The ConVal School Board welcomed three new representatives following recent town elections at the Tuesday night meeting of the board.
Laura Mafera, representing Francestown, replaces Tom Kirlin, who stepped down after serving several terms. Mafera is a founding member of the Francestown School Committee, an official town committee which advocated for the town’s recent successful bid to create an independent school district to administer Francestown Elementary School.
Mary Armstrong, who was elected as a write-in candidate from Dublin, replaces Bill Gurney. Gurney served out the remainder of a one-year term after John Wood, who was elected in 2025, left the position after one month. Armstrong is a career educator and former president of the PTO at Dublin Consolidated Schools. Her children attended ConVal schools.
Elizabeth Ahearn, who represents Peterborough, replaces long-serving board member Dr. Greg Kriebel. Ahearn, who has a background in the academic library field, has been a Peterborough resident for 10 years and has two children at Peterborough Elementary School. She currently serves as the PTO communications director for PES.
Committees look ahead to costs, facilities plan
Chairs of the board’s Budget and Property and Facilities committees reported they are looking at how to manage costs, particularly for fuel, going into the 2026-2027 school year.
Jim Fredrickson of Sharon, chair of the Budget and Property Committee, said the district is looking at how to manage rising fuel prices in the coming year as a result of volatile world markets.
“We’re very fortunate that our facilities manager, Tim Grossi, has already locked in our fuel price for the next year because we are seeing a 1.4% increase in costs so far,” Fredrickson said.
Tom Burgess of Peterborough, chair of the Facilities Committee, said the committee is undertaking a review of the needs of all ConVal facilities.
“We’ll be working with the Communications Committee, and we will share all the data we have compiled from our assessment next year,” Burgess said.
Superintendent Ann Forrest said the district is grateful the budget was approved by 59% of district voters in the recent election.
“Given that several of our surrounding districts failed their budgets, this is not something we take for granted, and we’re very grateful for the support of our communities,” she said.
Curtis Hamilton, representative for Greenfield, noted that in his town, 59% of voters voted against the ConVal budget.
“People are having a difficult time living under systems that tax them regardless of their ability to pay,” he said. “It’s easy to forget about the people who voted against the budget. The no votes on our budget lend some urgency to this work for each of us on this board, so let’s let it drive our attention and creativity in our work going forward.”
The next meeting of the ConVal School Board is Tuesday, April 7 at 7 p.m.
All ConVal School Board meetings are streamed at youtube.com/c/ConValEvents.
