As the Francestown Select Board representative to the ConVal Feasibility Committee, I have spent the past year focused on the prospects of Francestown leaving ConVal to create its own independent school district.

In addition to my time spent on the Feasibility Committee, I was also a member of the ConVal Budget Committee from 1998 to 2000 and spent 23 years on the Francestown Budget and Advisory Committee.

The numbers provided to the Feasibility Committee and analyzed in the Francestown minority report do work in Francestown’s favor and most likely for the district as a whole, contrary to what some would like us to believe.

The often-mentioned counter argument of “economies of scale” is hard to conceptualize in a district as widespread as ConVal – 11 schools in nine towns stretching throughout a good deal of the western Monadnock region. Competition for services often means enhanced pricing opportunities from various vendors at the local level. Putting all the numbers together withdrawal is a win for everybody.

An equally important factor that seems lost in many discussions is local control over the quality of education. Francestown residents and parents feel strongly that we want more say over the quality of education with our own school board and our own school budget, both answerable to Francestown voters.

These are the important factors that I will consider when I vote on March 11 in favor of Francestown’s, as well as Dublin’s, withdrawal from the ConVal School District.

Charles M. Pyle

Francestown Select Board Member