nhsba

New Hampshire School Boards Association

Legislative Bulletin

May 20, 2016

  

A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House  

 
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End of Session Approaches
The House and Senate met this week to acknowledge ' messages ' from the other body and when indicated form a committee of conference.  Yesterday was the deadline to create these committees to resolve any differences in wording/language in the House and Senate version of a bill.   Committee of Conference reports must be completed by May 26, and House Speaker Jasper has scheduled a session on June 1st to take action on these reports.  June 2 is the deadline for this session.
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Committees of Conference
Next week will be devoted to work on several committees of conference.  An updated list is available for these committees of conference that have been formed, and includes their scheduled meetings.  Please note that this web page will constantly change as committees work on a compromise, schedule new meetings or complete their work and file a report.  Committees of Conference for 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 allows 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 adds, "Consideration of correspondence from legal counsel" as an option for entering into non-public session.  Senators named to the Committee are Senators Carson, Cataldo and Pierce. Representatives named to the Committee are Representatives Rowe, Rouillard, Woodbury and Wuelper.
 
HB606 addresses fees for making a governmental record available for inspection.  The Senate version states that no fee shall be charged for the inspection, without copying, of governmental records, whether in paper, electronic, or other form.  The House version states that no fees shall be charged for records online, and no fee shall be charged to make such record available for inspection.  Senators named to the Committee are Senators Carson, Cataldo and Soucy. Representatives named to the Committee are Representatives Rowe, Rouillard, Woodbury and Wuelper.
 
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, non-religious 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 non-religious private school to provide for the education of a child who resides in a district which does not have a public school at the child's grade level . The House version includes enabling authority within sections of RSA 194:22 (Contracts with Schools) and RSA 194:27 (Tuition), while the Senate version specifically attempts to fulfill the stated purpose and still comply with statutory and constitutional obligations.  Senate language defines such an eligible school as, "nonreligious private school which has been approved for attendance by the department of education, has an educational program that meets or exceeds the requirements for an adequate public education pursuant to RSA 193-E, and agrees to comply with the statewide assessment requirements pursuant to RSA 193-C with regard to any child assigned from a public school district."   Senators named to the Committee are Senators Bradley, Reagan and Watters. Representatives named to the Committee are Representatives Ladd, Hinch, Jasper and Packard.
 
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. The Senate version also includes an "opt out" provision for district policies.  Senators named to the Committee are Senators Reagan, Avard and Watters. Representatives named to the Committee are Representatives Ladd, Balcom, Cordelli and Shaw.  Yesterday conferees agreed to the House version.
 
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". Senators named to the Committee are Senators Bradley, Stiles and Kelly. Representatives named to the Committee are Representatives Hinch, Kurk, Ladd and Shaw. Agreement now seems likely on language that references drug and alcohol education in the currently required K-12 health curriculum, with details of offerings subject to local board approval.
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Senate Concurs With House Position to Add a Charter School Program Officer
SB483 originated as a bill to establish the position of chartered public school program officer in the Department of Education.  After referral to the Senate Finance Committee, it was amended to form a committee to study the necessity of creating a chartered public school program officer position and to study appropriations to chartered public schools for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.  The House took action amending the bill again back to establishing the position of a chartered school program officer in the Department of Education.  The new position would be established no later than October 1, 2017.  The Senate concurred with the House position.
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House Concurs With Senate Position on Electronic Storage of Municipal Records
HB1395 permits certain municipal electronic records to be transferred to portable document files.  The bill amends RSA 33-A:5-a, Disposition of Municipal Records, allowing storage of files in " portable document format/archival (PDF/A) on a medium from which it is readily retrievable " to the current allowance for records to be retained for more than 10 years on paper or microfilm.  The House concurred with the Senate amendment.
Passage of this bill addresses NHSBA 2016 Resolution #6 for updating statutory requirements to reflect current document imaging technologies and backup capabilities.
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House Non-concurs With Senate Position on Official Ballot Changes
HB1375 , as it passed the House, provides an optional procedure, in political subdivisions that have adopted official ballot (SB2) voting, to establish a charter commission for the sole purpose of adopting a charter to modify procedures for the consideration, amendment, and adoption of an operating or default budget. The Senate adopted an amended version that provides enabling legislation to permit political subdivisions that have adopted official ballot voting to prohibit amendments to the operating budget at the deliberative session of the annual meeting, or to eliminate the deliberative session entirely.  The amended bill also permits adoption of a requirement for the default budget to be placed on the ballot at the second session (voting day) as a separate contingent warrant article.  If the operating budget is not adopted, the votes on the contingent default budget article would be counted to determine whether the default budget is adopted.  If neither the operating budget nor the default budget is adopted, the governing body (school board) must call a special one-time meeting to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only.  On a 204-80 vote, the House non-concurred with the Senate position, killing the bill.

For the complete text of any bill, go to the general court web site and enter the bill number, e.g. HB1563, and make sure the Session Year is 2016. 

 

For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: deanm@nhsba.org. 

Dean Michener
NHSBA Dir. of Governmental Affairs
deanm@nhsba.org
603-228-2061