Residents raise concerns about proposed cooperative district study and potential tax impact

During the meeting’s public-comment period, residents urged the board to consider a warrant article for a cooperative school district study and raised concerns about potential tax increases and school governance changes.

Joseph Kechetari, who identified himself and said his children attend the school, asked the board to put a warrant article "for a cooperative school district study under chapter section 9.9548218" and handed written materials to the board. He repeatedly warned the board that combining districts or reorganizing could increase taxes and suggested the building might be converted to a voucher-style program. Kechetari also alleged — without board confirmation — that "the person who runs the fire department is trying to back this because they're trying to get more money from the fire department."

Board members responded that the proposal, as presented to them, is only a study and that the board had not yet examined costs. When asked where costs would come from, the moderator said staff had "not looked at this" yet. Another resident asked how much the study would cost and pushed for voter consideration: "put it on the ballot," the commenter said.

Why it matters: residents framed the study as potentially affecting taxes, school structure and local services. The board did not adopt or reject the study in this meeting and did not provide a cost estimate; staff and trustees said they will need to review the matter further before any formal action.

No formal action on a cooperative-district warrant article was recorded at the meeting.