I am Alan Edelkind, ConVal School Board representative for Dublin, and proud of it. 

I am the lead on the ConVal reconfiguration study, but being the lead does not necessarily mean that I support the outcome, although, as you will see, I do and why I do. I took the lead in this activity with an open mind as relates to its structure, objective and outcome and waited until I completely read the Prismatic final report and relying on my learning on the School Board before coming to the decision that I would support their report and recommendation, which was to close Francestown Elementary School, Dublin Consolidated School, Pierce School in Bennington and Temple Elementary School. 

Did I agree with everything they produced? No. But the things I disagreed with did not carry enough weight to not agree with their conclusion – that for the best educational opportunities for all of our ConVal students in all towns and in all grades and for keeping our taxes down and/or spent on the proper and needed activities, consolidation of our underutilized elementary schools was the correct answer.

I will leave detailed figures out of this article as we are going to have meetings (in community forum format) that will delve into the required details. We also are providing written information that will be sent to all residents. Scheduling is in progress, and all ConVal residents will be properly invited to attend either in-house or online.

Among the facts to consider is student population. Our student population has been declining for years, and based on U.S. government sources, it is not projected to increase but to keep on a downward trend. This includes taking into account building permits. This is not unique to ConVal or New Hampshire, but to the general U.S. population. This is also not due to charter schools taking our children. People are not having children in the numbers previously seen for a variety of reasons.

Where will we send the children from the to-be-closed schools (towns)?

The report from Prismatic recommends certain schools as receiving schools for the consolidating schools. In fact, they suggest multiple options for each consolidating school. Looking in detail at the current enrollment, projected enrollment and receiving school capacities, all logical moves will work.

There are a very few scenarios where if multiple consolidating schools chose the same recommended receiving school there would be a capacity issue. But the likelihood of that happening is not reality and looking at all receiving schools’ capacity to take the consolidating school children is totally realistic. We use the capacity figures from the state and ConVal (which is more conservative) to determine this. Details will be discussed at our upcoming meetings. But, rest assured, there will not be a capacity issue. 

Remember, there is a whole school year allocated to detailed planning prior to any consolidation action being taken. Your School Board will use this time wisely. While we did vote to accept the Prismatic recommendation, we left the door open to modification if needed.

The effect on taxes

It has been suggested that each taxpayer would only save approximately $13 per month depending on the town. I won’t argue with this figure, but if you extend it out to all taxpayers, you come up with an conservatively estimated annual savings of $2.4 million to $4 million. Will this savings result in a return to the taxpayer? That depends on a series of decisions that will need to be made in coming up with a budget. Should it be “returned” to the taxpayer and not used to offset the costs of needed programs? Should it not be  “returned” to the taxpayer and used to offset the cost of needed programs? 

How much more can the taxpayer afford to keep and make ConVal the great education institution it needs to be? Savings of $2.4 million to $4 million can be used in many ways. Some ways would result in a reduction in taxes, and some would avoid maintenance costs on the closed buildings and use the savings for other needed programs without asking for more in taxes.

These decisions need to be made intelligently and deliberately, which is why we have allocated a full year for coming up  with an approach. We need to consider the needs of our children as paramount in this endeavor. 

Preparing all children for middle school and high school success

The more we spend needlessly on underutilized schools, the less we have available to spend on programs that will prepare all of our children for needed success in middle and high school and beyond. We need to spend wisely and not on emotion. 

What do we do with the closed schools?

The last thing we want to do is maintain a closed building. Working with each town affected by the closure, we have many options. The building can be sold to the town at or less than fair market value if they want it. They have the right of first refusal. The town can use the building or lease/sell it to another party. I am not a real estate expert, but I believe if sold to a for-profit company, the building will come back on the town tax rolls.

Some uses to be considered include selling or leasing to a private or charter school, using the building for elderly or workforce housing and leasing or selling the building for industrial purposes depending on zoning limitations.

There are many possibilities to be considered. Our planning year will determine the outcome.

Safety and staffing

An item I never thought about living here in rural New Hampshire would become of paramount importance. In this day and age, no one is immune to the violence going on around us. We have minimum staff requirements for each building. Do these requirements allow for a safe environment, considering the empty rooms and lack of adult presence? Less than is needed in this day and age. We know this and the answer is no.

The safety of our children and staff is a paramount issue to be addressed. Consolidation of underutilized schools will help, but not eliminate this threat.

Staffing concerns

We are committed to no staff layoffs. We cannot fill the needed staff requirements now. We support managing staff by attrition and retirement and fully expect that attrition and retirements will happen as needed. Should staff be paid more to keep and attract what is needed? Sure, as far as the budget will allow. Remember that staff is 85% of our operating budget. To pay more means to be smart in what we need. Consolidation will help in this.

Conclusion

As I stated in the beginning of this writing, required detailed figures will be provided in the upcoming community meetings and written communications. Now you can see why. We are in the process of arranging and scheduling these meetings and will let you know how, when and where to attend.

Alan Edelkind is the Dublin representative to the ConVal School Board and chair of ConVal's Strategic Organization Committee.