Resident urges Brookfield selectboard to press Wentworth School District on funding and contract

During the public input portion of the meeting, Frank Fraser (Ledger Road) urged the selectboard to use its standing to press the Wentworth School District chairman at an upcoming joint session in January to renegotiate the district contract or pursue funding-equalization fixes.

Fraser described the current funding as “unfair to the small towns” and said previous local efforts to form a budget committee had been rebuffed. He suggested two remedies: a district-wide fixed tuition model that assigns each town a fixed per-student cost, and a system based on 100% taxation on equalized valuation. Fraser said he would try to attend the joint session to hear the responses from the district chairman and encouraged selectboard members to pursue these issues.

Board members said the purpose of the joint session is for the district chairman to explain budget-forecast increases and answer town residents’ questions; the chair emphasized that the chairman will speak to residents directly at the January meeting. The transcript records residents’ concerns about taxation fairness but does not record a formal board directive to renegotiate the contract at this meeting.

What’s next: The joint session with the Wentworth School District chair is scheduled for January; the board will hear the chairman’s presentation and residents will have an opportunity to ask questions. The transcript does not record any formal action by the board to initiate contract renegotiation at this time.