Vote ‘no’ on withdrawal
Voters in the ConVal School District will see a familiar warrant article on March 10: Francestown’s request that voters approve their withdrawal from the ConVal school district. The Francestown school committee has written a few opinion articles outlining their reasons for seeking withdrawal. We offer one reason why voters should consider voting against withdrawal: cost. While the Francestown arguments are persuasive, the remaining eight towns need to understand the size of the burden they will assume should the withdrawal be approved: a $1.6 million shortfall will translate to an overall significant assessment increase.
The Francestown school committee does not foresee Francestown residents saving any money if they withdraw from ConVal. But the withdrawal will negatively impact the remaining towns, leaving a significant hole in the ConVal budget. That money would have to be made up by the remaining eight towns.
In the 1960’s, when the nine towns decided to join together into a single district, it was
because they were facing the need to equip their small independent schools to face the
new complexities of the emerging culture and economy. The towns then — as
now — understood that they were equipping future generations to participate and excel in
a changing world that required investments that would not be possible individually. Cooperative school districts join to share their resources, so that they may
share the risk and reward across all nine towns and offer a stable, efficient and high-quality education for their citizens. This withdrawal will inflict financial hardship on the remaining towns. We respect the Francestown school committee’s efforts. But the remaining eight towns must consider the impact of the withdrawal on their own towns. Please vote against the Francestown withdrawal.