CLAREMONT — With about a dozen people in attendance at a special school district meeting Thursday, voters approved by voice vote, after a brief discussion, an amended article to spend $482,000 in additional state aid on a School Board-approved plan to improve student achievement in several different subjects.
Former School Board member David Putnam’s amendment specifically requires that the School Board approve a plan on how the money will be used to improve educational achievement “and it shall include an accountability component designed to generate data that measures student academic achievement and growth of knowledge and skills.”
“Funds received from this grant shall only be used as outlined in the plan approved by the Claremont School Board and submitted to the State of New Hampshire Department of Education,” the amended article reads.
The amendment broadens what the school district had proposed in its presentation at the meeting and in the original article wording, which only said the money would be used to improve student achievement.
Assistant Superintendent Michael Koski presented the district’s plan, which focused programs and resources in English language arts and math, mostly in grades K-5. The approved article adds reading, science and technology. Finally, the district will be required to submit “an annual grant accountability progress report and show evidence of program implementation and progress toward improvement targets,” as stated in the article.
School Board member Frank Sprague spoke in support of the amendment.
“It is great to get periodic updates,” he said. “I think it is a positive.”
No one spoke against the article.
The money comes from Senate bill 420, Extraordinary Needs Grant that was passed in September. The district will receive $355,000 next year from the bill.
The school district’s attorney, Matt Upton, said he did not see any problem with the amendment as much of the wording is identical to what is in the Senate bill with respect to a plan approved by the Department of Education and an accountability progress report that measures results in order to receive the grant. Putnam’s primary addition to the wording in his amendment is that the School Board also needs to approve the plan and must, along with the district, submit a progress report to the Department of Education.
At the last School Board meeting, a question was raised as whether the money would be used to offset taxes or go back to the state if the article were defeated. That issue was not addressed at Thursday’s meeting.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
