An issue that has arisen prior to Tuesday’s vote on an article that could lead to Francestown Elementary School, Dublin Consolidated School, Pierce School in Bennington and Temple Elementary School closing is what may happen to any empty buildings.

Under state law, a charter school would have right of first refusal to acquire the buildings, but the district’s 1967 Articles of Agreement gives that right to the towns. During a community forum at Dublin Public Library Wednesday, ConVal School Board Strategic Organization Committee Chairman Alan Edelkind said district’s legal counsel has determined that the towns would have right of first refusal.

“[State] legislation has been passed giving charter schools right of first refusal on property that would be disposed of by the school district,” he said. “Since we have articles of agreement, it has been determined that we are grandfathered in, so that we supersede what the legislation has done.”

School Board Chairman Dick Dunning went into more detail after a community member asked who issued the legal opinion.

“You can’t pass a state law now to supersede a law that was in existence in the past. Our understanding from our attorney is the town has first refusal right for the school,” Dunning said.

Dunning and Edelkind were referring to ConVal’s seventh article of agreement, which states “School property cannot be disposed of without the town in which such property is located having the right of first refusal at a price not to exceed the fair market value as determined by an impartial agency, public or private.”

The district’s Articles of Agreement were established at the formation of the school district in 1967, and were last amended in 1996. The state law that grants charter schools the right of first refusal on unused school district buildings was established in 2021.

Discussion of withdrawal

ConVal residents are voting Tuesday on whether to amend the Articles of Agreement so that the district only has to maintain elementary schools in Antrim, Greenfield, Hancock and Peterborough, as opposed to those four towns and Francestown, Dublin, Bennington and Temple. It requires two-thirds approval among all district voters.

Resident John Wood, referencing a petition Article 18 on Dublin’s March 16 Town Meeting warrant that would direct the School Board to initiate a feasibility study regarding Dublin’s withdrawal from ConVal, asked Dunning and Edelkind whether that study would obligate the school district to continue to operate Dublin Consolidated School until the study was concluded or the Department of Education disapproves the withdrawal plan. 

Dunning responded that the question was legal in nature, and neither he nor Edelkind were in a position to answer it.

Rephrasing his question, Wood asked if either of the School Board members would support keeping Dublin Consolidated School open until the completion of the feasibility study. 

Noting that he could only answer as an individual and was not speaking for the School Board, Dunning said, “If [Dublin warrant Article 18] passes, and the Town of Dublin wants to look into withdrawing from the district, then I think that’s the time that I would give you an answer.”

Dunning added that the School Board had not yet decided which, if any, schools should be closed, and the process would take some time.

Article 18 was submitted by Dublin Education Advisory Committee member Blake Minckler. According to state law, if the article passes, the district must assemble a committee composed of “one member of the school board from each of the pre-existing districts, one member of the board of selectmen from each town within the cooperative school district, and such other members as may be appointed by the committee.”

The committee’s first meeting must be within 60 days of the its formation, and the results of the feasibility study must be presented to the state Board of Education within 180 days of their first meeting. 

If the committee determines that withdrawal is feasible, a withdrawal plan must be submitted to the Board of Education for approval.

If Dublin withdraws from the school district, it would have to tuition middle- and high-school students to a nearby school, similar to the relationship Mason forged with the Milford School District after withdrawing its elementary school from Mascenic.

A community member said Dublin pays about $38,000 per student, the second-most in the district, to ConVal, prompting Minckler to ask about the cost of tuitioning a student to ConVal High School from outside the district.

“Say a student from Jaffrey wants to attend [school in] our district, what’s the price for that student?” Minckler asked.

“$9,700,” Wood answered.

“That sounds like it could be right,” said Dunning, adding that he didn’t know for sure.

Wood asked about the tuition rate should Dublin decide to withdraw and send students back to ConVal middle and high schools, and Edelkind answered that there was no guarantee Dublin would receive the same rate. Dunning added that there was also no guarantee that ConVal schools would accept tuitioned students. 

Currently, students from outside the district that are tuitioned in are selected based on vacancies in classrooms.

“We wouldn’t take them if it required us to add a teacher or something like that that would increase costs,” Dunning said.