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by Jim Frederickson
Chairman, Budget & Property Committee
ConVal School Board
In previous District Financial articles, we’ve provided information about how the school budget is developed and how the District Assessment is used to calculate the “local education” portion of property taxes in the nine towns in the District. We also explained the concept of unreserved fund balance.
This article will cover similar ground but will walk you through the tax calculation from the other direction (start with the property tax rates rather than with the approved budget). We’ll also explain how the unprecedented “return” of over $4 million to the towns in the District resulted in a reduction of your recent property tax bill.
[post_title] => 2021 Property Taxes - ConVal School District
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by Jim Frederickson
Chairman, Budget & Property Committee
ConVal School Board
It’s that time of year again from a school budget and property tax bill point of view. And it’s time to start our annual series of articles regarding the financial aspects of running the District.
We’re going to take a different approach this year. The past two years, our articles built a base of knowledge about the school budget and the property tax process. Instead of repeating some of the basics, we’re going to address aspects of these that are either new or specific to this year. As before, we won’t address any non-financial aspect of the ongoing Covid pandemic.
Please click here for the article.
[post_title] => ConVal School Board - Financial Updates
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In our continuing commitment to provide an open, transparent, and informative dialog with the ConVal community, your School Board and Administration are pleased to announce the next ConVal quarterly Community Forum. This forum will take place in the Lucy Hurlin Theater at ConVal High School and via live stream on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 7-9 P.M.
Learning from our first forum, we felt that the live stream community also needed to be heard and participate in the forum. Live stream participants will now be able to submit questions to the forum presenters, school board, and administration during the forum via email.
As we provided in the first forum the live feed will be on U-tube so the forum can be viewed interactively or, if needed, at your convenience any time after the forum is over.
We are putting together all the necessary logistics to make this community forum a success for all. We will send out a more comprehensive communication prior to the forum that will contain all of the needed details.
Please mark your calendars for this forum.
We thank you in advance for your participation,
ConVal School Board
[post_title] => ConVal Community Forum Scheduled For January 25
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November 16, 2021
It is my duty as the Chair to inform the ConVal community that Board Member Jerry Wilson (Peterborough) tendered his resignation from the Board, effective November 30, 2021, or earlier if a replacement could be found before that date.
I would like to take this time to thank Jerry for his years of service devoted to the students and communities of ConVal during his tenure. Please join me in thanking Jerry if you see him around town.
Under Board policy BBBE, the three remaining Board Members from Peterborough have selected Tom Burgess to fill the vacancy until the next District elections in March 2022. Mr. Burgess has accepted the position and will be sworn into office at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, November 16, 2021.
Thank you, Jerry for your service, and welcome to the Board, Tom.
Tim Theberge
Chair – ConVal School Board
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It’s that time of year again from a school budget and property tax bill point of view. And it’s time to start our annual series of articles regarding the financial aspects of running the District.
We’re going to take a different approach this year. The past two years, our articles built a base of knowledge about the school budget and the property tax process. Instead of repeating some of the basics, we’re going to address aspects of these that are either new or specific to this year. As before, we won’t address any non-financial aspect of the ongoing Covid pandemic.
With that, here’s a brief preview of some of the articles we’ll be publishing between now and the vote in March:
These new articles (as well as all previous financial publications) will all be available on the ConVal School Board website: schoolboard.convalsd.net
We’ll let you know when we post new material. Stay tuned.
Jim Fredrickson (Sharon)
Chairman, Budget & Property Committee
ConVal School Board
FY23 ConVal School Budget Schedule
These are the key dates and events associated with this budget cycle:
The two most significant changes this budget cycle include:
Annual School Board Budget Meeting
The annual School Board Budget meeting was held on Saturday, November 6th, at the District offices. The Superintendent and staff presented the initial proposed budget. The Board discussed several of the proposed changes including: curriculum, planned expansion of the District’s pre-school program, and several other options. This was an informative meeting – decisions on specific aspects of the budget will be discussed and voted on at regularly scheduled Board meetings.
[post_title] => ConVal School Board - Financial Updates [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => conval-school-board-financial-updates [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-11-15 07:32:01 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-11-15 12:32:01 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=5648 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [5] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5575 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2021-09-27 14:00:24 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-09-27 18:00:24 [post_content] =>We have received excellent response to the Community Forum survey we provided for community input.
As a quick recap to the survey results:
There were 135 survey respondents with 92 noting they will be attending the Community Forum in person.
The survey topics in ranked order of selection by the community:
We had made the commitment to selecting the top four ranked choices for presentation and questions/answers (a dialog). As we analyzed the results we saw that the top five topics were very close in rankings. We decided that we would expand our presentations to the top five vs. the top four.
There is also an hour set aside (8-9 PM) for the audience to ask questions of the on-stage panel that are not in the presentation topics above.
It was satisfying to also see that the question of which level of school the respondent had students in contained approx. 15% who noted none. This means that not only are parents interested in our district school system but so are community members that do not have students in our district.
Important to note from our previous correspondence. Due to physical distancing requirements we had to limit the number of community members attending in-person at the Lucy Hurlin theatre to less than 100. As you can see above we are close to capacity and cannot accommodate community members attend in-person that did not respond in the survey. We are providing a livestream for those who cannot be accommodated in the Lucy Hurlin Theatre. You can view the live stream from your own environment.
To assist those whose home environment does not support live stream we will make available an overflow room at the high school for community members to view the forum as a live stream. Remember, live stream is “view only” and does not allow for interaction with the does not allow for interaction with the presenters. Seating in this “overflow” area will be on a first come, first seat basis and as soon as it is at capacity we will not be able to seat any more.
THE AGENDA
The below agenda outlines the sequence of topic presentations and the presenters. It is important to note that others members of the ConVal school board, who are not presenting will also be on stage to assist in answering any questions. Included in the agenda (at the bottom) is the link to click on to access the live stream.
We are looking forward to a productive forum.
AGENDA
ConVal School Board and Administration
COMMUNITY FORUM
September 30, 2021
Lucy Hurlin Theatre
ConVal High School
7 P.M. to 9 P.M.
Opening remarks – Alan Edelkind
Moderator remarks – Tim Theberge_
Presentations
Open forum
Closing remarks – Janine Lesser
To access the forum via live stream please click on the below link
Click here to watch the live stream of the Community Forum
[post_title] => ConVal Community Forum — update [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => conval-community-forum-update [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-27 14:00:53 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-27 18:00:53 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=5575 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [6] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5560 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2021-09-17 02:19:24 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-09-17 06:19:24 [post_content] =>The ConVal School Board and Administration are moving forward in the planning for the first ConVal Community Forum. We are excited about providing you this opportunity for a constructive, open, informative, and meaningful dialogue.
Each section explains a specific aspect of the forum and will give you a full understanding of what will be happening and how to participate.
Background
Communication is the key component of our commitment to be fully transparent with our community in matters critical to them and to have a dialog where we can share our information and engage in a question-and-answer session. School board meetings, being business meetings, provide limited opportunities for dialogue. Our answer to this need is a Community Forum.
What is our Community Forum and how is it organized?
It is the opportunity for the public, the School Board and the administration to engage in a dialogue on topics that have been chosen by the community to be important to them. The forum will be held in the Lucy Hurlin Theater at the ConVal High School. We will have both in-theater and live stream audiences. A survey that will be sent to the ConVal community will provide, amongst other questions, the opportunity for each respondent to select from suggested topics and add another if not included. More on the Survey later in this note.
The forum will be two hours in length. There will be a moderator that will be responsible for controlling the flow of information and ensuring good organization to make this a positive experience for all. Dialogue will only take place between the in-theater audience and the school board and administration. The live-stream audience will be view only.
The first hour will be focused on presenting each selected topic and allowing for a question and answer dialogue for each.
The second hour will give the in-theater audience the opportunity to ask questions on any topic of their choosing.
The school board and administration will respond to these questions and note whether they relate to issues already discussed by the school board, or if the board member responding is providing their own personal opinion.
The survey
The most important part of our Community Forum.
The survey is designed to solicit information from each respondent household for information about the ConVal town they live in, what level of school their children attend (if they do), their email address for communications, whether or not they would like us to provide childcare.
Most importantly there is a section on the survey for the respondent to select three topics that they find are most important for discussion at the Community Forum. We have provided seven topics that the school board believes reflect the most important areas for discussion. We have also left open a topic area to enter, if you wish, another topic that you feel is important to you and the ConVal community. Please select a total of three (three) topics including your topic, if you entered one. We will select from the responses to the survey the top four most requested topics for inclusion in the forum.
The survey, to be counted, must be completed and submitted no later than Monday, Sept. 20.
The link to the survey is provided at the end of this note.
COVID protocols
The Lucy Hurlin Theater is located in the ConVal High School on ConVal property. As such we will follow the protocols required by the Green Phase we are currently in as relates to physical distancing in the Theater, mandatory mask use requirements, and the screening process and question upon entry.
There is also one further COVID imposed restriction. To maintain proper physical distancing there will be allowed no more than 100 ConVal community folks to be in-theater. If, based on surveys received, we find that there are more than 100 folks noting that they will be in-theater, we will have to select the first 100 returned surveys as those being the ones that will be able to attend in-theater. Based on the email address you provided to us in the survey we will contact those selected and those not selected to be in-theater.
If others, that were not a part of the 100 first come first serve selected do arrive at the theater we will provide access to the Cafe for their viewing of the forum thru a live stream feed. This live stream feed will not allow for direct participation in the forum.
As responsible members of the ConVal community we support these protocols.
Links
To complete the survey please click on this link, fill out the survey and submit no later than end of day Monday, September 20th. Click here to access the survey.
To attend the Community Forum via Live-Streaming please use this link at the time of the forum. Click here to watch the live stream of the Community Forum.
[post_title] => ConVal Community Forum Scheduled For September 30 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => conval-community-forum-scheduled-for-september-30 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-17 02:19:24 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-17 06:19:24 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=5560 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [7] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5556 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2021-09-15 07:26:32 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-09-15 11:26:32 [post_content] =>The ConVal School Board, working with the ConVal Administration, is pleased to announce its first-ever Community Forum.
The 'public comment’ periods at the beginning and end of the School Board meetings have been a source of frustration for some in the community. Board meetings are designed to conduct the business of the District and therefore there is limited time for meaningful dialogue between the public and the Board.
We have listened to our community and in our ongoing effort for full transparency, we have structured this Community Forum to allow for discussion on community-selected topics with questions to and answers from the school board and administration. The Board and Administration look forward to hearing from our nine communities in a constructive and flexible manner.
Please mark your calendars for Thursday, September 30, at 7:00 PM, to attend our first Community Forum at the Lucy Hurlin Theatre located at the ConVal High School.
More information will follow with details about the forum, and how to participate in a survey to determine forum topics. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with our communities with this opportunity for a more open dialogue.
[post_title] => ConVal School Board Announces Community Forum September 30 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => conval-school-board-announces-community-forum-september-30 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-15 07:26:40 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-15 11:26:40 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=5556 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [8] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5504 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2021-08-24 16:31:52 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-08-24 20:31:52 [post_content] =>August 24, 2021
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the ConVal School District has made operational changes and adopted policies to respond to this virus based on the best available science and advice of medical experts. It is important for us all to recognize that science is a developing process and that this was a new “novel” virus with which our public health system had no previous knowledge of methods of transmission, lethality, long-term effects, etc. As more and more data becomes available, consensus on best practices has and will continue to change. That is, after all, the nature of science. As frustrating as that is for all of us, following the best available science will be our collective pathway through this pandemic. As a result of the collaborative efforts of the Board, community, administration, teachers, staff, and students there have been no confirmed cases of transmission within our schools. We are thankful for that cooperation. With the emergence and spread of the Delta variant, the Board wants to make sure our community is familiar with the reasoning that went into the decisions that resulted in the ConVal Reopening Plan. The District is legally responsible for the safety and health of our students and our Reopening and Recovery Plan for the 2021-2022 school year reflects that responsibility.
A Focus on In-Person Learning
Although the Board is proud of our District’s leadership and response to the pandemic, in deploying 100% remote learning, hybrid learning models, and adaptive in-person instruction from March 2020 throughout the 2020-2021 school year, it is clear that a return to fully in-person learning must be our primary focus for the 2021-2022 school year. In order to ensure that we can continue to provide in-person instruction for the entire school year, it is important that we implement layered mitigation strategies to reduce exposure to and transmission of COVID-19 in our schools and our community.
Delta is Different
The Delta variant circulating is much more transmissible than previous variants. Data shows that Delta is 40 to 60% more contagious than the original strain. Data out of the United Kingdom shows that adults under 50 and children are 2.5 times more likely to be infected with Delta. Data out of Scotland shows that the risk of hospitalization for unvaccinated adults is twice as high under Delta. Cases in NH and hospitalizations are significantly higher now than they were at this time last year. The viral load under Delta is significantly higher. The greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people. In 5 of the 9 ConVal towns, the vaccination rate of those 15 years of age and over is lower than 60%. One town is lower than 50%. Although the vast majority of our staff are vaccinated, none of our elementary students have that option and only half of our middle school students have access to the vaccine. Statewide, less than 40% of those 12-19 years old are fully vaccinated. The more action taken now to limit the spread of COVID-19 will reduce the likelihood of additional variants that may be more transmissible or that current vaccines may be less effective against.
Masks
The use and effectiveness of masks have been a polarizing issue since the original emergence of COVID-19. However, the consensus of the medical and scientific community is clear, absent a widespread vaccination rate at or above 80 percent, the use of masks is our next best mitigation strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19, hospitalization, and deaths. With the emergence of the Delta variant, the use of masks is even more important now than it was last school year. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends universal indoor masking for all K-12 students, teachers, and staff. The American Academy of Pediatrics endorses this recommendation. In January 2021, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published “An evidence review of face masks against COVID-19.” This is a comprehensive review of the evidence available on masking. The conclusion reached was clear, “nonmedical masks have been effective in reducing transmission of respiratory viruses; and places and time periods where mask usage is required or widespread have shown substantially lower community transmission.” As of the publication of this statement, children under 12 are not eligible for any of the COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, half of our middle schools and all of our elementary schools have one less layer of mitigation available to them.
The use of masks helps add an additional layer of protection for those who cannot be vaccinated such as our students younger than 12 and those with compromised immune systems (cancer survivors, transplant recipients, type 1 diabetics, type 2 diabetics, asthmatics) for whom the vaccines are less effective, and are therefore more susceptible to hospitalization or death from COVID-19. All of these individuals are represented in our students and staff. The use of masks also reduces the viral load that an individual is exposed to, which also has a great impact on the symptoms experienced with COVID and the impact on our local healthcare system in treating those symptoms.
Arguments have also been presented that the requirement to wear a mask infringes on personal freedom. As a society, we have rules regarding which side of the road to drive on. There are speed limits. There are penalties for driving while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. These are reasonable policies required for society and the protection of others in our communities that cannot be vaccinated or for whom the vaccines may be less effective. Article 3 of the New Hampshire Constitution endorses this approach to civil society entirely: “When men enter into a state of society, they surrender up some of their natural rights to that society, in order to ensure the protection of others; and, without such an equivalent, the surrender is void.” This aligns with one of the components of the ConVal Mission Statement to, “give of oneself to the greater community.”
Community Transmission Rate
This summer, due to the low transmission rate of the virus in our area, we were able to relax our masking guidelines, and all anticipated returning to school with a more normalized learning environment. We expected that we would be able to open the schools in the “blue phase.” Unfortunately, we are now facing a surge that is aimed at a much younger unvaccinated population due to the characteristics of the Delta variant. The community transmission rate in the Greater Monadnock Public Health Region is now above 200 per 100,000 (08/23/2021) and the positivity rate is 4.7%. Some residents point out that there are very few confirmed cases in the immediate ConVal communities. Due to the suppressed nature of the data in the ConVal towns, we can only estimate the transmission rate per 100,000. That rate could be anywhere from as low as 71 to as high as 163. As we are all aware, ConVal does not exist in a bubble. Many of our staff members live outside our District and many of the parents of our students travel outside of our communities for employment. In addition, the ConVal region is a tourist destination - especially during the summer and fall months. Data emerging out of Florida and other Southern states is showing thousands of pediatric cases resulting in school districts having to quarantine thousands of children. In Mississippi, 20,000 students have been placed in quarantine after only one week of school. According to the latest CDC data, the groups with the largest increases in coronavirus hospitalizations are patients in their 30s and those younger than 18. This latter group represents our students.
Vaccination
Thanks to massive vaccination efforts, smallpox was eradicated worldwide by 1980. Polio has been eradicated in the United States since 1979. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the United States. Unfortunately, due to anti-vaccination campaigns based on since-debunked and fraudulent publications, measles is once again occurring in low-vaccinated populations in the United States. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. The same is true for the vaccinations that target COVID-19. Overall, more than 200 million Americans are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19. Globally, 4.5 billion doses have been administered. The three vaccines available in the United States have undergone and continue to undergo intense, unprecedented scrutiny. The Pfizer vaccine recently received full approval by the FDA. Although there have been very rare instances of short-term side-effects of the vaccines, the risk versus benefit analysis is overwhelmingly in favor of near-universal vaccination of those 12 years of age and older. Unfortunately, no vaccine is yet available for our students under 12. That means that other mitigation measures, including the use of masks, remain paramount to reduce exposure to, infection of, and transmission of COVID-19. The Board has already indicated that a high enough vaccination rate (80%) in any individual building will likely lead to a relaxing of masking policies in line with recommendations from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Our high school is approaching the 80% vaccination rate, and the District is working to develop a process to verify the status of staff and students. The vaccination rate of those 15 years of age and older in the communities of ConVal is an estimated 62%. The individual towns range from a low of 48% to a high of 77%. Statewide, the vaccination rate of those 12-19 years of age is less than 40%.
[post_title] => ConVal School Board Statement on COVID-19 Protocols [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => conval-school-board-statement-on-covid-19-protocols [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-08-24 16:31:53 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-08-24 20:31:53 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=5504 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [9] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5500 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2021-08-24 15:29:19 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-08-24 19:29:19 [post_content] =>August 24, 2021
The Board would like to acknowledge the members of our community that have taken the time to provide public comments at our recent Board meetings. We recognize that this requires you to take time out of your day to prepare your remarks and attend the meetings. In addition, for many people addressing the Board in such a public setting may be stepping outside of their comfort zone, and we want to acknowledge that as well. Thank you all for taking the time to attend the Board meetings and for providing public comments.
New Englanders are used to unprecedented access to local government. The Town Meeting form of government is a truly unique experience and represents direct democracy in action. Town Meeting and the District’s Deliberative Session are true public meetings. Board Meetings are, instead, meetings that take place in public. When combined with the back and forth exchanges that occur on social media, the 24/7 news cycle, and the instantaneous nature of our economy (Amazon, Door Dash, video streaming services, etc.) it is understandable that people are frustrated when attending School Board meetings and giving public comment only to see little reaction from Board members, receive no feedback after their statements, or not receive answers to questions asked to the Board. It is important that the members of the public know that we are listening to you. We hear what you say when you speak during public comments. We read all of the emails that you send us. There are times when we may want want to respond, but for many reasons, that is not the way these meetings are structured. It is also likely that even when discussing a topic you may have spoken about, we will not always directly address something you may have said.
Board Meetings are not Town Meeting. Board Meetings are for the Board to conduct the business of the District. Public comment periods at Board meetings are entirely optional and at the discretion of the Board. However, the Board firmly believes that our community members should have an opportunity to address the Board and so our policy promotes having two public comment periods at each meeting, whenever possible. In order to allow as much participation as possible, we limit each speaker to 2 minutes and once per meeting. We also ask speakers to address the Board on matters specific to the District and School Board business. Community members should always feel free to email or call members to talk about their concerns as well. Depending on the issue, it is also important to reach out to the principals and administrators and not just the Board.
The Board also recognizes that the public is interested in a more interactive experience. To this end, the Board has decided to hold quarterly public forums where Board members or members of the administration will answer questions submitted ahead of time as well as field questions from the live audience in attendance. The Board has not done something like this before, but we hope that it will provide our community members an opportunity for more interactive discussions and communication with the Board. More information on these community forums will be posted shortly.
[post_title] => Thank You for Your Public Comments at Board Meetings [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => thank-you-for-your-public-comments-at-board-meetings [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-08-24 15:29:21 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-08-24 19:29:21 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=5500 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 10 [current_post] => -1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5796 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2022-01-17 07:25:00 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-01-17 12:25:00 [post_content] =>by Jim Frederickson
Chairman, Budget & Property Committee
ConVal School Board
In previous District Financial articles, we’ve provided information about how the school budget is developed and how the District Assessment is used to calculate the “local education” portion of property taxes in the nine towns in the District. We also explained the concept of unreserved fund balance.
This article will cover similar ground but will walk you through the tax calculation from the other direction (start with the property tax rates rather than with the approved budget). We’ll also explain how the unprecedented “return” of over $4 million to the towns in the District resulted in a reduction of your recent property tax bill.
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by Jim Frederickson
Chairman, Budget & Property Committee
ConVal School Board
In previous District Financial articles, we’ve provided information about how the school budget is developed and how the District Assessment is used to calculate the “local education” portion of property taxes in the nine towns in the District.
by Jim Frederickson
Chairman, Budget & Property Committee
ConVal School Board
It’s that time of year again from a school budget and property tax bill point of view. And it’s time to start our annual series of articles regarding the financial aspects of running the District.
We’re going to take a different approach this year.
In our continuing commitment to provide an open, transparent, and informative dialog with the ConVal community, your School Board and Administration are pleased to announce the next ConVal quarterly Community Forum. This forum will take place in the Lucy Hurlin Theater at ConVal High School and via live stream on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 7-9 P.M.
November 16, 2021
It is my duty as the Chair to inform the ConVal community that Board Member Jerry Wilson (Peterborough) tendered his resignation from the Board, effective November 30, 2021, or earlier if a replacement could be found before that date.
I would like to take this time to thank Jerry for his years of service devoted to the students and communities of ConVal during his tenure.
It’s that time of year again from a school budget and property tax bill point of view. And it’s time to start our annual series of articles regarding the financial aspects of running the District.
We’re going to take a different approach this year. The past two years, our articles built a base of knowledge about the school budget and the property tax process.
We have received excellent response to the Community Forum survey we provided for community input.
As a quick recap to the survey results:
There were 135 survey respondents with 92 noting they will be attending the Community Forum in person.
The survey topics in ranked order of selection by the community:
The ConVal School Board and Administration are moving forward in the planning for the first ConVal Community Forum. We are excited about providing you this opportunity for a constructive, open, informative, and meaningful dialogue.
Each section explains a specific aspect of the forum and will give you a full understanding of what will be happening and how to participate.
Read More: ConVal Community Forum Scheduled For September 30
The ConVal School Board, working with the ConVal Administration, is pleased to announce its first-ever Community Forum.
The ‘public comment’ periods at the beginning and end of the School Board meetings have been a source of frustration for some in the community. Board meetings are designed to conduct the business of the District and therefore there is limited time for meaningful dialogue between the public and the Board.
Read More: ConVal School Board Announces Community Forum September 30
August 24, 2021
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the ConVal School District has made operational changes and adopted policies to respond to this virus based on the best available science and advice of medical experts. It is important for us all to recognize that science is a developing process and that this was a new “novel” virus with which our public health system had no previous knowledge of methods of transmission,
Read More: ConVal School Board Statement on COVID-19 Protocols
August 24, 2021
The Board would like to acknowledge the members of our community that have taken the time to provide public comments at our recent Board meetings. We recognize that this requires you to take time out of your day to prepare your remarks and attend the meetings. In addition, for many people addressing the Board in such a public setting may be stepping outside of their comfort zone,
Read More: Thank You for Your Public Comments at Board Meetings