ConVal School Board members voted Wednesday night to accept the report submitted by Prismatic Consulting evaluating reconfiguration options in the ConVal district, although the vote was not a decision on Prismatic’s recommendation to close Francestown Elementary School, Dublin Consolidated School, Pierce School in Bennington and Temple Elementary School. 

“Accepting this report will allow us to pay Prismatic and end that part of the process,” School Board chair Dick Dunning of Peterborough clarified before the vote. “This does not mean we will follow the recommendations listed in the report.” 

The ConVal School Board hired North Carolina-based Prismatic Consulting in June to assess under-enrollment across the district and make a recommendation on possible reconfiguration. During a public forum on the report Dec. 11, Prismatic founder and president Tatia Prieto said the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) and the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (NHDBEA) project that ConVal school-age population will not grow significantly in the next 10 years.

After accepting Prismatic’s report, the board discussed next steps on the recommendation. The elementary schools in Francestown, Dublin, Bennington and Temple are the four smallest of the eight in the district, and the recommendation calls for merging them with other schools in the district to provide more opportunity for students and faculty and to lower the burden on the taxpayer. 

Katherine Heck, Greenfield’s representative, suggested the board begin discussing the recommendations immediately.

“We need to discuss the recommendation now, and every chance we can get,” Heck said. “I would like to start initial discussions.” 

Dan Harper, the representative from Hancock, asked if the board could delay making a decision. 

“If we did delay making a decision, could this go to a special Town Meeting?” he asked. 

Heck, who serves on the Budget Committee, said calling a special Town Meeting is an option, but that the board would have budget for this expense in all nine towns. During their meeting Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m., board members are scheduled to discuss the recommendations and whether they will present a warrant article to voters in March. According to ConVal’s 1967 Articles of Agreement, any changes to the number of elementary schools in the district would have to pass by two-thirds across the district.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, several parents from Dublin expressed their appreciation for Dublin Consolidated School as well as their concerns about how changing schools would affect their children’s emotional  and social development. Camille May of Dublin read aloud from several letters written by DCS students, stating their love for the school. May submitted the letter to the board. 

Susannah Tomanov of Hancock recommended not submitting a warrant article in 2024. 

“I suggest you consider not putting the warrant on the ballot this March. I suggest you take another year,” Tomanov said. 

Prismatic’s full recommendation is available at schoolboard.convalsd.net/conval-consolidation-reconfiguration.