The Francestown Select Board unanimously approved a petition for a special Town Meeting requesting a second feasibility study for withdrawal from the ConVal School District, as well as a second warrant article requesting the formation of a planning committee at ConVal to study the benefits of Francestown leaving or remaining in SAU 1. 

The first article was identical to an article that passed at Town Meeting in 2024, after a failed attempt by ConVal to consolidate the district’s eight elementary schools into four schools, which could have led the closure of schools in Francestown, Dublin, Bennington and Temple. Although the ConVal Feasibility Study Committee voted against recommending either Francestown’s or Dublin’s requests to withdraw, both went to the ballot in March after the state Board of Education voted in their favor.

Either could have been approved with majority approval across the district or 60% within town and 40% overall. Dublin’s request did not reach either standard, receiving 51% of the vote in town and 37% overall. However, while Francestown’s request fell short of the overall vote needed, garnering 38%, it did receive 81% approval in town.

Over 60 Francestown residents, including ConVal School Board representative Tom Kirlin, signed the petition requesting a special Town Meeting, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m. at Francestown Town Hall. 

Members of the Francestown School Committee, which has spearheaded the town’s efforts to leave the district, have stated that the town would like to run the elementary school independently and tuition older students back into the ConVal district for middle school and high school. In March, the Francestown School Committee stated its intention to start the process of  withdrawing from SAU with the intention of eliminating cost and administrative burden on ConVal’s remaining eight towns.

In New Hampshire, an SAU, or school administrative unit, is responsible for administration for any districts within the uniot, including policy-setting, budgeting, curriculum, compliance with state and federal regulations and business administration, including accounting, payroll and benefits. ConVal has been a single-district SAU with nine towns since it was formed in 1967.

The ConVal School Board has stated repeatedly that any withdrawals from individual towns will most likely cause an increase in taxes for the seven remaining towns because of increased administration costs and decreased revenues.  Both the Francestown School Committee and representatives from Dublin have questioned this assertion.