BRISTOL — Voters of the Newfound Area School District thought they had donated a school building on the village common to the Town of Hebron many years ago, but no deed was ever passed, so now they’re trying again.
A ballot question on March 13 asked for the authority to transfer the Hebron Village School to the town, and it passed, 172-85. The Newfound Area School Board followed up at its March 26 meeting, voting to transfer the deed, but with a condition: The Town of Hebron must bear the legal fees.
“The Hebron attorney contacted our attorney directly, and I don’t feel we should be paying out of our pockets,” said Chair Jeff Levesque of Groton.
The comment led to some debate among the school board members about the way the request was handled. Vincent Paul Migliore of Bridgewater said the board’s policy states that the school district attorney should be contacted only with the permission of the chair in order to control legal expenses.
Superintendent Stacy Buckley intervened, explaining that Hebron was considering an addition to the building and discovered there was no deed, indicating that they did not actually own the property. The town contacted her about it and she tracked the records, but could not find that the deed had been transferred. After that, Hebron’s attorney contacted the school district attorney.
Business Administrator Michael Limanni said Hebron officials had indicated that they had no problem covering the legal costs, and that they did not randomly contact the district attorney without first speaking with the central office.
The school board also approved a third-grade class trip to the New England Aquarium.
Earlier in the meeting, the board had reorganized, with Levesque retaining chairmanship, but newly elected Hebron member Jason Robert was named vice-chair.
Migliore handed out bracelets with the initials IGYB, which stand for “I’ve Got Your Back” — an anti-bullying initiative. He suggested that the Newfound faculty should get involved, as “it seems to have some positive characteristics.”
The school district’s contract with the Bridgewater-Hebron Village School is coming up for renewal and Levesque asked for members to serve on a negotiating committee. Migliore questioned why they would need a negotiating committee to extend the contract, and Levesque said there were some issues he wanted to address in the contract in light of declining student enrollment.
The towns of Bridgewater and Hebron had formed a village district to build an elementary school when they recognized that the school district would not agree to build a new school and, in fact, was abandoning the outlying schools (Bridgewater’s, Hebron’s, and Alexandria’s). After building the new facility, they agreed to lease it to the school district for $1 per year, while the village district would care of all the maintenance. The school district provides the staff to operate the school.
Migliore and Robert said they could not serve on the negotiating committee because it would create a conflict of interest.
The final board action was to approve a motion to include language on school board agendas to warn people that the public comment periods are designed to allow people to voice concerns, but that they should not expect a response from board members at that time.
3 April 2018
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