University of Pinkerton?

Just joking with the new name of Pinkerton Academy, but the following article lists a key vote coming up in the town of Hooksett tomorrow. If Hooksett votes yes on this the town will enter into a 10 year tuition agreement with Pinkerton. It doesn't mean every Hooksett 8th grader will attend Pinkerton, but it paves the way for more and more Hooksett students to attend Pinkerton. There are 479 students at the Hooksett Jr High. This means Pinkerton could add anywhere from 200 to 500 additional students to their enrollment starting in 2016/2017 and in the coming years.

Pinkerton already has 3100 students. This has the potential to push their enrollment into the mid 3K. If that happens then their enrollment margin between them and some D1 schools would be bigger than the actual total enrollment numbers of a certain portion of D1 schools.

As one coach said to me over the weekend:

"If this happens then NO EXCUSES.... Pinkerton should win every title for every team in every sport."



March 08. 2015 10:05PM
Hooksett to vote on long-term agreement with Pinkerton
 
By CASSIDY SWANSON
Union Leader Correspondent

HOOKSETT — Residents will be asked Tuesday to vote on a long-term tuition agreement with Pinkerton Academy in Derry.

Currently, Hooksett students are eligible to attend Bow High School, Pembroke Academy, Londonderry High School, Central and West high schools in Manchester, or Pinkerton. The district currently has a one-year agreement with Pinkerton, meaning a student’s contract to attend the academy must be re-negotiated each year, even though the student is guaranteed to be able to attend all four years.

“You can’t plan your future on a bunch of one-year agreements,” said Dr. Phil Littlefield, superintendent of School Administrative Unit 15, which includes Hooksett. “You need a more permanent agreement.”

Hooksett currently has five-year memorandums of understanding with Bow, Londonderry and Pembroke, and a four-year settlement agreement through 2018 with Manchester.

The new tuition agreement with Pinkerton, which would commence on July 1, 2016, would be for 10 years. Beginning July 2021, and every five years going forward, the agreement may or may not be extended another five years.

Under the proposed agreement, Pinkerton would charge Hooksett the same tuition rate as other sending districts. Estimated tuition would be paid by Hooksett to Pinkerton in installments: 50 percent by Oct. 15, 25 percent by Feb. 15, and the remaining 25 percent by April 15. These estimates would be based on the total number of Hooksett students enrolled at Pinkerton.

There would be no minimum enrollment for the first three years. As of the 2019-2020 school year, which would be the fourth year of the proposed agreement, the minimum enrollment of Hooksett students at Pinkerton would be equal to the average percentage of eighth grade students who enroll to be freshmen at Pinkerton from 2016 to 2020. This enrollment would remain fixed for the entire agreement.

Hooksett’s current one-year agreement with Pinkerton expires at the end of the next school year, Littlefield said.

The tuition agreements Hooksett has with Manchester and Pinkerton are “a stronger agreement” than the memorandums of understanding the district has with Londonderry, Bow and Pembroke, Littlefield said.

“Once we have a contract, that contract contains language that says that our anchor schools (Pinkerton, Central and West) will accept all the kids who we want to send there,” he said. Londonderry, Bow and Pembroke have limited space and therefore are able to put a cap on the number of Hooksett students they can take on, Littlefield explained.

The goal of changing the agreement with Pinkerton is to help get the agreement “in sync” with Hooksett’s agreement with Manchester, Littlefield said. However, he said he’s not looking to influence anyone’s opinion.

“I truly respect the will of the voters,” Littlefield said. “It’s their school district, and our school district should reflect what their wants and desires are.”

Pinkerton Headmaster Griffin Morse said the academy enjoys “long and stable” agreements with its sending communities, and that the new long-term agreement with Hooksett would likely have the same outcome.

“This is not some strange deal,” he said. “It’s a very standard process for Pinkerton.”

Hooksett School Board Chairman Joanne McHugh did not return a call for comment. Vice Chairman Amy Boilard declined to comment.

Hooksett residents will vote on the article on Tuesday at David R. Cawley Middle School, 85 Whitehall Road. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Looks like they should start inscribing a lot of state title plaques with the 2 words:

Pinkerton Academy

on them.



Hooksett approves long-term deal with Pinkerton
By CASSIDY SWANSON

Union Leader Correspondent
HOOKSETT — Article 3 of the town’s annual warrant passed 1,033 to 528, ensuring that the town will enter into a long-term agreement to send high school-age students to Pinkerton Academy in Derry.

Currently, Hooksett students are eligible to attend Bow High School, Pembroke Academy, Londonderry High School, Central and West high schools in Manchester, or Pinkerton. The district currently has a one-year agreement with Pinkerton, meaning a student’s contract to attend the academy must be renegotiated each year, even though the student is guaranteed to be able to attend all four years.

School Administrative Unit Superintendent Phil Littlefield said extending the agreement would eliminate the need for the annual renegotiations.

Mark Wright, vice president of the Pinkerton Board of Trustees, said on Tuesday night that he congratulated the Hooksett community on coming together and making the choice create a more permanent agreement for the students.

“It looks like the Hooksett voters have spoke overwhelmingly this time around,” Wright said. “On behalf of the board of trustees, the Pinkerton community and our other sending towns, we’re thrilled to welcome Hooksett to the Pinkerton community.

Wright said the board recognized that Hooksett “presented a different set of issues and circumstances,” as the town wishes to provide a variety of school choices to its students, unlike other sending communities. He commended the Hooksett school board’s negotiation committee for coming up with a “fair and reasonable agreement.”

“The goal was always to find a compromise and a structure that was fair and reasonable to both Hooksett and Pinkerton,” he said. “We look forward to continuing our relationships and the Hooksett students, the Hooksett families and the Hooksett community.”

The new tuition agreement with Pinkerton, which will commence on July 1, 2016, will be for 10 years. Beginning July 2021, and every five years going forward, the agreement may or may not be extended another five years. Hooksett’s current one-year agreement with Pinkerton expires at the end of the next school year.