unexpended balance remaining in some other appropriation", and ¶II provides that "purpose" refers "to individual line items in whatever detailed budget or chart of accounts is regularly used". The governing body of a school district is its school board. Paragraph I(b) also requires records that let a citizen ascertain what was moved. The recording does not show whether the board had delegated or ratified transfers by vote or policy, which would change the analysis, so this is graded a probable process gap rather than a violation.
OBSERVATION Three small grants were accepted in public session; one was added to the agenda from the floor
The board accepted two $500 ExxonMobil grants and a $1,000 Frank M. Barnard Foundation grant by motion and voice vote (0:50:02, 0:50:38). RSA 198:20-b, III(b), as then in force, provides for unanticipated funds under $5,000: "the school board shall post notice of the funds in the agenda and shall include notice in the minutes", and "The acceptance of unanticipated funds under this subparagraph shall be made in public session of any regular school board meeting." These acceptances were in public session at a regular meeting. But the Stevens grant was added when the meeting began ("If we could add to the action item acceptance of a Exxon Mobil $500 grant for Stevens High School as well", 0:01:14), so it was not in the agenda as posted. The section applies only where the district meeting has adopted RSA 198:20-b's procedure (¶I), which the recording does not show, and the posted agenda is not online.
OBSERVATION The budget vote's tally is not fully audible, and no online minutes record it
The main motion ($31,148,256.95) carried on a roll call (2:36:45) after a vote to call the question (2:34:35). The transcript captures Irish, Pierce and Sprague voting yes and Herzog and Petrin no on the main motion; Zullo's vote reads "Rebecca. Yes and no." and the chair's vote is not separately heard. The superintendent told the January 3 hearing that the board "elected to accept" the reduction (Cablecast show 9547), and a member at that hearing spoke for "The four of us that supported that budget on the 20th" (show 9548), which is consistent with a 4-3 vote with the chair voting no, as he did on calling the question. RSA 91-A:2, II, in the text in force for 2017, required minutes with "a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions" within five business days; it did not yet require the names of movers and seconders. The minutes were approved on January 3, 2018 (show 9549) but are not in the district's public shares, which begin in 2022. Graded an observation under the project's rule for missing records.
OBSERVATION Members refer to budget sessions the chair did not attend; one was taped
A member referred to "our follow up discussion on Saturday" where "ideas floated by the school board" did not reach the administration's list (2:16:45); the assistant superintendent said she had watched "the tape. All of it." (2:17:48); and the vice chair told the chair "You weren't at that meeting. You weren't at the other meeting" (2:21:44). The members' written questions came from "our working session" (0:51:12); that November 29 budget study session is a televised public meeting attended by all seven members (November 29 page). Under RSA 91-A:2, I, a quorum convened to discuss a matter within the board's jurisdiction is a meeting, requiring notice and minutes. The assistant superintendent's reference to a tape indicates the Saturday session was a recorded, public meeting, which answers the concern for that session. Whether every session described was noticed cannot be told from this recording; the notices and minutes of fall 2017 are not online.
OBSERVATION The contract ratification the superintendent reported for this date is not on the recording
At the January 3 hearing the superintendent said "The school board on December 20th approved and ratified" a collective bargaining agreement costing $307,153 (Cablecast show 9547). No ratification vote is on this recording, which ends during the roll call to leave public session for the collective-bargaining session (2:42:11). RSA 91-A:2, I(a) excludes "Strategy or negotiations with respect to collective bargaining" from the definition of a meeting; a vote to ratify a finished agreement is a decision of the board, and nothing in that exclusion covers it. If the board returned to public session and voted after the recording stopped, the minutes approved on January 3 (show 9549) would show it; they are not online. The January 3 page reaches the same point from the later recording.
POSITIVE Budget calendar set correctly, the hearing made accessible, and the closed session cited its statute
The superintendent stated the hearing deadline as "no later than the 16th of January" (1:36:27, 2:37:36); RSA 40:13, II-a, as then in force, required budget hearings "on or before the third Tuesday in January", which in 2018 was January 16. The assistant superintendent explained that "the budget you pass tonight is the budget. You move forward to public hearing and you still have an opportunity to adjust after that" (2:40:36), which is what RSA 32:5, I provides ("after the conclusion of public testimony shall finalize the budget"). Administrators offered childcare for the hearing and proposed a larger room so it could be televised (2:39:12, 2:39:44). The closing motion named its provision on its face, "91 a two Roman numeral one, a" (2:41:13): RSA 91-A:2, I(a) excludes "Strategy or negotiations with respect to collective bargaining" from the definition of a meeting, and the business administrator had said earlier that contract costs would be discussed there (2:02:09). The board also took a roll call, more than that exclusion requires. (Whether the contract was also ratified in that session is a separate question; see flag 5.)
No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting is in the district's public Drive shares, whose year folders begin in 2022 (MAP.md section 52, checked 9/26/26).