HB1137 – No, School Boards Are Not Just for Creating Policies and Budgets – They Own the Whole Dang Thing!

School Boards are responsible for all of it but many school board members just have no clue. I’m betting that 97% of them (or thereabouts) have never read the NH Statutes (RSAs) that the NH Legislature has passed that govern their responsibilities and actions.

Fewer, I bet, have read all of the NH Dept of Education  Rules/regulations that also hold sway over them. Unfortunately, many are what I call “captured” – their NHSBA “initial training” includes words to the effect of “Trust your professionals” with the unstated bits being “and don’t worry about that pesky Law stuff.” The problem is, they should and HAVE to – they get sued otherwise, like over Policy JBAB (“Transgender Students and Nonconforming”) for one inglorious example.

So, what does HB1137 layout for School Board members? Making it explicitly clear what we can hold them responsible for doing (and notice this sentence structure – WE hold THEM to account and not the other way around). While it was voted to go to Interim Study in the last session, it will be coming back (emphasis mine in parts):

HB 1137 – AS INTRODUCED
2022 SESSION

22-2078
10/11

HOUSE BILL   1137
AN ACT             relative to the duty of school boards to provide education.
SPONSORS:     Rep. Cordelli, Carr. 4; Rep. Litchfield, Rock. 11; Rep. Johnson, Belk. 3; Rep. Pauer, Hills. 26; Rep. Moffett, Merr. 9; Rep. A. Lekas, Hills. 37; Rep. Piemonte, Rock. 4; Rep. Layon, Rock. 6; Sen. Giuda, Dist 2; Sen. Reagan, Dist 17

COMMITTEE:  Education
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ANALYSIS

This bill states the duties and responsibilities of elected school boards and allows school boards to contract with any private school approved by the school board as a school tuition program.
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HB 1137 – AS INTRODUCED

22-2078
10/11

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
AN ACT      relative to the duty of school boards to provide education.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 School Boards; Duty to Provide Education. Amend RSA 189:1-a to read as follows:

189:1-a Duty to Provide Education.

I. It shall be the duty of the school board to provide, at district expense, elementary and secondary education to all pupils who reside in the district until such time as the pupil has acquired a high school diploma or has reached age 21, whichever occurs first; provided, that the board may exclude specific pupils for gross misconduct or for neglect or refusal to conform to the reasonable rules of the school, and further provided that this section shall not apply to pupils who have been exempted from school attendance in accordance with RSA 193:5.

II. Elected school boards shall be responsible for approving and overseeing the structure, content, accountability, advocacy, and delivery of instruction in each school operated and governed in its district. To support flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches, school boards shall establish, in each school operated and governed in its district, instructional policies that establish instructional goals based upon available information about the knowledge and skills pupils will need in the future. To accomplish these ends, the school board shall be responsible for:

(a) The curricula, online instructional programs and applications, and courses taught.
(b) Textbook approvals.
(c) Adoption of any educational standards that meet or exceed state minimum standards following a public hearing.
(d) Evidence-based and measurable methods for assessing student performance in grade spans 3-5 and 6-8 in school years in which a statewide assessment is not given to meet the requirements of RSA 193-C.

III. Elected school boards shall:

(a) Develop, implement, and assess district policies which shall be voted on by the board in public session.
(b) Conduct all meetings of the board and board-established committees in public pursuant to RSA 91-A , the right-to-know law.
(c) Conform to standards of ethical behavior.
(d) Approve the proposed district annual budget.
(e) Conduct annual performance reviews of the district superintendent as an employee of the board.
(f) Conduct contract negotiations.
(g) Provide an opportunity for public comment for board members.
(h) Promote parental engagement and participation by:

(1) Encouraging public attendance at board meetings and providing for public input at multiple times during board meetings on agenda items or other nonagenda items of community interest with sufficient time for comments from the public.
(2) Developing and implementing policies to promote parental engagement with the board and teachers related to student achievement, progress, and involvement with classroom and at home learning.
(3) Developing and implementing a policy to allow classroom visitations.

(i) Promote transparency by:

(1) Voting on all contracts, acceptance of gifts and grants, and approvals of any new or updated curriculum in public.
(2) Posting manifest invoices on a regular basis on the district website.
(3) Posting all curriculum and competencies on the district website.
(4) Developing and implement a policy providing an opportunity for parents to review the selection of printed or digital textbooks and reading lists, instructional materials, and the academic curriculum used by classes in the district.
(5) Posting all professional development and workshop topics on the district web site.
(6) Posting and maintaining student enrollment, student achievement, and per pupil costs for a 5-year period on the district website or providing a link to that information on the department of education’s website.

(j) Conduct an annual end-of-year parental survey with the results to be posted on the district web site. The survey shall include satisfaction regarding:

(1) School safety.
(2) Parental and student engagement, support and responsiveness.
(3) Learning environment.
(4) Student support in academics and counseling.
(5) Student classroom experience.
(6) Overall satisfaction.

IV. Elected school boards shall be responsible for establishing the structure, accountability, advocacy, and delivery of instruction in each school operated and governed in its district. To accomplish this end, and to support flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches, school boards shall establish, in each school operated and governed in its district, instructional policies that establish instructional goals based upon available information about the knowledge and skills pupils will need in the future.

[III.] V. School boards shall adopt a teacher performance evaluation system, with the involvement of teachers and principals, for use in the school district. A school board may consider any resources it deems reasonable and appropriate, including any resources that may be provided by the state department of education. In this paragraph, “teacher” shall have the same meaning as in RSA 189:14-a, V.

[IV.] VI. 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.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 30 days after its passage.

I reached out to NH State Rep Glenn Cordelli to ask him why this bill was entered (and I do think it is needed as many, if not most, SB members haven’t a clue what they really are supposed to be about (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Very simple reasons for my submitting the bill. It is time for conversations about the role and duties of local school boards.

We all saw what happened at some board meetings around the state and country. School board members are supposed to be elected representatives of the people but in some cases, members seems to forget that fact.

Many school boards think that they report to the superintendent when in fact it is the other way around.

Transparency and accountability were key pieces of what I tried to include in the bill. School boards should, in my opinion, be [explicitly] responsible for the curriculum and approval of textbooks, too.

The Department of Education is now doing annual surveys and the 2021 survey contained several troubling response – 31% of families responded that their school did not value their opinion. When asked if the school board was responsive to the needs and concerns of families, only 52% responded positively.

That means a large minority of parents, 48%, would be negatively. The reason is simple – go to a School Board meeting and try to ask them questions!  While *I* can get some questions answered, I’m generally getting the “Easter Island stone-faced Moa Statue” treatment.  Time after time, I see frustrated parents go up to the podium, having never dared to attend such a meeting before, only to be treated like recalcitrant children with SB members just giving them a silent stare in return.

Yet, they keep saying they want involved parents – just not with them. That has to stop – they are not “School Board members”, they are our elected representatives and should be accountable to the voters at ALL times.