The Dublin Education Advisory Committee and Francestown School Committee presented their proposals for withdrawal from the ConVal School District to the ConVal Feasibility Study Committee at Thursday night’s committee meeting.

Francestown and Dublin began exploring the possibility of leaving the ConVal district after a proposal to change the district’s original Articles of Agreement failed at the polls in March. The proposed changes to the articles would have paved the way to consolidating the district’s eight elementary schools into four schools, which could have meant the closure of the elementary schools in Dublin, Temple, Francestown and Bennington.

Laura Mafera and Pat Troy represented the Francestown School Committee, which is a group of residents and not an official town committee, presenting the committee’s recent recommendations to the town’s Select Board. Based on responses to a town survey, the committee recommends the creation of an independent Francestown School District, which would run Francestown Elementary School, with middle- and high-school students tuitioning back into the ConVal district. Mafera said the  district would most likely remain in the SAU, which is the default  in withdrawal situations. 

Mafera stressed that Francestown’s top priority is control over the fate of Francestown Elementary School.

“Our town has made it very clear that we want to keep FES open for now,” Mafera said. “We don’t have an issue with the ConVal School District. We very much support public education,  and we believe in public education. It is important to us to keep cultural and social continuity with the school district.”

The committee’s presentation noted the “longstanding bond” between Francestown and ConVal, and stated that the proposal was a “win-win” for the district and the town, as ConVal would no longer have to run FES, but older students would stay in the district. Mafera and Troy acknowledged that according to their financial projections, it will not save Francestown money to run an independent school district, and that the cost to the town will be about the same.

“We’ve heard the superintendent say that the small schools, like Francestown,  are ‘bleeding the middle school and the high school dry.’ Francestown is willing to pay more to keep our elementary school,” Troy said. “We have been very clear that this plan will not save the town money. People responded in the survey that they are willing to pay the same we are paying now to keep the school open.” 

Carole Monroe, Select Board member from Dublin, presented on behalf of the Dublin Education Advisory Committee, noting that the DEAC is an official town committee. DEAC members Blake Anderson, Blake Minkler, Andy Hungerford and Bill Gurney also attended the meeting. 

Monroe’s presentation said that Dublin's main motivation for leaving the district is that the increasing costs in the district are “unsustainable” for the town, and that residents are concerned about the quality of education. 

Monroe outlined the two principal options the DEAC is considering – to withdraw from the ConVal district and remain in the SAU, or to withdraw and leave the SAU, which would require a separate withdrawal process similar to the feasibility study process for withdrawal. In both cases, the “first plan” would be to tuition students in grades seven to 12 back into ConVal, with fifth- and sixth-graders staying at Dublin Consolidated School. Monroe said that according to the results of the committee’s survey of town residents,  Dublin’s priority, along with keeping DCS open, is to “be responsible for our own budget.”

Monroe added that Dublin might consider staying in the district if ConVal were to sign a “never-closure agreement.”

“We have also looked at the possibility of having a specialty or magnet school, and of drawing students from other towns to our district,” Monroe said. “We are aware that includes special education and building maintenance.”

According to federal law, towns pay for the special education needs of every student residing in the town, whether they receive services from a public school district, a private or charter school or are home-schooled.

The representatives from both Dublin and Francestown mentioned the high numbers of home-schooled students in their towns. The Francestown recommendation includes plans to work with home-schooled students and potentially integrate them in the FES community. Monroe said that while Dublin has about 100 home-schooled students, “no one can tell us where they go to school, or if they are home-schooled.” 

“The state has no idea where these kids go to school. No one is tracking it,” Monroe said. “We know we have several private schools in Dublin and some students attend those schools, but the information about where most of those 100 kids go to school is not available.”

Curtis Hamilton, School Board representative from Greenfield, questioned Monroe about specific results of the Dublin survey.

“You have reported  to us that 55% of the respondents to your survey said it was important to stay in the ConVal district. How many of those were parents?” Hamilton asked. “If this board could see those numbers, it would be helpful.”

Monroe said she would provide complete survey results of Dublin’s survey to the committee.

Jim Kingston, School Board representative from Temple, noted that while the Francestown seems prepared to create an education plan for its town’s students, the Dublin Education Advisory Committee does not seem to have decided on a specific plan. 

“Dublin does not seem to be ready. Dublin needs to pick one option; there sees to be lack of consensus. Your committee needs to come up with something solid,” Kingston said. 

Feasibility Study Committee Chair Mike Hoyt of Bennington reiterated that if the committee committee decides it is feasible for either town to withdraw from ConVal, the committee must then create an education plan for the students in those towns in order to demonstrate to the New Hampshire Department of Education that the towns will be able to provide an adequate education for every student.  The Feasibility Study Committee will make its decision by Sept. 1, and would then have until Nov. 15 to present an education plan for the withdrawing towns to the state.

If the state approves the plans, the proposals would go to a vote in March. Withdrawal can pass either by majority vote in a town looking to withdraw and across the district as a whole, or by three-fifths vote in a town seeking to withdraw, unless three-fifths of voters across the district disapprove.

“If everything was approved and went through, these new school districts would not be on their own until August 2026,” Hoyt said. 

Hoyt then proposed the creation of two subcommittees, comprised of each town’s School Board representatives, Select Board members and School Board committee members with education experience to create the required education plans should the committee decided withdrawal is feasible for both or either town. 

The next meeting of the Feasibility Study Committee is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22.