10-2-2024 – Hello fellow Sharonites,
As you probably know, the committee established to consider the proposals by Dublin and Francestown to withdraw from the ConVal School District has voted NOT to recommend the proposed withdrawals. We feel it is appropriate to let you know how your Sharon representatives voted.
First, the committee itself was daunting. As outlined in NH state statutes, the committee consisted of one school board representative from each of the nine towns in the district along with one member of the Select Board from each town. That is a total of 18 people.
Jim Fredrickson is the school board representative for Sharon, so he filled that role. He also chaired a subcommittee that developed a model to study the financial impacts of the withdrawal on Dublin and Francestown as well as the towns that remained a part of the ConVal district. Chet Bowles served as the representative from the Sharon Select Board.
The committee began meeting in May and met twice per month until the concluding vote on September 12. The remaining step is for the committee to submit a report and recommendation to the State Board of Education. That report is being drafted and will be submitted soon.
Neither of us wanted to see a change in the make-up of the ConVal School District–it has served our area well for many years, However, in the end, both of us voted IN FAVOR of recommending that Dublin and Francestown be allowed to withdraw from ConVal. We did so knowing that the withdrawals would likely mean that Sharon’s school district costs would increase. But, we both felt that the best and most democratic process would be to allow voters in all nine towns to have a chance to weigh in with opinions on the question.
A recommendation in favor of the withdrawal by the committee would have put the question on the ballot for a vote in March of next year. Hence our votes in favor of recommending the withdrawal. It is doubtful that voters would have been in favor of the withdrawals because costs would have increased for the remaining towns. But we did feel that it was appropriate to allow voters to have the chance to consider the matter at the ballot box.
Dublin and Francestown still have the option to submit their own plans and recommendations to the State Board of Education. If they choose to take that step, that report is due in late October. So, there is a chance that the process has not completely run its course. However, the Withdrawal Committee, and our participation in it, is now complete.
As always, please feel free to contact either one of us if you have questions or comments.
Jim Fredrickson, Sharon School Board Representative
Chet Bowles, Sharon Select Board
