Bill Text: NH SB280 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to the cost of an adequate education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-12-18 - To Be Inexpedient to Legislate, Senate Rule 3-23, Adjournment 09/25/2019; [SB280 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2019-SB280-Introduced.html
SB 280-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2019 SESSION
19-0181
06/04
SENATE BILL 280-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to the cost of an adequate education.
SPONSORS: Sen. Reagan, Dist 17
COMMITTEE: Education and Workforce Development
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ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Changes the formula for determining the education tax rate.
II. Permits school boards to contract with religious affiliated schools to provide education for children who live in the school district.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19-0181
06/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen
AN ACT relative to the cost of an adequate education.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Education Tax. Amend RSA 76:3 to read as follows:
76:3 Education Tax. Beginning July 1, [2005] 2019, and every fiscal year thereafter, the commissioner of the department of revenue administration shall set the education tax rate at a level sufficient to generate revenue [of $363,000,000] equal to $7,500 per student based on the average daily membership in residence as defined in RSA 189:1-d, IV when imposed on all persons and property taxable pursuant to RSA 76:8, except property subject to tax under RSA 82 and RSA 83-F. The education property tax rate shall be effective for the following fiscal year. The rate shall be set to the nearest 1/2 cent necessary to generate the revenue required in this section.
2 Duty to Provide Education. Amend RSA 189:1-a, IV to read as follows:
IV. Pursuant to RSA 193:3, VI, a school board may execute a contract with any approved [nonsectarian] private school approved by the school board as a school tuition program as defined in RSA 193:3, VII to provide for the education of a child who resides in the school district, and may raise and appropriate money for the purposes of the contract, if the school district does not have a public school at the pupil's grade level and the school board decides it is in the best interest of the pupil.
3 Definitions; Average Daily Membership in Residence. Amend RSA 189:1-d, IV to read as follows:
IV. "Average daily membership in residence" means the average daily membership in attendance of pupils who are legal residents of the school district pursuant to RSA 193:12 or RSA 193:27, IV and attend a state-approved public or nonpublic school [as assigned by the school district in which the pupil resides, or by the state,] or [attend an approved] a state-approved chartered public school, or are home educated pursuant to RSA 193-A:4.
4 School Attendance; Compulsory Attendance by Pupil; Exceptions. Amend RSA 193:1, I(d) to read as follows:
(d) The child is attending a public or private school located in another state which has been approved by the state education agency of the state in which the school is located, or is attending a [nonsectarian] private school located in New Hampshire that is approved as a school tuition program by the school board pursuant to RSA 193:3, VII;
5 School Attendance; Change of School or Assignment. Amend RSA 193:3, VI and VII to read as follows:
VI. [If there is no public school for the child's grade in the resident district,] The school board may assign the child to another public school in another school district or to any [nonsectarian] private school that has been approved as a school tuition program by the school board. The school board may execute a contract with an approved [nonsectarian] private school to provide for the education of a child who resides in the school district, and may raise and appropriate money for the purposes of the contract, if [the school district does not have a public school at the pupil's grade level and] the school board decides it is in the best interest of the pupil.
VII. In this section, "approved as a school tuition program" means a school that has been approved and contracted by the school board to provide students with the opportunity to acquire an adequate education as defined in RSA 193-E:2. Upon approval by the school board, the school shall receive status as an approved school tuition program, shall be deemed in compliance with the provisions of RSA 193-E:3-b, I(a) and (b), and shall qualify as a school approved to provide the opportunity for an adequate education. The school shall be required to submit to the school board an annual student performance progress report in a format selected by the school board, which may include reporting of aggregate achievement data to protect student privacy, and that demonstrates that students are afforded educational opportunities that are substantially equal in quality to state performance standards for determining an adequate education. A private school that receives tuition program students shall:
(a) Comply with statutes and regulations relating to agency approvals such as health, fire safety, and sanitation;
(b) [ Be a nonsectarian school;
(c)] Be incorporated under the laws of New Hampshire or the United States; and
[(d)] (c) Administer an annual assessment in reading and language arts, mathematics, and science as defined in RSA 193-C:6 to tuition program students. The assessment may be any nationally recognized standardized assessment used to measure student academic achievement, shall be aligned to the school's academic standards, and shall satisfy the requirements of RSA 193-C:6 for school tuition program students. The school's annual assessment results for tuition program students shall be submitted to the commissioner and school board. If the school enrolls 10 or more publicly-funded tuition program students and if the school's group assessment percentile score for tuition program students is less than the 40th percentile, the commissioner may require a site visit to determine if the school provides the opportunity for an adequate education in accordance with RSA 193-E:3-b. After the third consecutive year of a tuition program school being unable to demonstrate that it provides an opportunity for an adequate education, the school may be subject to revocation of tuition program status.
6 School Money; Adequate Education; Definition; Average Daily Membership in Residence". Amend RSA 198:38, I to read as follows:
I.[(a)] "Average daily membership in [attendance] residence" or ["ADMA"] "ADMR" means the average daily membership in [attendance] residence, as defined in RSA 189:1-d, [III] IV, of pupils in kindergarten through grade 12, in the determination year, provided that no kindergarten pupil shall count as more than 1/2 day attendance per school year. [ADMA] ADMR shall only include pupils who are legal residents of New Hampshire pursuant to RSA 193:12 and educated at school district expense which may include public academies or out-of-district placements. For the purpose of calculating funding for municipalities, the [ADMA] ADMR shall [not include pupils attending chartered public schools, but shall include pupils attending a charter conversion school approved by the school district in which the pupil resides.
(b) For the purpose of calculating ADMA, each pupil who is home educated in compliance with RSA 193-A and who is enrolled in a school board approved public high school academic course shall count as an additional 0.15 pupil for each such academic course taken in a public high school. The department of education shall only make grant payments for such pupils to the extent of available appropriations. In this subparagraph, "public high school" shall have the same meaning as "high school" as defined in RSA 194:23] be applied.
7 School Attendance; District Liability for Tuition. Amend RSA 193:4 to read as follows:
193:4 District Liability for Elementary or Junior High School Tuition. Any district shall pay for the tuition of any pupil who, as a resident of the district, has been assigned to attend a public elementary or junior high school or school of corresponding grade in another district or a [nonsectarian] private school approved as a school tuition program by the school board pursuant to RSA 193:3, VII, and any district not maintaining an elementary or junior high school or school of corresponding grade shall pay for the tuition of any pupil who, as a resident of the district, is determined to be entitled to have such tuition paid by the district where the pupil resides, and who attends an approved public elementary or junior high school or public school of corresponding grade in another district, or a [nonsectarian] private school approved as a school tuition program by the school board pursuant to RSA 193:3, VII. Except under contract, the liability of any school district under this section for the tuition of any pupil shall be the current expenses of operation of the receiving district for its elementary or junior high school or public school of corresponding grade, as estimated by the state board of education for the preceding school year. This current expense of operation shall include all costs except costs of transportation of pupils.
8 High School Tuition. Amend RSA 194:27 to read as follows:
194:27 Tuition. Any district not maintaining a high school or school of corresponding grade shall pay for the tuition of any pupil who with parents or guardian resides in said district or who, as a resident of said district, is determined to be entitled to have his or her tuition paid by the district where the pupil resides, and who attends an approved public high school or public school of corresponding grade in another district, an approved public academy, or a [nonsectarian] private school approved as a school tuition program by the school board pursuant to RSA 193:3, VII. Except under contract as provided in RSA 194:22, the liability of any school district hereunder for the tuition of any pupil shall be the current expenses of operation of the receiving district for its high school, as estimated by the state board of education for the preceding school year. This current expense of operation shall include all costs except costs of transportation of pupils.
9 Education Tax Credit; Department of Education; Requirements. Amend RSA 77-G:7, I to read as follows:
I. The department of education shall determine the number of students receiving a scholarship under RSA 77-G:1, VIII(a)(1) and (2) who were counted in the calculation of the average daily membership in [attendance] residence, as defined in RSA 198:38, I, for schools, other than chartered public schools, for the student's school district of residence and for each such student, shall deduct the amount calculated under RSA 198:40-a from the total education grant amount disbursed to the student's school district of residence calculated pursuant to RSA 198:40-a. This adjustment shall be completed prior to September 1 of the program year after which the scholarships are granted.
10 Kindergarten Grants. Amend RSA 198:48-c, I(b) to read as follows:
(b) For fiscal year 2019, once pupils enrolled in an approved full-day kindergarten program have been counted in the school district's average daily membership in [attendance] residence as defined in RSA 198:38, I, a school district, or a chartered public school based on its kindergarten average daily membership enrollment number, shall receive, in addition to any funds received pursuant to RSA 198:40-a, an additional grant of $1,100 per kindergarten pupil attending a full-day kindergarten program. The commissioner shall certify the amount of the grant to the state treasurer and direct the payment thereof from the education trust fund established in RSA 198:39 to the school district or chartered public school.
11 Robotics Education Development Program. Amend RSA 188-E:24-a, V(a) to read as follows:
V.(a) If the amount of grant funds requested exceeds the balance in the robotics education fund available in any year, the commissioner shall not prorate the grant awards, but shall assign preference to those schools with a higher percentage of students in the school's average daily membership in [attendance] residence who are eligible for a free or reduced-price meal as defined in RSA 198:38. Secondary preference shall be given to schools which did not receive a grant in the previous year due to lack of funds.
12 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2020.
19-0181
1/28/19
SB 280-FN-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to the cost of an adequate education.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant is unable to complete a fiscal note for this bill, as introduced, as it is awaiting information from the Department of Education who was originally contacted on January 10, 2019, with follow up on January 24, 2019 for a fiscal note worksheet, which they have not provided as of January 28, 2019. When completed, the fiscal note will be forwarded to the Senate Clerk's Office.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Education
