About the Navigator
The Claremont School Board Meeting Navigator (CSBMN) is an experimental service of the Claremont Community Media Center (CCMC), which operates Claremont's public-access television channels and video-on-demand service. CSBMN gives each covered public meeting of the Claremont School Board and its Finance Committee, the SAU 6 Board, and the joint, deliberative and special sessions that go with them a single page that brings together the meeting video, the agenda, the board's document packet, and, when the district posts them, the minutes.
Each meeting page lists who took part, reproduces the posted agenda, and follows the discussion topic by topic. Timestamps on the page link to that moment in the recording, so a summary can be checked against what was actually said. Discussion that appears to touch a requirement of state or federal law, such as a filing deadline, a notice rule, or an audit obligation, is flagged with a citation to the specific statute or regulation. An appendix on every page links the source documents.
The video comes from CCMC's video-on-demand service, which carries the district's meeting recordings. The documents come from the public Google Drive folders where the district posts its board packets and meeting minutes. No non-public material is used. Coverage begins with the School Board meeting of January 21, 2015, and further meetings are added as they are processed.
AI does most of the assembly: transcribing the recording, matching voices to named speakers, summarizing the discussion, and flagging items that may deserve review. It makes mistakes, such as a misheard name or a remark credited to the wrong speaker, which is why every page, this one included, carries the standing notice printed at its foot. These pages are a finding aid, not a record. The district's approved minutes, posted at sau6.org and in the Drive folders above, are the official account of any meeting. Before relying on anything here, follow the timestamp or the document link and confirm it at the source.
New Hampshire's Right-to-Know Law (RSA 91-A) makes these meetings and records public. Public is not the same as convenient: a meeting recording can take a full evening to watch, and the documents behind it sit in folders most residents never open. CSBMN tries to shorten the distance between a resident's question and the moment in the meeting that answers it.
What is wrong with the record, and with these pages. An archive built from public records inherits the quality of those records, and the work of building it introduced defects of its own. The Data Quality Report catalogues all of it: 392 issues in the district’s own records, in this project’s transcripts and speaker attributions, in this project’s own analysis, and in the limits of the methods used to check all three. It is published in full, including the errors this project made and corrected.
Corrections and suggestions are welcome through the Claremont Community Media Center.
Meeting pages
| Date | Meeting | On the page | Flagged items |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (26 meetings) | |||
| September 16, 2026 | Claremont School Board | The district reported $680,447.22 in grant reimbursements recovered since July, 11 of 18 FY22 corrective actions drafted, and a Region 10 CTE agreement never renewed. The board voted the elementary grade realignment three weeks after school opened, accepted a $3,000 grant, adopted JF, JKAA and GBGA over one no vote, and entered nonpublic session on a forensic-audit scope. The draft minutes omit the nonpublic session; no nonpublic minutes were found. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 2, 2026 | Claremont School Board | The FY26 DOE-25, due September 1, is on a 30-day extension with another planned; 8 of 18 FY22 audit corrective actions are written. The treasurer found checks outside a signed manifest. The board waived sealed bids for a $146,342 bus, approved the Stevens and CMS handbooks 5 to 2, rejected both athletics handbooks, and adopted three policies on first presentation. Draft minutes misrecord one seconder. | 2 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| September 2, 2026 | Claremont School Board, athletics handbooks (excerpt) | A 22-minute excerpt of the September 2 meeting. The players' athletics handbook motion was withdrawn after line-by-line critiques, including the omission of Unified sports, and the coaches' handbook was voted down unanimously. The superintendent disclosed an athletics checking account holding over $20,000 to pay game officials, with school staff as signatories, which he plans to change. The full meeting has its own page. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 19, 2026 | Claremont School Board | The board unanimously adopted a written procurement procedure as its first audit corrective action and authorized two quotes for a replacement bus. The treasurer reported two August 6 payments issued with no signature. A middle and high school dress code failed 2-4. Six nominations and a police antenna at CMS were approved. In nonpublic session the board added two members to the SREA negotiating team; the draft minutes omit the bus vote. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| August 12, 2026 | Finance Subcommittee | The superintendent, covering the business administrator's role, said holding checks continued through FY2026, that two thirds of an $868,000 SchoolCare assessment remained unpaid though encumbered, and that the FY26 DOE-25 would be prepared with the department because the starting balance is unknown. Tuition agreements could not be located. He presented a procurement guide as the first audit corrective action. No agenda or minutes have been found. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 5, 2026 | Claremont School Board | Auditor Michael Campo answered an hour of questions on the FY2022 and FY2023 draft audits. The new treasurer reported July payments issued under the former treasurer's electronic signature and backdated checks. The board appointed a deputy treasurer and a CCTV board member, failed teacher nominations 3-3 before approving them after nonpublic, and created a grant-funded student wellness director. The recording ends at the nonpublic session. | 2 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| July 29, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Goal Setting Meeting | Annual goal-setting work session at the Dow building, five of seven members present (Howard and Petrin absent). Superintendent Broadrick led a domain-by-domain review of needs under his nine-part foundation framework; no votes were recorded. He reported a same-day hire and a business-administrator candidate for nonpublic discussion. The recording starts mid-session and ends before the noticed nonpublic session; the draft minutes are incomplete and no nonpublic minutes were found. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 21, 2026 | Claremont School Board | Dr. Timothy Broadrick's first meeting as superintendent. Preliminary FY26 spending came in $4,364,000 under budget. The FY22 and FY23 draft audits, both disclaimers of opinion, were presented and released 6-1. The board heard a Recovery Plan framework and staffing report, adopted the 2026-27 calendar, approved Unity's SAU 6 withdrawal agreement 6-1, and sent three NHSBA resolutions. Twenty certified hires were reported without a board election. The recording ends at the nonpublic session. | 2 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 19, 2026 | Finance Committee | Finance Subcommittee meeting, recorded for CCTV. Angell put the year-end deficit under $1 million but restated May 31 figures that differ from the June 17 packet report. Broadrick described liabilities incurred without purchase orders and a $350,000-plus behavioral-services contract with no known funding. A draft budget calendar proposed sub-quorum board roundtables. No agenda or minutes were found in district shares; a draft survives only in a copy in the maintainer's Drive. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 17, 2026 | Claremont School Board | Last FY2026 meeting. Claremont Savings Bank returned the $10,563.11 loan interest. Broadrick reported about $2 million in FY2026 federal grants not yet claimed and time-card language added after a recurring monitoring finding. Angell projected a year-end deficit under $1 million; a principal's $20,000 moving provision was not board approved. Bluff activity fund ($6,567.44) closed; 62-minute nonpublic on negotiations, sealed to July 1 without a stated finding. | 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| June 3, 2026 | Claremont School Board | Incoming superintendent Broadrick's first report: 20 middle-school vacancies, a draft organization chart splitting student services, and a sample in which close to half of 54 IEPs lapsed before renewal. Cash stood at $5.1 million before the final payroll. Paid lunch prices rose 25 cents on a 6-1 vote; State Police training at Bluff School approved 7-0. The minuted vote to seal the nonpublic minutes is not on the recording. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 20, 2026 | Claremont School Board | All seven present. The board kept busing in-house ($1,971,619 against Butler's $2,011,500) after learning special-education transportation was booked as regular education; renewed Fresh Picks food service 6-1 as sole bidder, for a two-year first term; renewed Lifetouch; approved a broker RFQ for Bluff and the Masonic Temple (carrying cost $438,354); sealed property-sale nonpublic minutes six months without a stated finding; and adopted four policies, three at first presentation. | 4 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION |
| May 6, 2026 | Claremont School Board | All seven members present; incoming superintendent Broadrick attended. He said the approved 2025-26 calendar had 172.5 days, so a State Board waiver is needed to end school June 12. The business administrator reported just over $6 million cash, nearly 1,000 invoices pulled for auditors, some uncopied, and an expected disclaimer on the opening balance. Kennedy and Savage were appointed to SAU posts. Nonpublic minutes were sealed to September 2027 without a stated finding. | 4 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 15, 2026 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven members present. The vice chair reported a 5-2 board decision to negotiate a contract with Dr. Timothy Broadrick as superintendent. The chair read a finance report: $5,930,734 cash on April 10 and a $1 million to $1.6 million projected deficit. The board funded a by-laws review by counsel ($3,000 to $5,000, Rapp opposed), met 17 minutes in nonpublic and approved staff rehires. Nonpublic minutes were not located. | 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 9, 2026 | SAU 6 Board | Rocco Ruggeri was confirmed as chair and Candace Crawford elected vice chair. The chair said a $1,500-a-month TMSolution HR mentoring contract signed by staff on March 27 was never discussed by the board, and the $25,000-cap operational review had not begun. Whitney and Popescu will review sealed nonpublic minutes. Staff outlined Unity's IT, records and payroll separation. No minutes are reachable; the linked draft returns not found. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 6, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Superintendent Candidate Forum (Broadrick) | Public forum moderated by chair Candace Crawford with the sole superintendent finalist, Dr. Timothy Broadrick (district spelling Broderick). He urged no further school reconfiguration for 12 months, said spending of roughly $26,000 per pupil should be enough, described the financial controls he set up in Barnstead, and said he would not relocate permanently. No notice, agenda or minutes for the event were found. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 1, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing & Meeting | After a public hearing the board accepted a Kiwanis gift of up to $24,229.50 for two gym scoreboards. It approved a $70,353.08 school resource officer agreement, thanked Claremont Savings Bank as the loan balance reached zero, tabled by-law revisions pending counsel's cost estimate, kept the reconfiguration committee researching without a vote, and adopted Policy BBBF. The minutes omit the start time and the gift amount. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| March 18, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Organizational Meeting | New board seated: Lavalette and Rapp sworn in, Crawford elected chair, Petrin kept vice chair on a 3-3 tie. Ten citizens spoke, mostly on the superintendent search. Cash $897,000; FY2023 audit trial balance just sent to auditors. Exploratory reconfiguration committee created 6-1; calendar, $7,000 Byrne gift, SAFE grants and banking resolution approved. Nonpublic motion cited a lettered exemption for only one of two items; the seal and moderator appointment were not recorded. | 1 HIGH 5 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 4, 2026 | Claremont School Board | Last meeting before the March 10 election. The business administrator reported just over $2 million cash, planned loan draws repaid from April adequacy aid, and FY2023-onward audit records still being gathered by hand. Mid-year iReady and DIBELS data from Disnard and Maple Avenue. A $10,767.02 Class of 1967 donation was accepted; policies EHAG and JIH adopted, BBBF sent to second read. Approved minutes leave the present list blank; nonpublic minutes not located. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 18, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Article 8 Discussion (excerpt) | CCTV excerpt of the February 18 public hearing covering only Article 8, the petitioned budget cap. The chair reads the article and counsel's view that its wording departs from RSA 32:5-f; Angell estimates a $9.1 million cut; 15 residents speak, all against the cap. The opening splices the 6:30 call to order onto the Article 8 discussion, so no clock times can be taken from it. | 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 18, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing and Meeting | Hearing on Articles 7 (open enrollment) and 8 (petitioned budget cap); Angell estimates a $9.1 million cut under the cap. FY2023 to FY2025 audits still open. Nonpublic session 8:16 to 8:40 under 91-A:3, II(a), minutes sealed six months with no stated determination. $53,625 Focus Schools contract approved pending grant; coolers approved on one quote, 4 to 3 on the amendment. Consent agenda passed without a recorded vote. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 7, 2026 | Claremont School District Deliberative Session | First session of the 2026 annual meeting, Moderator Tracy Pope presiding. Voters struck 'or lease' from both property articles (Article 5 on a 105 to 36 standing count) and rejected a $50,000 per-pupil amendment to the petitioned budget cap 80 to 121. Proposed budget $42,957,713, default $44,449,704. Only an 'OLD' warrant copy is posted, and the minutes remain a draft until the 2027 session. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 4, 2026 | Claremont School Board | The board engaged separate forensic-audit counsel (Bernstein Shur, up to $2,500), met 14 minutes in nonpublic session under the tuition-contract exemption, then set FY2027 tuition at $15,000, $15,500 and $17,000. Members outlined about $850,000 of line-item sources to fund athletics inside the $42,957,713 budget, including $250,000 of duplicate entries. A member said the business-administrator question came up in nonpublic; no nonpublic minutes were found. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 21, 2026 | Claremont School Board | After a hearing accepting $134,883.11 in trust income, the board cut the aligned-model budget to $42,957,713 by a 4-3 vote, leaving athletics at $1 on the posted line-item form, approved a $44,449,704 default budget, dropped a separate athletics article without a vote, declined 6-0 to recommend the petitioned budget cap, and voted 6-1 for an executive-director leadership model. The minutes omit the call-to-order time. | 1 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 20, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing on Proposed Budgets | Budget hearing on two FY27 options: four-school aligned at $44,844,373 (default $44,449,704) and current configuration at $46,211,951 (default $47,800,535, above the budget itself). Warrant articles for the CAA agreement ($0 year one), selling or leasing Bluff and 52 Maple Avenue, and a petitioned budget cap Angell estimated would force a $35,700,906 budget. Fifteen residents spoke; the board closed the hearing, barring increases. No posted hearing notice or default budget form was found. | 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 7, 2026 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing & Meeting | Hearing approved applying for and accepting a $49,775 NH Charitable Foundation grant for CMS band and chorus. Angell saw a path to erase the deficit and recommended no deficit warrant article. The board voted 4-3 to send both four-school budgets ($46,211,951 and $44,844,373) to the January 20 hearing, rejected the chair's modified three-school budget 3-4, ratified the CAA agreement and elected a 0.6 FTE music teacher. The 30-minute nonpublic session is not on the tape. | 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2025 (38 meetings) | |||
| December 17, 2025 | Claremont School Board | First look at the FY27 budget: $44,861,008 (up 3.89%) for the recommended four-school model or $43,968,104 (up 1.83%) for three schools, against $43,179,564. About eighteen residents spoke, mostly against more school moves; comment was extended. Tuition set at $15,000 and $15,500, two Stevens positions restored, clerk stipend raised. The nonpublic motion cited RSA 91-A:2, III, and a nonpublic decision went unreported. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| December 12, 2025 | Finance Committee | Two committee members, the interim business administrator and the interim superintendent worked through the FY27 draft, then at about a 2% increase for a four-school model. Administrators said last year's budget underfunded health insurance and that alternative-program staff were paid from other lines; members steered that program toward Bluff School. No agenda, notice or minutes were found, and a follow-up Monday session left no record. | 1 HIGH 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 10, 2025 | Finance Committee | First televised FY27 budget work session: Crawford and Whitney with Kennedy and Angell. NESDEC projects 1,379 students next year and 1,089 in ten; a grade-aligned four-school model adds about $79,000 in payroll; a three-school model would put grades 7-12 at Stevens. Angell reported errors in payroll and health-insurance data and in FY26 budget assumptions. No votes. No agenda or minutes were found. | 1 HIGH 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 3, 2025 | Claremont School Board | All seven members present, clerk absent. The board cleared a backlog of five sets of minutes, approved the Stevens program of studies, up to $3,500 for CodeMonkey licenses if no grant is found, and a two-payment plan for an $868,000 SchoolCare assessment; it adopted DJ, JJE and BBAA and named Madden and Petrin to the superintendent search. An SREA reopening motion was withdrawn. The approved minutes omit start and end times. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 19, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Staff reported unfilled one-to-one aides prescribed in IEPs and Ed 306 gaps at the middle school; cash on hand was $307,000 with a $1.7 million projected deficit. The board learned it was bound to salaries for two school-psychology interns it had not approved, reinstated the truant officer 4-2, rejected a head-lice policy revision 2-3-1 and adopted six policies on first reading. Minutes of three earlier meetings were deferred again. | 4 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 13, 2025 | SAU 6 Board | The chair reported the former business administrator left by mutual agreement on November 3 with no severance and that most central-office leaders had resigned. The board approved the interim business administrator's contract (capped at $125,000 for FY2026, ending June 30, 2027), heard TMS consulting costs, and extended the forensic audit to SAU records. No minutes of this meeting, public or nonpublic, have been found. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 5, 2025 | Claremont School Board | The board reinstated Frank Sprague to the vacant seat 3–2 with Howard abstaining, after Lavallette and a motion to reopen each tied 3–3. It authorized a forensic audit requested by State Police, sold three buses, set SHS tuition at $17,000 and accepted a $16,000 grant not noticed on the agenda. Angell said a $150,000 May 2025 capital reserve withdrawal needed a district vote. Counsel reported the former business administrator's mutual termination. | 1 HIGH 4 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 5, 2025 | Claremont School Board, vacancy-discussion excerpt | Excerpt covering only the vacant-seat item. The chair read counsel's advice that RSA 671:33 directs the board to fill the seat and a letter from Frank Sprague asking to return. Motions to appoint Don Lavalette and to reopen applications failed 3-3; Sprague's return carried 3-2 with Loren Howard abstaining, three of six remaining members. The draft minutes give no actual start or end time. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 15, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Petrin presided with Whitney absent and Howard on Zoom. The board was handed the FY2025 DOE-25 and MS-25, due September 1, to sign that night; Angell projected a $1.9 million FY26 deficit and tax increases of 9.18% or 6.08%. Interns cost $96,940 and $109,437. The board appointed an interim CMS principal and voted to publish staff compensation. Public minutes reached Drive about six weeks later. | 1 HIGH 6 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 6, 2025 | Claremont School Board, Special Meeting | Twelve-minute special meeting before the SAU 6 session. The board created a district-wide substitute secretary position, pending a job description, by voice vote with no cost stated and no audible second. The interim superintendent announced the resignations of HR director Patrick O'Hearn, Assistant Superintendent Michael Koski and an HR staff member. The agenda's citizens' comment item was skipped, and no minutes were ever produced. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 6, 2025 | SAU 6 Board, Special Meeting | The SAU 6 board entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), (c) and (l) by roll call, then voted unanimously to seal those minutes for five years on counsel's advice without stating a statutory finding. An NHSBA staff attorney gave a long roles-and-responsibilities training. Three central-office resignations were announced. Citizens' comment was moved from 9:00 p.m. to the opening and closed at once. No minutes were found. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 1, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Board vacancy vote tied 3 to 3 between Don Lavalette and Kevin Tyson (this project's maintainer) and was tabled 4 to 2. Board approved Bluff-closure calendar change and SREA agreement, and a resolution seeking a state adequacy revolving loan fund. Interim BA projected a $1,974,757.42 deficit at June 30, 2026. The draft FY2022 audit disclaims an opinion. Only draft minutes exist, posted six weeks late. | 2 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| September 17, 2025 | Claremont School Board | With the chair absent, the board voted 4-1 (Howard opposed) to move Bluff Elementary's classes intact, with their teachers and paraprofessionals, into Disnard and Maple Avenue by October 20; the principals had withdrawn the K-2/3-5 plan for lack of bus drivers. Angell called it a capacity decision, with the deficit 60% counted. Crawford and Madden were empowered to approve manifests and eleven policies adopted. A noticed 6:00 p.m. nonpublic session appears in no record, and the minutes reached Drive 47 days late. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 11, 2025 | SAU 6 Board | After a nonpublic session cited under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and (c), the SAU 6 board accepted Superintendent Chris Pratt's resignation, offered the interim post to Kerry Kennedy, and approved three TMSolution consulting contracts ($1,500 a month mentoring, $155 an hour communications, $175 an hour operational review capped at $25,000), all by voice vote. Minutes approvals were tabled. No minutes of this meeting have been found, and the contracts reached Drive only in April 2026. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 10, 2025 | Claremont School Board | The administration proposed closing Bluff Elementary in October, with Disnard K-2 and Maple Avenue 3-5, citing a $1.2 million health-insurance bill, payroll risk and IEP services it said it could not deliver; savings were put at $60,000 to $65,000. The Bluff and Maple principals said their smaller plan was set aside. After about 64 minutes of public comment the board tabled the plan unanimously and voted 4-1 to take up both plans on September 17. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| September 4, 2025 | SAU 6 Board | The joint board spent 84 minutes in nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and (c), then unanimously eliminated the vacant curriculum director position, heard that two consultants were already engaged, and accepted a state-funded cybersecurity grant of unknown value. No nonpublic minutes or public sealing vote were found; the public draft minutes reached Drive 69 days later and the agenda a week after the meeting. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 3, 2025 | Claremont School Board, anticipation note hearing | Public hearing and 6-0 roll-call adoption of a resolution to borrow up to $4,000,000 from Claremont Savings Bank against the $16,931,006.67 FY2026 adequacy grant, voted the same night despite the district citing RSA 33:8-a, I. Officials reported about $5 million in overdue liabilities, cash unreconciled since July 2022 and an adverse FY2021 audit opinion. Sprague's resignation was announced. Draft minutes omit call-to-order time and author. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| August 25, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Three days before school opened, the board heard of a pending bank loan, $1.2 million projected Fly Academy savings and a reduction in force with a spoken $1,252,646 total, then took 98 minutes of public comment. It voted 4-1-1 to authorize eliminating 20 positions and 4-2 to cut non-mandatory extracurricular programs. The minutes omit actual start and end times and print a total that differs from the spoken one. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| August 20, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Public forum on the financial crisis, Crawford absent. The chair read the Commissioner of Education's letter. Counsel ruled out borrowing; bankruptcy was under study. The auditor said FY2021 was the last signed audit and FY2022 would carry a disclaimer of opinion. A new controller found no beginning balances. About thirty residents spoke over 75 minutes. No motion to delay, so school opened August 28. Draft minutes posted on the eighth business day. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 14, 2025 | Claremont School Board | The board disclosed a FY2025 deficit the chair put at $1 million to $5 million, vendor arrears and a cash crisis two weeks before school; counsel described state involvement and a possible court-approved special meeting. The packet's FY24-25 report shows general-fund spending $1.53 million over budget. Handbooks approved; nine fiscal and wellness policies adopted. A 78-minute nonpublic session was sealed for five years with no reason stated. The FY2022 audit remained unfinished. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 18, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Last meeting before the summer break, Vice Chair Petrin absent. Thirty-minute nonpublic grievance hearing, minutes not sealed. The business administrator reported $2.3 million in encumbrances and the FY2022 audit still unfinished. The board withdrew six policies, adopted ACE, EHAB, JLDBB, JH, JIC, JICD and CHCA, and moved eight fiscal policies to second read, though the chair announced them adopted. A preschool special-education pilot drew sharp dispute. Draft minutes posted about six weeks late. | 3 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 12, 2025 | SAU 6 Board | Eight of eleven members present. The FY25 report showed $128,870.56 left on a $2,489,151 budget, with no line-item transfers and several large line overruns. The treasurer reported a former board member still signing on the SAU account and no current check signer. The board set November, January and May meetings, entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and (c), and sealed those minutes for a year. Draft minutes first appear November 12, 2025. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 3, 2025 | Claremont School Board | With Crawford and Sprague absent, the board heard NHSAS, i-Ready and SAT results (grade 11 science up from 39%; district SAT combined about 1050) and the plan to move three coaching positions to the elementary schools from 2026-27. It named Petrin to the Superintendent's Advisory Committee instead of forming a forum committee, and adopted GBEF, JICL, JICK, IHBA and ADC, with ADC absent from the agenda and packet. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 21, 2025 | Claremont School Board | The business administrator, counsel and auditor reported that $2,089,152 more than the district had was returned to taxpayers in FY2020 and FY2021, with FY2022 audits still in fieldwork; counsel proposed a deficit-reduction trust with $400,000 in March 2026. The board adopted a revised policy JBAB with the second reading waived, approved the FY2026 general assurances with a cover letter, and approved its by-laws by consent. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 7, 2025 | Claremont School Board | With the chair absent, the board withdrew $888,998.42 from five trust and capital reserve funds to reimburse spending already incurred, including $425,000 against a $1.4 million special education shortfall and $150,000 for FY24 roof work, leaving $91,796.69. It adopted ten policy actions, ratified an SHS assistant principal after a nonpublic session whose motion named no exemption, and heard the YRBS was given without the required parent opt-out notice. | 2 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 16, 2025 | Claremont School Board | After an RSA 198:20-b hearing the board accepted a $44,300 IRC grant for an SRVRTC screen-printing store, heard architects' unestimated $20 million SRVRTC renovation concept ($15 million hoped from the state), saw sixth-grade math at 96% below grade level mid-year, authorized up to $50,000 from the special education trust for the Maple Avenue program building, and adopted ACAC, AC, ACA and a GBCD revision. Draft minutes surfaced on the 14th business day. | 1 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 10, 2025 | SAU 6 Board, annual organization | Hawkins elected chair and Ruggeri vice chair; with the treasurer office vacant, Crawford was elected treasurer and Ruggeri and Madden voucher signers after the auditor presented the FY2021 SAU audit and its repeat control findings. The business administrator projected an FY25 surplus near $212,000. Unity's withdrawal takes effect July 1, 2026. Draft minutes surfaced 60 days late; the recording ends at the nonpublic session. | 3 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 2, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Business Administrator Mary Henry projected an FY2025 deficit of about $1.4 million (minutes: $1.5 million), mostly special-education tuition and contracted services, and froze spending; Director McCosker said a July 2024 request for about $1 million more was never acted on. A $10,000 senior-trip gift was accepted on consent; its packet exhibit exposes cheque details and a student's name. A 90-minute nonpublic session denied a grievance. Other items deferred; minutes posted late. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION |
| March 19, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Organizational meeting with Hawkins and Petrin absent; Petrin elected vice chair in absence before the roll call. After 22 public comments the board voted 3-2 (Howard, Madden, Crawford for) to table action on policy JBAB for three months of review by counsel and the policy committee, leaving it in force despite counsel's advice to suspend. It adopted ACN, GBAM, IHBCA and ILBA and sent four Title IX policies to second read. Nonpublic minutes were sealed. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 17, 2025 | School Safety Public Discussion | Superintendent Pratt's televised forum on the February 11 Stevens High lockdown, when four students were detained with a BB gun. The principal described the response, including offices that never heard the lockdown and unmonitored camera feeds; principals explained safety and bullying practice; fourteen members of the public spoke on discipline, mental health staffing and metal detectors. No vote. No agenda, notice or minutes exist; the recording is the only record. | 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 5, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Six members present. Student members described the February 11 Stevens lockdown. The auditor presented FY2020 findings from a report dated July 21, 2023 and said FY2021 was still in fieldwork. Prevention partners presented 2023 YRBS data. The board approved the 2025-26 calendar (172.5 student days) and a $4,000 donation, endorsed an Acuity opposition letter over the chair's recorded no (minutes say unanimous), and tabled a $65,000-$70,000 safety specialist post. | 1 HIGH 4 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 19, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Five of seven members present. Five residents spoke: two about the district's handling of a recently fired teacher, three against the Acuity construction-and-demolition facility near Maple Avenue School. The board went into nonpublic under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) from 6:43 to 9:54 p.m. and, per the minutes, sealed those minutes for ten years without a statutory finding. The recording stops at the nonpublic session; no draft minutes were posted. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 5, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Five of seven members present. The FY2021 audit presentation was postponed. The board held a nonpublic session (RSA 91-A:3, II(c) on the agenda; no exemption stated in the motion on tape) and sealed its minutes for five years without a statutory finding, accepted three retirements and a $14,000 Byrne Foundation donation, and adopted the communication matrix. Neither agenda exhibit was posted; the packet folder postdates the meeting. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 1, 2025 | Claremont School Board, Deliberative Session | First session of the 2025 annual meeting, with elected moderator Tracy Pope presiding. The board presented four articles: a $42,933,564 operating budget (default $42,772,778), the paraprofessionals' contract ($168,000) and the administrators' contract ($78,000). No voter spoke, nothing was amended, and reconsideration was restricted. The Rules of Procedure again misstate the remedy for a doubted vote; the warrant's teachers' figure ($516,836) differs from the budget's $514,836. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 21, 2025 | Claremont School Board | Five of seven members moved the FY2026 warrant (Article 2, $42,933,564; default $42,772,778) to the deliberative session on Petrin's motion after correcting the draft warrant at the table, sealed a 68-minute nonpublic session for seven years with no statutory finding stated, funded an NH Listens candidate forum up to $750 and created an exploratory committee. No packet or separately posted agenda exists. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 15, 2025 | Claremont School Board, Budget Public Hearing | Public hearing on the FY2026 budget: $42,933,564 on the warrant (up 7.44%), default $42,772,778, all contracts adding an estimated 89 cents to the tax rate. Three residents spoke, all against suspending the district preschool program. The board approved the December 18 minutes by consent and deferred the budget vote to January 21. No default-budget form was found in the hearing packet. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 7, 2025 | Claremont School Board | The board ratified the paraprofessionals' and administrators' agreements, accepted a $3,000 ski donation, adopted four policies, and moved the FY26 budget to its hearing: general fund up 6.74%, $350,330 to raise before the agreements, preschool eliminated over Hawkins's written dissent. After the recording ends, sealed nonpublic minutes record a $255,000 property purchase. No draft minutes were posted; the approved minutes appeared on the tenth business day. | 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 6, 2025 | Finance Committee | The Finance Committee's last televised budget pass before the board vote worked from version six: $490,062 to raise before the bargaining agreements, about $1,005,062 (5.78%) with the teachers' agreement, no preschool money, $15,000 instead of $30,000 for high school summer school, and one middle school counselor position removed. No motion or vote. No notice, agenda or minutes were found, and the recording starts mid-discussion. | 1 HIGH 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2024 (30 meetings) | |||
| December 18, 2024 | Claremont School Board | The board approved the 2025-26 Stevens Program of Studies, heard a review of the new period schedule from 17 teacher interviews, heard an oral default budget of $39,791,261, voted to send a school-funding letter to Senator Ward, and authorized an $857,592 seven-year lighting lease. No FY26 budget figure was moved pending two unratified agreements. Draft minutes reached the public share on the fifteenth business day. | 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 18, 2024 | Finance Committee | Afternoon session before the board meeting. Revised FY26 draft with pre-K removed: $1,128,543 over after revenues, 8.91% gross, about 5.5% fully loaded with contracts. By consensus, no motion, Sprague proposed 4% and Crawford asked the administration to find $200,000 more (about 4.5%). The default budget was not yet available. No minutes were located; the January 7 minutes later report a 5% target. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 13, 2024 | Finance Committee | Televised Friday-morning walkthrough of the first FY26 draft, school by school: health insurance up $1.4 million (17%), middle school $4.5 million to $6 million (33%), Stevens about $11 million (+20%), about $4 million of out-of-district costs at the high school, 11.3% before the teachers' contract. Whitney proposed ending the $450,000 pre-K program; no motion or vote. No notice or minutes were located. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 12, 2024 | SAU 6 Board, Budget Public Hearing | Rescheduled after the December 3 quorum failure. After a nonpublic session the board voted, off-agenda, a 3% raise and two-year renewal for the superintendent and a parity adjustment for the assistant superintendent. Members restored the curriculum director the administration proposed cutting; the FY2026 SAU budget was adopted at $2,755,723 (10.7% over FY2025), a figure in no packet document, with one unnamed No, plus up to $160,000 of fund balance. No minutes published. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 4, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Two Stevens psychology students reported a survey of 194 students and staff: 124 (63.8%) above-average stress, linked to the new seven-period schedule. PSAT results: 37 of about 180 students tested. The FY2021 audit was nearly done, with audits through FY2024 targeted for June 2025. A Finance Committee pre-meeting was set for December 12. A motion to endorse a funding letter was withdrawn on a point of order. No votes taken. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 21, 2024 | SAU 6 Board, Strategic Plan Presentation | With no quorum at 6:30 p.m., District Management Group presented the SAU 6 Strategic Plan 2025-2030 before the meeting was called to order. Seven of twelve members then convened and adopted the plan on the chair's motion, Ruggeri seconding, by voice vote; the gaveled meeting lasted under six minutes. The noticed citizens' comment item was never called, and the draft minutes reached Drive on the fourteenth business day. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 20, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven present. Teachers' (SREA) contract ratified on Crawford's motion: 2.5% cost-of-living increases in 2025-26 and 2026-27, higher extra-duty, mentor and paraprofessional pay; no cost stated, Exhibit A not in the packet, counsel joined after the vote. Brief nonpublic session; instructional-coach update; social-outreach grant on hold. Consent agenda approved the unrecorded November 14 special meeting's minutes. Nonpublic session cut from the tape. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 19, 2024 | Finance Committee | First televised FY26 budget session: every principal and director presented preliminary requests (permanent substitutes, social workers, summer school after ESSER at about $30,000, library books). Out-of-district placements at the high school put at $3.35 million against $2.3 million budgeted; student-services contracted services near $750,000 against $514,000; Medicaid owed $70,000; insurance up 15%. No motions or votes. No agenda, packet or minutes located. | 1 HIGH 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 14, 2024 | SAU 6 Board | Eight of twelve members present, clerk absent. First look at FY26 SAU budget version 1: $2,794,151.54 against $2,489,151.00, printed as 7.23% but 12.25% gross. Superintendent given discretion over 2.5% to 3% staff raises, Simpson opposed per the minutes. Six policies adopted, KE held. Eight sealed sets from 2018 and 2023 voted unsealed; this night's nonpublic minutes left unsealed. Three SAU years unaudited; draft minutes posted December 12. | 3 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 16, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven present, Miles absent. The board voted to retain up to $350,000 of FY24 year-end funds (fund balance $497,000 plus $114,000 revenue) to offset the FY26 tax rate; the business administrator needed the vote to finish the DOE-25 due September 1. Policies EHB-R, DAF and JJJ adopted on first reading. Tech Center report; November 26 PD day given off by consent; a parent's bathroom-incident complaint drew no response. Exhibit B not posted. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 2, 2024 | Claremont School Board | All seven members present; superintendent absent and the LED item struck. The board approved a two-year Unity tuition agreement (Sprague/Petrin, voice vote) after a floor amendment filled the draft's blank rate with $16,000 per year. Stevens summer credit recovery: 136 students invited, 128 of 234 credits recovered, ESSER staffing ending. NHSBA resolutions settled by consent. Minutes and transcript disagree on several speakers. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 30, 2024 | Joint Meeting with the City Council | First joint school board and City Council meeting in several years; five of seven board members and seven councilors present. Administrators briefed the council on about $4 million for 33 out-of-district placements, K-4 reading gains, the $4,182 base adequacy rate, a $36 million FY25 budget with 72% in wages and benefits, and the Tech Center. No votes and no public comment period; minutes first posted November 14. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 18, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Chair Whitney absent; Vice Chair Sprague presided. HR reported exit-interview data from about 40 departures with 16 responses, including a complaint about board members. The business administrator reported an FY24 surplus of $544,145.29 and an audit backlog: FY21 almost done, FY22 and FY23 targeted for June 2025. A Finance subcommittee session held that day has no notice or minutes found, and the approved minutes list Whitney as both present and absent. | 4 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 12, 2024 | SAU 6 Board | Eight of twelve members present. The chair announced Christopher Pratt's appointment as superintendent, effective in June, without a vote. The board adopted policies BEDG, BBBH-S, DIE and ADC, heard an FY24 SAU surplus of $49,169.60 and an unapproved health-plan change, and received Claremont's Unity-withdrawal report, which Unity members called insulting. These minutes reached the public share about eight weeks late; the April 11 minutes approved here waited five months. | 4 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 4, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Five of seven members present. The board accepted a $10,000 McGee Toyota donation for Barnes Park batting cages after a public hearing, approved the Region 10 CTE agreement, and struck "acting" from the Tech Center assistant director's title 3 to 2. The superintendent offered himself as director of record; no vote. The Unity cost analysis stated the wrong apportionment basis. The minutes misrecord who signs the agreement. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| August 21, 2024 | Claremont School Board | All seven present. The board entered nonpublic session on a motion that named no exemption (the chair cited II(j)) and did not seal; ratified the year's professional staff list; funded Girls on the Run with $1,500; and approved, 6-1, an acting assistant CTE director post the superintendent had already offered. A meeting earlier that summer failed for want of a quorum and left no record. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 20, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven present. The board approved the Stevens handbook with a move from 78-minute blocks to a seven-period day, a 2024-25 student trip to Puerto Rico, and $583,000 for the Disnard and Stevens gym roofs from a May 31 surplus of $870,035.10 that already included $420,000 promised to taxpayers. SREB presented its tech center review; the promised bargaining update on the schedule was not given. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 5, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Four of seven members present. The board adopted its first by-laws by voice vote, including a two-year chair term; approved the elementary and middle school handbooks; tabled the Stevens handbook pending counsel's review of impact bargaining; reappointed Joella Merchant to the CCTV board; and heard DMG's ESSER-funded strategic-planning introduction and 2024 math results near half the state's proficiency rate. Approved minutes omit the middle school handbook vote. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| May 15, 2024 | Claremont School Board | The board adopts Eureka Squared and Into Math ($85,729.28 within a $120,000 allocation), votes $50,000 of unbudgeted money for SRVRTC pre-bond architectural planning (minutes record $54,000), approves the SREA 403(b) sidebar and the retiree list, and hears SREB phase two (about $28,000, ESSER) and a District Management Group strategic plan announced without a vote. Projected FY24 balance about $1 million; draft minutes posted on the 9th business day. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 17, 2024 | Claremont School Board | The board accepts a $5,000 Byrne Foundation gift after a voluntary public hearing, hears the eWalk teacher-evaluation choice and a $10 to $12 million tech-center renovation estimate, acknowledges FY2025 General Assurances without a vote, and discusses summer hiring ratified after the fact. MS-22 signing came 36 days after the March 12 vote; draft minutes reached Drive on the 15th business day; the consent agenda had no vote. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 11, 2024 | SAU 6 Board, annual reorganization | The SAU 6 board re-elects Arlene Hawkins chair and Rocco Ruggeri vice chair but chooses no secretary or treasurer, enters nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and (b) and seals it for six months, approves Michael McCosker and Patrick O'Hearn as directors, and adopts four policies labelled first reads. Draft minutes reached Drive on the 106th business day; the June 13 meeting it set never appears. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 20, 2024 | Claremont School Board, Organizational Meeting | With Interim Superintendent Pratt presiding, Whitney and Sprague are re-elected chair and vice chair by voice vote; Petrin returns and Skillen is absent. The board accepts a $462,328 SAFE grant after a hearing, accepts a lead-remediation grant with no amount stated, approves Croydon and Goshen tuition agreements, seats subcommittees by consent and defers the by-laws to an April 3 meeting the record does not show. Draft minutes reached Drive 27 days later. | 2 MEDIUM 6 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 6, 2024 | Claremont School Board | After a public hearing the board moves $420,000 of retained fund balance into the FY2024 general fund against a roughly $700,000 special-education tuition overrun, to enlarge the surplus that offsets FY2025 taxes, rejecting a two-week postponement 1 to 5 after being told the money could only fund unanticipated expenses. It approves the eighth-grade Boston trip, adopts nursing-mothers policy ACN on one reading. Draft minutes reached Drive on the seventh business day. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 21, 2024 | Claremont School Board | All seven members present. After a public hearing the board accepts a $10,000 Byrne Foundation gift for the eighth-grade Boston trip, hears the first monthly financial update (about $829,000 projected, ESSER III reconciled only through October or November, a duplicate $90,000 purchase order), reviews i-Ready data and raises substitute pay to $125 a day, deferred to March 11. It also approves minutes of a January 29 session that record no attendance. | 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 15, 2024 | SAU 6 Board | Eleven of twelve members (Erickson absent) held a 55-minute nonpublic session, cut from the recording, under a motion citing the nonexistent RSA 92-A, then sealed its minutes for three years with no stated finding. The board adopted policies ACN, GBCD, EHB and DGA (three on first reading), withdrew KF, delegated the HR director's contract to the interim superintendent, and moved to bimonthly meetings. Draft minutes surfaced May 29, the seal motion left blank. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 3, 2024 | Claremont School Board, Deliberative Session | SB 2 deliberative session presided over by Charlene Lovett as interim moderator. Voters sent five articles to the March 12 ballot: a $39,582,407 operating budget (default $39,371,774, a $210,633 difference) and three support-staff contracts, after correcting Article V's printed year from 2015 to 2025 and restricting reconsideration of Article II. Most floor speakers are named only in the minutes; the transcript has several gaps. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 17, 2024 | Claremont School Board | Interim Superintendent Chris Pratt's first board meeting. Six members present (Sprague ill) approved the FY25 operating budget of $36,117,406.87, $210,633 over default and 3.55% over FY24, and voted to buy an ESSER-funded modular classroom for The Academy, with the tech center as a one-year fallback. A pre-deliberative work session was planned. Draft minutes reached Drive only on February 14, and they disagree with the transcript on the amendment's mover. | 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 11, 2024 | SAU 6 Board | Returning from a nonpublic session, the SAU 6 board seals its minutes for 30 years, adopts policy BGAA, advances nursing-mothers policy ACN, then votes 10 to 1 (Erickson no, Popescu abstaining) to terminate Superintendent Michael Tempesta's contract under paragraph nine with six months' severance and to appoint Christopher Pratt interim superintendent, both effective January 12. No reason is stated publicly. The recording omits everything before the closed session. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 5, 2024 | Finance Committee | The three-member Finance Committee hears that the business administrator spread the unexplained $688,426.17 credit back across salary and benefit lines, leaving $16,830 unplaced. Members swap one planned elementary social worker for an instructional coach and leave the $36,313,408 total unresolved. They set a further meeting for January 10 at the superintendent's office; no notice, minutes or recording of either meeting was found, and the budget fell $196,001.10 by January 17. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 3, 2024 | Claremont School Board, FY25 Budget Public Hearing | The business administrator presents a proposed FY25 operating budget of $36,313,408 and a default budget $406,634 lower (spoken with a 906/960 transposition), and the superintendent the middle-school schedule behind the staffing cuts. No member of the public speaks. The board takes no budget vote but agrees the unallocated $688,426.17 reduction line be reallocated. Crawford is absent; the draft minutes reached Drive on the eighth business day. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2023 (39 meetings) | |||
| December 20, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Five members present. After a nonpublic session of over two hours (sealed 50 years, no finding stated), six CMS staff opposed a proposed middle-school schedule. The board ratified the custodial, secretaries' (Sprague abstaining) and a same-night paraprofessional agreement, swapped two calendar days, and moved a $36,313,407.97 budget (+4.11%) to the January 3 hearing; $688,426.17 of that increase reverses an unallocated FY24 credit. Minutes approval had no vote. | 5 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 18, 2023 | Finance Committee | Sprague, Whitney and Crawford spent two and a half hours on the FY2025 budget with the superintendent, business administrator and middle-school team: a new CMS schedule cutting four teacher positions, a current-year $85,000 CMS salary overrun, a $1.19 tax-impact estimate, and a $688,000 current-budget line the business office could not allocate. The tape ends as the chair says they need to caucus. No notice, agenda or minutes were found. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 14, 2023 | SAU 6 Board, FY25 Budget Public Hearing | The SAU 6 board held a one-minute FY2025 budget hearing with no citizens present, then adopted the $2,489,151.03 SAU budget (up $93,151.03, 3.89%) unanimously. It entered nonpublic session under a nonexistent "RSA 92-A" and sealed those minutes for 99 years, 8 to 3, with no statutory finding stated. Ben Nester's departure was announced. Draft minutes reached the public share on the sixteenth business day. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 13, 2023 | Finance Committee | Sprague, Whitney and Crawford questioned administrators on the FY2025 budget: a middle-school schedule that could free eight academic positions, an unexplained $333,000 cut beside a $300,000 increase, a preschool move to modular units with an inconsistent handout, and elementary staffing. Henry said the certified ballot and deliberative minutes the state needed to set the tax rate were filed December 12, eight months late. No votes; no notice, agenda or minutes located. | 2 HIGH 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 7, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | The SAU 6 board reviewed Mary Henry's revised FY2025 SAU budget, recessed ten minutes for an unrecorded Claremont board caucus, entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(b) and II(a), sealed those minutes 99 years (Hawkins no, Erickson abstaining), then sent $2,497,924, a $101,923 (4.25 percent) increase, to public hearing without discussion. This meeting's approved minutes are in no public share. | 4 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 6, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Frank Sprague presided with Chair Whitney absent. The board met in nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(k) on a Croydon tuition contract, sealed the minutes six months without a stated statutory ground, voted unanimously to negotiate becoming Croydon's anchor school, adopted the Stevens program of studies in block and period versions, and heard Finance and Policy committee reports. The nonpublic session is cut from the recording. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| December 6, 2023 | Finance Committee | Sprague and Crawford, with Whitney absent, reviewed school maintenance lines with the buildings-and-grounds director and special education with its director: 28 out-of-district placements, contracted services down about $200,000, and three coordinator proposals not in the budget, one funded by eliminating the preschool director. A Stevens special-education salary line was already $100,000 over. The binder went to the full board that evening. No notice, agenda or minutes were found. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 1, 2023 | Finance Committee | Sprague, Whitney and Crawford spent three hours on the FY2025 budget with the technical-center director and the middle- and high-school principals: six fewer middle-school staff implying a new schedule, nearly $1 million in high-school out-of-district costs, and a negative $688,426.17 current-year line the business administrator could not explain. Members asked for a public account of budget errors and set sessions for December 6, 13 and 18. No notice, agenda or minutes were found. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 30, 2023 | Finance Committee | The three-member Finance Committee (Sprague, Whitney, Crawford) reviewed the FY25 elementary budgets line by line with the Disnard, Bluff and Maple Avenue principals: a social worker added at each school, elementary budgets up 0.66%, behavioral specialists removed from operating lines pending the paraprofessional contract, and several FY24 lines called budgeting errors. No notice, agenda or minutes have been located. | 1 HIGH 6 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 15, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven members present (Miles absent). The board appointed Noelle Kronberg clerk, moved the 2024 deliberative session to Saturday, February 3, approved an $8,500 middle-school athletic-director stipend MOU, accepted a $3,000 Byrne Foundation gift, and heard that Bluff was identified among the state's lowest-performing 5% and that about $300,000 of ESSER II went unclaimed. Two nonpublic sessions were sealed for a year with no statutory finding stated. | 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| November 9, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | Eleven of twelve members present, Hawkins chairing. The board appointed Noelle Kronberg its clerk, heard a first-pass FY2025 SAU budget (minutes: 5.6% increase, with a $188,000 business-office rise), set a December 7 special meeting ahead of a December 14 hearing, adopted policy GBE and Dr. David Ryan's four objectives with key results. The evaluation subcommittee met off camera afterward; no notice or minutes found. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 1, 2023 | Claremont School Board | All seven members present; student representatives Nicole Bouchard and Kylee Plummer seated. The board backed early talks to reopen the paraprofessionals' contract, raised clerk pay to $300 per meeting and $350 per district meeting, renamed the budget subcommittee the finance committee, sealed tuition-contract nonpublic minutes for 50 years on a 5-2 roll with no stated finding, and set the FY2025 tuition rate at $16,000. | 3 MEDIUM 1 POSITIVE |
| October 18, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Five of seven members present. The board accepted a $6,000 Schwab Charitable gift after a public hearing, voted to retain up to $424,000 of fund balance after the business administrator said the FY2022 audit had only just started, approved a two-year $30,000-a-year athletic-fields license with the city, and adopted a CTE support letter. No roll call was taken, and the minutes omit two members. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 4, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Chair Whitney presides; Crawford absent. A nonpublic session under the tuition-contract exemption, RSA 91-A:3, II(k), is sealed for 20 years without a stated finding. The budget-surplus vote is dropped while FY2023 figures are gathered. The board keeps its three-member budget subcommittee, takes eleven votes on NHSBA resolutions, adopts policy GBE, and hears that Stevens's building management system has been broken for years. Draft minutes appeared online on the seventh business day. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 20, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Sprague presides; Whitney and Skillen absent. A nonpublic session entered under a nonexistent "91-A-3 I (j)" citation is sealed ten years with no statutory finding. Henry puts the FY2023 surplus at a little over $400,000 with the year unclosed, explains the school tax rate, and confirms a failed payroll run. Policy GBE passes first reading; the minimum-standards listening session is postponed; the fields MOU with the city remains unsigned. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 6, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Sprague opens and Chair Whitney presides; Superintendent Tempesta reports by phone. Principal Pratt answers the board's written questions: Yondr phone pouches donated (about $11,500 in product), ASL 76 of 80 seats, dropout rate down about half, classrooms at 90 to 110 degrees, an eight-period day sought. Nester reports the alternative program running. The recording stops at 52 minutes and no minutes exist. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 17, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | Chair Arlene Hawkins's SAU 6 board, eight of twelve present, seals a nonpublic session's minutes for two years without a stated finding, seats a superintendent-evaluation subcommittee chaired by Atonya Hart, hires facilitator David Ryan for up to $5,000, suspends policy CBI, elects Bonnie Miles treasurer and Frank Sprague NHSBA delegate, and approves a roughly $120,000 ESSER-funded Tyler software purchase already made. Minutes, posted on the ninth business day, record two absent members voting. | 5 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 16, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Four of seven members present. The board signs the FY2024 MS-22 ($38,345,312), due April 3, 2023, which the business administrator calls late; sets the budget hearing for January 3, ratification January 17 and deliberative session February 7, 2024; approves handbooks with changes; adopts policies JLCB and JLCC; ratifies nineteen staff nominations. Three state representatives seek $4,000 for lunch-application outreach; no vote. Nonpublic minutes sealed ten years without a stated finding. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| August 9, 2023 | Claremont School Board, special meeting on alternative programming | Single-item meeting at the technical center on Ben Nester's plan to restart an alternative high-school program (teacher reallocated in the FY24 budget, aides from ESSER III). After 41 minutes of public comment the board voted 4 to 3 by hand (Whitney, Gallagher, Hawkins, Skillen yes) to house it at the SRVRTC for one year, re-evaluated by January 31, 2024, before counsel's requested opinion on RSA 188-E:3 arrived. Minutes reached Drive on the eighth business day. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| August 2, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven members present, Skillen absent. The board extended the middle-school transportation waiver for the fall season, moved immunization policy JLCB to second reading, returned the head-lice policy for a first reading and accepted $4,000 in gifts. Mary Henry presented adequacy aid ($4,100 base, $2,300 free-and-reduced). An alternative program proposed for the Tech Center prompted an August 9 meeting. Three motions lack a recorded disposition in the minutes. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| July 19, 2023 | Claremont School Board | The board filled Steven Horsky's vacated seat: after public statements by David Bailey, Candace Crawford and Kevin Tyson, Crawford was appointed 4–2 by show of hands (Whitney and Sprague opposed) to serve until March 2024. Cetirizine was added to the nurses' list; a consultant proposal was tabled and a disruptive-behavior subcommittee formed. The candidates' letters reached the public folder only the morning after the vote. | 6 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 13, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | All eleven members present. After a proposed paper ballot is dropped on a point of order, Arlene Hawkins is elected SAU 6 chair 8 to 3 over Marjorie Erickson by show of hands. A nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) is added and its minutes sealed for five years, 10 to 1, with no statutory finding. Audits are put off to spring 2024; teachers' retirement deposits had lapsed for months. Policy BCB adopted. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| June 21, 2023 | Claremont School Board | After a nonpublic session the minutes place from the call to order to 8:00 p.m., Steven Horsky resigns effective immediately, citing personal attacks from board members. The board approves a $90,000 Stevens roof addition, raises FY24 meal prices, hears the food-service coordinator on lunch debt, appoints Joella Merchant to the CCTV board, and adopts policies IGA and BG. No seal vote was taken and no nonpublic minutes were located. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 7, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven members present, Horsky absent. After a public hearing the board accepts a $5,500 Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation grant for middle-school athletics. David Jack reports nearly $3 million in grant reimbursements filed and audits still behind; incoming business administrator Mary Henry is introduced. The ELA framework and 2023 test results are presented, and a $90,000 roof add-on is raised. The May 17 minutes were still not transcribed. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| May 11, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | The joint SAU 6 board enters a nonpublic session on a motion that states no RSA 91-A:3, II exemption, seals the minutes for ten years without a stated finding, then appoints Mary Henry business administrator. Consultant David Jack reviews the FY2022-23 SAU budget ($97,773.58 printed balance; chair projects about $77,000 surplus). GCQB-R is adopted and BCB moves to second read. The board still has no secretary three weeks before the June 1 statutory deadline. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 3, 2023 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven members present (Horsky absent). The board uses a consent agenda for the first time, accepting a $1,000 Kiwanis gift, approves an American Sign Language course with a full-time instructor over Sprague's dissent, hears the special education report (26% identification rate, a record) and agrees to host the May 25 school-funding presentation. The packet's special education report names individual students in an appendix; policy subcommittee meetings have no minutes found. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 19, 2023 | Claremont School Board | After a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c), the board hears the high school and middle school principals on discipline and climate, approves new K-8 literacy materials with no cost stated, seats its subcommittees and votes to draw up to $500,000 from the capital reserve for the leaking Stevens High School roof, with three bids required. A $3,000 gift is thanked but not voted on. Draft minutes reached Drive on the tenth business day. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 13, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | Chair Steven Horsky's first SAU 6 meeting opens with a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) whose minutes are sealed for fifty years without a stated finding; spoken clock times show about 73 minutes off the recording. Arlene Hawkins is elected treasurer but no secretary is chosen. Policy CBI is adopted, GCQB-R goes to a third reading, and a projected surplus near $118,000 is reviewed from a report not in the packet. Minutes appeared on Drive May 8. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 5, 2023 | Claremont School Board | The newly elected board makes Heather Whitney chair and Frank Sprague vice chair, accepts by consent a delay of the grade reconfiguration, approves a spring-only parent-driving waiver for middle-school athletics, accepts $3,000 in gifts, and commits $47,900 of ESSER money to an SREB study after learning about $47,000 of a $100,000 allocation went elsewhere. Nonpublic minutes are sealed five years without a stated finding; the draft minutes appeared on the seventh business day. | 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 30, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | First SAU 6 meeting after the March 2023 election: Steven Horsky is elected chair over Marjorie Erickson 6-5 by unsigned paper ballot and Rocco Ruggeri vice chair, with no secretary or treasurer chosen. Richard Seaman's retirement (effective April 14) is read; a policy subcommittee is created; exit-interview procedure GCQB-R and policy CBI go to second reading; meetings move to the second Thursday, which the draft minutes misrecord as Tuesday. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| March 1, 2023 | Claremont School Board | After a public hearing, the board accepts a $7,000 Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation gift for the middle school's eighth-grade trip. The ESSER report shows $269,878.54 of ESSER II and $415,267.37 of ESSER III unbudgeted. An ad hoc parliamentary-procedure committee reports and policy BEDH advances. Horsky is absent. No notice or minutes were found for the committee's meetings, and the packet's donation scan shows the donor's bank account line. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 16, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | Chair Marjorie Erickson's SAU 6 board hears the TeachUNITED coaching grant, adopts a school-year superintendent-evaluation procedure with first-year staff surveys, moves exit-interview policy GCQ to second reading, and confirms Angela Vivian as HR director with Horsky opposed. A nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), absent from the agenda, is sealed for 'not longer than 99 years' or a member's death with no statutory finding; the minutes record no session times. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 15, 2023 | Claremont School Board | One week after the deliberative session restored $1,000,000 to the proposed FY2024 budget, the administration presents its grade-reconfiguration case (universal pre-K, TeachUNITED coaching, class-size data). The board approves the 2023-24 calendar and, on a 4 to 2 roll call (Whitney and Horsky opposed), adds $600,000 to the default budget, bringing it to $36,942,948. The amended default budget form is not in the public packet. | 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 8, 2023 | Claremont School District, Deliberative Session | Voters at the first session of the annual meeting amended Article 2 to restore the $1,000,000 the board cut on January 17, raising the operating budget from $37,345,312 to $38,345,312 on a requested secret ballot, 41 to 27 per the minutes, then restricted reconsideration. The default stayed $36,342,948. The tally and most speakers' names are missing from the transcript; the minutes supply them. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 1, 2023 | Claremont School Board | The administration presented its plan for the $1,000,000 cut voted January 17: grade 5 to the middle school, grade 8 to Stevens, pre-K into the elementary schools, and a 15/25/20/40 split of staff reductions, title shifts and ESSER. No vote was taken. Over an hour of public comment opposed the cut or its timing. The default budget fell $1,000,000 to $36,342,948 on an explanation that is not RSA 40:13's definition. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 17, 2023 | Claremont School Board, FY24 Budget Public Hearing (with SAU 6 hearing) | SAU 6 adopted a $2,396,000 budget, then Claremont heard a $38,345,312 proposed budget with a $754,470 unidentified reduction and a $24.53 target rate. Advancing it failed on a secret ballot the minutes record as 3 to 3; the board then sent $37,345,312, a $1,000,000 cut with no line items, to deliberative session. The approved minutes misstate both figures by a dollar and the final tally. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 11, 2023 | Claremont School Board, public hearing and board meeting | After a hearing, the board accepted a $10,000 Byrne Foundation gift for a middle-school scoreboard. Reviewing a proposed FY24 budget of $39,325,854 (tax rate $25.84, up $2.26, with the teachers' contract embedded), it directed the administration without a vote to drop two tech-center positions and aim for an increase under a dollar. It voted to leave Joshua Lambert's seat empty until March. The minutes omit the budget direction. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 9, 2023 | Claremont School Board, teacher contract ratification | Five members ratified, by voice vote, a two-year agreement with the Sugar River Education Association running July 2023 to June 2025: raises of 3.25% and 3.75%, weighted to early-career steps after an analysis of 399 teacher departures. Cost was put at just over $1 million in year one and about $572,000 in year two, carried inside the operating budget rather than as a separate warrant article. ESSER stipends in the agreement went unmentioned. | 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 3, 2023 | SAU 6 Board | The SAU 6 board adopted a $2,406,073 FY24 SAU budget by voice vote on January 3, after the statutory before-January-1 meeting, adding about $85,000 to move an administrative assistant from Claremont. It reviewed new Human Resources Director (about $130,000) and Data Specialist job descriptions and heard Patrick Adrian ask for a public hearing. The minutes record the motion as sending the budget to a hearing. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2022 (22 meetings) | |||
| November 16, 2022 | SAU 6 Board | Consultants William Lupini and Anne Wilson presented an eleven-recommendation organizational study of the SAU 6 central office, led by a trained HR manager, cross-training, exit interviews and use of grant indirect costs. The SAU budget draft was set for December 1 and adoption for December 15. Three members joined by Zoom while votes were by voice; minutes and the recorded roll disagree on three members. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 3, 2022 | Claremont School Board, Special District Meeting | Single-session special district meeting under RSA 197:3-a on one article adding $482,094.01 in SB 420 state aid to the operating budget for student achievement. Voters adopted David Putnam's amendment tying spending to the board-approved state plan, then passed the article by voice vote. The meeting also approved 2021 and 2022 deliberative minutes. Draft minutes surfaced in February 2023; two stretches of audio are untranscribed. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 19, 2022 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing and Meeting | Public hearing on a single-session special meeting warrant to add $482,094.01 in SB 420 state aid to the operating budget for student achievement. A motion to table until the finance chief attended failed; the board sent the warrant to the November 3 special district meeting, Whitney and Horsky voting no. Members disagreed on what a defeated article would mean. Minutes reached the public share November 15. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 5, 2022 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing | Public hearing on a warrant placing $429,867.51 of SB 420 aid in capital, transportation and energy reserves. Administration called the money unrestricted adequacy aid; citizens read the statute's achievement-plan language and cited a $489,872 state figure. The board tabled the warrant for written counsel advice, adopted policies JICD and JICK, and heard ESSER II has $503,663.77 unbudgeted. The recording ends before the adjournment vote. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 29, 2022 | SAU 6 Board | Consultant William Lupini described the SAU staffing study, report due early November. The board reset the SAU budget calendar to October 27, December 1 and December 15, heard that the auditors asked to push Claremont's fiscal 2020 audit to the end of October 2022, and confirmed superintendent merit pay was discontinued. One member took part remotely with voice votes; the only minutes are a draft posted 48 days later. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 21, 2022 | Claremont School Board | Five of seven members present. The board voted to hold an October 5 hearing and a special district meeting to place $429,867.51 of SB 420 extraordinary need aid in energy ($129,867.51), transportation ($100,000) and capital ($200,000) reserves, moved policies JICD and JICK to third reading, heard an ESSER III report, learned summer-program growth data was lost, and confirmed a 2019 special education trust still holds $650,000. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 7, 2022 | Claremont School Board | The business office reported $828,000 in Claremont federal grants unspent or unreimbursed weeks before a September 30 deadline, Titles II, IV and V at risk of lapsing, and Claremont's FY2020 audit still undrafted. The board elected 24 teachers, moved policies JICD and JICK to second reading, and voted to hold a special meeting on $429,867.51 in SB 420 aid. The minutes misstate who opened the meeting and omit seconders. | 4 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 24, 2022 | Claremont School Board, Special Meeting | With the chair and one member absent, five members approved the Stevens High School, middle school and elementary handbooks after debating restorative justice for serious offenses, named Whitney Skillen NHSBA delegate and Frank Sprague alternate, and chose co-chairs for six committees. The business office set Claremont's FY2020 audit for September 2022 and FY2021 for November. The minutes reached the public share fourteen business days later. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 17, 2022 | Claremont School Board | The board approved 2022-23 staff nominations, amended to add a curriculum specialist, tabled the student handbooks to an August 24 special meeting, and approved a local critical staffing shortage for a library media specialist under RSA 189:39-a. A citizen learned FY2020 audits were still under way and the board had not seen auditors' reports. The minutes omit one seconder and record an NHSBA nomination the board deferred. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| July 20, 2022 | Claremont School Board | With Horsky and Sprague absent, the board heard summer-school results (65 credits recovered), met new assistant superintendent Michael Koski, and voted to support a consultant RFP for the technical-center visioning committee. A $3,000 Byrne Foundation gift was acknowledged without an acceptance vote. Staff reported Claremont's FY2019 audit finished only that month. The minutes record the visioning motion differently from the tape. | 4 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 16, 2022 | SAU 6 Board | The SAU 6 board entered a nonpublic session on a motion citing only "RSA 91-A:3 a" and sealed its minutes for 90 years. It approved October and November 2021 minutes, asked the superintendent for a staffing-needs presentation, planned a retreat at the chair's home, and raised the clerk's pay from $75 to $150 per meeting. The SAU reported an audit backlog. This meeting's own minutes, approved in September, were not located. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 15, 2022 | Claremont School Board | After a nonpublic session sealed for 99 years, the board heard the first-year district data and curriculum report and voted, with Frank Sprague opposed per the minutes, to replace The Abbey Group with Cafe Services (Fresh Picks), which guarantees a $25,000 annual food-service surplus. It noted clerk Mary Woodman's resignation and reappointed two CCTV directors on a split vote. The only record is a combined agenda and minutes posted 36 days later. | 3 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| May 19, 2022 | SAU 6 Board | Chair Marjorie Erickson postponed the April minutes, which were still not ready. On the superintendent's recommendation the board voted to remove the SAU merit pay plan, about $35,000, from the SAU budget and freeze the funds until the board approves their use; asked for a staffing assessment by June; set a tentative July 24 joint retreat. The superintendent said six years of audits had not been done. No agenda or minutes found. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 18, 2022 | Claremont School Board | Incoming Stevens principal Chris Pratt presented restorative practices; three elementary principals gave year-end reports. Special education's in-district programs were put at about $585,000 in cost avoidance, corrected on the night from $623,000. A $500 Exxon Mobil/Summit Distribution STEM gift was acknowledged without a vote. Universal free meals end June 30; food service may end about $300,000 in surplus. Previous minutes deferred as a sketch; no agenda or minutes found. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 4, 2022 | Claremont School Board | Superintendent presented a position-by-position ESSER plan, about $3.34 million for staff with all new posts ending in FY25. The pre-K outcome study found attenders scored lower than non-attenders. Board joined an amicus brief, authorized the chair to sign FY2023 federal assurances, heard two NHDOE Title monitoring findings, adopted policies GADA and ADB/GBEC, tabled BEDH and entered nonpublic session. Agenda posted; no minutes found. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 21, 2022 | SAU 6 Board, annual organization | Marjorie Erickson (absent) elected SAU 6 chair and Frank Sprague vice chair; no secretary chosen and the treasurer continued without a vote. Three 2021 sets of minutes were tabled as missing. The data governance plan was approved. Merit pay: suspension failed 4-6 and a 1.5 percent flat release failed 5-5 on roll calls; tabled to May. No agenda or minutes for this meeting were located. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 6, 2022 | Claremont School Board, organizational and regular meeting | Mary Woodman sworn in as clerk; Michael Petrin elected chair and Heather Whitney vice chair. After a public hearing the board accepted an $8,000 scholarship gift, approved three principals, the 2022-23 calendar and a Youth in Government trip, and questioned the sustainability of the ESSER III plan without a vote. No agenda survives; the only minutes copy was filed 106 days later. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 16, 2022 | Claremont School Board (unscheduled meeting) | Unscheduled meeting on one item, the COVID-19 decision matrix. The board amended Heather Whitney's motion 4 to 3 to keep federal bus masking, follow state rules for students returning from isolation and start Monday, February 21, then made masks optional in school 5 to 2, Lambert and Lovett Jr. opposed, on roll calls with one member remote. December 1, 2021 minutes were tabled; no agenda or minutes of this meeting located. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 9, 2022 | Claremont School District, Deliberative Session | Voters debated the $37,243,825 operating budget, whose default budget was identical, and amended it twice by secret ballot: $61,973 to keep the tech-center director full time (53 to 6) and $87,290 for a full-time tech-center guidance counselor (48 to 9). Counsel said the board decides how added money is used. Four bargaining articles went to the March ballot. An acting moderator presided; the minutes misrecord two votes. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 2, 2022 | Claremont School Board | Held at the tech center a week before the deliberative session. The superintendent defended cutting the tech-center director to half time and removing vacant nurse, guidance and accounting positions; the preschool was recommended to drop from four classrooms to three. Large public turnout, COVID protocols kept as they were, nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a). No agenda or minutes located; the minutes were approved only on June 15, 2022. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 18, 2022 | Claremont School Board, Budget Hearing | Public hearing on the fiscal 2023 budget at the technical center: about eighteen residents spoke for some 80 minutes, mostly against halving the center director's position and eliminating the autism specialist post. After a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), the board sent the budget unchanged at $37,243,825 (projected rate $23.20, down $1.33) to the February 9 deliberative session and added four contract warrant articles. No minutes were available for approval; none survive. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 5, 2022 | Claremont School Board | The board ratified four collective bargaining agreements (secretaries, maintenance, paraprofessionals, administrators), each sent to the ballot as a warrant article adding $0.35 to the tax rate, and moved a fiscal 2023 budget of $37,243,825 to its January 18 hearing, projecting a total rate of $23.20, down $1.33. It accepted a $500 Bluff gift and the 2022-23 Program of Studies. A COVID basketball cluster dominated public comment. No minutes were ready; none survive. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| 2021 (23 meetings) | |||
| December 16, 2021 | SAU 6 Board | The SAU 6 board adopted a revised budget of about $1,795,945 (up 1.34%), handed out by email after the wrong version was printed, and extended the superintendent's contract five years on terms still to be agreed, both by voice vote with one member attending virtually. Administrators said merit pay had been paid at a flat rate without a written evaluation. Nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a). No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| December 1, 2021 | Claremont School Board | A 36-minute meeting with Joshua Lambert attending online while all three votes (agenda, November 3 minutes, adjournment) were taken by voice. Tentative agreements reached with the secretaries and the custodial and maintenance unit, ratification set for the next meeting; Capital Improvement committee reported roof, paving and flooring needs after meeting over Zoom; budget committee sessions set for December 13 and 14. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 18, 2021 | SAU 6 Board | The proposed FY2023 SAU 6 budget: staffing flat except a receptionist cut to half time, merit payouts held pending evaluations, three salaries raised above budget to market, $100,000 of a $128,000 prior-year surplus committed to SAU office finishes, and audits catching up from fiscal 2019. The superintendent reported Claremont had tabled restructuring. The board entered nonpublic session on a motion citing only RSA 91-A:3 and personnel; no minutes survive. | 2 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 3, 2021 | Claremont School Board | Debate on elementary restructuring with universal pre-K (modeled at about 320 students), a common secondary schedule and leaving the Region 10 CTE agreement. The business administrator said nothing had been drawn from the reserve trusts; the $175,000 was a board-approved bus purchase, and the Maple Avenue roof cost was incurred with funding undecided. Four policies, including Title IX, adopted on first read; a Veterans Day retreat scheduled. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 21, 2021 | SAU 6 Board | The SAU 6 board opened its FY2023 budget: no staffing change, state retirement rates up about 3 points, and a 3 percent merit pool of about $33,000 that had been paid to every employee without a formal evaluation. The board voted by voice to withhold merit pay until an evaluation process exists. Draft budget set for November, approval about December 16. Minutes were still unwritten on November 18 and unapproved on December 16. | 1 HIGH 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 20, 2021 | Claremont School Board | A public hearing on a $10,500 NH Charitable Foundation grant and a $1,000 Claremont Savings Bank gift, both accepted later. Nurses reported COVID-19 cases by school; the board tabled its previous minutes, informally let a middle-school athletic director charter a bus for a Boston trip without a vote, and heard members could not recall approving the Maple Avenue roof from a reserve fund. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 20, 2021 | Elementary restructuring community forum | A hybrid, televised community forum run by the superintendent on restructuring Claremont's elementary schools so each grade attends one building and universal pre-K becomes possible. About nine people attended in person and a dozen online. He described a preliminary survey of about 80 respondents as incomplete and the plan as cost-neutral or cheaper, with transportation unmodeled. No board business, motions or votes; filed as an SAU 6 meeting. | 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 15, 2021 | Claremont School Board | With the chair participating remotely and the vice chair presiding, the board took a roll call (five yes, one no heard) on a motion to remove the Fish Tank program and temporarily reinstate Reading Wonders, then disputed whether the vote decided the motion. It adopted three-minute public comment on every action item and heard a curriculum-mapping plan. Four of five votes were by voice despite remote participation. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 1, 2021 | Claremont School Board | As the school year began, the board tabled COVID-19 vaccination incentives on the superintendent's advice, approved the Stevens program of studies with a transcript addendum, and amended its COVID-19 matrix 4-3 by roll call, making masks strongly recommended rather than required at the moderate level. It also heard a state surveillance-testing proposal and approved seven staff nominations. Exactly what the matrix vote changed was disputed on tape. No agenda, packet or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 18, 2021 | Claremont School Board | Two weeks before school opened, the board approved elementary and middle school handbooks, held the Stevens handbook for a transcript section, and adopted an amended 2021-22 COVID-19 matrix by roll call, 4 yes, 1 abstention, 1 no. A $20,000 CARES-funded vaccination-incentive motion was seconded and amended but never voted. Staff nominations passed by roll call. Petrin absent. No agenda, packet or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 4, 2021 | Claremont School Board | The board adopted the fall reopening matrix (masks optional except on buses, no remote option) on a split voice vote with no audible tally, heard that 88 of 130 projected Stevens seniors (about 67%) completed against 78 to 79% in prior years, approved an April 2022 Puerto Rico senior trip, and admitted out-of-district players to non-cut middle school sports for a fee pending a policy. The chair corrected his July statements on Education Freedom Accounts. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| July 21, 2021 | Claremont School Board | With Rob Lovett Jr. participating remotely, the board voted only by voice after the COVID emergency order had ended. It heard teachers present the Fish Tank reading pilot (40% of second graders entering at a kindergarten reading level, 19% at year end); a motion to suspend the program was withdrawn for a directive to inform parents. Also: Vermont players' tackle football request, new interim principals, Education Freedom Accounts. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 1, 2021 | SAU 6 Board | First SAU 6 board meeting since December 10, 2020. With chair Michael Petrin absent, the superintendent ran his re-election and Marjorie Erickson's as vice chair; Steven Horsky was elected treasurer, the December minutes approved, and the superintendent evaluation subcommittee revived for August 4. Reports covered the Dow building renovation, summer programs and Goshen tuition. No secretary chosen on the record; no agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION |
| June 2, 2021 | Claremont School Board | First meeting after member Carolyn Towle's death: the board appointed Nicholas Stone to her seat by voice vote, made masks optional at its meetings, heard of about $10.6 million in federal relief funds and the FY2022 grant assurances, sent out-of-district middle school athletes to the policy committee, and let the superintendent fill budgeted vacancies over the summer. No agenda or minutes survive; several movers and seconders are unidentified. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 5, 2021 | Claremont School Board | The board adopted the 2021-26 strategic plan and voted to separate competency reporting from course grades at Stevens, returning to letter grades with no D, a CR credit-recovery mark and a 70 cutoff; the superintendent called the vote conceptual. Also: a student vaccination clinic, summer credit recovery, prom and graduation at Monarch Farms, and calls for realignment forums. No agenda or minutes survive; most movers and seconders are unidentified. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 7, 2021 | Claremont School Board (second upload of the April 7, 2021 recording) | Second Cablecast upload of the April 7, 2021 meeting, separately transcribed. Public hearing on an $11,160.92 donation with the federal technology grant added on the night; the board accepted both, $451,832 for the grant with a 15 percent match, heard about CARES/ESSER funds, and revoked its needle exchange permission at Valley Regional Hospital. File name and Cablecast date say 4/15/21. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 7, 2021 | Claremont School Board | Public hearing on an $11,160.92 New Hampshire Charitable Foundation donation, with the federal technology grant added on the night; the board then accepted both, $451,832 for the grant with a 15 percent match. The business administrator described about $3.7 million in CARES/ESSER funds. The board revoked its open-ended needle exchange permission at Valley Regional Hospital. Towle absent. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 17, 2021 | Claremont School Board | Organizational meeting after the March 2021 election: clerk Mary Woodman and new members Steven Horsky and Joshua Lambert sworn in, Frank Sprague re-elected chair by roll call, and the board voted to let the superintendent reopen schools for maximum in-person learning from April 12. Reports covered a CARES-funded summer program and a $450,000 federal technology grant share. No agenda or minutes survive, and the second officer election is not captured. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 4, 2021 | School District Meeting, second virtual session (HB 1129) | Twelve-minute second session of the 2021 annual meeting under House Bill 1129. No voter submissions arrived on either article; the moderator moved Article 1 and the $37,785,406 Article 2 to the March 9 alternative ballot as posted, with no board motion or vote recorded. Petrin defended the budget subcommittee's review. Walk-up and absentee voting were announced. No minutes of this session were located. | 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 1, 2021 | School District Meeting, first virtual session (HB 1129) | First session of the 2021 annual meeting, held virtually under House Bill 1129 with moderator Tracy Pope presiding and chair Sprague absent. Voters' 2020 minutes approved by voice vote; Article 1 (elections) and Article 2 ($37,785,406 budget, default $37,762,398) read; Seaman put the tax rate at $24.53 against $24.50 for the default. The district's minutes, posted to Drive in November 2022, attribute to this session Petrin remarks made on February 4. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 27, 2021 | Claremont School Board | Remote meeting, dated January 27 by the Cablecast title (event date and file name say 2/3/21). The board voted 6-0, Zullo absent, to return all schools to in-person learning and winter sports on February 1, accepted seven unnamed retirements, appointed police chief Mark Chase and a journalist whose name is garbled to the CCTV board, and heard the House Bill 1129 annual-meeting briefing. No minutes survive in the district shares. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 13, 2021 | Claremont School Board, budget hearing | Remote meeting with the public hearing on a $37,785,406 FY 2021-22 budget, which the board then moved to the annual meeting 7-0; the default budget was not yet calculated at the hearing. The board adopted the House Bill 1129 virtual annual-meeting process 6-1 (Benware opposed) and voted 7-0 to re-evaluate the Covid matrix on January 27 toward a February 1 return. No minutes or agenda survive in the district shares. | 2 HIGH 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 6, 2021 | Claremont School Board | After a public hearing the board accepted an anonymous $5,000 special-education gift by roll call, sent the proposed FY2022 budget (appropriation of about $37.8 million, eight more unidentified positions cut that morning, tax rate up about $0.60) to its public hearing, and voted to support remote learning January 8 to 19. The budget subcommittee's sessions, which directed the cuts, have no notice or minutes; this meeting's records are also missing. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| 2020 (16 meetings) | |||
| December 16, 2020 | Claremont School Board | The board corrected its December 2 minutes (the post-Christmas motion passed 4-3, not failed), heard that Goshen tuition rates were still being negotiated after approval, and debated making Stevens High School fully remote for the third quarter, where 48% of students were already remote with 4.3 hours of weekly instruction. The chair's motion went to a roll call with no audible result. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| December 10, 2020 | SAU 6 Board, FY2022 budget hearing | Public hearing and adoption of the fiscal 2022 SAU 6 budget of $1,772,143, a $45,000 (2.6%) increase with unchanged staffing; the business administrator attributed a $61,871 business-office rise to a moved position and a 0.2 position omitted from last year's budget. The superintendent reported Goshen tuition votes (Claremont 7-0, Unity 3-1-1). No one from the public spoke. No notice, budget document or minutes survive, and the budget roll call is inaudible. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| December 2, 2020 | Claremont School Board | Hybrid meeting under Emergency Order #12. The board approved a Goshen tuition agreement ($14,100 elementary, $15,300 middle and high school) while the superintendent called the contract still under negotiation, voted to return after the winter break as calendared (chair first announced it failed; corrected to 4-3 on December 16), and tabled the second-semester plan. No agenda, notice or minutes survive; several roll-call results are inaudible. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 7, 2020 | Claremont School Board | Regular meeting with the public back in the room. A Stevens counselor opposed cutting high school buses; Seaman reported an FY20 surplus of just over $2 million; the board voted by roll call to retain 5 percent of the net assessment (about $845,000) under the newly amended RSA 198:4-b and up to $247,000 from the transportation trust for two buses and a van, after narrowing a van request. No minutes survive publicly. | 3 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 23, 2020 | Claremont School Board, special meeting | Single-item special meeting on fast-tracking the full reopening, chaired by vice chair Whitney with the chair on video. Counsel Upton briefed on liability; a motion to return five days on October 5 went to a roll call whose result was never announced; a substitute passed 6-1: cohorts A and B full time October 19 once safety equipment is in, high school hybrid to the end of the first quarter, no high school busing. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 22, 2020 | SAU 6 Board | Forty-minute joint Claremont and Unity meeting with several members remote. The board adopted policies ADB (dropping a medical-marijuana-card clause), BBBH-S and BEDH (public comment) by roll call, entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), sealed the minutes with no stated finding, then said the session actually concerned a Goshen tuition contract under II(k). Next meeting set for October 22. No minutes survive publicly. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 2, 2020 | Claremont School Board | Regular meeting on the eve of the hybrid reopening, two members on Google Meet. Seaman projected an FY20 surplus of about $1 million to $1.1 million; the board accepted $50 and $3,000 gifts, kept the 48-hour Stevens community service requirement by roll call, named Towle NHSBA delegate and set a September 23 special meeting on full reopening. Most votes were by voice despite remote members; no minutes survive publicly. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 5, 2020 | Claremont School Board (fall 2020 reopening plan) | Meeting called to order 6:31 p.m., one member by phone, on the fall 2020 reopening plan: a phased hybrid model of two school days and three remote, cohorts of about twelve, all-day masks. A full-open-plus-remote motion fails; the board votes 5-2 to support developing a hybrid schedule with phase metrics. Calendar approved with school opening September 3. Five votes taken by voice despite the remote member. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 3, 2020 | Claremont School Board (remote) | Remote meeting, six of seven present (Benware absent). Counsel briefs the board on the ten-person gathering limit for the speedway graduation; the superintendent expects a hybrid fall reopening funded partly by federal relief money; the business administrator recommends renewing the no-cost Abbey Group contract and projects a $60,000 food surplus. February retreat minutes approved; May 6 minutes corrected and approved; retreat set for August 9. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 6, 2020 | Claremont School Board (remote; organizational meeting and hearings) | First remote meeting. Sprague re-elected chair and Whitney elected vice chair, both 7-0. Hearings and approval of an $8,877.67 library gift and a $325,000 Special Education Trust Fund transfer for an autism program and social workers. Last day of school set at a half day June 5 (5-2); clerk pay raise to $85 fails 2-5. Business administrator says the FY2018 audit is still unfinished. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| March 4, 2020 | Claremont School Board | Public hearing, then acceptance of $11,947.39 for Chromebooks and $3,000 for a fourth-grade trip. Superintendent's entry-plan findings and first coronavirus update; Medicaid billing update with $290,000 budgeted; program of studies approved provisionally without an audible motion; members urge a yes vote on the March 10 budget and agreements. Retreat minutes tabled as incomplete. No agenda, packet or minutes survive online. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 5, 2020 | Claremont School District, Deliberative Session | Voters debated seven warrant articles: a $38,202,661 operating budget (default $35,501,890) carrying the teachers' contract, three support-staff agreements, and two $500,000 capital reserve funds for buses and buildings drawn from one-time state money. Officials projected a $22.47 total tax rate, $2.07 lower. Reconsideration of Articles 1 to 5 was restricted. No minutes, warrant or rules sheet are in any public share; the file name says February 1. | 1 MEDIUM 9 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 21, 2020 | Claremont School Board, FY2021 budget hearing | At the FY2021 budget hearing the superintendent postponed the elementary reorganization a year, and sixteen residents spoke. The board then sent a $38,202,661 budget with two $500,000 reserve articles to the deliberative session after Whitney's motion to cut them to $350,000 and $150,000 failed 2-4, and adopted policy DAF and the 2020-21 calendar. The out-of-district special-education line was underbudgeted. No notice, agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 15, 2020 | Claremont School Board, FY2021 budget presentation | The administration presented a $34.7 million local FY2021 budget (about $38 million with grants), seven warrant articles including two $500,000 reserves, a $35.5 million default budget, and a projected $2.07 tax-rate drop driven by one-time state aid. The superintendent proposed grade-level elementary schools. The board accepted a $2,500 gift and set a February 23 retreat. No budget document, agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 8, 2020 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Rebecca Zullo presided with the chair absent. The board held a donations hearing and accepted nine gifts (two with no amount stated), ratified four bargaining agreements (teachers about $680,000 over three years), sealed nonpublic minutes by voice vote, and heard lunch debt of $33,070 in 142 accounts. The business administrator said audits were only "up to 17". No agenda or minutes survive in district shares. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 2, 2020 | SAU 6 Board, budget hearing and adoption | No member of the public attended the hearing on the FY21 SAU budget of $1,727,004.01, down $173,534.76 with a 2% salary placeholder. The board then adopted it by voice vote, two days after RSA 194-C:9's before-January-1 date, moved its first SAU-level policies to a second reading, and agreed an evaluation process for the superintendent. Seconds and counts are unclear on tape, and no minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2019 (29 meetings) | |||
| December 12, 2019 | Special District Meeting (cure vote) | Voters met under RSA 40:16 to cure the November 21 posting defects. Counsel conceded the SAU 6 website notices were missed or a day short; the superintendent projected about $270,000 saved on three autism placements and $700,000 on the PRIDE program. After a questioned voice vote, a standing count ratified the $650,000 Special Education Expendable Trust Fund 70 to 12. No warrant, notice or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 5, 2019 | SAU 6 Board, FY21 SAU budget | New business administrator Richard Seaman presented his first SAU budget, rebuilt from a binder found in the SAU building. The board cut the salary placeholder from 2.5% to 2% and moved $1,727,004.01 to a public hearing, with at least one Unity nay; it then set the hearing for January 2, 2020, after RSA 194-C:9's adoption date. A proposal to ratify the figure by email was dropped. No minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 4, 2019 | Claremont School Board, cure hearing and regular meeting | The chair read counsel's statement that the November 6 hearing and November 21 meeting notices for the $650,000 Special Education Expendable Trust Fund missed RSA 197:3-a's website rule, so a cure meeting under RSA 40:16 was set for December 12. The board approved four policies, heard the SRVRTC report (82 CTE students, up from 58) and debated unpaid meal debt. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 21, 2019 | Claremont School District, Special District Meeting | Voters at a single-session special meeting under RSA 197:3-a adopted, on a voice vote with no count, a $650,000 special education expendable trust fund drawn from $1.3 million in restored stabilization aid, the other half going to the tax rate. Counsel later conceded the meeting notice was posted six days ahead, not seven, and the hearing was not noticed online; the vote was ratified December 12. No warrant or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 20, 2019 | Claremont School Board | The auditor said the FY2017 audit would be final in December 2019 and FY2019 was targeted for the March 31, 2020 federal deadline, calling Claremont one of his firm's most delinquent clients. Counsel explained a notice-posting problem with the next night's special meeting, and the board scheduled a December 12 curing meeting under RSA 40:16. School-lunch debt passed $32,000. Nonpublic minutes were sealed with no reason stated. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| November 6, 2019 | Claremont School Board, Public Hearing and Regular Meeting | At a hearing on a $650,000 special education expendable trust fund, to be drawn from $1.3 million in restored state aid with the other half going to tax relief, two residents questioned the plan; the board sent the warrant to the November 21 special meeting. It voted 4-2 to meet monthly, accepted a donated organ, and heard that school-lunch claims had been missed for months. Its hearing notice was later found defective. No minutes survive. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 16, 2019 | Claremont School Board | Bluff Elementary teachers and students presented the outdoor-education program, and special education staff reported that the new PRIDE program had returned two students from out-of-district placements and was at half its 12-student capacity. The superintendent put expected state aid at $6.2 million. A legal-advice nonpublic session's minutes were sealed by voice vote with no stated reason. No agenda or minutes survive and the roll call is unreadable. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 10, 2019 | SAU 6 Board | The board approved the July 25 minutes (chair abstaining) and the September 5 minutes with corrections. The superintendent reported a $6.2 million state check and FY2017 and FY2018 audits due by October and December. New business administrator Richard Seaman gave the first budget-to-actual report: about $264,000 left of roughly $1.6 million. Members said SAU 6 had no policies of its own. Budget dates set for November 14 and December 12. No agenda or minutes are public. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 2, 2019 | Claremont School Board | Citizens' comments moved permanently ahead of the superintendent's report. The superintendent reported about $5.5 million more for Claremont under the compromise state budget, Richard Seaman's start as assistant superintendent for finance, and FY2017 audits due by end of October. The German exchange was approved (Whitney, Zullo) and a $500 Chamber gift accepted. Rep. Gary Merchant explained the Medicaid authorization rule. No agenda or minutes are public. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 18, 2019 | Claremont School Board (public hearing and regular meeting) | After a public hearing with no speakers, the board accepted a $20,000 Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation gift to the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center on Benware's motion. Members estimated state-aid losses under the budget veto (Benware: 4.3 million promised over two years against 1 to 1.4 million post-veto). Middle-school project-based learning was presented; grading, safety and class rank were queued. No agenda or minutes are public. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 5, 2019 | SAU 6 Board | A 32-minute meeting. The board approved merging the part-time grants manager (about $70,000 a year) and an unfilled assistant business manager post into one full-time accountant/grants manager, with a $170,000 SAU assessment reduction. The superintendent reported the IRS matter closed and Claremont's FY2017 audit still closing. The July 25 minutes were deferred. No agenda or minutes are in the public shares; mover and seconder names are not recoverable. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 4, 2019 | Claremont School Board | The board gave final approval to the student handbooks and discipline policy JICD, reappointed Pauline Pelletier to the CCTV board, deferred a $20,000 Byrne Foundation gift to a public hearing on September 18, and set an October 20 budget retreat. Rep. Gary Merchant estimated Claremont would lose about $3 million of $4.5 million in state aid under the governor's counterproposal. Zullo absent; no agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 21, 2019 | Claremont School Board | The board received the fiscal 2016 audit report, with fiscal 2017 and 2018 still under audit and an IRS penalty abatement expected, elected 33 new teachers, approved the 2019-20 calendar, moved discipline policy JICD to second reading, appointed Alex Herzog to the CCTV board, and tentatively approved handbooks received that day. Richard Seaman was announced as business administrator from October 2. Six of seven present; no agenda or minutes survive. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 30, 2019 | Claremont School Board | Meeting called at the SAU 6 board five days earlier to spend money returned from SAU cuts: the board approved a science and a social studies teacher for the middle school at about $89,669 each, ending half-year schedules, accepted three gifts totaling $2,675.51 at this non-regular meeting, and tabled a CCTV board reappointment until it could be warned. The roll call is truncated; no agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 25, 2019 | SAU 6 Board | With the chair absent, vice chair Marjorie Erickson presided. The board approved Jeff Small as director of technology and Donna Magoon as assistant superintendent, cut two central-office positions to return $205,416 to Claremont and $24,125 to Unity, accepted a $3,602.09 backpack donation, and sent middle-school teacher hiring to a Claremont meeting on July 30. No agenda or minutes survive; the minutes were approved October 10, 2019. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 4, 2019 | SAU 6 Board | After a nonpublic session with counsel, the board passed a roll-call motion (McCormick and Zullo no) whose text is not on the recording, and authorized a press release on 'additional matters that we discovered'. A motion to except the assistant superintendent from summer hiring failed 3 to 8; the incoming superintendent got unrestricted authority. The SAU's FY2018 audit carried an adverse opinion; five of 17 overdue audits remained. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 16, 2019 | SAU 6 Board | Incoming Superintendent Michael Tempesta was introduced (start July 1). The acting superintendent and the assistant director of business and finance resigned; an exit-interview motion carried and was then withdrawn by its mover. Three positions were open, the business administrator post with no applicants, and Claremont and Unity year-end figures had 'major question marks'. The board approved a draft data governance plan and a Primex 7% cap, then went nonpublic. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 15, 2019 | Claremont School Board, Special Meeting (annual-meeting cure) and regular meeting | Voters ratified the March 12, 2019 annual-meeting results by voice vote after the DRA found the budget, default budget form and warrant had not been posted under RSA 32:5. The board then backed a parent-led winter program, joined a three-year Primex cap of 7% a year, elected two Stevens teachers, and signed infrastructure affidavits over $400,000. Acting Superintendent LeClair's last meeting. No warrant, agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 6, 2019 | Claremont School Board & City Council, Joint Meeting | The SAU 6 chair reported a signed contract with Superintendent Michael Tempesta, starting July 1. DCYF described a foster-care shortage (105 children in care in 2018, 29 homes). The chair put the cut needed to level-fund FY20 at $800,000 and proposed shared city-school services. Only three councilors attended, short of a council quorum. No votes but adjournment; no agenda or minutes survive, and city records were not inspected. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 1, 2019 | Claremont School Board | Hearings covered E-Rate category two reimbursements (building amounts totaling $135,850.38) and a $25,000 bequest to Stevens, and a defect: the 2019 warrant, budget and default budget were not posted by January 28, so voters would ratify the March 12 results on May 15. The board accepted the bequest (no E-Rate acceptance vote on tape), tabled a Primex rate cap past its deadline and called the meeting to order before its posted time. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 17, 2019 | Claremont School Board | The board answered, off camera after adjourning, an auditor's questionnaire for fiscal 2016-2018 audits still being completed, so federal single-audit deadlines had likely passed. It moved to seal nonpublic minutes for 76 years with no vote on tape, approved a Bluff field trip and a Goshen tuition agreement, set May 1 hearings on a $25,000 alumni gift and E-Rate, heard lunch debt near $22,000 and presented retreat goals. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 11, 2019 | SAU 6 Board | The board heard that federal lunch reimbursement was lost two years running (the second year because Unity's food-service RFP was late, leaving the application incomplete until January 30, 2019), learned SAU 6 has no adopted policies and named a policy subcommittee without a vote, elected Carolyn Towle treasurer after months without cash reconciliation, and voted with two nays to await Superintendent-elect Tempesta before an efficiency study. The tape ends entering nonpublic session. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 3, 2019 | Claremont School Board | After a public hearing on a $21,150 Couch Family Foundation grant and state Public School Infrastructure Fund money (amount unsettled on tape), the board met in nonpublic session and sealed those minutes for 99 years by voice vote, approved a July 2020 music trip, accepted a $760 American Legion gift and circulated the FY2020 MS-22 ($35,524,063) for signature after its 20-day filing window. No agenda or minutes survive. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 28, 2019 | SAU 6 Board, organizational meeting | Michael Petrin elected SAU 6 chair and Marjorie Erickson vice chair. Officials reported the National School Lunch Program application was filed late for a second year, losing reimbursements (Claremont FY18 read as $150,722.12). A $5,000 efficiency study failed on a hand count. The March 7 nonpublic 8-3 vote hiring Michael Tempesta was read into the record on counsel's advice. No agenda or minutes survive; recording ends entering nonpublic session. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 20, 2019 | Claremont School Board, organizational meeting | Whitney, Towle and Lovett were sworn in; Sprague was re-elected chair and Zullo elected vice chair over Benware on an apparent 4-3 show of hands. The clerk read the March 12 results (turnout 674). The board accepted $3,000, set an April 3 hearing on $23,160 and $141,000 in unanticipated funds, and adopted a bus lease resolution. The fiscal 2016 single audit was still unfinished. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| March 6, 2019 | Claremont School Board | The board accepted $3,000 in office furniture and $360 for three students' trip, approved a $7,500 summer carpentry course for up to 12 Sullivan County inmates at the technical center, adopted policies on final read and approved the February 9 retreat minutes. The search was down to two finalists, with SAU 6 to decide March 7. Food service renewal was due by April 1. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 20, 2019 | Claremont School Board | The board approved four student trips, accepted $7,500 and $2,000 from the Byrne Foundation and $750 from Hannaford on one motion with no sign of the hearing required at $5,000, and authorized an IDN Region 1 partnership. Staff reported the fiscal 2015 audit just finalized and fiscal 2016 still in draft, years past federal single-audit deadlines. Policy BCB went back to subcommittee. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 6, 2019 | Claremont School District, Deliberative Session | Voters heard a $35,293,063 operating budget (default $35,113,750), which includes grant and other offset funds above the $31,828,063 presented at the January hearing, and the administrators' contract cost items for three years. Six articles went to the March 12 ballot unamended: officers, budget, Bluff roof $100,000, Disnard fire panel $80,000, radios $249,950 and bus cameras $51,000. The chair cited a different default-budget gap. No warrant or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 2, 2019 | Claremont School Board, Budget Public Hearing | The budget subcommittee presented a $31,828,063 operating budget (an increase of $333,653) and five warrant articles totaling $32,309,013, for a projected $0.90 tax-rate increase. The business administrator showed a default budget $179,000 below the proposed one after the 2018 eliminated-positions change. Three residents asked questions. The board then sent all warrant articles to the deliberative session and adopted policies on final reading. No notice or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2018 (38 meetings) | |||
| December 19, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The board sent a $31,828,063 FY2019-20 operating budget to the January 2 hearing and heard that 540 lunch accounts owed $20,821. It redirected lunch-debt donations to school food shelves, recommended ending a la carte charging at zero and warning seniors that balances could cost them their diplomas, authorized the chair to sign the administrators' three-year contract, and approved surplus disposal. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 13, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | Lempster School Board members asked whether SAU 6 would take Lempster back or sell it services; members favored a working group, with no vote. The HR director reported a 3% merit-pay pool, the interim superintendent gave his report, and the chair reported nine superintendent applicants. Members noted the SAU board has no policies of its own. The nonpublic motion as transcribed names no lettered exemption, and no agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 5, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The board deferred the November 7 minutes as incomplete, heard moderator Tracy Pope's deliberative-session debrief (2018 secret ballots kept at her home), confirmed a January 2 hearing and February 6 deliberative session with snow dates, sent $2,311.93 in late lunch-debt gifts to school food pantries, heard that federal and state aid total about $16.4 million of a $32 million budget, and received the budget subcommittee's FY2020 draft without personnel cuts. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 3 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 8, 2018 | SAU 6 Board, FY2020 budget hearing | With the chair absent, Vice Chair Michael Petrin presided. After a public hearing with no public speakers, the board adopted a revised FY2020 SAU budget of $1,901,532.65, lowered by a 4.3% health insurance rate against 6% budgeted; a curriculum coordinator post was cut. October 18 minutes were corrected to record a member's dissent. The nonpublic motion as transcribed cites no specific exemption, and the recording ends there. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 7, 2018 | Claremont School Board | After interviewing two candidates in public and reading a third's written answers, the board deliberated in nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c), sealed those minutes for 83 years and announced Rob Lovett Jr. for the vacancy without a public vote. It accepted $32,596.23 in donations clearing the 2017-18 student lunch debt, heard technical center and draft special education program presentations, and dropped the November 21 meeting. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 30, 2018 | Claremont School Board, School lunch special meeting | Single-item Tuesday meeting on the school lunch program, recorded from the end of a nonpublic session whose minutes the board sealed for 97 years by voice vote. Officials put the 2017-18 lunch deficit at $32,000 and outlined a plan, including an SAU food service coordinator; the board agreed by consensus to take donations until 4:30 p.m. November 6 ($280 received). One citizen spoke. No agenda or minutes survive online. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 18, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | With the interim and assistant superintendents absent, the board approved a $1,930,809 FY2019-20 SAU budget for the November 8 hearing (Claremont 89.47%, Unity 10.53%, $75,000 of fund balance), created a $12,000 to $15,000 food service compliance position with Towle opposed, adopted a superintendent evaluation tool and the school funding letter. Staff mentioned $10,186 in raises given by the board, with no public vote on record. No minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 3, 2018 | Claremont School Board | After a public hearing with no speakers, the board accepted a $15,000 Byrne Foundation gift, set 2019-20 tuition at $15,000, adopted cell phone policy JICJ, and approved writing off small and free or reduced lunch balances against about $32,000 unpaid. Carolyn Towle won Horsky's search committee seat with three votes on an unsigned paper ballot. The business administrator said the financial report due September 1 was still incomplete. No minutes survive. | 2 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 19, 2018 | Claremont School Board | Staff disclosed the universal-meals application for Bluff School was never filed: $878.50 spent in 14 days and about $10,500 more a year under a fallback plan, decided by sentiment without a vote. The board accepted a $15,000 Byrne Foundation gift before the required public hearing, approved a girls hockey co-op, and named Horsky and Zullo to the superintendent search committee. The FY2015 audit was still open. The tape omits the opening. | 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 13, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | First review of the draft FY2019-20 SAU 6 budget, $1,900,538.78 as read, down $45,292.94, with the curriculum coordinators moved out and a 3% merit pool of $29,768 debated after staff confirmed last year's merit raises took effect July 1, 2018. The board created a seven-member superintendent search committee, appointments due September 28. The recording ends during the nonpublic roll call; no agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 5, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The board received the FY2014 audit with staff reporting 14 audits outstanding, granted Valley Regional Hospital a syringe service program exception in the drug-free school zone 5-2 without the conditions members sought, adopted the head lice policy, sent the phone policy to second reading, split 3-3-1 on the opioid litigation and accepted a $500 donation already spent. The recording begins mid-meeting; no minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 23, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | The SAU 6 board hired the New Hampshire School Boards Association to run the superintendent search for $12,000 on an 8-0 roll call with Horsky abstaining, with three of five Unity members absent. Search-committee makeup was deferred to September 13, the SAU budget calendar set a November 8 public hearing, and strategic planning was tabled to January 5-3-1. No agenda, packet or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 15, 2018 | Claremont School Board | Interim superintendent Keith Pfeifer's first meeting, with 41 positions open three weeks before school. The board elected staff nominees, tabled a syringe service program at Valley Regional Hospital inside the drug-free school zone, barred teacher-permitted phone use in two handbooks, joined the $350 NHSBA subscription and entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(j) to discuss pupil records. No agenda, packet or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 9, 2018 | Joint Meeting, School Board and City Council | Joint quarterly meeting. A shared public information officer position was tabled 7-6 on a combined roll call, with the school board 5-2 for tabling and the council 2-4 against. An August 25 gubernatorial forum was set, the mayor and chair were asked to schedule New Futures behavioral health training, and the city deferred its position on the SB 365/446 veto-override letter. No district agenda, packet or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 26, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | After a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a) and (b), the board approved Dr. Keith Pfeifer as interim superintendent, contingent on negotiations, after 16 applications and three interviews; he was introduced and spoke in public. The chair moved to seal the nonpublic minutes for ten years with no statutory finding heard. The assistant superintendent reported six of ten outstanding audits completed and about 71 vacancies. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 18, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The board approved the Bridges program, two Brattleboro Retreat classrooms in Claremont schools that the business administrator projected would avoid about $385,000 in out-of-district costs, after questions on the 19 students identified and 12 seats. It named technical center director Alex Herzog to the CCTV board, gave the acting superintendent summer hiring authority without prior board approval, and approved Kathleen Bunnell as Maple Avenue principal. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| July 12, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | The board adopted a self-evaluation tool for its July 29 retreat and heard that the interim search committee, after screening 12 applications on July 5, chose two certified candidates to interview. After six costed scenarios it voted by roll call (nine audible yes, Pierce no) to set the interim superintendent's base at $120,000 for a five-day position, projected about $4,000 short. No agenda or minutes survive; the roll call is partly run together. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 28, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | First meeting under new chair Marjorie Erickson. The board approved a superintendent succession plan, adopted interim superintendent criteria (term to June 30, 2019 with option to extend, preference for New Hampshire certification), seated a seven-member interim search committee by voice vote, and approved a press release. The business administrator corrected the fund-balance projection for a missed 2016-17 revenue entry of about $44,000. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| June 21, 2018 | School Board and City Council, Joint Meeting | The city presented the departing superintendent with a State House clock. The two bodies agreed to meet August 9 on a shared communications position, with city HR gathering options, named education funding their top 2019 legislative priority, asked representatives to refile HB 413 on the state retirement contribution, and heard the SAU 6 chair's one-year search plan and the city's $17.3 million budget. No district minutes survive; city records were not inspected. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 20, 2018 | Claremont School Board | Six days after the superintendent's departure, four citizens spoke, three about him and a resigning Stevens English teacher on why staff are leaving. The business administrator projected a fiscal 2018 fund balance of about $275,032, a $170,000 carryover and catastrophic aid prorated at 66 to 68%. The board approved the middle school and preschool handbooks, elected four nominees and tabled the head lice policy again. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 14, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | After a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(a), SAU 6 and Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin announced they would part ways and he read his resignation. The board named Cory LeClair acting superintendent, voted to advertise for an interim, set a June 28 meeting on the $55,000 fund balance against a projected $67,907 balance, adopted a merit evaluation system and elected Marjorie Erickson chair 6-4. Minutes were sealed 99 years with no stated reason; no minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 6, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The board elected Frank Romeo principal of Claremont Middle School, accepted a $600 gift and donated shoes for Bluff students, adopted policies B through I on final reading and sent the head lice policy to second reading. The business administrator reported special education accounts at -$137,385 and audits three years behind. School security was discussed without a vote. No agenda or minutes survive; the roll call is mostly inaudible. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 16, 2018 | Claremont School Board | Attorneys Tom Connor and John Tobin briefed the board on a possible new school-funding lawsuit, which the board adopted as a goal. The board accepted a $15,000 Class of 1968 gift added to the agenda that night with no hearing on record, reviewed but did not adopt its investment policy, debated cell phone rules, and agreed to e-mail agendas to about 2,300 families and take quarterly expense reports. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 10, 2018 | SAU 6 Board | With two members on the phone, the board approved its agenda and March 29 minutes by voice vote despite the chair's own roll-call rule, then appointed Ben Nester Director of Special Education by roll call. Staff disclosed that the merit pool had funded pay-equity adjustments; the evaluation subcommittee, which met at a member's home, presented its draft. The board entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) with the superintendent excused. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION |
| May 2, 2018 | Claremont School Board | With Vice Chair Zullo presiding and the chair apparently absent, the board debated Horsky's proposed no-nit head lice procedure, heard four members of the public, and voted on Petrin's motion to open the policy for revision; no result was announced. The business administrator projected about $500,000 unspent, including $305,000 in health insurance. A $1,000 field-trip grant was accepted. The recording starts mid-meeting; no agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 24, 2018 | Joint meeting, School Board and City Council | The joint session heard Boy Scouts and Turning Points Network presentations, then debated a draft shared communications officer (about $45,000 salary plus $33,000 benefits) and sent it back to the superintendent and city manager; the superintendent reported a little over $700,000 in security upgrades costing the community $141,000. The mayor proposed a Medicaid letter without a vote. The recording's content points to April 17, not April 24. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 18, 2018 | Claremont School Board, Right-to-Know Training | NHSBA attorney Will Phillips gave about 75 minutes of Right-to-Know and social-media training. The board accepted a $1,000 Hannaford gift, approved the 2018-19 calendar, rejected 0-7 by roll call the administrators' request to apply a second $1,000 of contract course money to student loans, set deadlines in policies BA and BAA, and adopted seven policies. A three-member policy subcommittee formed on advice that it needed no notice. No minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 4, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The board amended its March 21 minutes after a member cited recording times, approved the 2018-19 program of studies, adopted a revised health-education opt-out policy with alternatives at no cost to families, and moved seven policies to final read. The superintendent held the 28-day bus-recording amendment pending legal advice on the ten-day statute and said the buses have no cameras. The MS-22 was signed 22 days after the vote. No minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| March 29, 2018 | SAU 6 Board, Organizational Meeting | Organizational meeting held three days before the statutory April 1 window: Sara Lowe re-elected chair, Michael Petrin vice chair and Michelle Pierce treasurer, after staff said the unit had lacked a treasurer for years and faced audit corrective actions. No secretary was elected. The superintendent said he had gone two years without goals or evaluation; a subcommittee was named, and his evaluation was discussed in public at his request. No minutes survive. | 4 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 21, 2018 | Claremont School Board, Swearing-in and Reorganization | The clerk swore in Zullo, Benware and Horsky to three-year terms and Towle to one year; Sprague was re-elected chair and Zullo elected vice chair. The board accepted a $2,000 athletics gift, adopted five policies on third read with a 28-day bus-recording minimum, heard i-Ready data and a sub-$100,000 Title I summer kindergarten plan, and deferred the program of studies. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 21, 2018 | Claremont School Board | After a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c), the board accepted Dr. Alex Herzog's resignation (effective February 20) and appointed him technical center director; accepted $250, $5,000 (Byrne Foundation) and $2,500 gifts, the $5,000 one added to the agenda that night with no hearing on record; approved a grades 2-5 sexual-abuse-prevention pilot and the state K-8 competencies; and heard a parent's bullying complaint. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 8, 2018 | Claremont School District, Deliberative Session | On a five-voter written request, amendments were decided by secret ballot: voters added $307,153 to the operating budget, 99 to 43, sending it to the March 13 ballot at $34,920,410 against a $35,111,787 default, and rejected a further $175,000 for technology, 66 to 67, after a recount. Security upgrades ($141,000), a bus lease and $100,000 roofing went forward unamended. No minutes or warrant survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 31, 2018 | Claremont School Board | The administration presented $1,761,356 in line-item FY2019 reductions ($2.07 million counting the $307,153 teachers' agreement) and the warrant: operating budget $34,613,257, default $35,111,787. The moderator briefed the board on the deliberative session, and the board voted to oppose SB 193 and accepted a $500 grant. The press-reported 5-2 vote replacing chair Rapp with Sprague, and a nonpublic session, are not on the recording, and no minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 30, 2018 | School Board and City Council, Joint Meeting | The joint meeting heard a Kimball Union Academy proposal to test household pets for lead, previewed the governor's February 8 signing of SB 247, and reached consensus on online presence as a 2018 community priority. The mayor reported HB 413 would save the district $217,718 a year. An in-district day program and its costs are due April 17. No agenda or minutes survive, and the school board roll call is inaudible. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 3, 2018 | Claremont School Board (part 2 of 2) | The board voted 4-3 by roll call (Irish, Pierce, Sprague, Zullo yes; Herzog, Petrin, Rapp no) to send a $31,148,256.95 operating budget to the deliberative session, agreed by consensus that members could publicly defend their own positions despite the ethics policy, and recommended articles for security upgrades ($141,000 state-grant match), a bus lease-purchase and $100,000 of roofing. The clerk corrected the filing period to January 24 through February 2. Minutes are not public. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| January 3, 2018 | Claremont School Board (part 1 of 2) | After leaving a nonpublic session held before the hearing, the board dropped its scheduled review of hearing testimony, accepted a $2,977 Dairy Council grant and a $2,000 anonymous gift, and reconsidered its $31,148,256.95 budget. Herzog's amendment adding the $307,153 teachers' contract failed 3-4 on a roll call (Herzog, Petrin, Rapp yes) after the question was called 6-1. The contract's ratification vote is on no recording, and minutes are not public. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 3, 2018 | Claremont School Board, Budget Public Hearing (part 2 of 2) | Sixteen residents and staff testified, most against cutting the crisis counselor, German, English and adult-education positions; others urged line-item savings. Vice Chair Irish said four members backed the December 20 figure and the board sets only a bottom line. Business administrator O'Neill described a 2.5 percent carryover of about $600,000 and returns of $584,480 (2015) and about $326,000 (2016). The deliberative session was announced for February 7. Minutes are not public. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 3, 2018 | Claremont School Board, Budget Public Hearing (part 1 of 2) | Superintendent McGoodwin presented a $31,148,257 budget reflecting the board's December 20 cut of $329,000; adding the $307,153 teachers' contract put the proposed operating budget at $31,455,410, about a three-cent tax change, with the default budget at plus $0.24. Eight residents and staff testified. When the chair called a break, four members voted from the dais to overrule him. The hearing was not carried live; its minutes existed but no copy is public. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2017 (31 meetings) | |||
| December 20, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The board adopted a proposed FY2019 budget of $31,148,256.95, a $328,980.05 reduction, by roll call after a 4-3 vote to end debate; an amendment to $31.3 million failed for lack of a second. It accepted $2,000 in grants, approved the December 6 minutes and set the January 3 hearing. The chair's vote is inaudible, a contract ratification followed off the recording, and no minutes survive. | 3 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 6, 2017 | Claremont School Board (part 2 of 2) | Last hour of the December 6 meeting: the remaining proposed reductions, including a school psychologist, special education teachers and three Stevens teaching positions, with staff saying cuts could be absorbed but would hurt; a $42,800 school resource officer line found missing from the draft; and two resignations moved. The recording ends before the vote and the nonpublic session. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 6, 2017 | Claremont School Board (part 1 of 2) | First four hours of the December 6 meeting: the superintendent on substitute pay, a $7,000 choir-panel donation and SB 193; citizens' comments, including two parents' complaints about classroom practice; the city manager on valuation and the tax rate; a $1,600 donation accepted; and most of the line-by-line review of the reductions for the $1.2 million directive. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 6, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The administration presented, line by line, about $2.6 million in proposed reductions needed to bring the FY2019 budget to the board's directive of $1.2 million below FY2018, with its own recommended put-backs; no vote was taken. The board accepted a $1,600 Joe's Jewelers donation, and the city manager discussed valuation and the tax rate. No agenda or minutes survive, and the closing nonpublic session is not recorded. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 29, 2017 | Claremont School Board, Budget Study Session | All seven members, without administrators, reviewed the first-draft FY2019 budget line by line and compiled questions for the business administrator, finding duplicated salary lines of $16,584.75 and $39,802.44. The chair added public comment to the agenda; no one spoke. The board then entered nonpublic session on a motion 'for personnel' with no exemption cited and no roll call heard before the camera was shut off. No minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 15, 2017 | Claremont School Board | With vice chair Chris Irish presiding, a parent questioned 23-pupil kindergarten classes at Bluff and the superintendent said the district does not follow the Board of Education. Stevens presented its ELO program and the technology director disclosed a ransomware attack on PowerSchool. The first-draft FY2019 budget omitted the board's $1.2 million directive; the superintendent agreed to meet it by December 6. The recording misses the first hour; no minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 2, 2017 | SAU 6 Board, budget hearing | Public hearing on the FY2018-19 SAU 6 budget of about $1.955 million, drawing $55,000 from fund balance and with Unity paying 10.26%; no public comment. Post-hearing health-insurance and software changes cut $224.07, and the board adopted the budget on an untallied voice vote with one sheet still showing $75,000. The SAU building lease could not be located. No minutes survive; the recording ends at a nonpublic session. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 1, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The board interviewed four candidates for Patrick Adrian's vacant seat in public, then entered a nonpublic session on a motion that named no exemption and appointed Dr. Alex Herzog on an untallied voice vote. Middle school administrators presented on bullying. The superintendent opposed the board's $1.2 million FY2019 reduction target, set at a September 30 session the corpus lacks. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 18, 2017 | Claremont School Board | Starting about an hour late, the board adopted a lead-screening policy with a parent opt-out, voted to use $326,329 of $524,094 in fund balance to cut taxes and retain $197,765 (projected tax effect +$0.36), and accepted a $13,320 Byrne Foundation donation and a $100,000 Intel math grant added to the agenda that night with no hearing on record. Patrick Adrian's resignation was announced. The recording stops before adjournment; no minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 12, 2017 | SAU 6 Board | First SAU 6 quorum since November 14, 2016, whose minutes were approved tonight. The lapse cost the Primex contribution cap for 2017-18 (rates rose about 10% against a 7% cap) and left the Professional Growth Master Plan in use unapproved since 2016. The board carried forward a $1,955,423 FY19 SAU budget (up $9,367) to a November 2 hearing, using $55,000 of fund balance by consensus. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 4, 2017 | Claremont School Board | Members reported a September 30 Saturday session's unanimous directive to cut about $1.2 million (about $1.70 on the tax rate) from the FY19 budget; the chair, absent then, pressed for the basis in public. The board approved a German exchange trip, agreed to study class rank and to revise the lead-screening policy with an opt-out, and heard the Stevens principal oppose a planned demonstration. The recording starts mid-meeting; no agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 28, 2017 | Claremont School Board and City Council, Joint Meeting | Mayor Charlene Lovett presided. Updates on lead screening (the city reported 3 to 4 children a month at or above the state threshold) and the SB 247 lead bill in House Finance; the district reported 55% free and reduced lunch among 1,812 students and 52 preschoolers; the community response to the August incident. Poverty was deferred; next meeting December 14. No agenda or minutes survive, and the roll call is unintelligible. | 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| September 20, 2017 | Claremont School Board | Frank Sprague presided with the chair and vice chair absent. A grandparent challenged the district's mandatory kindergarten lead-screening rule and the board agreed to revisit it. The superintendent addressed the August 28 incident involving a young boy. The board let the superintendent relax the scheduling committee's MOU with the teachers' association, accepted a $478 honor society gift, approved Washington and Italy trips and adopted the survey-consent policy. No minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 6, 2017 | Claremont School Board | First meeting of the 2017-18 year. The board corrected the calendar so schools close on the November 7 election day, adopted a split early release schedule, approved six nominations, and set a board-only Saturday session on September 30 for fiscal year 2019 budget goals. First-read edits went to drug-free workplace, guidance, health-education and child-abuse reporting policies. No agenda or minutes survive; Michelle Pierce's attendance is unconfirmed. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 16, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The business administrator answered August 2 questions on district finances: local taxes fund 42.4% of costs against a 58.8% state average, teacher pay is 77.3% of the state average, and adjusted cost per pupil is $15,488. The board approved elementary, Stevens, Owls and Alt, and athletic handbooks and the five-year strategic plan in draft. No agenda, slides or minutes survive, and the roll call is garbled. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 3 POSITIVE |
| August 2, 2017 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Chris Irish presided with four of seven members. A Ward 1 citizen pressed the board on per-pupil costs and the Claremont funding decision; the board heard the head lice protocol and the new Abbey Group food service, accepted nominations, sent two policies to final approval, began a survey-consent policy, and reappointed a CCTV board member on an unwarned item with Irish opposed. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| June 22, 2017 | School Board and City Council, Joint Meeting | The quarterly joint meeting heard that another Claremont child had been lead-poisoned and that the council's budget raised the tax rate 17 cents. Green Dot presented its UNH-funded bystander study, and a judge and the district reported 156 homeless students of about 1,753 and a housing wage of $43,865 that only step-nine teachers exceed. The next joint meeting was set for September 28. No agenda or minutes survive on the district side. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 21, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The board awarded the food-service contract to The Abbey Group on its committee's unanimous recommendation (scores 90 to 93; Cafe Services projected a $20,771 surplus against Abbey's $10,000), elected six nominees and authorized summer hiring. It moved a USDA-required meal-charge policy to a July 19 second reading, after the July 1 deadline, and set aside Rules of Order and Quorum policies. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 31, 2017 | Claremont School Board, food service presentations | With the chair absent and the vice chair presiding, The Abbey Group and Fresh Picks Cafe presented food-service proposals: Fresh Picks guaranteed a $20,000 return and offered $40,000 of equipment, Abbey a no-cost program with a shared director. A committee of two members and four faculty would recommend. The student representative's farewell criticized board procedure. A CCTV board appointment was deferred. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| May 17, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The board heard that out-of-district special education costs were estimated at $2.1 million for 2017, down from $2.5 million, while the director warned that 5 to 7 students were being contained rather than educated. It met in nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c), approved the Stevens 2017-18 program of studies, accepted two resignations and set May 31 for food-service presentations. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 3, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The superintendent announced NEASC granted Stevens accreditation (letter of April 25, 2017). By consensus, not a vote, the board asked the chair to lobby Claremont's representatives on SB 191 (about $300,000 for full-day kindergarten). The capital plan set roofs at $100,000 a year; a $150,000 tech center roof was already contracted. The technology plan had lapsed in 2016. The board adopted the 2017-18 calendar. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 19, 2017 | Claremont School Board | The board elected Dale Chenette principal of Bluff Elementary after a ten-member committee screened 14 candidates, gave the lead-screening policy its final read, and voted $11,787 from health insurance savings toward the city's Monadnock track resurfacing, an item not in the budget. The Stevens accreditation report carried 31 commendations and 34 recommendations; a student presented on school meals. Nonpublic under RSA 91-A:3, II(c). No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| April 5, 2017 | Claremont School Board | Held at the regional tech center. The board accepted $44,750 in grants ($20,250 Title I reallocation, $16,500 McKinney-Vento, $8,000 early learning) with no hearing on tape, renewed the Primex 7% contribution cap, and adopted policies ACE, EBBC, IHBAA and the lead-screening policy. The tech center director proposed three programs at $67,431 to $104,045 per teacher. Nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c). No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 30, 2017 | Claremont School Board and City Council, Joint Meeting | Joint meeting with no votes. New City Manager Ryan McNutt introduced himself; the bodies reviewed the district's lead-screening policy (extended to pre-K), hospital screening data and HUD abatement grants. Attorney Tom Connair reviewed the Claremont lawsuit; the superintendent cited a $5.8 million adequacy grant being phased out and SB 193. The mayor reported SB 247 passed the Senate. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| March 15, 2017 | Claremont School Board, Organizational Meeting | Day after the March 14 election: Petrin and Zullo joined the board and Sprague was re-elected; Rapp was re-elected chair and Irish vice chair. The clerk read the results (637 voters, about 9%; all articles passed). The board signed the $35,183,247 appropriations report inside the 20-day deadline, heard food-service workers on the privatization RFP, met briefly in nonpublic session, and moved the lead-screening policy to second reading. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| March 1, 2017 | Claremont School Board | Regular meeting before the March 14 election. The board approved the Stevens Youth and Government trip and an NHIAA leadership conference, accepted the Bluff principal's resignation effective July 1, and passed three policies on first reading. Mid-year i-Ready growth trailed district targets (elementary math 57 to 66% against 70%). The state education tax rate fell from $2.42 to $2.26. No agenda or minutes survive; strategic planning committee meetings went unposted. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 24, 2017 | Claremont School Board, Budget Session | After the joint meeting, the administration presented a revised FY2018 operating budget of about $31.19 million, a $242,239 decrease with no tax impact, reached by $366,000 of non-personnel cuts. On Herzog's motion the board restored $90,000 for the administration to allocate and dropped the $89,200 technology warrant article, then endorsed the other warrant articles. Three residents defended the arts. No agenda, minutes or audible roll call survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 24, 2017 | Joint Meeting, School Board and City Council | Joint meeting with the House delegation. The mayor and superintendent had testified that morning for HB 525 to stop the 4% annual stabilization-grant cut; the superintendent put Claremont's loss near $400,000 this year and $5.8 million over 18 years. The board agreed to adopt a kindergarten lead-screening policy by next school year and a joint lead-education committee. No votes beyond adjournment; no agenda or minutes survive in district shares. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 18, 2017 | Claremont School Board, Budget Meeting | With four of seven members present and the vice chair presiding, the administration restored the high-school PE and alternative-education positions (about $117,000, 17 cents), leaving the operating budget $92,553 over the current year, and the board reviewed its January 7 line-item cuts with staff. Six residents and students spoke for a PE teacher and the technical center's business program. Brent Ferland's resignation was accepted effective March 13 so voters fill the seat. No minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| January 11, 2017 | Claremont School Board, Budget Public Hearing | FY2018 budget hearing: the administration presented about $850,000 in reductions, and the board's January 7 work session listed about $897,000, leaving the main budget below the current year and warrant articles adding about 16 cents. Eleven residents spoke, mostly against cutting an Owls alternative-program teacher and a Stevens PE position. No default budget figure was disclosed. A nonpublic personnel session followed and its minutes were sealed. No agenda, slides or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 4, 2017 | Claremont School Board | After a nonpublic session on negotiations, the board placed five bargaining agreements on the March ballot by voice votes (Adrian abstaining on the paraprofessionals). The corrected FY2018 draft stood $552,645 (1.76%) over the current year before bargaining costs, later given as a $1.39 tax-rate effect overall. Six policies were adopted and a January 7 Saturday work session was set. Pierce and Ferland were absent. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2016 (19 meetings) | |||
| December 21, 2016 | Claremont School Board | First public look at the unedited FY2018 budget request, put at about 3.2% over the current year, driven by roughly $600,000 in paraprofessionals the district said it could not legally cut, retirement and health costs. The board discussed substitute pay ($65 a day) and staff absences without action, and accepted a $5,000 Hope Foundation grant and $3,100 in donations. No agenda or minutes survive, and the nonpublic session is not on tape. | 1 HIGH 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| December 7, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Vice Chair Chris Irish presided with Chair Rapp absent. The board honored the Division III football champions and Marion Lovett's Senate Youth Program selection, accepted two $500 ExxonMobil grants and two staff resignations, and heard River Valley Community College's Pathway to Success plan (about $60,000 to $65,000 per cohort of 20) from a colleague of member Alex Herzog. Six policies advanced to third reading. The recording ends at a nonpublic session. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION |
| November 16, 2016 | Claremont School Board | A snowplow contractor disputed the business administrator's award of a five-year contract to Morris Enterprises; the administrator said the prior four-year contract, bid at about $14,000 a year, was billed $122,000 over bid. The deliberative session was set for Tuesday, February 7, 2017. Six law-driven policies passed third reading; others moved to second reading, with 'equal access' wording deferred. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 15, 2016 | School Board and City Council, Joint Meeting | Joint session held without a City Council quorum. Gail Gans of the state's lead poisoning prevention program said New Hampshire has 800 to 1,000 poisonings a year and Claremont is a high-risk community; 70% of two-year-olds statewide went untested in 2014. The business administrator said the $6,282,807 stabilization grant falls $251,312 a year. No votes; a December meeting with the delegation was agreed. No district agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| November 2, 2016 | Claremont School Board | The board interviewed Mike Siri, Dr. Alex Herzog and Rebecca Zullo for Becky Ferland's vacant seat (Richard Seaman withdrew), deliberated in nonpublic, sealed those minutes by voice vote and appointed Herzog, who was sworn in. The early release day moved to November 22. The business administrator reported a $651,329 fiscal 2016 fund balance and sought signatures on the DOE-25 and MS-25, two months after their September 1 due date. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 HIGH 3 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| October 19, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Five members present, one seat vacant and Brent Ferland apparently absent. The board set public interviews with uniform questions for the vacancy (two applicants so far), heard i-Ready baselines of 90% of first graders on level in math and 94% in reading, approved a November 3 early release for training, and aired a member's emails to a quorum under policy BHE. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| October 5, 2016 | Claremont School Board | The chair announced Becky Ferland's resignation, tendered October 3 at the SAU 6 meeting and by email, as accepted without a vote, ruled Brent Ferland's motion to reconsider out of order as not on the agenda, and refused to schedule her rescission request. The board approved a senior overnight trip, adopted a condom distribution policy on second read after public comment, and closed school on election day. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| September 21, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Six of seven members present (Pierce absent). After a brief nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c), the board adopted the transgender and gender nonconforming students policy on third read with no audible tally, plus building rental, background-check and volunteer policies, and gave a condom distribution policy its first read. The superintendent set growth goals such as 93% high school attendance. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 17, 2016 | Claremont School Board | The board approved a $109,500 Maple Avenue roof contract against a $100,000 warrant article, nine staff nominations, the elementary handbooks and Stevens program changes for the return to the 4x4 block, and accepted a Health and Human Services substance-misuse grant of about $35,000 added to the agenda that night. Transgender-student, rental, background-check and volunteer policies had first reads. No agenda or minutes survive. | 2 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 9, 2016 | Claremont School Board & City Council, Joint Meeting | In a one-minute session the school board authorized the chair to sign a Stevens schedule agreement with the teachers whose wording was not final. The joint meeting with the City Council heard the mayor on a $110 million valuation drop and the superintendent on poverty and a 0.25% budget increase, and formed working groups on vocational training, marketing and poverty. No district minutes survive; city records were not inspected. | 1 MEDIUM 1 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| August 3, 2016 | Claremont School Board | After the labor board ordered compliance with an arbitrator's award against the Stevens A/B schedule, the board rejected Chris Irish's motion not to comply 4-3 by roll call, voted to appeal (7-0 per the Valley News), rejected staying with A/B pending a ruling and tabled the schedule to a special meeting. It also reappointed Pauline Pelletier to the CCTV board and accepted about ten resignations. No minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| June 1, 2016 | Claremont School Board | The special education director reported out-of-district placements costing $2.7 million, with four students who moved in already placed adding over $500,000 this year; a $750,000 vendor program and several buildings were reviewed. The board bought Chromebooks for members, approved rental and harassment policies on second read (the Trump campaign had been billed $240), four hires and a calendar change, and entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(j). No minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 18, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Elementary and middle school progress reports (middle school: 25% of students below the 20th percentile in reading; 73% of targeted students improved). The business administrator reported $323,028 left in the general fund and froze the budget, with a $408,000 health trust premium holiday lifting revenue $567,466 over budget. Two teachers were elected and the board entered nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c). No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| May 4, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Students and a parent criticized the Stevens A/B schedule. The superintendent reported two arbitration losses, an April 2016 award of 8% (about $153,000) and a return to the 4x4, and said the board would not revert, citing a statute he misquoted. A survey study group reported; the board adopted a 175-day calendar with two parent conferences the union says cost $54,000, and an $8,000 planning consultant. No minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 2 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| April 6, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Members signed the MS-22 certifying the March 8 appropriations (about $34.62 million) 29 days after the vote, past the 20-day filing rule. The board set salary and insurance as bargaining priorities in public, adopted the drug-testing policy, approved nominations and a Bluff trip, and accepted $500, $5,000 and CLiF gifts. By consensus it let the superintendent decide school reassignments. The recording starts mid-meeting and ends at a nonpublic motion naming no exemption. | 1 HIGH 4 MEDIUM 1 POSITIVE |
| March 16, 2016 | Claremont School Board, Organizational Meeting | Adrian, Pierce and Sprague were sworn in; Brian Rapp was elected chair 4-3 over Becky Ferland and Chris Irish vice chair. After more than an hour of parent and staff comment, a roll call adopted the administration's early education plan, moving the Maple Avenue preschool for identified children into the technical center and closing its tuition child care program. A drug-testing policy passed first reading. No minutes survive; the roll call is partly inaudible. | 2 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 2 POSITIVE |
| February 3, 2016 | Claremont School Board | Held after the deliberative session. Police Chief Alex Scott urged pre-employment drug screening; the superintendent said state law barred schools from full criminal records. The superintendent proposed reviewing class rank, and a parent described a counselor offering to adjust a standing. Candidates were invited to speak February 17, and nine articles were voted onto the March 8 ballot. No agenda or minutes survive; the roll call is inaudible. | 1 MEDIUM 4 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| February 3, 2016 | Claremont School District, Deliberative Session | With the elected moderator absent, the district attorney ran the election of a temporary moderator. Voters sent nine articles to the March 8 ballot unamended: a $34,131,283 operating budget (default $34,422,886) that includes the administrators' $38,890 contract, paraprofessionals $129,750, maintenance $9,109, secretaries $9,803, background checks $20,000, security $121,000, a $100,000 Maple Avenue roof and $100,000 to the maintenance trust. No minutes or posted warrant survive. | 2 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 9, 2016 | Claremont School Board, Budget Work Session | Saturday work session. The board ratified one-year agreements by roll call for secretaries ($9,803.07), maintenance, administrators ($38,890, inside the operating budget) and paraprofessionals ($143,449, health split to 65/35), with Bob voting no on the first three. The proposed FY2017 operating budget was about $31.19 million, up roughly $296,000; special education identification ran 23 to 25% against 13 to 14% statewide. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| 2015 (2 meetings) | |||
| March 4, 2015 | Claremont School Board | The board accepted the Bluff Elementary principal's resignation and discussed cutting the high-school tuition rate from a full cost of $18,716 (an adjusted model gave $16,995; local taxes cover about $9,358). The Stevens renovation had $534,588.38 left on a contract of just under $11 million, and the chair held a $289,000 payment until March 18 without a vote. No agenda or minutes survive. | 1 MEDIUM 3 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |
| January 21, 2015 | Claremont School Board | The board sent a FY2015-16 warrant budget of $33,959,382 ($31,094,382 general fund) to the February 4 deliberative session on a second roll call after the first failed, and recommended articles for the paraprofessionals' contract ($92,370), security upgrades, a $95,000 bus and a $100,000 Disnard roof. It opposed the petitioned tax cap. No agenda or minutes survive, and the recording starts mid-item with both roll calls inaudible. | 1 MEDIUM 5 OBSERVATION 1 POSITIVE |