Hope Valley Elementary to Close

By Cynthia Drummond

March 3rd 2025

WOOD RIVER JCT. – Members of the Chariho School Committee voted at the Feb. 25 budget workshop to close Hope Valley Elementary School at the end of the current academic year. Richmond member Jessica Purcell cast the only opposing vote.

After years of disagreement over whether Hopkinton could make do with a single elementary school instead of two, it all came down to declining enrollment and money.

Superintendent of Schools Gina Picard provided Hope Valley enrollment figures in an email sent on Monday.

“This year (2024-2025) 128 students in Grades 1-4 and 109 Pre-K [pre-Kindergarten] students,” she stated. “Based on current pre-K enrollment, most families reside in Charlestown, Richmond has the second-highest PK enrollment and then Hopkinton. If Hope Valley remained open for 2025-2026, the number of students in grades 2-4 would have been 97.”

The Numbers

Closing the school will result in a significant reduction of the proposed Chariho budget, $875,000.

Here’s the breakdown of the savings:

·      Two Grade 1 teachers, one Grade 2 teacher, and one school nurse: $400K

·      One custodian: $100K

·      Building maintenance and utilities: $195K

·      Transportation: $85K

·      Capital projects: $95K

With the closing of Hope Valley Elementary, the proposed 2.65% increase in the $60 million budget will be reduced to a .68% increase.

At the budget workshop, Chariho Director of Finance and Administration Gregory Zenion broke down the savings for each of the three towns.

“The percentage increase for each town after state aid, Charlestown would be negative 1.04%, Richmond would be 1.62%. Hopkinton would be 1.1%, and your overall budget increase would be .68%,” he said. “All those numbers are well below the current inflation rates in New England and the country.”

Impacts on Students

Hope Valley Elementary students will attend the elementary schools closest to where they live, although the district will consider requests from families who want their children to attend different schools.

The influx of Hope Valley school students will require the three remaining elementary schools to add classes. The district will add one Grade 3 class to Ashaway Elementary School, and three classes to Richmond – one Grade 2, one Grade 3 and one Grade 4. Charlestown Elementary will have a new Grade 1 and a new Grade 4 class, as well as all the pre - Kindergarten students, which will require an additional four classes.

The school district states on its website that teachers and staff at Hope Valley school “will select positions at other schools based on their certification and contract requirements.”

Gina Picard said she understood that closing the 91-year-old school would be a painful decision and that it was important to support the affected families and staff.

“As we move forward with the transition following the closure of Hope Valley Elementary, our top priority is ensuring that every student, staff member, and family feels supported,” she said. “We are taking proactive steps to provide the necessary resources and staffing, and we are planning to create a smooth and positive experience for all impacted schools. Change can be challenging, but by working together as a community, we can make this transition successful for our students. I have a letter going out to families in our March E Update today [Monday] and follow-up messaging separately from the principals in their weekly bulletins.

Why Purcell Voted No

Richmond committee member Jessica Purcell said she was concerned with the possible impacts the school closure would have on the three other elementary schools, and the lack of a capital improvement plan for the school district.

“It’s incumbent upon the School Committee to come up with a long-term capital improvement plan, you know, and to do that, we have to acknowledge that hasn’t happened over the last five years, the many challenges because of that, before I was on the School Committee,” she said. “It hasn’t happened and so, now, we really need to do that.”

Developing a state-approved capital improvement plan is expensive, costing about $1 million and requiring the services of an architect and a project manager. The money is reimbursed through state aid, but it is still a major undertaking.

Purcell also has concerns about Richmond Elementary absorbing the additional children.

“I didn’t like the balance of Hopkinton having two elementary schools,” she said. “I thought that was not really fair to other taxpayers, but I also don’t like the balance of Richmond having the majority of the kids.”

Purcell said that following the failure of the new school construction bond last year, she would have preferred a gradual phase out of Hope Valley School, to give the district time to work on a long-term capital plan.

When Hopkinton member Tyler Champlin made the motion to close the school, Purcell noted that two other Hopkinton School Committee members, Diane Tefft and Polly Hopkins, were not present for the vote.

“We’re missing two members from Hopkinton right now,” she said. “I don’t advise voting on a motion without representation from that town.”

Charlestown member Craig Louzon said the vote should proceed.

“Madam Chair, this was a publicly announced meeting,” he said. “We have a quorum, we’re abiding to the law.”

After the vote, Purcell said she would support the district’s transition from four to three elementary schools.

What Happens Now?

Chariho leases the school building from the Town of Hopkinton, so if the school closes, the building will return to the town. It is not clear what the town plans to do with the structure.

There are two more meetings at which residents can submit their comments and final changes can be made: the annual Public Budget Hearing on March 4 (Tuesday) at 7:30 p.m. in the Chariho Middle School auditorium, and the next School Committee meeting on March 11, when the committee will formally adopt the budget.

Picard said that while the committee had voted to close the school, the budget reductions were not yet final.

“The school committee only acted to close Hope Valley they did not officially finalize the cuts,” she said. 

The budget referendum is on April 8.