school funding

A bill to significantly expand access to school vouchers in New Hampshire is gathering momentum in the Republican-controlled State House.

HB 20 would establish an “education freedom account program,” allowing families whose children have left their local public school to redirect state aid to the educational program of that family’s choice.

School districts will be getting less money from the federal government than they expected this fall to cover COVID-related expenses.

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For months, officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had told schools that they were eligible for reimbursement for PPE, plastic desk barriers, cleaning supplies, and other materials.

State officials are seeking more time to prepare for the latest court challenge to New Hampshire’s public school funding system.

The ConVal, Mascenic, Winchester, and Monadnock school districts sued the state earlier this year, arguing it has failed in its duty to provide and pay for an adequate education. A superior court judge ruled in June that the state’s education funding system is unconstitutional, but the state has appealed the ruling.

The Claremont and Unity schools have lost more than $450,000 over two years as a result of not submitting federal paperwork for school lunch reimbursements on time, according to acting Superintendent Cory LeClair.

The district will be able to make up the majority of the funds through savings in other areas of the budget, she said, but it’s still a significant loss.

The Winchester School District is joining a school funding lawsuit against the state. Winchester, which is located in the southwest corner of New Hampshire, is the third district that's party to the lawsuit, brought earlier this month by the ConVal School Board.

The ConVal lawsuit claims the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to pay for an adequate education and that it has downshifted these costs to local taxpayers.

Corinne Cascadden, the Superintendent of Schools in Berlin, is stepping down this June. Cascadden served for over 20 years as an elementary school principal and for 10 years as superintendent.

She was an often outspoken critic of lawmakers in Concord over the issue of state education aid, which pays for much of Berlin's school budget.

This aid is declining annually, which Cascadden blames for the district's recent decision to close Brown Elementary, its last stand-alone elementary school.

Two students from Hillside Elementary School in Berlin are petitioning the state to restore funding to Berlin's schools.

In the past few years, the loss of school stabilization aid to property-poor towns has left a hole in Berlin's annual school budget of over $200,000.

Franklin's nearly 30-year old tax cap won't be in place next year. The city council overrode the mayor’s veto to break the tax cap with a 6 to 3 vote Thursday night.

After years of budget shortfalls and layoffs, Franklin’s school district has some breathing room, at least for one year. That's how long this proposed tax cap break would last.

The school district would get $708,623, and could rehire most of the 14 staff members laid off this year.

A new analysis of a controversial school voucher bill says it could cost the state millions of dollars over the next several years.

The bill in question would allow parents to take the state money that normally follows a child to public school, and spend it on other forms of education -- including private schools or home schooling.

School districts with growing populations could benefit from two pieces of legislation that got preliminary approval today from the New Hampshire House. 

The House voted this morning to move forward a bill that would lift a cap on how much state aid growing school districts can receive, as well as a measure to provide more money for school construction projects. The House Education Committee recommended passage of both. 

Facing tighter budgets North Country school districts are participating in a task force exploring ways they can cooperate and save money.

There are two broad goals, said Wayne Gersen, the former superintendent of the Hanover school district, who is heading up the group.

One is to give students more educational opportunities, perhaps by having SAUs share teachers in areas such as music, art or even special-education testing.