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School Board Finance Committee — June 19, 2026

Claremont School District (SAU 6) Finance Subcommittee work session — summary generated from the meeting video transcript and available records. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording.

Body
Finance Subcommittee of the Claremont School Board
Date
Friday, June 19, 2026
Start time
1:00 p.m. (adjourned 2:15 p.m.; recording runs 1:17:43)
Location
Not stated in available records; the committee's next meeting was set for the SAU 6 Central Office / Dow conference room
Minutes
No district-posted minutes located in the shared Drive folders; a draft video-linked minutes document exists outside the district shares

Participants

Everyone who appears in the meeting record. No citizens' comment period was held at this work session.
NameRoleParticipation
Candace CrawfordSchool Board Chair; Finance Subcommittee ChairChaired; 187 speaking segments; takes the subcommittee's minutes herself
Heather WhitneySchool Board member; Finance Subcommittee131 segments; NHSBA webinar report, Hanover budget-book proposal
Don LavaletteSchool Board member; Finance Subcommittee55 segments; policy-committee liaison, volunteer coordinator
Matt AngellInterim Business Administrator, SAU 6 (resigned July 2026)72 segments; budget, capital list, budget calendar
Dr. Tim BroadrickIncoming Superintendent (started July 1, 2026)63 segments; participated by phone as a guest
Kerry KennedyDirector of Curriculum, Instruction & AssessmentPresent per the draft minutes; no attributed dialogue

Agenda

The district posted no packet or agenda for this meeting in its shared Drive folders. The item list below is reconstructed from the chair's statements in the dialogue and the draft minutes. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry to read the full text.

Taken upItemLeading text from the dialogue
0:00:391. Committee purpose & schedule statement"All right. So our first item on the agenda is finalizing the committee purpose and schedule statement. And we last met we had the old model that we were that we looked at. And then Heather had some additions or some thoughts for us to consider and subsequently built on. Don was going to talk to the policy committee. And why don't you go ahead and tell us what you learned?" — Crawford
0:08:362. Budget update (FY26 year-end)"All right, so at the last school board meeting, I gave year to date expenditures through May 31st: $32,849,000; encumbrances were $2,582,000; and remaining appropriation was $4,283,000. When I discussed the year end deficit… my estimate is under $1 million for the remaining deficit. So we worked a $5 million deficit down to less than 1 million." — Angell
0:31:493. Staffing budget for the upcoming year"Can we move on to number three, the staffing budget for this year." — Crawford. Deferred: Broadrick will present staffing and the related budget at the July 21 board meeting; five middle-school teachers were hired the day before this meeting.
0:38:374. Capital improvements plan"I'm going to move on to capital improvements plan, which is where we have a lot of discussion. So, Matt, why don't you." — Crawford. The facilities director's document was judged a needs list, not a plan; Broadrick was tasked with converting it into a five-year capital plan in 3–6 months.
0:48:205. Budget calendar for 2026–27 (next year's budget)"Moving on. The number five is the calendar. The budget calendar for '26-'27, trying to put in place what the schedule is for getting the budget approved for next year." — Crawford. Angell walked through a draft calendar ending in board approval before the holiday break.
1:01:26Non-agenda: audits, incl. forensic audit"I did add another. This is a non agenda item. Let's just talk about audits. Just as a summary. Audits, including forensic audits." — Crawford
1:05:34Non-agenda: NHSBA finance-oversight webinar; Hanover-style budget book; next meetingWhitney reported on an NHSBA/NHDOE/NHDRA webinar on school-finance oversight and agreed to bring a ten-point summary to the goal-setting meeting; she also presented Hanover (SAU 70) budget documentation as a model. Next meeting set for August 12 at 1:00 p.m.

Discussion timeline

Times are from the dialogue transcript (Output/Dialogue/School Board Finance Committee - 61926.CSV) and link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording. Flags link to the review items below.

TimeTopicWhat was said (leading text; hover/focus for more)Flags
0:00:00Call to order, PledgeCrawford opens the Finance Subcommittee meeting of June 19, 2026 (rendered by the speech recognizer as "June 1919, 1946"); Lavalette leads the Pledge of Allegiance. Per the draft minutes the meeting was called to order at 1 p.m.
0:00:39Committee purpose statementThe draft purpose statements went to the Policy Committee for feedback; rather than synthesizing versions now, the committee will wait for the Policy Committee's response after July 21. Whitney explains the intent of aligning the purpose statement with the RSAs so the finance committee doesn't overstep policies. Crawford states she prefers to write the subcommittee's minutes herself rather than delegate to the clerk's new transcription workflow.OBSERVATION
0:08:36FY26 year-end positionAngell: YTD expenditures through May 31 $32,849,000; encumbrances $2,582,000; remaining appropriation $4,283,000; year-end deficit estimate under $1 million, down from a $5 million starting deficit. Revenues also tracking above budget. Crawford frames the remaining ~$1M as a cash-flow figure, not a crisis number; Angell offers a "retained earnings" analogy for the accumulated deficit.
0:10:13Federal grants must be claimedBroadrick: "the importance of actually getting all of the grants approved and receiving roughly $2 million in federal entitlement grants through the state of New Hampshire. If we were to close out the year today, we would not receive that money. The good news is the deadline is not today… it's really important that we get that done over the next few months."HIGH
0:11:29Unrecorded liabilities surfacingBroadrick warns of "systemic practices" leaving unknown liabilities — e.g. a payroll liability incurred the previous fall that surfaced only that week. Special-education services required by federal law are a particular exposure: administrators outside the business office had been committing the district without budget authority.MEDIUM
0:26:00Constellations behavioral-services contractBroadrick: the Constellations behavioral-services contract (~$350,000–$400,000) was signed without the administrators knowing the funding source and with no purchase orders; the new rule is "nobody signs a contract whose title isn't business administrator or superintendent." The renewal was forwarded to him for signature and he is negotiating terms and funding before signing, noting the services sit in students' IEPs and compensatory-services processes exist.HIGH
0:29:08Tech-center van repairLavalette asks about an engine repair to the tech-center van (bought second-hand though represented as new, under 30,000 miles, purchased warranty). The warranty administrator is expected to cover part of the cost; the repair report will come back to the board. All vehicles are now housed and maintained at the bus garage.
0:31:49Staffing budget; hiring newsStaffing presentation deferred to July 21. Five middle-school teachers hired June 18. Crawford recounts a Valley News interview on staffing; the Nicole Boynton middle-school-principal press release went out; HR Director Amy Savage (hired from the Hanover district, SAU 70) is onboarding new hires ahead of her July 1 start.
0:38:37Capital improvements "needs list"The facilities director's document (asbestos-tile kitchen floor at CMS, safety-grant items such as bollards) is "a wish list… a needs list, not a capital improvement plan" — Crawford has that noted in the minutes. Broadrick will work with Mr. Holt to reconfigure it into a 5-year master plan (3–6 months), using the FY27–31 capital plan he wrote at Prospect Mountain as a model. Volunteer painting at the middle school is scheduled for late July–early August with Lavalette coordinating; donated paint (LaValley's) and volunteer forms discussed.
0:48:20Budget calendar walkthroughAngell's draft calendar: DOE-25 to the board at the August 19 meeting ("It's due September 1st. I've never been late."); September: guidelines for new program proposals; Oct 14 building budgets to leadership; Oct 21 budgets loaded in accounting software; Nov 4 superintendent's budget presentation; Nov 18 round-robin roundtables (two teams of two board members, one of three, rotating across administrative teams); Nov 20 deadline for written board questions; Dec 2 administration answers and board deliberates; approval targeted before the holiday break, with later dates statutorily driven and the calendar to be vetted by the district's attorney and DRA dates.OBSERVATION
1:01:26Audits and forensic auditCrawford has written to auditor Michael Campo (Plodzik & Sanderson; the transcript renders the name "my campus"/"Campo"); he remains on schedule to bring information to the July 21 board meeting, in person or by Zoom. Forensic audit: the first $10,000 check (of up to $50,000 authorized) is about to go out — "as soon as we give them the check… tell us how long it's going to take"; the committee wants the firm's scope and schedule outline ("what does a forensic audit entail? What's the first step?" — Whitney).HIGH
1:05:34NHSBA finance-oversight webinarWhitney reports on the NHSBA webinar with NHDOE and NHDRA (Marc Manganiello a presenter): board members carry fiduciary oversight responsibility; a key warning — if you're only given Excel spreadsheets instead of general-ledger reports, treat it as a red flag. She will prepare a ten-point summary for the July 29 goal-setting meeting.
1:12:31Hanover-style budget book; AP registerWhitney presents the Hanover (SAU 70) finance department's public budget documentation as a model — line-by-line explanations, funding sources, posted on the website for every citizen — and asks the district to do the same; Angell agrees to look ("it's not heavy lifting" once it's in the system). Follow-up set for August. Earlier, Lavalette pointed to Bedford's practice of posting the entire AP register online "to limit right-to-know requests and for transparency."POSITIVE
1:16:21Next meeting; adjournmentNext Finance Subcommittee meeting tentatively set for Wednesday, August 12 at 1:00 p.m. (later confirmed; see the August 12 page). Adjourned at 2:15 p.m. ("I'll turn 215" in the transcript = "we'll adjourn, 2:15").

Items flagged for review

Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the discussion against current state and federal law. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Each flag cites the rule it rests on; severity reflects the flag's potential significance if confirmed by a human reviewer.

HIGH ~$2 million in federal entitlement grants unclaimed and time-limited

Broadrick told the committee the district must still get "all of the grants approved" and claim "roughly $2 million in federal entitlement grants through the state of New Hampshire," and that if the year closed that day the money would be lost (0:10:13). Federal formula-grant funds (Title programs, IDEA) are cost-reimbursement awards available for obligation for the award period plus one carryover year under the Tydings Amendment; unclaimed reimbursements fall to the local general fund — the same failure mode the FY22/FY23 audits identified. At the August 5 board meeting the administration set September 30, 2026 as the deadline for the 2024–25 grant programs.

Sources: 20 U.S.C. §1225(b) (GEPA/Tydings — funds remain available for obligation one additional fiscal year); 2 CFR 200.309 (period of performance); Valley News, Jan. 2, 2026 (audit findings on grant management).

HIGH ~$350,000–$400,000 services contract signed without funding source, purchase orders, or authorized signer

Broadrick reported that the Constellations behavioral-services contract — a $350,000–$400,000 liability — was signed by district staff who could not identify its funding source, without purchase orders, by people other than the business administrator or superintendent (0:21:08, 0:26:00). Because the services are special-education services largely supported with federal funds, federal award rules require effective internal control over contracting and procurement; the absence of controls here matches the internal-control findings behind the district's FY22/FY23 disclaimers of opinion. The corrective direction stated in the meeting — only the superintendent or business administrator signs contracts — is now district practice.

Sources: 2 CFR 200.303 (internal controls over federal awards); 2 CFR 200.318 (procurement standards); Valley News, Jan. 2, 2026 (federal grant-compliance controls finding).

MEDIUM Unknown liabilities and off-book commitments still surfacing

A payroll liability incurred in fall 2025 reached the business office only in mid-June 2026, and Broadrick cautioned "there will be more… some unpleasant surprises" (0:11:29). Liabilities recorded late or not at all undermine the reliability of the year-end financial statements the district must file with the state (see the September 1 filings under RSA 21-J:34) and continue the general-ledger maintenance weakness cited in the draft audits.

Sources: RSA 21-J:34 (annual financial report to DRA due September 1); Valley News, Jan. 2, 2026.

OBSERVATION Subcommittee minutes practice and public availability

The Finance Subcommittee is a "public body" under the Right-to-Know Law (committees and subcommittees of a school board are expressly covered), so its minutes must be "promptly recorded and open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting." The chair stated she prefers to prepare the subcommittee's minutes herself (0:07:30). No finance-subcommittee minutes appear in the district's public Drive shares for this meeting (the only located minutes document sits outside the district folders), so where and when the official minutes are available for inspection is worth confirming. The committee's decision to record and televise this meeting is a transparency step beyond what the statute requires.

Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (definition of public body includes committees and subcommittees); RSA 91-A:2, II (minutes open to inspection within 5 business days).

OBSERVATION Budget-calendar deadlines are statutory; DOE-25 due September 1

Angell's draft calendar for the next budget cycle tracks toward board approval before the holidays, with the later dates "statutorily driven" and the calendar to be checked against DRA dates and reviewed by the district's attorney (0:48:20–0:56). He also committed to filing the DOE-25 annual financial report by its September 1 due date ("I've never been late… here, I may be late… only for a short period"). The parallel DRA school financial report (MS-25) is due September 1 by statute. Note: after this meeting, 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 272 (SB 586, signed July 2, 2026, effective July 1, 2026) added a requirement that districts file an annual audit or certified financial report within 6 months of fiscal year end, with state funding withheld from non-compliant districts — the filing calendar now carries funding consequences.

Sources: RSA 21-J:34, V (financial report due September 1); SB 586 (2026), Chapter 272 — audit/financial report within 6 months; funding withheld for non-compliance.

HIGH Annual audits years behind; federal single audits overdue

As of this meeting the district's FY22 and FY23 audits existed only as drafts (disclaimers of opinion), with FY24–FY26 unaudited, and the forensic audit not yet started (first $10,000 of an authorized $50,000 about to be paid). A district expending more than the federal threshold in federal awards in a year — Claremont's allocations run around $2 million — must complete a single audit within nine months of fiscal year end; those deadlines have long passed for FY22–FY24. Under SB 586 (effective July 1, 2026) late annual filings now risk withholding of state funding.

Sources: 2 CFR 200.501 (single-audit threshold: $750,000, raised to $1,000,000 for fiscal years beginning on/after Oct. 1, 2024); 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (report due the earlier of 30 days after receipt or nine months after year end); SB 586 (2026), Chapter 272; RSA 21-J:19 (audits by independent accountants).

POSITIVE Transparency proposals: published budget book, AP register, recorded subcommittee meetings

Three practices proposed or begun at this meeting go beyond legal minimums: adopting Hanover (SAU 70)-style public budget documentation, Bedford-style online posting of the accounts-payable register "to limit right-to-know requests and for transparency," and recording/televising subcommittee meetings (this recording was the subcommittee's first, noted again at the July 21 board meeting).

Context: RSA 91-A:2 (minimum open-meeting requirements these practices exceed).

Appendix — source files

Official and public sources

Project files (internal working files; not published online)

  • Dialogue transcript: Output/Dialogue/School Board Finance Committee - 61926.CSV
  • Video file: Input/Videos/School Board Finance Committee - 61926.mp4
  • Diarized transcript: Input/Transcripts/School Board Finance Committee - 61926.json
  • Meeting/document map: Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md

Laws and rules cited on this page

Generated 2026-08-19 for the Government Transparency Project from the meeting dialogue transcript, the draft minutes, and the sources listed in the appendix. Speaker attribution follows the project's verified speaker map; the automatic transcript contains recognition errors (garbled names and numbers), and quotations reproduce it as-is with corrections noted. Flags are generated review aids, not determinations of law, and may be incomplete or wrong — verify against the recording and primary sources before relying on them.