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Claremont School Board — July 21, 2026
Regular meeting summary generated from the meeting video transcript, the posted packet, and the draft minutes. Timestamps link to the same moment in the Cablecast recording (video links also in the appendix).
- Body
- Claremont School Board (SAU 6)
- Date
- Tuesday, July 21, 2026
- Start time
- 6:30 p.m. (nonpublic session 9:08–9:57 p.m.; adjourned 9:57 p.m.)
- Location
- Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center, Claremont NH (broadcast on CCTV Channel 8)
- Recording
- Cablecast: Claremont School Board 7/21/26 (2:40:00 — ends as the board enters nonpublic session)
Participants
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|---|---|
| Candace Crawford | Chair | Presided; all seven members present at roll call |
| Michael Petrin | Vice Chair | Present (had missed the prior meeting); brief remarks on the Unity MOU and seconds |
| Heather Whitney | Board member | Moved the Unity withdrawal acceptance; authored and presented the three NHSBA resolutions |
| William "Bill" Madden | Board member; Capital Improvement Subcommittee Chair | Pressed on curriculum spending and the pace of the recovery plan |
| Loren Howard | Board member; Policy Subcommittee Chair | Calendar correction and motion; lone nay on releasing the draft audits; Bluff furnishings questions |
| Don Lavalette | Board member | Finance questions (AP register, 3-year health-insurance commitment, study-hall monitor); moved audit release; lone nay on the Unity MOU |
| Brian Rapp | Board member | Seconded the Unity MOU "holding my nose"; asked for an accounting of IT time |
| Dr. Tim Broadrick | Superintendent (first board meeting; started July 1) | Audit-cycle presentation, recovery-plan framework, reopening/staffing report, calendar |
| Kerry Kennedy | Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment & grants | CIA report: STAR assessment change, federal grants overview, summer programming |
| Noelle Kronberg | School Board Clerk | Roll calls; minutes (appears in the dialogue as "Noel") |
| Dr. Michael Herrington | Principal, Stevens High School | Arrived during recognition to sign and present certificates |
| Peyton Jones | Student, USA Special Olympics 100m backstroke gold medalist | Recognized |
| Rachel Maxim | Staff member, USA Special Olympics bocce gold and silver medalist | Recognized |
| Luke Diamond | Citizens' comments — Ward 3; newly elected School District Treasurer | Introduced himself and read the treasurer's statutory duties (0:06:54) |
Agenda
From the posted revised agenda (12. CSB Agenda - July 21 2026), with the two amendments adopted at the meeting. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00:00 | I. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance | Scheduled 6:30 PM. Crawford called the meeting to order; roll call taken after the student recognition; all members present (the recognizer garbled several names — "Candace Properties" = Candace Crawford, "Ryan Rap" = Brian Rapp). |
| 0:00:33 | II.a. Student & staff recognition | "Peyton Jones, USA Special Olympics 100m Backstroke Gold Medalist" — and staff member Rachel Maxim, three bocce medals, 2026 USA Special Olympics; certificates presented by Kennedy and Dr. Herrington. |
| 0:04:40 | II.b. Consent agenda (agenda amendments; 6/17/26 minutes; manifests) | "1. Amendments and Final Approval of Board Agenda 2. Approval of Minutes: 6.17.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes 3. Approval of Manifests." Amended from the floor: a personnel report added after item 3, a nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) added after subcommittee reports (Crawford), and a vote on NHSBA resolutions added before subcommittee reports (Whitney). Approved by voice vote; the 6/17 minutes approval was revisited and confirmed at 0:36:25 after Whitney's point of order. |
| 0:06:37 | II.c. Citizens' comments (Policy BEDH) | Luke Diamond, Ward 3, newly sworn District Treasurer: custody of district monies; "makes sure that all checks are approved by the board prior to issuing them"; independent of the board and superintendent — "an independent second set of eyes on the books"; monthly treasurer's reports and possible procurement-control monitoring to come. |
| 0:13:43 | II.d. Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment report — Kerry Kennedy | Move to STAR assessment (teach–reassess–reteach, progress monitoring), funded in part via Title I / Title IV-A; overview of federal grants (Title I, II-A, IV-A, Perkins, ESEA consolidated application); professional-development plan to drive grant activities; summer programming (Summer Boost ~100 students, ESY, credit recovery) — all grant-funded except locally funded ESY. |
| 0:31:54 | II.e. Finance update — FY26 budget v. actual (as of July 20) | 60-page report printed same day; bills still arriving ("just like in our homes… the electric bill for June arrives in July"); expenditures ~$4,364,000 under budget (~11%) against the $5M deficit target; final number post-audit; packet to be scanned and posted online the next day. Lavalette: Bedford posts its AP register online; asks about a 3-year post-employment health-insurance commitment and a $20,064.54 study-hall monitor line (position no longer exists). |
| 0:43:16 | III.1. FY22 & FY23 draft audit reports | Broadrick's audit-cycle presentation: what capital reserve funds and expendable trusts are; regulatory compliance; internal controls (three-quote example); opinion ladder ending in the district's disclaimers of opinion for FY22 and FY23; root cause "excessive turnover in management, a lack of oversight, and no maintenance of internal controls." Lavalette moved to release both drafts publicly the next morning; passed 6–1 (Howard nay — wanted the auditor's typos and dates fixed first). Auditor Michael Campo to answer questions August 5. |
| 1:16:34 | III.2. Initial entry report & proposed "Recovery Plan" draft | "Foundation for Recovery": nine foundation-stone domains (board/superintendent roles, special education, student wellness/civil rights, facilities & capital, business administration, curriculum-instruction-assessment, school operations, human resources, information technology). "What happened here was not the fault… of dysfunctional schools… a crisis of district administration." Plan drafted with the board via the July 29 goal-setting meeting; target: clear plan implemented by December 31 with monthly updates. Madden: "five year plans don't work. December doesn't work… You were billed as the Second Coming." |
| 1:38:37 | III.3. School reopening plans / staffing | SHS: music teacher is the last open content-area position; SRVRTC seeks a plumbing teacher (CTE teachers need trade experience and licensure, not a bachelor's degree) plus a new exploratory teacher; CMS: 15 returning + 8 hired, nurse's office covered, wants more certified math teachers; cross-curricular integration floated to meet Ed 306 standards; Disnard in good shape; Maple Ave still needs 4 classroom teachers; alternative-certification pathway (statement of eligibility, 3-year plan with mentor) explained. |
| 2:02:56 | III.4. 2026–2027 school calendar | 186 scheduled days per the SREA agreement, 6 PD days, up to 180 student days; first student day August 31; last day June 21, 2027 with snow-day decision late April/early May; three days set aside for Maple/Disnard staff moves. "Scheduling only 172.5 days last year, after four snow days, led to the schools not being open enough to meet state regulations… I promised them we won't do it again." Approved unanimously with Howard's November listing correction (Nov 3/6 out of order). |
| 1:57:04 | III.5. Personnel report (added by amendment) | New monthly nomination-and-hiring format: "Board has not approved or been notified of every hire and should be" (draft minutes). Certified staff hires and two resignations presented; no action taken this night; website postings kept open to gather applicants. |
| 2:10:07 | III.6. Vote on SAU disengagement with Unity — MOU | Withdrawal agreement with short-term IT support renegotiated from August 15 to September 15, 2026. Whitney moved acceptance, Rapp seconded ("holding my nose"); Lavalette a "hard no" — Claremont's full-time tech person serving Unity without compensation; Petrin noted his copy still said June 30; district counsel O'Shaughnessy's opinion: fighting costs more in legal fees than accepting. Passed 6–1 (Lavalette nay). Follow-up: accounting of IT time spent, second September meeting. |
| 2:22:23 | III.7. Disposition of Bluff School library books & furnishings | "Admin request to distribute books to a) district staff for school-related purposes, b) local nonprofits & youth organizations, and c) annual back to school festival" — librarians already took what their schools need; remaining books to new classroom libraries first, then nonprofits, then the festival; cataloging required. Approved unanimously (Howard moved). Follow-up: the playground hippo and dinosaurs. |
| 2:27:03 | III.8. NHSBA resolutions (added by amendment) | Three Whitney-authored resolutions for the NHSBA delegate assembly: (1) build a NH educational/municipal finance workforce pipeline — passed unanimously; (2) require state certification for school business administrators — passed 5–2 (Lavalette, Madden nay); (3) mandatory continuing education for certified business administrators — passed 5–2 (Lavalette, Madden nay). Howard will carry them to the October delegate assembly. |
| 2:37:28 | III.9. Subcommittee reports | SRVRTC meets August 10; Finance Subcommittee meets August 12 (1 p.m.) — Lavalette: "we were able to tape or video our finance meeting"; Policy: policies passed since March not yet posted to the site, pause in new policies until posting catches up, 4–5 policies expected for the August agenda. |
| 2:38:54 | Nonpublic session — RSA 91-A:3, II(c) (added by amendment) | Petrin moved, Rapp seconded; roll-call vote unanimous; entered 9:08 p.m., returned 9:57 p.m.; "Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken"; minutes sealed by unanimous roll call, later unsealed and posted. Crawford, before entering: "For the public, there will be no further business when we come out of this non public meeting." |
| — | IV–VI. Other business; future dates; adjournment | No other business. Future dates: July 29 goal-setting; August 5 regular meeting (FY22/23 audit discussion with the auditor, staggered elementary start, electronic manifest proposal); August 19 regular meeting (FY26 end-of-year report; high-school "Academy" plans & NHEd requirements). Adjourned 9:57 p.m. on Rapp's motion. |
Discussion timeline
Times are from the dialogue transcript (Output/Dialogue/Claremont School Board 72126.CSV). The public recording ends at 2:40:00, as the board enters nonpublic session.
| Time | Topic | What was said (leading text; hover/focus for more) | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00:33 | Special Olympics recognition | Kennedy: "this year on live TV, Peyton Jones won the 100 yard backstroke"; Rachel Maxim "came home with not one, not two, but three medals in bocce." Certificates and trading-card exchange; Dr. Herrington arrived to sign. | |
| 0:04:40 | Agenda amendments | Crawford added a personnel report and a nonpublic session "under RSA 91-A:3, II(c)"; Whitney added the NHSBA resolutions vote (materials sent to members June 23). Madden moved approval as amended; carried by voice vote. | OBSERVATION |
| 0:06:54 | Citizens' comments — the treasurer's role | Diamond: the treasurer "writes the checks, makes sure that all checks are approved by the board prior to issuing them," keeps independent books, reconciles bank statements monthly, reports monthly, appoints a deputy with board approval, and answers to the public, not the board or superintendent: "kind of an independent second set of eyes on the books. You'll be hearing more about possible… procurement controls." | POSITIVE |
| 0:10:36 | Agenda availability exchange | The clerk, needing a copy of the amended items: "I'm just concerned that the public now doesn't know unless they're present here. They don't know what is on the agenda." Crawford: the agenda was published online within 24 hours of the meeting. Broadrick: "an agenda has to be published 24 hours prior to the meeting. It only needs to include an estimate of what's going to be discussed… An agenda can change right up to. And in fact, it just happened here tonight." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:13:43 | Curriculum, assessment & grants report | STAR assessment adoption for teach–reassess–reteach cycles; Title I / Title IV-A funding eyed for it; grants overview and the September 30 deadline to finalize prior-year claims ("we are trying to spend every penny"); new procurement-procedures document for grant compliance; Summer Boost (~100 students), pool activities, ESY at Disnard, credit recovery; Madden's standing request to see the curriculum the district has paid for — follow-up set for the next meeting. | HIGH |
| 0:31:54 | FY26 finance update | Broadrick: "he expected to bring you in about $4 million under. And as you can see, as of today, we're a little more than $4 million under, almost 11%… of the budget"; final audited statements to DOE and DRA in September "will likely not happen" on the usual cycle; ~90 days to reconcile FY26 bills. Lavalette's items: post the AP register like Bedford; the departed SAU employee's contract put the district "on the hook for three years of health care" — Crawford: "it was done without the Board's knowledge and it was unauthorized and outside of normal procedure," with Unity responsible for a share under the MOU; policy fix referred toward the policy committee. | MEDIUM |
| 0:43:16 | Audit-cycle presentation & release vote | Draft reports are "unfinished business" until accepted; disclaimers of opinion for FY22/FY23; "a core failure in the general ledger… unreconciled"; grants finding "might be the biggest one so far… If we don't accept 100% or darn close to it of our federal grant allocations, that money gets awarded to a different New Hampshire school district… probably send it to Hanover"; root cause: turnover, no oversight, no internal controls. Motion to release drafts publicly passed 6–1; Crawford's reading guidance: check each page's title, technical content is required by law, capital-asset records are known to be a mess, distinguish the general fund, grants, food service. | HIGH HIGH |
| 1:16:34 | Recovery-plan framework | Nine-domain "foundation" model to structure the July 29 goal-setting meeting; procurement procedure already in progress; "if there are 12 things in business administration that need to be developed and training provided…"; Madden demands faster, dramatic change; Whitney asks for a well-defined agenda a week ahead. | |
| 1:38:37 | Reopening & staffing report | Openings and hires by school; CTE certification path for trades professionals; "under New Hampshire rules… if there are writing standards… a social studies teacher is teaching content and assessing against ELA standards" — creative coverage while hiring continues; alternative certification: statement of eligibility, transcript review by the Bureau of Credentialing, three-year plan with a licensed mentor. "We need four more teachers at Maple" ("naval" in the transcript). Answer on the backup plan promised "in four weeks." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:57:04 | Personnel report (new format) | "The certified staff on the first page of this report have been hired. Two certified teachers have resigned since…" — a biweekly/monthly reporting rhythm so the board sees every hire; one duplicate listing caught ("we only pay them once"); posting-accuracy discussion: everything open is posted, filled roles may lag in coming down, postings left up to build applicant pools. | MEDIUM |
| 2:02:56 | 2026–27 calendar | 186 scheduled days (SREA agreement), up to 180 with students, first day August 31, last day June 21 with a spring snow-day decision; last year's 172.5-day schedule fell short of state regulations after four snow days and required a state-board waiver; Petrin's voting-days-as-PD idea deferred to negotiations. Passed unanimously with the November listing fix. | POSITIVE |
| 2:10:07 | Unity withdrawal MOU | IT-support end date moved to September 15, 2026 by the lawyers; Rapp and Madden vote yes reluctantly; Lavalette's nay over uncompensated staff time; Howard: if it's truly a firewall install, Jason may only need hours or phone guidance; Whitney: Unity signed without negotiating, "many of the Unity students come to Claremont"; Bonneville to report time spent at the second September meeting. Passed 6–1. | OBSERVATION |
| 2:27:03 | NHSBA resolutions | Whitney: "municipal accounting is very different from business accounting"; on certification: "if they're short of doctors or surgeons or nursing staff, the fix isn't to eliminate the certification or the license"; Madden: certification was dropped because certified people couldn't be found; Lavalette: "a certification can mean nothing, particularly at the district administration level." Votes: #1 unanimous; #2 and #3 pass 5–2. | |
| 2:38:54 | Nonpublic session entry | "91-A:3, Part two C. We need a roll call…" — motion Petrin, second Rapp, unanimous roll call; public told no further business would follow. The unsealed minutes record: entered 9:08 p.m., "Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken," returned 9:57 p.m., minutes sealed by unanimous roll call (later unsealed and posted in the 2027 Non-Public folder). | MEDIUM |
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.
HIGH FY22/FY23 audits: disclaimers of opinion, unreliable general ledger, overstated fund balance used in tax-setting
The draft FY22 and FY23 audits carry disclaimers of opinion — the auditor could not verify the district's books. Reported findings include an unreconciled general ledger, missing subsidiary and capital-asset records, and use of unassigned fund balance the district did not have when tax rates were set (press reporting on the FY22 draft: the district represented about $1 million available when the actual balance was negative $29,000). Fund-balance figures flow into the September 1 filings the DRA uses in rate-setting, and retained unassigned fund balance is capped by statute. The board's 6–1 vote to release the drafts publicly is a transparency-positive step; the underlying findings remain open until corrective actions are adopted and audited.
Sources: RSA 21-J:34 (September 1 financial report to DRA); RSA 198:4-b, II (retained unassigned fund balance capped at 5% of net assessment); Valley News, Jan. 2, 2026 (draft-audit findings); FY22 draft report, FY23 draft report.
HIGH Federal grant funds lapsing to local taxpayers; September 30 claim deadline
Broadrick called the grants finding "maybe the biggest one so far": federal allocations not claimed are re-awarded to other New Hampshire districts, and expenses already incurred fall to the general fund. Kennedy set September 30, 2026 as the deadline to finalize claims for the 2024–25 grant programs (federal formula funds carry a one-year Tydings carryover). A district expending ~$2 million a year in federal awards is also subject to the annual single-audit requirement, whose nine-month deadlines have passed for the unaudited years.
Sources: 20 U.S.C. §1225(b) (Tydings Amendment); 2 CFR 200.501 and 2 CFR 200.512(a)(1) (single audit; due within nine months of year end).
MEDIUM Teacher hires made without board election
The draft minutes record, under the new personnel-report format: "Board has not approved or been notified of every hire and should be." New Hampshire law provides that "Superintendents shall nominate and school boards elect all teachers," so certified-staff hires that never came to the board for election are a statutory-process gap. The new monthly nomination-and-hiring report presented at this meeting is the corrective; the board completed formal appointments at subsequent meetings.
Source: RSA 189:39 (superintendents nominate, school boards elect teachers).
MEDIUM Three-year post-employment health-insurance commitment made without board approval
Lavalette reported that a departed SAU employee's contract obligates the district to three years of health-insurance coverage. Crawford confirmed "it was done without the Board's knowledge and it was unauthorized and outside of normal procedure" (0:38–0:41). Unity bears a share under the withdrawal MOU. An employment commitment binding future budgets, made without governing-body authorization, is an internal-control and contract-authority breakdown of the kind the audits flagged; Lavalette proposed tasking the policy committee (90–100 days) with a policy barring such terms without express board approval.
Context: Valley News, Jan. 2, 2026 (internal-control findings); board-policy remedy discussed in the draft minutes. No specific statute governs the contract term itself; flagged as a governance-control issue.
MEDIUM Nonpublic session: exemption fit and an unchecked seal-vote finding
The nonpublic session was added to the agenda from the floor and entered under RSA 91-A:3, II(c) — the exemption for matters that would "likely affect adversely the reputation of any person" other than a board member — while the unsealed minutes describe the business as "Discussion of personnel matters, no action taken." Dismissal, promotion, compensation, or discipline of an employee belongs under II(a), and hiring under II(b); using II(c) for general "personnel matters" is a common but recurring exemption-fit question under the Right-to-Know Law. Procedure was otherwise clean: motion, second, unanimous roll call (per II(a)–(c) and I(b)), and a roll-call vote to seal. On the seal vote, the minutes form requires the board to determine one of the statutory grounds (reputation / render action ineffective / terrorism); none of the three checkboxes is marked on the unsealed form. The minutes were later unsealed and posted, mooting the seal. Adding the session by floor amendment is permissible under the 24-hour meeting-notice rule as the superintendent described, since the notice covers the meeting rather than a final agenda.
Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b), II(a)–(c), III (procedure, exemptions, 72-hour disclosure, 2/3 seal vote with findings); RSA 91-A:2, II (24-hour meeting notice); unsealed nonpublic minutes.
OBSERVATION Staffing gaps and Ed 306 minimum standards
With four classroom-teacher openings at Maple Avenue and shortages elsewhere five weeks before opening, the administration described alternative-certification pathways and cross-curricular coverage to meet the state minimum standards for school approval. The 2026–27 calendar provides the required instruction time on paper; whether staffed classrooms deliver it is the practical question this flag marks for follow-up (the August 5 meeting reported all schools opening on time).
POSITIVE Independent treasurer oversight restored
The newly elected treasurer publicly read his statutory duties — custody of district monies, payment only upon school-board orders, independent books, monthly reconciliation and reporting — and framed the office as "an independent second set of eyes." The FY22/FY23 audits found this check went unused in prior years.
Source: RSA 197:23-a (treasurer's duties; "pay out the same only upon orders of the school board").
POSITIVE 2026–27 calendar restores a compliant school year
The adopted calendar schedules 186 days with up to 180 student days, correcting the prior year's 172.5-day schedule that fell below the state minimum after four snow days and required a state-board structured-learning-time waiver ("I promised them we won't do it again").
Sources: Ed 306.15 (school year); 2026–2027 Claremont calendar (packet PDF).
OBSERVATION Unity withdrawal MOU: open-ended IT support, no compensation term
The approved MOU extends Claremont-provided IT support to Unity through September 15, 2026 without compensation for staff time — the basis of the dissent and reluctant yes votes. SAU withdrawal itself followed the statutory process (planning committee, state-board review, voter approval); the MOU is transition implementation. The board directed a public accounting of technology time spent, due at the second September meeting — a follow-up worth tracking.
Sources: RSA 194-C:2, IV (SAU withdrawal process); Withdrawal agreement (packet PDF).
Appendix — source files
Official meeting records
- Remote video: Claremont School Board 7/21/26 (Cablecast show 17473)
- Packet folder: 1. 7.21.26 — School Board Documents (13 documents)
- Minutes: 7.21.26 DRAFT CSB Meeting Minutes · 7.21.26 Non-Public Meeting Session Minutes (unsealed)
Packet documents
- 1. CSB Summary - July 21 2026
- 2. 2026-2027 Claremont Calendar for website.pdf
- 3. Claremont SB - School Opening Update - July 21 2026
- 4. Foundation for Recovery - July 21 2026
- 5. FY26 Expeditures Report.pdf (file name typo is the district's)
- 6. Personnel Report - Certified Staff · 7. Personnel Report - Resignations
- 8. Understanding Annual Audits - FY22 and FY23 · 10. 2022 Claremont SD DRAFT Report (11/19/25) · 11. Claremont SD FY23 (7/15/26)
- 9. Unity/Claremont Withdrawal Agreement (final)
- 12. CSB Agenda - July 21 2026 (revised) — see also the archive copies 7.21.26 CSB Meeting Agenda and 1 -- 7.21.2026 - CSB Agenda in 29. CSB 7.21.26
- Copy of CIA Director Report - July '26
Project files (internal working files; not published online)
- Dialogue transcript: Output/Dialogue/Claremont School Board 72126.CSV
- Video file: Input/Videos/Claremont School Board 72126.mp4
- Diarized transcript: Input/Transcripts/Claremont School Board 72126.json
- Meeting/document map: Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md
Laws and rules cited on this page
- RSA 91-A:2, RSA 91-A:3 (Right-to-Know Law)
- RSA 197:23-a (treasurer); RSA 189:39 (teacher nomination/election); RSA 198:4-b (fund balance); RSA 194-C:2 (SAU withdrawal); RSA 21-J:34 (Sept. 1 filings)
- Ed 306.15 (school year)
- 2 CFR 200.501, 2 CFR 200.512; 20 U.S.C. §1225(b)