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HB 142 - Senate Adopts NHSBA Supported Language for Teacher Evaluation Procedures
HB 142 affirms that the school board is responsible for the adoption of a teacher evaluation system. The House approved language requiring local boards to adopt a "teacher evaluation and support system to be used in the school district or school for the continual improvement of instruction." NHSBA testified in opposition to this new statutory requirement, and offered language that the Senate adopted this week. The Senate version of HB 142 states that, "School boards shall adopt a teacher performance evaluation policy, with the involvement of teachers and principals, for use in the school district." In such local adoption, boards may consider any resources they deem reasonable, including any resources provided by the Department of Education. This language, which NHSBA supports, meets the stated needs of the Department of Education for the state's ESEA Waiver application. Efforts supported by NEA to include collective bargaining language as part of the amendment failed on the floor of the Senate.
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SB 48 - School Performance and Accountability
SB 48 makes various changes to the statute on school performance and accountability. It repeals local education improvement and assessment plans, and provides definitions for "priority" and "focus" schools (identified in NH's current waiver application), replacing the designation of "in need of improvement". Focus schools have the largest within-school gaps between high and low achieving groups, and priority schools are among the lowest 5% of schools in the state based on the achievement of all students on the statewide assessment. In addition to current performance targets/requirements, the bill specifically includes reference to rules, adopted by the state board, for a) performance on the statewide improvement and assessment program, b) attendance rates, and c) the percentage of pupils who graduate with a diploma. The bill has been assigned to a House Education sub-committee for further review and recommendation. Sub-committee members have questioned the bill's stated purpose that, "NH's student assessment system should promote and measure the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that lead students to graduate from high schools ready for college and career." How students are assessed on such related qualities as initiative, social/emotional competence, resilience and leadership has prompted much concern within the subcommittee. The subcommittee is scheduled to meet again next Thursday.
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Senate Continues Work on State Budget
The Senate continues to review details of the budget as passed by the House, as well as updated revenue estimates. State agencies continue to make presentations on department budget requests, and provide explanations on any updated changes to their needs. The Department of Education presented to the Capital Budget Committee last Friday on proposed funding for the Whitefield and Salem Career Tech centers; the Department is scheduled to make its operating budget presentation to the Finance Committee today, Friday afternoon.
A summary of the House approved appropriations for the Department of Education major sources of state aid is available here.
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HB 269 - Special School District Meetings in Response to Adequacy Changes
HB 269 authorizes a school district to conduct a special meeting necessitated by changes in adequate education funding. Such authorization has historically been included in the budget bill when changes were made to the state Adequate Education funding formula. HB 269 will place such authorization permanently in statute. At the public hearing, NHSBA offered testimony to clarify several technical corrections, and the Senate Public and Municipal Affairs Committee is considering a possible amendment to address those concerns.
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HB 260 - Children in Need of Services (CHINS)
HB 260 expands the definition of a child in need of services under RSA 169-D and revises the circumstances under which the court may order various services or placements. The bill also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to collect certain data regarding the CHINS program and provides for the suspension of voluntary services if appropriated funds will be insufficient to support voluntary services for the remainder of the biennium. Unfortunately, the bill also includes overly prescriptive provisions relative to local board truancy policies. NHSBA provided the Senate Health, Education & Human Services Committee with testimony regarding the unnecessary inclusion of additions to the current statutory requirements for school board policies on truancy in RSA 189:34. The bill would require local policies relative to a process for truancy intervention to "consider and document" the effect on a child's attendance of several vague issues, including "poor school climate, poor relations with teachers, and the adequacy of the identification of the child's special education needs."
ACTION ITEM
HB 260 still awaits committee action, which may occur next Tuesday when the committee meets in executive session. Please contact members of the Senate Health, Education & Human Services Committee to convey your general support for this bill, but opposition to the inclusion of changes to the requirements on school board policy. Documenting the effect could create unintended barriers to provision of needed services, and the additional language on required policy is unnecessarily prescriptive. NHSBA sample policy calls on building administrators to investigate the causes of a student's truant behavior, consider, when appropriate, modification of an educational program, and involvement of the parents. The sample policy also has the following provisions: coordination of truancy prevention strategies, assisting staff to develop site attendance plans, and encouraging adoption of attendance-incentive programs at school sites and individual classrooms. These measures are working. The law was changed in 2010, at which time NHSBA amended its sample policy to reflect the new intervention requirements. Since then, Commissioner Barry has recently reported that there is "... clear evidence that our dropout prevention programs, put in place to complement the increase in the state's compulsory attendance age, are in fact working."
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Welcome Newly Elected Board Members!
NHSBA would like to welcome the newly elected board members who attended the NHSBA New Board Member Orientation this week. We wish you great success in your role as a board member. Please feel free to contatct us at any time if we can be of assistance.
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