The ConVal School District invites all residents to a Community Forum discussing the budget, collective bargaining agreement, property tax bills, the proposed withdrawal of Dublin and Francestown from the ConVal School District, and a budget cap petition warrant article. 

The event will be held on February 12, 2025, at 7:00 PM in the Lucy Hurlin Theatre at ConVal High School. A snow date has been scheduled for February 19, 2025, at 7:00 PM. 

We encourage all residents to attend, hear from key speakers, and participate in the discussion on these important topics affecting our community. This event will be live-streamed on the ConVal Events YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@ConValEvents), and it will be available for viewing anytime after the event.

AgendaModerator: Tom Burgess

• Budget / Trust Fund Warrants - Speakers: Ann Forrest & Jim Fredrickson
• Collective Bargaining Agreement - Speaker: Tom Burgess
• Property Tax Bills - Speaker: Jim Fredrickson
• Withdrawal - Speakers: Mike Hoyt & Curtis Hamilton
• Budget Cap Petition Warrant - Speaker: Jim Fredrickson

Q & A - Please keep your questions/comments to two minutes.

If you would like to ask a question in advance, please send it to forum@conval.edu.

We look forward to an engaging and informative evening as we work together to address the priorities and future of our ConVal School District. Your participation is vital!

The ConVal School District is pleased to announce that the ConVal School Board, at its meeting on Tuesday, January 21, voted to confirm Dr. Ann Forrest as the new Superintendent of the ConVal schools. She has served as the District’s interim Superintendent since August 2024.

Dr. Forrest began working in the District in 2008 as a literacy coach. She was named principal of Antrim Elementary School and Pierce School in Bennington in 2013, and later advanced to the position of Assistant Superintendent in 2016. In 2021, she became the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award by the New Hampshire School Administrators Association (NHSAA). The Outstanding Service Award recognizes educational leaders who are not superintendents. Candidates are judged for initiative, growth, service to public education, and contributions to the educational achievements of their District.

After the vote on Tuesday confirming Dr. Forrest in her new position, School Board Chairman Dick Dunning noted: “Ann brings a positive outlook and great leadership skills to the position. The Board has had time to observe these qualities since August of last year. Our unanimous Board vote shows the confidence we have in her leadership."

”I am incredibly grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to serve as Superintendent of the ConVal School District,” Dr. Forrest said. “I care deeply about this district, and I’m committed to investing carefully in its future. We have to remain cost-conscious and fiscally responsible while pursuing a wide range of learning opportunities for our students. The District will continue to be successful and serve the ConVal community best when both of these goals are met.”

Are you passionate about the future of our schools? Do you want to help shape the educational experience for our students? The ConVal School Board is seeking dedicated residents to join and make a difference.

Interested individuals are invited to file their declaration of candidacy with Brenda Marschok in the Office of the Superintendent of Schools not earlier than 8:00 a.m., on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 and no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 31, 2025.

The open School Board positions, by town of residence, are as follows: Antrim (1 position, 3-year term); Dublin (1 position, 3-year term); Greenfield (1 position, 2-year term); Hancock (1 position, 3-year term); and Peterborough (2 positions, 3-year term each).

For further information, please contact Brenda Marschok at (603) 924-3336 or bmarschok@conval.edu.

Kindergarten registration and screening for the northern tier of the ConVal School District will be held on Tuesday, February 18, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm at Antrim Elementary School, 10 School Street, in Antrim. A snow date is scheduled for Thursday, February 20, at the same time and location.

The child must be accompanied to the registration and screening by a parent or legal guardian and must be five years old by September 30, 2025.

Pre-registration for this event is required. Please call Melissa Gatto at (603) 924-7503 ext. 2032 to schedule an appointment time.

In a public meeting on January 16, Interim Superintendent Dr. Ann Forrest presented the proposed budget to the ConVal School Board and area residents.

The presentation covered information on what guided the budget creation process, such as the District's Strategic Plan priorities and foundational budget assumptions. Detailed information was shared about budget apportionments and increases or decreases in appropriations by budget line. The final portion of the presentation compared the proposed budget with the default budget calculations for 2025-2026.

The presentation can be accessed online by clicking here.

During the January 7th School Board meeting, the Board voted 9-1 against recommending a warrant article to pursue renovations of the Career and Technical Education centers (CTE) and the high school. After detailed analysis, robust community feedback, and thoughtful conversations with select board representatives from across our district, we arrived at the decision that this was neither the right time nor the appropriate cost for this project. 

Though this project is not advancing in its current form, a considerable amount of new information has been gained during this process. Over the past two years, the building committee has studied CTE facilities and programming across our state. We now have an accurate assessment of the current and future needs of our students and our community. We have also arrived at a much better understanding of the state of our aging buildings. Comprehensive structural and systems reviews, including electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, were completed for ConVal High School as well as for Great Brook School and South Meadow School. These will be highly relevant as we assess the needs of our district going forward. 

Teachers do not teach in the same ways they did when our facilities were built more than two decades ago. Students learn differently as well. The need to modernize is real, and it will persist. Within the high school, there are security, regulatory, and compliance issues that command our attention. Moving forward, the school board and the building committee will take the good work that has been accomplished to date, along with our community’s input, back to the drawing board and set out to reach these goals in a fiscally sustainable way.

We would like to acknowledge and extend our gratitude to all of those who worked to bring us to this point. The dedication to our students, district, and community exhibited by members of our building committee and specifically Heather McKillop, our high school principal, and Jen Kiley, our CTE director, has been exemplary. We would also like to thank every member of our community who participated in this process.

Sincerely, 

The ConVal School Board

This is the second in our annual series of articles regarding the financial aspects of running the ConVal School District.

This article covers the topics of:

• Property Tax Bills
• Property Valuation
• Property Value Equalization
• Tax Commitments
• Property Tax Rates
• Revaluation Impact
• Preliminary vs. Final Tax Bills
• ConVal Operating Costs
• School Budget Basics
• District Assessment (FY24-25)
• Operational Budget
• Revenues
• Fund Balance to Reduce Taxes
• District Tax Assessment/Apportionment

For the full-length article (17 pages), please click here.

Jim Fredrickson Chairman, Budget & Property Committee ConVal School Board

This is the first in our annual series of “Financial Articles” regarding the financial aspects of running the ConVal School District. Here’s a brief preview of some of the articles we’ll be publishing between now and the vote in March:

• Overview of Budget Schedule (included in this article)

• 2024 Property Tax Bills and Funds “retained” and “returned” to towns in the School District

• Details of proposed FY26 School Budget and other Warrant Articles on the March ’25 ballots

• Proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement with CVEA

• Estimated impact on ConVal’s finances/budgets/property taxes if the withdrawal of Dublin and/or Francestown is approved by voters

• CTE/HS Renovation project

• Summary of various District Trust Funds (and associated Warrant Articles).

For the full-length article (3 pages), please click here.

Jim Fredrickson Chairman, Budget & Property Committee ConVal School Board