Amendment would shorten time for withdrawal decision

CONCORD — An amendment suggested by former Rep. Edward “Ned” Gordon received broad support during a Senate Education Committee hearing on House Bill 349, but some of that support was contingent upon the legislation going forward: A few people said they would rather see the bill killed.

HB 349 would allow residents of Bridgewater, Groton and Hebron to look into forming their own “special-purpose” school district while maintaining a relationship with the Newfound Area School District.

As written, the bill gives the three towns as long as four years to make a decision. The amendment would require the three towns to decide during next spring’s town meetings. Upon an affirmative vote to separate, the towns would remain with Newfound until July 1, 2025, giving them additional time to solidify plans for the new school district.

Carving out the special district is a unique approach to the breakup of a cooperative school district, which current law says must have an affirmative vote by all the member towns. Rep. Rick Ladd (R-Haverhill), who sponsored the bill, told the committee on April 4 that this situation is unique.

The Bridgewater-Hebron Village School is owned by a legislatively-created village district, the only one of its kind in the state. The district built and maintains the elementary school, leasing it to the Newfound Area School District for $1 per year. Newfound is in charge of the curriculum and provides the teaching staff for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

HB 349, Ladd said, would expand Hebron and Bridgewater’s legal status as a village district to allow it to explore the establishment of a three-town special-purpose school district with a goal of restructuring the Bridgewater-Hebron Village School to serve students in a K-8 setting.

The three towns have expressed concerns about the academic achievement of their children, and Derry Riddle, who has served as a village district commissioner for 25 years, read into the record a letter from former State Education Commissioner Virginia Berry, asserting that a K-8 configuration provides numerous benefits over a middle school model. She cited better emotional skills, more positive attitudes, and less emotional distress and misconduct.

Eliminating the long bus rides that some students — especially those in Groton — currently experience was also cited. The Bridgewater-Hebron Village School would offer a closer facility until students reach high school age.

Ladd quoted an opinion by the law firm Wadleigh, Starr & Peters that the bill is based on a unique set of facts.

History

The Newfound Area School District comprises seven towns and accepts tuition students from Hill. When it formed in 1962, the seven towns maintained their own elementary schools and sent their high schoolers to Bristol. The cost of operating the schools was shared on a formula based on usage by each town, dividing the costs according to average daily attendance and transportation costs.

Over the years, the district closed some of the outlying elementary schools, alienating some residents in the process. The maintenance of the facilities became more complicated as voters in towns with their own schools came to resist spending money for building projects in other towns unless the district also spent on facilities in their town. That meant smaller building projects for each school, and at the same time the total renovation work became more expensive, and thus more difficult to win approval at the annual school district meeting.

Bridgewater and Hebron won legislative approval to form a special village district in 1997, overseen by three elected commissioners, to bypass that approach. The village district built the new elementary school in Bridgewater, accepting students districtwide.

In recent years, some residents — particularly those in towns with larger numbers of students attending Newfound — have questioned the original funding formula which did not factor in equalized valuation that takes into account the towns’ ability to pay. Voters established a study committee that, over a year’s time, discussed options, but was unable to agree upon a new funding formula.

That study, the Bridgewater Selectboard said, “made it painfully clear that 7 towns in a cooperative district is simply too many. With the differing town sizes and growth patterns there are just too many viewpoints to ever get consensus and stagnation will breed more problems.”

To assure the rest of the towns that a change would not result in higher costs to them, Ladd testified that it would reduce Newfound’s middle school costs while providing gains in tuition and administrative revenue because the new district would need a place to send high schoolers and would need to make arrangements for services the smaller district could not provide.

Any plan would require approval by the State Board of Education.

Bridgewater Selectboard member Terry Murphy testified studies have shown students experiencing fewer transitions before high school have better academic outcomes, and he said the new school would continue to offer space-based reciprocal enrollment, giving parents throughout the region a choice between the middle school model and the K-8 model.

Groton Selectboard member John Rescigno cited the reduced length of transportation and argued that the plan would give the town more effective control over students’ education.

Hebron Selectboard member Patrick Moriarty pointed out the Bridgewater-Hebron Village School serves the local community, offering emergency shelter and space for a bicycle safety course. He said the change would make the remaining towns better suited for consolidation.

Moriarty expressed confidence that the district could work cooperatively with Newfound to address any problems.

The Senate committee also heard testimony from William Luti of the Hudson Institute, who said the bill would address a flaw in the current statutes governing withdrawal from cooperative school districts without altering the operation of other school districts.

Jennifer Larochelle, vice chair of the school budget committee, said the K-8 model would mitigate youth mental health concerns and cited Harvard studies she said show students’ reading and writing scores decline during a transition into a middle school.

Bridgewater Budget Committee member Eric Piper noted the three towns contribute about 15% of the Newfound student population and utilize about 15% of the district budget. New tuition and service agreements with Newfound would provide additional revenue to the Newfound school district without adversely affecting district jobs; in fact, he said, the new school district would need to hire several additional teachers. He also noted the bill contains a provision to transfer current teachers’ pay and benefits.

Piper argued the four-year timeline is necessary to ensure officials will be able to address any need to outsource particular services. While Murphy testified he suspected two years would be enough time to plan the transition, Piper said three or four years would allow time to address unexpected problems.

Gordon amendment

Supporters of the bill outnumbered opponents, 311-16, but some of those opposed were willing to support an amendment to shorten the decision time.

Gordon, who serves as moderator for both Bristol and the Newfound Area School District, argued it would be unfair to leave the other four towns in limbo for four years. His suggested amendment would give the towns a year to plan before voting in 2024. The separation would not occur until July 1, 2025, giving both districts the time to prepare budgets for the 2025-26 academic year.

Gordon said those elected from the three towns to serve as members of the Newfound Area School Board during 2024-25 should be constrained from voting on matters such as budget and policy for the ensuing year, when they would have their own school district.

Brian Richardson, chair of the Alexandria Planning Board, testified that, while he would rather see the committee vote against HB 349, he supported Gordon’s amendment.

Newfound Superintendent Pierre Couture provided copies of a similar amendment he prepared with local representatives, at the bequest of the school board. He also objected to the long timeline for a decision and said it would interfere with efforts to settle on a building plan they originally hoped to put before voters in 2024.

Couture said his main objection to the bill is that he believes a separate school district would limit students’ opportunities and reduce the sharing of district costs.

Former school board member Fran Wendelboe, who also is a former state representative, expressed frustration that residents had not approached the school district before seeking the new legislation.

She challenged the argument that the village district had paid for the village school themselves, pointing out that the state had helped to finance the school’s construction. She also said that, although the towns had 15% of the school population, they have 3/7 of the representation on the school board.

Don Milbrand, vice chair of the Bristol Capital Improvements Program and a former selectboard member, opposed the bill, saying it circumvented the other towns’ rights.

Melissa Suckling, chair of the Newfound Area School Board, urged the committee, if it was going to pass the bill, to add Gordon’s amendment.

Kimberly Bliss, a school board member who also serves on the district budget committee, reiterated the longer timeline would make it difficult to plan for facilities needs. She said her primary objection is uncertainty students would have about where they would be attending school.

Rep. John Sellers (R-Bristol) estimated that 60-70% of his constituents supported the reconfiguration of the district, but said he supports Gordon’s amendment.

Sen. Daniel Innis (R-Bradford) reportedly is working with the proposed amendment to put it into final form as HB 349 makes its way to the full Senate for consideration.