New opinion could change Dublin’s and Francestown’s possible withdrawal plans

Mike Hoyt of Bennington outlines the possible structure of the ConVal SAU were Francestown and Dublin to withdraw from the district. STAFF PHOTO BY JESSECA TIMMONS
Published: 07-30-2024 12:06 PM |
The ConVal Feasibility Study Committee presented new information from the ConVal School District’s legal counsel Thursday night which could affect Francestown’s and Dublin’s potential withdrawal plans.
Previously, attorney Dean Eggert of Wadleigh, Starr & Peters, which represents the ConVal School District, had given the opinion that when a town withdraws from a district, it must also withdraw from the School Administrative Unit. On July 23, after additional research and consideration of RSA 195:1, Wadleigh, Starr & Peters sent the district a revised opinion stating that towns withdrawing from a single-district SAU “shall remain a part of the school administrative unit it was part of prior to withdrawal.”
Prior to the revised opinion, representatives of Francestown, Dublin and the Feasibility Study Committee were working on the assumption that one of the options available to withdrawing towns was to run their own SAU. In New Hampshire, an SAU administers the business and administrative aspects of every school district, including curriculum, special education and human resources.
Mike Hoyt, School Board representative from Bennington, explained the potential impact of the revised opinion.
“Our counsel has revised their previous opinion which stated that a withdrawing town would also have to withdraw from the SAU. The opinion that the town would have to withdraw from SAU is not correct. The withdrawing town would still belong to SAU 1, unless they went through a separate SAU withdrawal procedure. That withdrawal process would be similar to this process, but not quite as involved,” Hoyt said.
Hoyt noted that the greatest impact of the new information is that “the SAU would then become a multi-district SAU.”
“Going forward, all nine towns would share the increased costs of the SAU. There would four sets of books that will all have to be separate. It would not fall just on Francestown and Dublin. Everyone would share the higher costs, and it would use the same funding formula that is in place now, with 50% attendance and 50% property values,” Hoyt said.
The four sets of books, according to Hoyt, would be the costs for SAU 1 staff and services, administering separate Dublin and Francestown districts and administering the ConVal district as a whole, which would include the remaining towns.
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Bill Kennedy, Select Board member from Peterborough, said that the additional SAUs would “require a lot more work.”
“The increase in expense and the additional amount of work will be spread across all nine towns, with only a small fraction falling on the towns that are leaving,” Kennedy said.
Hoyt agreed that “it is enormous increase of expense and work to have separate districts within the SAU.”
Laura Mafera and Pat Troy of Francestown, who attended the meeting as representatives of the Francestown School Committee, said their committee would need time to review the information, as it could affect their plans going forward.
The Francestown School Committee presented a draft of its education plan to Francestown residents Wednesday night based on the previous legal opinion regarding the SAU. That draft included the assumption that Francestown would establish its own SAU, so the town would have to decide whether or not to pursue withdrawing from the SAU.
“This SAU information throws a wrench into our plan,” Mafera said.
The committee also discussed the impact of special education costs on the overall financial picture for ConVal towns. Carol Monroe, Select Board member from Dublin, reiterated her concern that specific numbers for special education are difficult to obtain.
“We need numbers on how many children need special education services, and how much those services cost on average. I understand the towns are responsible for special education costs, but we need more information, such as, if kids are getting services at ConVal, how much do those services cost?” Monroe said.
Hoyt, who noted that he was a special education director for 10 years in the Franklin school district, said he would meet with ConVal Special Education Director Benjamin Moenter to obtain the numbers.
“We will get you more-precise numbers on what it will cost. I can find out what we are currently paying the agency that supplies us with all the contracted special education services. The new districts are probably going to have to look at doing that,” Hoyt said.
The ConVal School District cannot release information about specific students in individual towns according to the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The Francestown School Committee and the Dublin Education Advisory Committee are currently scheduled to present their findings to the Feasibility Study Committee Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. in the SAU conference room.