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Next Week Marks the End of Session
The House and Senate will meet next Wednesday to consider and vote on
Committee of Conference
reports completed this week. June 2nd is the deadline to complete work, but the session on June 1st is not likely to be extended.
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Committee of Conference Reports
Committees of Conference completed their work and made recommendations on proposed language to be considered by the House and Senate next week. These
committee of conference reports
include the proposed changes in language that have been agreed upon by both the House and Senate conferees. Education related bills include:
Right to Know
HB285
addresses
discussion with legal counsel under the right-to-know law and whether legal counsel must actually be present. The Senate version allowed consideration of oral or written legal advice, without the attorney present, as an option under RSA 91-A:2, I (b), as a non-meeting. The House version made, "Consideration of correspondence from legal counsel" an option for entering into non-public session. Conferees reached agreement using language from the Senate, but adding it in RSA 91-A:3, II, as an option for entering into non-public session.
91-A:3, II, (k)Consideration of legal advice provided by legal counsel, either in writing or orally, to one of more members of the public body, even where legal counsel is not present.
HB606
prohibits a public body from charging a fee for making a governmental record available for inspection or from charging a fee for inspection of such record. Conferees worked from the Senate version and agreed to add the following language in RSA 91-A:4, IV, "No fee shall be charged for the inspection or delivery, without copying, of governmental records, whether in paper, electronic, or other form."
Youth Employment Certificates
HB1301
concerns "working papers" needed by those students age 16 and under, and more specifically, who should be authorized to issue the needed certificate for the employer. Currently, by statute, the local school district principal is responsible for reviewing the work application and judging whether the student applicants' academic performance will suffer. For certain cases, however, (home school, charter school, private school) there was concern the parent was better positioned than the local school district principal to make these judgments. The bill allows parents or legal guardians to also authorize the certificates.
Pupil Assignment to a Private School
HB1637
allows a school district to assign a child to another public school in another school district or to an approved, private school if there is no public school for the child's grade in the child's resident district. The bill also allows a school board to make a contract with a private school to provide for the education of a child who resides in a district that does not have a public school at the child's grade level
. Unfortunately, both House and Senate conferees failed to include safeguards for the provision of a state required adequate education, as well as dropping the requirement of "non-religious" private school, expanding the option to include religious schools, arguably in violation of NH Constitutional prohibitions on public monies being granted to religious schools (Part First, Article 6 and Part Second, Article 83)
. The new language contradicts NHSBA long-standing resolutions (I:A, NHSBA supports the utilization of public education funds solely for public school purposes... and I:B, NHSBA urges the NH Legislature and Congress to oppose any efforts to subsidize elementary or secondary private, religious or home schools with public tax dollars...). School board members are urged to contact their representatives and senator, voicing their opposition to this proposal and voting down the Committee of Conference recommendation.
Non-Academic Surveys
SB320
requires parents to sign a permission slip before a student may participate in a non-academic survey or questionnaire: written consent (opt in) is required from the parent or legal guardian. Both the House and Senate provide an exception to this requirement for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Conferees agreed to the House versionforrequiring an "opt-in" provision for any such survey.
Drug and Alcohol Education
SB369
is a legislative proposal from last winter's Joint Task Force on the Heroin & Opiod Crisis. The Senate adopted language stating, "Each public school in the state, as part of their health education curriculum, shall provide at each grade level age appropriate drug and alcohol education to pupils from kindergarten through grade 12." The House amended the bill, changing the word "shall" to "should". Conferees agreed to new language added to RSA 189:11 as a new subsection, 11-d, "Each public school in the state, as part of the school board-approved kindergarten through grade 12 health education program, shall provide age and developmentally appropriate drug and alcohol education to pupils based upon the needs of the pupils and the community... School boards shall develop policies authorizing school district personnel to provide pupils, parents, and legal guardians with information and resources relative to existing drug and alcohol counseling and treatment for pupils. Nothing in this section shall require a school district to add additional programs or services, ...".
