Francestown had done its homework. With a feasibility study and approval from the state, many voters were ready to separate from the Contoocook Valley School District.
An overwhelming 81% of Francestown voters approved the withdrawal measure last year — for the second time. But their wishes were rendered null and void when they missed the threshold from the cooperative school district’s other towns by just a few dozen votes.
State Rep. Mary Murphy, a Republican from Francestown, wants to change that outcome. She submitted legislation in the House of Representatives that would make it easier for towns to withdraw from a school district that they share with others.
For her, it’s an issue of liberty.
Current law allows towns to withdraw with a three-fifths supermajority, unless a supermajority of voters from other towns in the district oppose it. That’s what happened in Francestown last year.
“Parents have the right to choose what school setting is most appropriate for their children, and so we need to make it a little bit easier for them,” Murphy said.
Dublin also attempted to withdraw from ConVal last year but missed the three-fifths threshold from voters in the town.
Murphy’s bill, HB 1374, would remove other towns from the equation. To pass, the vote would simply need to win a supermajority from the withdrawing town.
Murphy said she believes Francestown is “well-positioned” to withdraw from ConVal, but she doesn’t want to make the state law too relaxed, for fear of towns pursuing options they can’t pay for.
Francestown, for example, doesn’t have a middle or high school and will likely still need to pay to send students to ConVal. She doesn’t want taxpayers to end up paying more for that same service.
“I wanted to keep the feasibility piece in there because I think it’s in the best interest of the children,” Murphy said. “I also wanted to keep a supermajority in there, just to make sure that townspeople understand what they’re signing up for and that they’re going to fully back the new school district once it’s established.”
Francestown Select Board Chair Charlie Pyle wouldn’t take a public position on withdrawal as an elected official, but he said the residents of his town should be able to choose their own destiny.
“I think individual towns should have a say in whether they want to leave,” Pyle said, as long as their plan to withdraw and create their own school district is vetted and supported by the state.
People who opposed the measure at ConVal’s district meeting last year said they were concerned that withdrawal would negatively impact both the towns leaving and the towns that would remain.
Outside of ConVal, the town of Deering — which Murphy also represents — is weighing the feasibility of leaving the Hillsboro-Deering Cooperative School District.
The withdrawal question will go before Francestown voters again this year under the current state law. If Murphy’s bill passes, it would not go into effect in time for the 2026 district meeting.