First, a heartfelt thank you to those who labor long and hard and unseen on ConVal's school board.

The hearing at ConVal on the upcoming warrant articles was well prepared and thorough. It was clear that the article to place a per-pupil cap on spending would disembowel the district’s ability to provide an adequate education to our children.

It was also clear that the withdrawal of Francestown and Dublin from the district would result in tax increases in both towns, as well as the towns remaining in the district. Though there were speakers from both Francestown and Dublin, the advantages of withdrawal for the children of those towns wasn't mentioned. So one has to ask, what is the point of withdrawal, what advantages accrue to the children of those towns?

Finally, the board should be commended on their agreement with the ConVal Education Association and the skillful way they have addressed the 14% rise in health care costs. This year’s budget is just over 3% higher than last years. Given that the core inflation rate for the past year was 3.2% current, kudos to the board.

For these reasons, I recommend that the voting public of the towns of the ConVal district vote to accept all the board recommendations in March. Vote for the teacher agreement, the budget and vote against the per-pupil spending cap and the withdrawal of Dublin and Francestown from the district.

Bryan Field

Peterborough