The issue of the ConVal school reconfiguration/consolidation has quickly become a hot topic. There have been a lot of words written and spoken, but few questions have been answered.

There have been statements thrown around about tax savings and big numbers like $2.4 million  to $4 million. When you read past the headlines, you quickly learn that this is not about saving money; rather it’s about reallocating money. After attending the Jan. 18 community forum, we learned the cost savings will be applied to expenses such as oil, energy, transportation and health insurance cost at the administration level, then if anything is left the high school and middle schools may receive additional programs.

If after all of that there is anything left over, it would be returned to the taxpayers. Again, no real tax savings, but reallocation of funds.

If you attend or tune in to regular school board meetings recently, you may have heard that they are beginning to talk about next year’s warrant articles, which are likely to include a $40 million bond to upgrade the Regional Applied Technology Center (ATC). This is wonderful news for the high school and the incredible ATC programs. However, this does not go along with tax savings or budget savings. Taxes will continue to rise.

Closing four schools and disrupting the lives of our youngest students to the detriment of the four towns hardly seems worth the possible savings which is equivalent to a yearly Netflix subscription. I urge our School Board to continue working on alternate long-term solutions that work toward bettering our children’s education without destroying our communities. This is likely to take more than the six months that were spent on the Prismatic report but will hopefully yield a community-supported solution.

Laura Mafera

Francestown