Lebanon, Mascoma join lawsuit against state over education funding
Modified: 5/20/2021 11:02:25 PM
LEBANON Two more Upper Valley school districts have decided to join a lawsuit challenging New Hampshire’s education funding system.
The Lebanon School Board voted, 6-2, on Monday night to add its name to a list of more than 11 districts arguing in court that the state fails to provide adequate funding for all students.
Meanwhile, the Mascoma Valley Regional School Board voted unanimously to also join the suit as co-plaintiffs. That district educates students from Enfield, Canaan, Grafton, Dorchester and Orange.
“As a regional school district, Mascoma Valley experiences the injustice of New Hampshire’s educational funding mechanism which pits community against community instead of uniting us in the common goal of education,” Tim Josephson, vice chairman of the Mascoma Regional School Board, said in a statement last week.
ROCHESTER A growing number of elected officials and community leaders from throughout the area and state are signing a formal statement that calls for Rochester City Councilor Doug Lachance to resign in light of sexual abuse allegations made against him.
Somersworth City Councilor Crystal Paradis created the statement, which she said isn’t a petition, in response to a Foster’s Daily Democrat special report in which two adult men allege Lachance used his power as mayor roughly 20 years ago to groom and sexually abuse them when they were teens.
Should Lachance not resign, Rochester City Councilor Jeremy Hutchinson said he will motion for City Council to remove Lachance from office. He also said he will formally call on Rochester Mayor Caroline McCarley to schedule a special council meeting, well before the next regularly scheduled full council session on April 20, for councilors to conduct that removal vote.
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Enfield budget increase is up 6%
Modified: 2/21/2021 8:53:13 PM
ENFIELD Voters in Enfield will decide a contested race for Selectboard during Australian balloting voting next month. Selectboard Chairwoman Kate Stewart is running for another three-year term against Sam Eaton, who currently serves as vice chairman of the town’s Budget Committee.
Stewart, who previously served on the Mascoma Valley Regional School Board, said in an email that she views town government as an opportunity to leverage Enfield’s natural resources, history and volunteers to move the community forward. The town “does our best work when we stick together,” Stewart said, adding that she hopes to continue fostering those sentiments.