By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
LANGDON, N.H. — The Fall Mountain School Board announced that it is considering a pair of options regarding the status of the district, with one to remain a cooperative school district and the other to develop a multi-district SAU and regional high school. This comes after the town of Walpole voiced concerns with considerations of leaving the district, according to information released by the school board.
On Saturday Oct. 26 the board met to discuss the Articles of Agreement, which is between the towns of Acworth, Alstead, Charlestown, Langdon and Walpole.
“The board recognizes there is a need to simplify the structure of the district to provide more local control,” a press release from the school board stated.
In 2019-2020, the town of Charlestown considered withdrawing from the district, and school board members discussed, “at length,” the reasons for this. There were two major themes that came from this. One is that towns want more local control with programming, curriculum, personnel, budgets and other aspects. The second reason is that towns feel that current methods, referred to as the “apportionment formula,” for budgeting need to be amended “to create a more town-centered, fair, system.”
Option one is to remain a cooperative school district and “develop a system which can provide autonomy regarding offerings.” An example is to develop site-based committees into subcommittees of the school board. These would be led by a school board member representing each town, and they would have the authority to make recommendations. The option would include a change to the structure and funding formula outlined in the Articles of Agreement, the release stated.
The second option, which is to develop a multi-district SAU and regional high school, includes a school board for each attendance area and a school board for the Fall Mountain Regional High School/SAU.
“SAU services could be provided to all attendance areas in the areas of technology, facilities, transportation, etc. This option would include a change to the structure and funding formula outlined in the current Articles of Agreement,” the release stated.
The release stated that the school board remains open to considering other options. It also made clear that the board asked the superintendent to meet with the district’s attorney to gather additional information.
School Board Chair Alissa Bascom said there has been an undercurrent of concerns from individual towns, and they are working to make this better. She explained that Walpole’s concerns are similar to those of Charlestown’s several years ago, and there have been numerous times over the existence of the cooperative that this has come up. She said it is time to move onto the next step and align with what the towns are looking for.
Bascom said that the superintendent will go over options and make sure they are done legally. They will go to the public and get a feel for what the public wants through their school district. No dates or agenda items have been set, but Bascom said there will be a public hearing in the future. She said it is a long process and there will be “many, many meetings before this happens.”
At the 2024 Town Meeting, a warrant article in Walpole passed that was to see if the town would allow the Selectboard to commission a preliminary committee to “explore the potential of Walpole to establish its own Board of Education and to leave the Fall Mountain Regional School District.” The commission had little or no legal weight, and decisions are “non-binding but advisory.”
On Sept. 19, the School Withdrawal Study Committee’s Selectboard Liaison Carolyn Vose made a presentation about the study that was created to consider options for Walpole students in the age range of pre-K to eighth grade.
“Over roughly four months of weekly meetings, conversations included the feasibility of working within the current structure as well as creating an alternative structure,” the Sept. 19 meeting minutes stated.
According to the meeting minutes, the group focused on different areas of potential impact on student education, as well as funding. At the meeting the study committee recommended that the selectboard issue a warrant article to vote on whether to form an official study committee to “pursue withdrawal from FMRSD.”
“This would be one of several steps, each voted on by the citizens, before any change to the current structure,” the minutes stated.
A message was left with Jennifer Donovan, who is the Walpole representative on the school board, but not returned by deadline.
