The following is the legislative schedule for the week of February 16, 2015. Unless marked as an executive session, the bills are scheduled for a committee meeting which is the opportunity for public testimony. This is the best chance to communicate with the committee members and share your opinion on the bills. The schedule is subject to change. Updates will be made as information becomes available, so check back.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE, Legislative Office Building room 207
10:00 a.m. Executive session (committee votes on these bills)
HB 142, relative to student social media policies by education institutions
position — SUPPORT, but it should not apply to private schools
more information — Another Effort to Protect Students’ Social Media Privacy Rights
HB 206, relative to non-academic surveys or questionnaires given to students
position — SUPPORT
more information — Do Federal Funds Incentivize Schools to Compromise Parents’ Rights? and Controversial Surveys and Questionnaires Need Opt-Out
HB 253, relative to the requirements for filing a charter school application
position — OPPOSE
more information — Another Attempt to Limit Charter Schools
HB 283, requiring school districts to establish a policy permitting a pupil’s parent or legal guardian to observe his or her classes
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill is consistent with parents’ rights to direct their children’s education; parents do not surrender their children when they enter a school building
HB 302, requiring a public hearing prior to the submission of a grant application by the department of education
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill would improve transparency when the DOE applies to grants that then impose requirements upon local districts; Caitlin Davis of the DOE admitted that the federal money for assessments is not specific to the Smarter Balanced Assessment; if that is true, then the DOE should not inhibit local districts from selecting one of their choice especially if the school does not accept Title 1 money
2:30 p.m. HA 1, for the removal of certain state officials in the department of education.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
SENATE EDUCATION, Room 103, LOB
9:00 a.m. SB 25-FN, relative to epinephrine administered in schools
9:30 a.m. SB 152, requiring the state police to disclose the results of a criminal records check to school officials
10:00 a.m. SB 190-FN, relative to payment of costs for career and technical education center programs and administration by the department of education, and establishing a tax credit against business profits taxes for donations to such centers
position — OPPOSE
more information — this bill creates regional education centers that would be managed and controlled by the state DOE with little to no local control; the program would be aligned to national technical core competencies so it is more federal education reform in NH schools; it also significantly expands the authority of the state BOE to include developing the tuition and transportation costs and the distribution of funds
10:30 a.m. SB 227, relative to calculating the cost of an adequate education
11:00 a.m. SB 228-FN-L, relative to the maximum total education grant, adjustment of stabilization grants, and adequate education funding for full-day kindergarten pupils
Thursday, February 19, 2015
HOUSE EDUCATION, Room 207, LOB
9:30 a.m. HB 604, relative to the use of mixed use school buses by special education pupils
10:00 a.m. HB 519, establishing a committee to study department of education policies affecting dyslexic students
10:30 a.m. HB 471, relative to the powers of the state board of education and the duties of school boards
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill empowers local school districts with more independent decision making and authority; it does not prohibit local districts from entering into cooperative agreements with other districts; the state DOE may continue to serve as a repository for information and facilitate coordination among districts
11:15 a.m. HB 507, relative to teacher personally identifiable data
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill expands privacy protections to teachers and other faculty of our schools
1:00 p.m. HB 520, establishing privacy protections for student online personal information
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill would require privacy protections of the various outside companies that NH schools hire to provide educational services to students
1:45 p.m. HB 527, establishing guidelines for school districts relative to the use of school resource officers
2:15 p.m. HB 375, relative to providing information about effective forms of child discipline to parents
2:45 p.m. HB 555, relative to participation of chartered public school students in school district cocurricular activities
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill clarifies that charter school students may participate in co-curricular activities of their resident district
3:15 p.m. HB 578-FN, relative to state board of education compliance with unfunded federal education mandates
position — SUPPORT
additional information — This bill protects districts from unfunded mandates that may result when the state DOE accepts federal grants or enters contracts for federal education programs
Friday, February 20, 2015
HOUSE EDUCATION, Room 207, LOB
9:30 a.m. HB 603, relative to student exemptions from assessments, questionnaires, or surveys
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill explicitly reinforces parents’ rights to opt out their child from academic and non-academic materials, see A Parent’s Right to Opt-Out, Do Federal Funds Incentivize Schools to Compromise Parents’ Rights? and Controversial Surveys and Questionnaires Need Opt-Out
9:55 a.m. HB 566-FN-L, relative to consolidation of school administrative units
position — OPPOSE
more information — Forcing centralized school administration will reduce accountability, transparency, and accessibility to the local residents; it could be used to justify an increase in non-teaching staff at the local office to replace the SAU administrators; local districts can currently form cooperative SAU agreements if the residents agree it is in their best interest to do so, but this would require it on a major scale for each county (except Hillsborough)
10:20 a.m. HB 611-FN, requiring legislative approval of all agreements, contracts, grants, or waivers involving the department of education or the state board of education
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill would improve transparency and accountability when the DOE seeks to apply for grants that then impose requirements upon local districts
10:45 a.m. HB 610, relative to a school board vote on the reassignment of a pupil
11:10 a.m. HB 474, relative to grounds for denial of a chartered public school application
position — OPPOSE
more information — This bill would allow the state BOE to deny the application of chartered public schools solely for budget reasons; the legislature, not the BOE sets the budget and allocation of state funds; this is a blatant attempt to justify the charter school moratorium from a few years ago and deny additional schools; see The State Board of Ed Overreaches Its Authority
11:35 a.m. HB 424, relative to the accessibility of assessment materials position
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill would require schools to inform parents of their rights to inspect their student’s assessments per RSA 193-C:10
1:00 p.m. Executive session (the committee will vote)
HB 322, relative to protection of personally identifiable data by the department of education
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill provides greater transparency of the Student Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) or other database the DOE may use; it also is the first to propose a data security plan which would add greater security and accountability to the systems in place; it also builds on parents’ rights to inspect and amend their student’s records and consent prior to disclosure of personally-identifiable information; also see Parents Must Have an Opt-Out of Student Databases and Student Privacy at Risk
HB 323, relative to the administration of the statewide assessment program
HB 332, relative to school district policy regarding objectionable course material
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill is consistent with parents’ rights to opt-out of controversial materials for his/her own student found in RSA 186:11, IX-c; it also seeks prior notification to parents from the schools and availability of the materials ahead of time so parents can make informed decisions regarding their children’s education; also see A Parent’s Right to Opt-Out
HB 346, relative to criminal history records checks for school employees and volunteers
HB 375, relative to providing information about effective forms of child discipline to parents
HB 424, relative to the accessibility of assessment materials
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill improves transparency and accountability of the local schools and state DOE to the parents
HB 507, relative to teacher personally identifiable data
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill would apply privacy protections to teachers as their private information is also part of the Student Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) and other education databases
HB 520, establishing privacy protections for student online personal information
position — SUPPORT
more information — This bill protects student information that is part of various databases that may be accessed by third-party organizations in the course of delivering services to K-12 schools
HB 527, establishing guidelines for school districts relative to the use of school resource officers
To contact the entire House Education Committee, you may send one email to HouseEducationCommittee@leg.state.nh.us
The following is the Senate Education Committee‘s contact information.
John Reagan, Chairman
john.reagan111@gmail.com
(603)271-4063
Nancy Stiles, Vice Chairman
nancy.stiles@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3093
Kevin Avard
Kevin.Avard@.leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-4151
Molly Kelly
molly.kelly@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3207
David Watters
david.watters@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-8631