nhsba

New Hampshire School Boards Association

Legislative Bulletin

April 24, 2015

  

A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House  

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April 23rd Senate Session Cancelled - Rescheduled to April 30

Previous Bulletins referenced several bills that were scheduled for Senate votes this week. Due to the cancelled session, those bills are now scheduled for consideration next Thursday, April 30.

HB124 requires that, prior to the adoption or implementation of new college and career readiness standards, the state board of education shall evaluate and report on the proposed new standards, and prohibits the board from implementing any such new standards until the board conducts a public hearing in each executive council district. Committee recommendation ITL 4-1.

HB142 states that schools shall not, "require or request a student or prospective student to disclose or to provide access to a personal social media ..." The bill does allow districts to, "request the student's parent or guardian to provide specific data from the student's social media account." The Senate Education Committee included an amendment allowing districts to request, "a student voluntarily share a printed copy of a specific communication from the student's social media account that is relevant to an ongoing investigation." Committee recommendation OTP/A 4-0.

HB206 was amended to establish a legislative committee to study non-academic surveys or questionnaires administered by a public school to its students, with a report due by November 1, 2015. Committee recommendation OTP/A 4-0.

HB332 requires at least 2 weeks advance notice to parents and legal guardians of course material involving discussion of human sexuality or human sexual education. The Senate Education Committee amended the bill, requiring the policy to also address the issues of instructor reprimand and the delivery method of such reprimand if the policy is violated. Committee recommendation OTP/A 3-2.

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Senate Education Committee Recommendations This Week

Formal votes this week by the Senate Education Committee are now scheduled for inclusion in next week's Senate session.

HB347 states, "The commissioner [of labor] shall permit payment of wages less frequently than weekly where a school district collective bargaining agreement for hourly employees provides an option to be paid in any number of equal installments with one additional installment." In general, labor laws require hourly workers to be paid within certain timeframes. There are also reporting requirements that present administrative problems if payments do not directly correspond to the time period, or even calendar year, for the actual hours worked. Finally, there are also issues associated with how and when any "recapture" or reconciliation of pay is made due to actual hours worked compared to the scheduled installments for pay. The Senate Education Committee amended the bill to state the commissioner may permit such payment, considering the bill enabling for districts that choose to offer such arrangements. Board members should discuss any ramifications of such bargaining proposals with their administrators before agreeing to any such provision during collective bargaining. Committee recommendation OTP/A 5-0.

HB555 clarifies the ability of public chartered school pupils to participate in programs and co-curricular activities in their resident district. Committee recommendation REREFER 4-1.

HB604 will allow pupils receiving special education services to be transported in a mixed use school bus unless prohibited by the pupil's individualized education program or accommodation plan. Committee recommendation OTP 4-0.

HB610 requires a school board vote to approve the reassignment of a pupil to another school. The bill makes a simple transparent change to current law: it requires the local governing body to be made aware of, and approve, a reassignment made in the best interest of a pupil. Committee recommendation OTP 4-0.

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House Special Committee on Employee Pension Plans

Speaker Jasper has addressed the important subject of the state's retirement system by creating the Special Committee on Public Employee Pension Plans. This committee considers all matters pertaining to reform and revision of the state's public employee pension plan and program. The Committee is chaired by Rep. David Hess with Rep. John Sytek as Vice Chair. Remaining members are Representatives Neal Kurk (r), William Infantine (r), Gary Azarian (r), Bill Ohm (r), Frank Edelblut (r), Frank Byron (r), Mark Proulx (r), Jeffrey Goley (d), Daniel Sullivan (d), Patricia Lovejoy (d), Dianne Schuett (d) and Len DiSesa (d).

 

Early in the year, two bills were referred to this committee:
HB369 - This bill establishes a defined contribution retirement plan for public employees and requires the issuance of a request for proposals for plan administration. Beginning November 1, 2015, all new hires by employers participating in the retirement system shall be enrolled in the public employee defined contribution plan.

HB556 - This bill establishes a cash balance pension plan for all New Hampshire retirement system members hired on and after July 1, 2015.

 

After initial hearings and relatively brief schedules, the committee voted to retain both bills. Chairman Hess has now resumed work for the committee, and called a work session to review issues associated with any transition to a new retirement plan for public employees. John Small, Vice Chairman of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, was invited to address the committee on issues related to the University's transition from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, undertaken over 25 years ago. Vice Chairman Small and the committee members generally discussed issues related to transition costs, specifically any potential impact on administrative costs, impact of a reduced rate of return on residual defined benefit plan investments, and ramifications of the current unfunded liability. While the University's experience with a transition to a defined contribution plan provides interesting information, their lack of a comparable unfunded liability, and the relatively smaller scale/scope of their operation, does not provide realistic comparisons in several financial areas. Chairman Hess indicated he is initiating conversations with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, an organization dedicated to the research and dissemination of retirement policy issues as well as to widening access to related data sources. He is exploring the potential for any information and/or resources that the Center may be able to provide.

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Remaining Work for the Senate Education Committee

Several bills remain in the Senate Education Committee, awaiting votes on a final recommendation. The committee is scheduled to meet next Tuesday in executive session to make recommendations. Remaining bills include:

HB276 prohibits the state board of education from adopting a rule requiring a school district or any public school to implement the common core state standards. The bill also requires a school board that elects not to implement or participate in the common core state standards or other minimum educational standards to adopt and implement educational standards that meet or exceed those standards.

HB323 makes changes to the type of statewide assessment that may be administered by a school district.

HB346 makes changes to the law on school employee and volunteer criminal history records checks, expanding the information provided to school districts.

HB424 requires the school district to notify a parent or legal guardian of his or her right to inspect and review a pupil's assessment.

HB491 permits a teacher or other person entrusted with the care or supervision of a minor or pupil to use reasonable force to end a disturbance, to maintain safety, or to remove the pupil or minor from the premises under certain circumstances.

HB563 adjusts the additional grants for chartered public school pupils based on the Consumer Price Index and adds $1,000 per pupil to the grant beginning July 1, 2016 for chartered public schools other than the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School. These same provisions are included in the House adopted budget.

HB578 prohibits the state board of education from adopting rules that require a school district to comply with a federally mandated curriculum, method of instruction, or statewide assessment program which is not fully paid by federal funds.

HB603 declares that a student exempted from taking the statewide assessment by the student's parent or legal guardian shall not be penalized. The bill also requires a school district to provide an appropriate alternative educational activity for the time period during which the assessment is administered.

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House Education Committee Begins Review of Retained Bills

Next week, the House Education Committee has scheduled two separate work sessions on retained bills. One session will be reviewing adequate education state aid, and the other addresses charter schools.

 

Thursday, April 30, 2015

HOUSE EDUCATION, Room 207, LOB

10:00 a.m. Subcommittee work session on retained HB 242, relative to the statewide improvement and assessment program, and HB 218-FN, relative to additional funding for third grade proficiency in mathematics.

 

1:00 p.m. Subcommittee work session on retained HB 625-FN-A, relative to public charter schools, HB 253, relative to the requirements for filing a charter school application, and HB 536, relativeto payment for special education services for chartered public school students and relative to federal funds for chartered public schools.

 

 

For the complete text of any bill, go to the general court web site and enter the bill number, e.g. HB102, and make sure the Session Year is 2015. 

 

For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: [email protected]. 

Dean Michener
NHSBA Dir. of Governmental Affairs
[email protected]
603-228-2061