Historic covers – Monadnock Ledger-Transcript: March 14, 2024

Published: 12-31-2024 1:00 PM

The issue of small classes in the ConVal School District had plagued district officials for years, but no solution had ever been found.

The School Board tried again in 2023 and 2024, hiring the educational consulting firm Prismatic to address under-enrollment in the district and make a recommendation. The firm ultimately recommended closing Francestown Elementary School, Dublin Consolidated School, Pierce School in Bennington and Temple Elementary School, citing the potential for educational equity and better opportunities for students and teachers, as well as savings for taxpayers.

However, district residents had other ideas. When an amendment that would have changed the district’s 1967 Articles of Agreement to only requiring schools in Antrim, Greenfield, Hancock and Peterborough went before voters, it received only 45.47% of the vote, far less than the two-thirds required.

Furthermore, the effort led Dublin and Francestown to explore leaving the district to run their own elementary schools and potentially tuition students into ConVal for middle and high school. After the state Board of Education gave the go-ahead to proceed, it will be in front of district voters in March.

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