This March, voters across the Contoocook Valley School District will once again decide whether Francestown should be allowed to withdraw from the nine-town cooperative district. While the issue may feel new to some, it is the result of years of discussion, studies, and votes tied to concerns about the future of Francestown Elementary School and local control over education.
ConVal was formed in the late 1960s, when New Hampshire encouraged school consolidation by offering increased state building aid and higher borrowing limits. In January 1967, nine towns voted to create the district under a set of Articles of Agreement that outline governance, finances, and how changes must be approved. Those articles function as the district’s constitution and require a three-fifths supermajority of district-wide voters to be amended. In the spirit of retaining each town’s local identity and sense of community, these articles stipulated that ConVal maintain elementary schools in each town that had a school at the time of the cooperative formation.
A notable amendment in 1996 changed how costs are apportioned amongst towns by shifting to a system that relies more on each town’s cumulative property value rather than the number of students in town receiving public education from the district. This altered the balance in Francestown and several other ConVal towns to the point that they are paying more into the district than the cost of educating their resident students. While this was not initially controversial, it has become increasingly important as the elementary schools in some of these ‘donor’ towns have experienced substantial cost cutting and even the threat of closure.
In 2023, a district-commissioned reconfiguration study recommended closing four elementary schools, including Francestown’s. Although no closures followed, the recommendation alarmed residents. In 2024, a ConVal warrant article proposed revising the Articles of Agreement in a way that would have allowed the School Board to close Francestown Elementary, as well as Bennington, Dublin and Temple elementary schools, at its discretion. That article was defeated, but many residents remained concerned about the school’s long-term security.
For Francestown, the stakes are high. Closing the town’s only school would mean a significant loss to the community and missed opportunities for its students. With the town having already lost its church in recent years, many view the school as central to Francestown’s identity. There is also concern for the long bus rides the young students would have to be bussed to neighboring schools.
In response, the town formed a local school committee to explore options. After public forums and surveys, Francestown voters approved a warrant article in 2024 requesting a formal feasibility study on withdrawal. A district withdrawal committee studied the issue and voted 8–6 against recommending withdrawal, while Francestown submitted a minority report in favor. The New Hampshire State Board of Education accepted the minority report, placing the question on the 2025 district ballot.
Francestown voters supported withdrawal by 82 percent. However, because stopping
withdrawal requires a three-fifths supermajority across the remaining district towns, the effort fell short by 80 votes.
In 2025, Francestown again voted, this time unanimously at a Special Town Meeting, to request another feasibility study. The second study reached the same 8–6 vote against withdrawal, and once again the State Board accepted Francestown’s minority report.
As a result, the question of whether Francestown should be allowed to withdraw from ConVal will again appear on the district ballot this year. Supporters of withdrawal argue that while the cooperative district model served its towns well when it was created in 1967, it no longer reflects present-day circumstances.
Francestown is property-rich but not among the wealthiest towns in the district. The town ranks fifth out of the nine in median household income, yet its taxpayers contribute considerably more each year than the direct cost of educating Francestown students. At the same time, several towns with higher median household incomes contribute significantly less than the cost of educating their own students. It is the loss of this donation that has primarily driven the opposition against withdrawal. Though modest as it related to the overall ConVal budget when spread across the remaining eight towns, taking back Francestown’s donation would enable the town to overcome the challenges of starting and operating a small district without impacting its taxpayers.
Supporters also point to district budget surpluses. The amount the district chooses to keep in surplus funds annually is often greater than the estimated loss associated with Francestown leaving. Viewed this way, it can be argued that the reduction in revenue from Francestown would be relatively small in context of the district’s overall finances. This pattern reflects broader structural imbalances in the current funding model and strengthens the case that allowing Francestown to withdraw would be fair to both the town and the remaining district communities.
Laura Mafera is chair of the Francestown School Committee and lives in Francestown.