nhsba

New Hampshire School Boards Association

Legislative Bulletin

May 15, 2015

  

A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House  

______________________________________

Legislative Schedule

The General Court has until Thursday, June 25, to complete its work. Both the House and Senate have set Thursday, June 4 as the deadline to act on any remaining bill, including the budget. Thursday, June 11 is the deadline to form a committee of conference, with Thursday, June 18 the deadline to complete committee of conference work for proposed agreements. Both the House and Senate must then act on any committee of conference report by Thursday, June 25, the scheduled end of session.

______________________________________

Senate Fails to Act on Change to Criminal History Records Check - Re-referred to Committee

HB346 authorizes the release of information regarding the presence or absence of any record of convictions of the applicant of any crimes or charges pending disposition, rather than the current report that only lists the presence of convictions for certain felonies. The bill requires the state police to release a copy of the records check to the SAU, school district, chartered public school, or public academy, rather than the current police report indicating the presence or absence of certain felony convictions. NHSBA supported this appropriate expansion of information provided by the criminal history records check. Experience has shown that individuals charged with felonious assault may sometimes plead to a misdemeanor; such plea bargains are not revealed under the current law. The additional information supplied is not included in the hiring prohibitions specified in statute. The additional information is simply supplied to the district, which then uses this information to make a hiring decision. Education Committee Chair Reagan removed the bill from the Consent Calendar, and it was then re-referred back to the Senate Education Committee.

______________________________________

Potential Concern with Hourly Employees and Payment of Wages

This week, the Senate endorsed a bill with which NHSBA continues to have concerns. HB347 states, "The commissioner [of labor] may 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. NEA-NH actively supported this bill and board members should discuss any ramifications with their administrators of potential negotiation proposals before agreeing to such a provision during collective bargaining.

______________________________________

Student Participation in Non-academic Surveys or Questionnaires and Objectionable Material

HB206 requires school districts to adopt a policy governing the administration of non-academic surveys or questionnaires to students. The policy shall require school districts to notify a parent or legal guardian of a non-academic survey or questionnaire and its purpose. The Senate adopted an amendment to also include the establishment of a legislative committee to study non-academic surveys or questionnaires administered by a public school to its students. The committee shall study the design of all non-academic surveys and questionnaires to determine whether and to what extent they elicit information about a student's social behavior, family life, religion, politics, sexual orientation, sexual activity, drug use, or any other information not related to a student's academics. A report with findings and recommendations would be due on or before November 1, 2015.

HB332 was amended by the Senate to stipulate that school district policies require at least 2 weeks advance notice to parents and legal guardians of curriculum course materials used for instruction of human sexuality or human sexual education. The policy shall also address the method of delivering notification to a parent or guardian, and shall make curriculum course materials available to parents or guardians for review upon request.

______________________________________

Senate Adopts Student Opt-out Provision

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. OTP

______________________________________

Update on Statewide Assessment Program: Senate Delays Action on HB 323

The Senate put off until next week taking a vote on HB323, which makes changes to the type of statewide assessment that may be administered by a school district. The bill requires that annual assessments be, "designed to yield specific data to use in identifying and improving instruction and learning." A proposed Senate amendment addresses the frequency of testing, providing that assessments be administered in, "reading/language arts in grade 3, mathematics in grade 4, and both reading/language arts and mathematics in grades 6, 8, and 11, or other schedule, if approved through a federal education waiver or law." The Education Committee's recommendation is Ought to Pass with Amendment. The bill also references the potential for, "The New Hampshire department of education shall further develop criteria for an application and approval process that will allow school districts that meet certain readiness criteria to participate in a local system of assessment and accountability." This process will allow approved districts to implement the statewide assessment only in selected grades as determined by the department and as identified in the New Hampshire Performance Assessment for Competency Education (PACE) pilot." A first-in-the-nation accountability strategy, the PACE pilot allows districts to reduce the level of standardized testing in favor of more locally managed assessments that will be more integrated into a student's day-to-day work. There are currently four PACE-implementing districts - Sanborn Regional, Rochester, Epping and Souhegan - who have worked closely with our NH Department of Education over the past five years to develop the strategy, and as a result, the U.S. Department of Education has agreed to allow them to be the only districts in the country to pilot a new locally managed assessment process for accountability purposes. For more information see here.

______________________________________

Additional NH Senate Votes This Week

HB322requires the department of education to implement additional procedures to protect student and teacher personally identifiable data from security breaches. The bill also requires the department of education to make public certain rights available to parents, legal guardians, and affected students regarding the protection of personally identifiable data. OTP

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 provisions are included in the House adopted budget. Laid on Table

______________________________________

Update on SB 2 and Default Budgets - Another Legislative Study

Two bills this year proposed various changes to how official ballot districts (SB 2) operate. One required a ballot vote on the default budget; the other required a ballot vote on any budget amendments made at deliberative session. Technical concerns with both bills prompted creation of a legislative study committee. The House Municipal & County Government Committee has proposed amending SB242 to establish a committee to study methods of adopting a budget in towns that have adopted official ballot voting. This recommendation now goes to the full House.

HB689 - The Senate has re-referred HB689 to the Senate Public & Municipal Affairs Committee. This bill allows local adoption (3/5 legislative body vote) of an alternative process that requires the default budget to be placed on the ballot as a separate warrant article if no operating budget article is adopted. If neither the proposed budget nor the default budget pass, the governing body may call a special meeting to consider a revised budget. This special "town meeting" shall consist of a single session. The bill causes several concerns, notably that there is no requirement for a solution if no budget is adopted by ballot. There is also potential for confusion in the voting booth, with both the proposed budget, and the default budget on the ballot. It is not clear what happens if both budgets are adopted.

SB242 - This bill requires amendments to the operating budget that were approved at the first session to be voted on separately on the official ballot. This creates a significant technical problem since voters at the ballot will first vote on the budget (principal motion) before voting on any amendments. Uncertainty regarding the outcome of votes on amendments only leads to confusion on voting for the proposed budget. The House Municipal & County Government Committee has proposed amending SB242 to establish a committee to study methods of adopting a budget in towns that have adopted official ballot voting.

 


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