ConVal board debates Francistown/Dublin withdrawal claims after SAU cost-model errors disclosed

The Contoocook Valley School District school board discussed letters from the Francistown School Committee and the Dublin Select Board alleging the district refused to meet and disputing the district's withdrawal cost estimates. Board members and the district's budget-and-property chair said their feasibility work and updated cost model had been shared with the town representatives and that earlier calculation errors had been corrected.

Board member Curtis Hamilton said the district had engaged Francistown and Dublin through a six-month feasibility study, community forums and committee meetings and that "negotiations can only begin should withdrawal be approved by a district wide vote." He told the board the town that seeks withdrawal would form an independent district and that any negotiations over costs would follow a vote by that town's voters.

Jim Fredericksen, chair of the budget and property committee, told the board he had prepared a cost-apportionment model to estimate the incremental costs of a move to a multi-district SAU. Fredericksen said early estimates placed the multi-district SAU cost at $2,070,000, later work using a different method produced an estimate of $2,790,000, and that a prior presentation had incorrectly been reported in some public communications as a $1,500,000 increase. He said the difference arose after discovering a formula error that had not captured nearly $1,000,000 in employer benefit costs and that he had corrected the model. Fredericksen said the corrected model and the superintendent's draft estimates are public and available on request. "I now publicly apologize once again for the inadvertent calculation errors I made," he said.

Dr. Anne Forrest, the district superintendent, told the board she had shared the updated model with Francistown after the community forum and said the district would produce supporting documents requested under a right-to-know request. She asked board members and staff to forward any emails or documents that relate to the community-forum presentation so the district could compile a complete response by the deadline.

Fredericksen and Hamilton emphasized that the degree to which a withdrawing town's submitted budget would cover the cost of running an independent SAU is unknown without a formal withdrawal plan and negotiations. Fredericksen noted the district's modeling suggested towns remaining in the ConVal district could face increased tax burdens in the range of about 6.6% to 7% under certain multi-district SAU scenarios, but stressed that estimates depend on inputs such as tuition assumptions and staffing choices.

No board vote occurred on withdrawal during the meeting. Instead, the board agreed to compile and provide the requested documents and to continue public communication ahead of a March 11 vote referenced by multiple speakers.