NHSBA trains Laconia School Board on governance, superintendent evaluation and digital communications

The Laconia School Board convened a community meeting on Jan. 7, 2025, where the New Hampshire School Board Association (NHSBA) delivered a training on school board roles and responsibilities and reviewed statutory and practical limits on board members’ authority.

The training, led by Barrett Christina, executive director of the NHSBA, and Will Phillips, NHSBA staff attorney and director of policy services, emphasized three governance principles: the board’s duty to provide education under state law, collective (not individual) authority, and governance versus management. The meeting also included routine approvals: the board approved the meeting agenda and the Dec. 17, 2024 minutes, both by recorded voice vote, 6-0.

Why it matters: The session sought to align new and returning board members on legal requirements and best practices for setting policy, interacting with administration and the public, overseeing budgets and bargaining with employee groups. NHSBA presenters stressed that clear policies and regular superintendent evaluation help reduce ad hoc or inconsistent decision-making and protect due-process rights when the board acts in quasi-judicial matters.

Barrett Christina opened by explaining NHSBA’s role as a private, dues-funded nonprofit that provides training and legal and policy services to school boards statewide. “We provide this training at no additional cost to school boards,” Christina said, noting NHSBA’s policy database, webinars and legislative tracking services. He told the board NHSBA members typically pay annual dues (he estimated roughly $4,000 for a district of Laconia’s size) and that the association offers optional, fee-based services such as superintendent searches and strategic-planning consulting.

Presenters walked board members through frequently cited statutory and regulatory authorities. They referenced RSA 189 (the state statute setting districts’ duty to provide elementary and secondary education), RSA 32 (the municipal budgeting statute, which the presenters noted does not fully apply to city-dependent districts like Laconia), and RSA 194‑C:4 and Department of Education rules (ED 303.01 and related provisions) that describe superintendent duties and board responsibilities. NHSBA staff also pointed to sample board policies (for example, BEDH on public comment processes and KEB on handling public complaints) as templates boards can adapt.

On superintendent oversight, NHSBA urged an annual, documented evaluation and recommended interim check-ins: “Don’t do one evaluation a year and scramble at the end of June,” Christina said, suggesting quarterly or triannual check-ins tied to board-set goals. Presenters explained that the superintendent nominates certified staff hires and renewals and that boards act collectively to approve nominations; they described the board’s role in adopting hiring policies that can shape recruitment and renewal processes.

Budget and fiscal oversight were discussed as policy expressions. Presenters explained the difference between transfers within an appropriation line and transfers across major budget categories and recommended regular budget reporting to spot recurring transfer patterns. On collective bargaining, NHSBA cautioned boards about the obligation of bargaining-team members to support any tentative agreement reached by that team, warning that internal dissent on a bargaining team can stall or complicate ratification.

A substantial portion of the session covered the state right-to-know law and electronic communications. NHSBA stressed that a “meeting” under the statute can occur whenever a quorum of the body contemporaneously communicates about matters within the board’s jurisdiction. Presenters recommended these practices for board communications:
- Avoid substantive back-and-forth email or social-media exchanges among a quorum of members.
- Have administration or the chair send informational updates using BCC to prevent inadvertent “reply-all” deliberations.
- Do not use a board member’s personal social-media account for substantive board business; if a member does post, NHSBA advised disabling comments to avoid creating a public-body forum.
Will Phillips summarized the practical guidance: keep public, substantive deliberation inside properly noticed meetings and use the superintendent as the regular channel for substantive updates between meetings.

Board business: Early in the meeting the board approved the posted agenda (motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as 6-0) and approved the minutes of the Dec. 17, 2024 public school board meeting (motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as 6-0). The transcript does not identify the individual mover or seconder by full name.

Superintendent Bob Champlin provided an example of the chairman–superintendent communication line: after a fire-alarm report at the high school, Champlin said he checked the situation and “it was a vape alarm,” then coordinated an informational update to the board chair and the full board. The presenters urged members to forward simple FYI notices to the superintendent or chair rather than initiating independent investigations, and to cite relevant district policies to constituents when assisting with complaints.

The meeting included a Q&A in which board members asked about NHSBA services, costs, policy review timing and how line‑item transfers are handled in a city-dependent district. Presenters said NHSBA will provide access to its online policy database and policy-review materials and encouraged boards to refresh strategic plans and weave strategic-plan benchmarks into regular meeting agendas.

The session closed with NHSBA contact information and an offer for follow-up questions. Barrett Christina and Will Phillips told the board they are available for clarifications on policy language, right-to-know issues and superintendent-evaluation tools.

The board is expected to continue local policy review and the planned superintendent-evaluation work in the coming months; NHSBA materials and the association’s webinar calendar were offered as resources.