The ConVal School District had both challenges and triumphs in 2025, the first full year under Superintendent Ann Forrest.
In July, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled in favor of ConVal and 18 other school districts that the base adequacy aid, or the amount paid by the state per public school student, was insufficient for an adequate education. The Supreme Court upheld the Superior Court ruling that base adequacy aid must exceed the minimum threshold of at least $7,356.01 per pupil. The state currently pays about $4,100 per student per year.
On Oct. 27, the state announced it would reimburse $666,227.90 in legal fees to the ConVal district, acknowledging 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.
An official statement from the district stated that ConVal “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.”
On Dec. 16, the ConVal School Board voted to return the money to the district’s taxpayers. The funds will be applied to the December 2026 tax assessment.
In March, voters in Conval’s nine towns narrowly defeated proposals from Dublin and Francestown that would have enabled the two towns to withdraw their elementary schools from ConVal and form independent districts to administer their schools. A total of 81% of Francestown voters supported the town’s effort, while 51% of Dublin voters were in favor of withdrawal.
Francestown’s 81% approval vote, 416-95, would have been enough for the article to pass, but only 38% of district voters overall approved. Dublin hit neither threshold, as only 51% of voters in town, 242-229, and 37% overall approved.
Francestown’s proposal failed by 80 votes overall, spurring residents to request a second feasibility study for withdrawal in the summer of 2025. The district convened a Withdrawal Committee, which met throughout the summer.
Temple voters passed a petition warrant article requesting a feasibility study for withdrawal in March, but voters rescinded the article later in the summer after the supporters of the petition failed to convene a withdrawal study committee or create an education plan for Temple students.
In October, the ConVal School Board voted 8-6 against supporting Francestown’s request to pursue withdrawal. In December, the state Department of Education approved Francestown’s Minority Report, enabling the town to take the proposal to voters again in March 2026.
In January 2025, the board dropped a plan to undertake an extensive renovation of the Region 14 Career and Technical Education Center after district residents packed a public forum to express concerns about cost. Board members called the project “bad timing” in light of failed proposals for school consolidation, which were proposed partly as a cost-saving measure for the district, in the previous year. The proposal would have taken advantage of a regular distribution of state funding for CTE centers.
In April, the ConVal School Board announced it will partner with the New Hampshire Fair Funding Project, a nonprofit that supports grassroots advocacy for greater equity in public school funding and taxation.
In May, the district welcomed new Assistant Superintendent Amy Stevenson, who is taking on several major projects, including leading the newly reinstated Education Committee, which evaluates the curriculum and education goals for the district’s 11 schools. Stevenson is also heading up initiatives studying the use of AI in the classroom.
Also in May, following the resignation of previous Business Manager Robert DiGregorio, Neal Cass, a Hancock resident, joined the district as business manager. Cass, a ConVal graduate, is also the father of two ConVal graduates.
Deborah Riley became the district’s new special education director in 2025. Previously, Riley served as special education administrator for ConVal High School. Amelia Joseph, who was previously special education coordinator for the middle schools, stepped into Riley’s former role at the high school.
In September, ConVal High School implemented a bell-to-bell cellphone ban, bringing the district into compliance with new state law.
The district had been studying the issue of cellphone use in the high school for the year prior to the state law, with the committee unanimously recommending a bell-to-bell ban starting in fall 2025.
In December, the school board began drafting a warrant article for the district’s proposal for open enrollment, which is required by the state legislature. The district also revised the Region 14 CTE center regional agreement to comply with state law, creating a CTE access program which will allow students from Mascenic and Conant coming to ConVal for CTE classes to enroll full-time or part-time in non-CTE classes.