After eight years of litigation, the Contoocook Valley School District, or ConVal, has been fully reimbursed for its attorneys’ fees by the state of New Hampshire following a landmark case addressing the state’s constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education.
The reimbursement, totaling $666,227.90 to ConVal, acknowledges the district’s role in ensuring that the state meets its funding obligations. ConVal’s partner districts will also be fully reimbursed for their legal fees.
The district calls the decision “a victory for constitutional rights and public benefit.”
According to ConVal, the court’s decision to award the fees recognized that ConVal “brought this action in an effort to hold the State accountable for the school funding obligations imposed by Part II, Article 83 of the New Hampshire Constitution.”
The district cites the following key findings by the Court to highlight the significance of the case:
● Constitutional Insufficiency: ConVal “demonstrated that the current amount
of base adequacy aid funding is constitutionally insufficient, and must be increased to
more than $7,356.01 per pupil.”
● Vindication of Rights: The Court found that ConVal and its partner districts “have
contributed to the vindication of important constitutional rights,” providing “a significant
benefit upon the general public,” which otherwise would have borne the cost of such a
suit.
The Court ruled that this is “an appropriate, if not compelling, case in which to exercise [its] inherent equitable powers and award reasonable attorney’s fees to the plaintiff school districts.”
ConVal stated that it is proud to have defended the constitutional right of every child in New Hampshire to a sufficiently funded public education and is pleased that the financial burden of doing so has been reimbursed by the state.
The ConVal School Board will evaluate how best to use the recovered funds, according to the district.
For more details, see the NH Supreme Court decision here: https://www.courts.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt471/files/documents/2025-07/2025029conval.pdf
School board says decision was significant
Mike Hoyt, Chair of the ConVal School board, said the decision was significant in several ways.
“Obviously, this is great news as far as the monetary value coming back to the district, but it’s also important as far as representing what the New Hampshire Supreme Court decided. The next step is the board will have to look at what to do with that money,” Hoyt said.
Hoyt said the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit — a total of 19 school districts in addition to ConVal — should be receiving reimbursement for their legal fees as well.
“They should all be getting their share soon. ConVal’s share is higher because we initiated the lawsuit and have spent more time on this, but the other districts should be getting reimbursed as well,” Hoyt said.
Ann Forrest, Superintendent of the ConVal School District, said the district feels “validated” by the decision.
“The Court’s finding that our current base adequacy aid is ‘constitutionally insufficient’ validates the core argument of ConVal’s case against the State of New Hampshire,” Forrest said in a statement on Friday.
“The complete reimbursement of legal fees confirms that school districts can successfully challenge systemic constitutional failures and be made whole. Ultimately, ConVal and our fellow plaintiffs successfully advocated for our students’ rights and ensured that the final financial burden did not fall on our local taxpayers. The ruling sends a clear message: the monetary responsibility of upholding the fundamental right to an adequate education belongs with the State, not with the local taxpayers already struggling under an unfair funding model,” she said.
Forrest also called on the Legislature to act.
“We now call on the legislature to take the action needed to bring state funding up to the level mandated by the New Hampshire Constitution,” Forrest said.
Additional plaintiffs in the case included the Mascenic, Monadnock, Hillsboro-Deering, Hopkinton, Manchester, and Nashua school districts.
Jesseca Timmons contributed to this article.