Supporters tell senators MOUs created extra work without improving services for charter special education; DOE urges measured oversight

Representative Peggy Balboni, prime sponsor of House Bill 222, told the Senate Education Committee she brought the bill at the request of the New Hampshire Association of Special Education Administrators (NHASEA) and the New Hampshire Alliance for Public Charter Schools. HB 222 would repeal the statutory requirement that local education agencies and charter public schools execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) describing how students with individualized education programs (IEPs) will receive special education services.

"The law requiring the memorandum of understandings was passed in 2021," Balboni said, and she described the requirement as intended to clarify responsibilities. She told senators the two associations requested repeal because MOUs "have created more work and increased legal costs for both school districts and the charter schools" and, she said, remain unsigned in many cases…