Senate panel hears bill to put per-pupil cost and test scores on school budget ballots

At a Senate Funding Committee hearing, Representative Ross Barry introduced House Bill 557, which would require ballots that contain a school budget question to include the district—s average cost per pupil and the previous year—s proficiency percentages in English language arts, math and science immediately before the budget question.

Barry, a Representative from Hillsborough District 44, said the change is intended to give voters a clearer data point when deciding on budgets that make up a large share of property taxes. "I think voters should have this information," Barry said, adding that some districts— per-pupil cost figures can surprise voters.

Supporters and opponents framed the bill as a transparency measure versus a potential source of confusion. "These are kind of cold, hard numbers that the Department of Education collects. It is actually available publicly," Barry said. Representative Glenn Cordelli, chair of the House Education Policy Administration Committee, testified that the two pieces of information called for in the amended bill are "basic information" voters want and may find useful.

State and local education officials raised technical concerns about how the average cost per pupil would be calculated and printed. Scott Rose, business administrator for SAU 19 (Goffstown and New Boston), said local budget presentations and the State Department of Education—s public web reports already provide the data and that the bill as drafted could produce numbers different from the uniform state metric. "The bill talks about the average cost per pupil, which is the total budget divided by the number of enrolled students. But that is not the way we calculate the average cost per pupil or the way the state department of education does," Rose said, noting that the state method excludes certain items such as some transportation costs and debt service.

Mark Manganiello of the Department of Education—s Bureau of School Finance told senators the department neither supports nor opposes the bill but recommended adopting a standardized definition, specifically the cost-per-pupil calculation the department publishes from districts— financial reports (DOE-25). "The benefits of a standard definition is it—s going to be a consistent measurement year over year," Manganiello said.

Senator Rosenwald questioned whether the ballot language could imply a direct causal link between dollars and test scores. "It seems to me that it—s implying a direct relationship between an absolute value of dollars and a relative value of student scores, which would depend on demographics of the population. Would you agree with that?" Rosenwald asked. Barry responded that the bill does not prevent voters from drawing whatever inferences they wish.

Testimony included local examples and numbers offered by the bill—s sponsor and witnesses. Barry said some districts exceed $20,000 per pupil and cited Newcastle at about $41,000; he said his hometown district, Ware, has a reported per-pupil cost around $23,000 and requested $25,000 from voters. Barry also read Ware—s proficiency figures: ELA 34 percent, math 28 percent and science 22 percent.

Witnesses raised administrative considerations: Rose estimated adding material to ballots can increase printing costs and lengthen ballots that are already long in town meeting-style sessions, and urged that districts continue producing comprehensive voters— guides. Manganiello noted the Students First Act and the department—s existing reporting tools; he recommended language that aligns the bill with the department—s published methodology to reduce confusion.

The committee did not vote on the bill at the hearing and closed testimony before moving to other bills on the agenda. The transcript shows the committee heard questions from multiple senators and received technical suggestions from education finance staff and local administrators.

The hearing record does not include a committee action or vote on the bill at this session.