Royalton
For the former Royalton School Board chairman, who became one of the community’s leading voices against school consolidation, the last straw came on the night of last week’s vote in favor of the merger, when, he said, someone placed a dead rat on his doorstep to harass him and his family.
“My wife went out to water the hanging plants and discovered it on our doorstep,” Murphy said on Monday afternoon. “That’s not the first time our house has been targeted.”
Murphy linked the dead rat to another incident that took place during the night of another school consolidation vote in April, when school merger supporters made recordings of him in and around his house, and accused him of illegal campaigning activities. Murphy said he reported that incident to the police, and that the police monitored his home during the summer as a result.
During last Tuesday’s vote, Murphy narrowly lost a bid for a three-year seat on the School Board for the newly formed White River Unified School District. Voters in Bethel and Royalton also overwhelmingly voted in favor of the two-town school district merger.
The outcome of Tuesday’s votes capped a debate that was deeply divisive to the Royalton community, which in April opposed a similar three-town merger that also involved Rochester. In the weeks leading up to and following the April vote, consolidation supporters and opponents traded heated accusations of disseminating false information, and lit up social media forums with personal insults.
“In a nutshell, this was a long, bruising process,” Murphy said.
The incident with the rat, Murphy said, was upsetting to his family, including his two in-laws who live in the home.
“People should be encouraged to participate and be part of the process. We should also welcome dissenting opinions as part of the process,” Murphy said. “Unfortunately they were not welcome, instead vilified.”
Murphy now plans to put his public service energy into building the fortunes of the Randolph Technical Career Center, where he is a faculty member. He described the atmosphere there as more positive than what he sees in Royalton.
The day after the vote, South Royalton School Principal Dean Stearns announced his resignation, effective in June, to the School Board; during that same meeting, faculty and students aired complaints over uncertainties associated with the transition and what they said was a failure to incorporate their voices in the decision-making processes.
Though Murphy expressed support for the new board, he suggested the negativity could impact the new two-town district’s efforts to attract tuition students.
“This might not cost the school a dime, but who knows? It might cost them $100,000 and six kids don’t show up,” he said.
Murphy’s not the only person who felt bruised by the political forces that swirled around the consolidation vote.
Though all 10 members of the Royalton and Bethel school boards were eligible to run for the six seats on the new White River Unified School District board, only two — Lisa Floyd and Nancy Cyphers — chose to do so.
Because Cyphers lost to her opponent, the new board will consist of Floyd and five members without school board experience — Rodney Rainville, who defeated Cyphers; Shannon Morrill-Cornelius, who defeated Murphy; Chris Riley; Andrew Jones; and Lisa McCrory.
Royalton School Board member Geo Honigford last week said he didn’t run again because the debate sapped his energy.
“After 12 years, I’m burned out. There’s no gas in my tank,” he said. “The secondary reason is, I think I’m a bit of a distraction at this point. … I think a lot of people haven’t agreed with me in the process. There’s a lot of baggage with me going into the new system.”
Royalton School Board Chairwoman Christine Hudson, who was the target of some personal criticism during the consolidation debate, also chose not to run.
“It was a really hard decision for me,” she said. “I’ve been on the board for seven or eight years now. But this was — it was a really hard process.”
Hudson said she still planned to be involved in the district’s future as an active voice in the community, but that she was eager to turn the reins over to the next generation of leadership.
“It’s great to have new people involved,” she said. “It’s a new school with new ideas.”
Morrill-Cornelius said the new faces around the table will be well-positioned to the task at hand.
“I have a lot of enthusiasm and dedication to this group,” Morrill-Cornelius said. “These are my townspeople. We have a lot of work to do.”
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.