In 2025, Francestown continued its attempt to withdraw from the ConVal School District, wrestled with a change of ownership at the Tory Pines condos, and was the site of a tragic accident that killed three local teenagers.
At the March elections, 81% of Francestown voters approved a warrant article proposing the town withdraw from the ConVal School District, but the proposal did not receive enough votes from the larger district to pass. The article, which failed by just 80 votes in the district election, required 60% of the overall vote across ConVal’s nine towns to pass.
In May, Francestown held a special town meeting to request a second feasibility study for withdrawal. The proposal was unanimously approved by Francestown voters who attended the meeting.
The Francestown School Committee, an official committee representing the town, which includes Select Board member Charlie Pyle and residents Laura Mafera and Pat Troy, has stated multiple times that the town’s priority is to keep Francestown Elementary School open in light of ConVal’s previous proposals to close it.
The FSC has stated that, according to the town’s proposed education plan for withdrawal, Francestown middle and high school students wishing to attend public school would tuition back into the ConVal district.
In 2023, the ConVal School Board proposed consolidating the district’s eight elementary schools into four, which could have led to the closure of elementary schools in Francestown, Dublin, Temple and Bennington. Those four schools are the district’s smallest, with enrollment ranging from 35 to 60 children per building.
Residents of the ConVal District introduced petition warrant articles four previous times asking the district to consider consolidation to lower costs.
The ConVal School Board has cited concerns about inequity and uneven distribution of resources among the district’s elementary schools as well as the high cost of running 11 schools across an area of 250 square miles as justification to consider consolidating schools.
Following the failure of the 2023 consolidation article, which saw intense opposition, the ConVal School Board has stated repeatedly it has no future plans to close any elementary schools and will consider other options to lower costs.
The district has faced dropping enrollment since the early 2000s, with every building in the district currently operating at 40% capacity or lower.
In September, the FSC presented its education plan to the ConVal Withdrawal Committee, citing research and interviews from other small towns, including Mason, which have successfully withdrawn from larger districts.
In October, the ConVal Withdrawal Committee voted 8-6 against Francestown’s request to pursue withdrawal a second time. In December, the State Department of Education approved Francestown’s minority report requesting the town bring its proposal to withdraw from the ConVal School District back to the district voters in March 2026.
If voters in ConVal’s nine towns (Antrim, Bennington, Dublin, Francestown, Greenfield, Hancock, Peterborough, Temple and Sharon) approve the proposal, the town would form an independent district to run Francestown Elementary School.
Developer, town stalled on site plan review for condos
In February, TAK Real Estate, LLC., of Topsfield, Mass., purchased the former Tory Pines condominium complex on Tory Pines Road near the Crotched Mountain Golf Club.
After purchasing the condo complex, which includes 24 one- and two-bedroom units in six buildings, TAK applied to the Francestown Zoning Board for a change of use permit, which would enable the units to be rented out on a long-term basis.
The units had previously been owned by Wyndham Resorts and were used only for short-term stays.
On July 18, the Francestown Zoning Board rescinded a deed restriction that had barred residents of the former Tory Pines timeshares from becoming residents of Francestown. Both Patricia Panciocco, a land use attorney representing TAK, and the town’s attorney advised the Zoning Board to remove the restriction, which dated to the 1990s, on the grounds that it was unenforceable and out of compliance with state law prohibiting exclusionary housing ordinances. The decision cleared the way for TAK to rent the units out on a long-term basis.
Because the units changed from short-term to long-term residency, the Select Board stated in an August letter to TAK that the property had undergone a change of use and required a minor site plan review. The Planning Board agreed, stating that according to town ordinance, the shift from short- to long-term rentals triggered a minor site plan review.
Panciocco said that because TAK has not made any physical changes to the units, a site plan review is not necessary.
In November, TAK permitted the town to conduct life safety inspections of the units and began mitigation of several pre-existing issues in the building, which had not been addressed by the previous owner.
As of December, TAK had still not applied for a site plan review with the Planning Board.
Police chief injured responding to mental health incident
Francestown’s then-Police Chief Fred Douglas was seriously injured when he responded to a mental health incident involving an armed man at a Francestown home on July 9.
Douglas, who retired from the police department in November, responded to a call on South County Road at around 9:30 a.m. on July 9 after Richard Vannostrand, 47, confronted a mail carrier and attempted to damage a mail carrier’s vehicle.
According to the State Police, Vannostrand refused to cooperate and then assaulted Douglas, giving him a non-life-threatening head injury.
Vannostrand, who was armed, then barricaded himself in his home. Deputies of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department and officers of the New Boston, Greenfield, Bennington, Hillsborough, Hancock, Peterborough and Antrim police departments all responded, setting up a perimeter around the home. The New Hampshire State Police SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Units responded along with the fire departments from Francestown and Peterborough.
After police took Vannostrand into custody, was hospitalized for mental health issues and arraigned on charges that included felony second-degree assault and resisting arrest or detention. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 8.
Douglas recovered from his injuries and was released from the hospital a few days later.
Three local teenagers die in crash on Route 47
Three local teenagers died in a car crash in Francestown around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
The victims were Seth Fowler, 18, and Luis Torres, 18, both of Antrim, and Aidan Brissette, 19, of Bennington.
The state police are still investigating the crash. Speed was suspected as a factor in the crash, in which all three men were thrown from the vehicle when it hit a utility pole near Schoolhouse Road and Route 47.
Route 47 was shut down for approximately five hours while utility crews repaired downed wires and state troopers documented the crash scene.
Anyone with information that may help the investigation is asked to contact Trooper Kevin Gazlay at (603)-223-4381 o Kevin.J.Gazlay@dos.nh.gov.