Future of North Walpole School remains unsettled as residents press board for answers

The meeting came as residents across the district continue to question whether the student move should have required a town vote.

The fate of the empty North Walpole School drew sharp questions Monday night, when the Fall Mountain Regional School Board held a public hearing as it weighs what to do with the building after moving students elsewhere.

The district shifted pupils from North Walpole School, which served grades two, three and four, to Walpole Elementary School this school year after voters turned down the proposed budget in March. That rejection triggered the default budget, which was $550,000 less than the original plan.

At this point, the board is considering several paths for the former school building, including selling it, keeping it available for community use, leasing it to a charter school or another outside program, or moving the N.H. School Administrative Unit 60 offices there. More recently, district leaders have also discussed giving the property to the town of Walpole. Chris Young said the office-relocation idea has become less practical for several reasons.

The meeting came as residents across the district continue to question whether the student move should have required a town vote. Some have argued that the decision effectively shut down the school without the approval called for under Fall Mountain’s articles of agreement. District officials say the building remains an educational facility under state law and therefore has not been closed.

Board members have at times used the word closure in public discussion, meeting records and recordings show. Young said in June that those references did not mean the school had legally been closed. Chair Alissa Bascom said the district’s governing document allows the board to adjust where grade levels are located within the district.

The issue is more complicated now because state law changed this month. Under House Bill 1374, any decision to close or sell a school must be approved by a district-wide vote at the annual school district meeting. That is different from the older language in Fall Mountain’s articles of agreement, which tied such votes to the town where the school is located.

Monday’s forum drew about 35 people in person and another 25 online. Several speakers said they were confused by the process and frustrated by what they described as a lack of openness. Some said they had heard the board describe the move as a closure earlier in the year, then later use different language.

Bascom attempted to keep the meeting orderly after some people in the room interrupted out of turn. Residents also pointed to Article 18 of the district’s articles of agreement, which requires board approval for certain actions, including land purchases, new school construction and the closure of any elementary school, with votes counted only in the affected town or pre-existing district.

When asked how much it costs to maintain the vacant building, Business Administrator Lori Schmidt said the district has saved money on transportation but did not have an immediate figure for the building’s upkeep.

Walpole resident Seth Andrew said the school no longer feels like a school to people in the community. Kayla Schultz of North Walpole said she believed the district had not been straightforward about what was happening and said repeated meetings had not produced the information she wanted about the building’s future.

Young told those attending that he is willing to meet with residents individually and hear their concerns so he can pass them along to the board as it prepares for its next decision. The board is expected to discuss and possibly vote on a direction for the property at its next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 9 on the district’s website.

Fall Mountain Regional School District includes Walpole, Acworth, Alstead, Charlestown and Langdon.