PETERBOROUGH — Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders announces that the ConVal School District has settled a lawsuit against a rental company that provided unusable outdoor tents last year.
During the summer of 2020, the District rented large tents from Monadnock Tent & Event to support in-person learning upon the reopening of school on Sept. 8. The District later became aware that the rented tents larger than 400 square feet would not meet the State of New Hampshire’s permitting requirements.
As a result, students at the Great Brook and South Meadow Schools as well as ConVal Regional High School, who were scheduled to attend classes in-person, were required to begin the school year under a remote learning model.
The lawsuit alleged that the permitting challenges were created by the vendor’s inability to provide the necessary data, certificates, and other documentation, per the contract and the representations made by the vendor. The vendor denied liability and brought a countersuit.
Under terms of the settlement:
- Monadnock Tent & Event will pay the District $75,000.
- The District will release all property belonging to the company.
- The District will drop its lawsuit against the company, which in turn will drop its countersuit against the District.
As part of the settlement, John Hopkins, owner of Monadnock Tent & Event, issues the following statement:
“Last summer when I took a contract to lease event tents to the Contoocook Valley Regional School District, I was grateful for the opportunity to provide assistance to my community during these trying times. I am truly and sincerely sorry for the unfortunate events that led to the District not being able to use the tents rented and the loss that the District has sustained. I have been in the tent rental business for twenty-three years. I never expected that my tents would be denied building permits for use by the District. While this was the first time any of my tents have not received permitted approval, that does not undo the harm done to the District. I regret the harm that this situation has caused the District and the other members of my community. I am working with the District to make amends as best I am able and look forward to working with the District again in the future.”
