March 26th, 2026
Danbury Charter School Initiative – Informative Session.
Meeting Start: 7:06pm
Presenter: Audrey Pellegrino
Approximately 66 attendees – that signed in. More attended that did not sign in.
The purpose of this meeting was to establish public interest in turning the Danbury Elementary School into a Charter School for the 2027-2028 School year. Nothing has been or will be or guaranteed or promised to the community.
Topics of Discussion
1. What is a Charter School
a. Operates independently from a traditional school district but is approved and overseen by the state RSA. 194.B
b. Public, tuition free school. Open enrollment (may require lottery)
i. Any child in the state of New Hampshire could apply.
c. Offers flexible curriculum and scheduling with accountability.
d. Not funded by town taxes
2. Focus of this Charter School
a. Agricultural opponent with a heavy emphasis on nature-based learning.
b. Happiness!
c. Example 3 year plan, year 1 – 50 students. Year 3 -100.
3. Why a Charter school in Danbury?
a. Reduce travel time for young children. Our young children are on the bus for far too long.
b. Family balance and maintain a sense of community.
4. What we need?
a. We need a lot of people and help not necessarily on the board – but this is a community effort.
5. What is next?
a. Meet with the Select Board
b. Meet with the State
c. Develop a Founding Board
d. Break into groups to get things written for our charter school. (Admissions, curriculum, enrollment plan, student population, etc.)
Public questions or statements:
Is there a time requirement the children must be in school?
Yes, 180 days or equivalent hours. We must meet the State standards.
Have you considered Special Education?
Any child with special needs, a 504, or IEP is welcome in the school. No child will be discriminated against if they have any of these things. However, it is up to the parents to realize that some of the requirements that may be necessary with a child with special needs might not be able to be met with the skeleton staff. They may need to be bussed to Bristol in the afternoon for their services. One-on-One aids will not be available for children at a charter school or individual assistance is not available in a charter school because the funding is not available. We would still be a part of the SAU.
Danbury Alumni, not here as a representative of the Dept of Education Tim Carney, as he understands it. The district is always responsible for meeting the special educations needs a resident student, so if they are in a charter school, it is still the districts responsibility, and the cost is also the responsibility of the district. How those services are provided are also at the discretion of the district. Some districts may have the children bussed for their services, while others may provide the services at the Charter school. But this is something that must be worked out with the Charter school and the district.
Who Staffs it?
We will have to hire the staff, which will change year by year. We have to show growth. The first year as an example Three teachers, an administrator who would split half their time with children that may need support with advanced learning, or extra help learning curriculum. A nurse – we would investigate having all the teachers be certified in CPR and first aid.
Is there a board that would do the hiring for this?
Yes, there would be board to do hiring; to work at this school, you must want to work there.
Will this be open enrollment for Danbury kids? And then everyone else must apply?
Everyone must apply. But Danbury children will take preference.
Will our children be allowed to still attend the Bristol Community Center after school?
They would not be bussed to Bristol, however as of right now the after-school program is funded through a grant because Danbury qualifies, which may be something we can qualify for. There are different options that will have to be looked at.
The town own the building, who will maintain the building? And how does the Charter get rights to the property and building? What about all the items in the school, are they going to take it away?
If the town lets us, we would lease the building – But we will have to negotiate and work the contract with the town. We will have a modest facilities budget the first year and intend for it to grow each year with the Charter. All the property in the school belongs to the SAU, they can choose to leave things behind for us or take it with them. There is also a Charter School Lease Aide Program we may use.
Will we still be able to use Ragged Mountain Skiing Program?
That is an agreement with the Planning Board that Ragged Mountain has. But we will have to talk to Ragged Mountain. In the agreement currently – it states that anyone that is in the NASD has access to the programs Ragged offers us currently.
What is to be expected of the board right now?
Expect 15 hours a week, we need help with grant writing. There will be a higher demand of your time during this period.
Clayton Woods, A board member of a charter school in Louden, and a representative in NH: To have a town wanting to do this is unbelievable. You wont ever do anything like this in another town. Explains that you must have every scenario in your charter. You need people to make this Charter school an asset to your community, and what the people in the community need.
What about insurance?
194.B.6 Charter School Liability Insurance which is covered by the state.
As a business, are we beholden to the same credentials rules as the school?
You want at least 50% of the staff with credentials
What will happen with the free and reduced lunch?
We can still get that for kids that need free and reduced lunch. It is a federal program. There are some charter schools that do not provide lunch, and that is the parents responsibility.
What is it like in the economy to try and find staff for this type of thing?
Because we will not have a lot of administrative overhead, meaning more of the budget can be allocated for teachers at a comparable and competitive pay rate.
Can we go to another location if we grow to a point to support, K-8?
We can relocate our charter, but it needs to be contingent in our Charter to do so. It was recommended to try to OWN the building, so we have an asset to sell when we want to relocate and expand the school to serve more children.
Are the grants private, state or federal?
All of those. There is no guarantee that you will get the same grant every single year. But we will supplement our budget with fundraising, state funding, and donations.
What happens if we can’t raise enough money each year?
We will plan and budget adequately – and plan to operate with the State funding. And carry the remaining revenue into the following year.
How can we fit 100 students in that school, that has been said to be overcrowded now with 73 children?
Because of the number of staff that is currently working at the school, there is less room for the children. But each room can hold 20 children in them. We will have significantly less staffing.
Meeting concluded with the reminder that this is not guaranteed, but we are closer today than we ever had been. We are still waiting for the School Board to send formal notification to our town that they are shutting the school down.
Audrey let everyone know we would be in touch within a week to go over next step with the team that wants to move forward.
Informational Session concluded at 8:17pm
