Hooksett officials discuss state open‑enrollment ruling and possible effects on high‑school tuition contracts
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
District officials told the budget committee a state supreme court decision could require a sending district to pay 80% of a receiving district’s per‑pupil cost if the receiving district is open‑enrollment, a change that could affect Hooksett’s contracts for high school placements such as Pinkerton.
Hooksett school officials briefed the budget committee on a recent state supreme court decision that changes how open‑enrollment tuition obligations can be calculated.
"If a district wanted to be an open enrollment to send kids out, they'd be responsible for 80% of their per‑pupil cost," Superintendent Bill Rirk said, summarizing the ruling and its likely interpretation. He cautioned that the decision applies only when the receiving district is declared an open‑enrollment district.
Committee members asked how the decision would affect Hooksett, which does not operate its own high school and sends students under existing agreements to receiving districts including Pinkerton. Rirk said contracts might be superseded or affected if open‑enrollment rules applied broadly, and he noted Pinkerton has a 63% rule for sending students from the district’s eighth grade under current practice.
Rirk and committee members discussed scenarios in which open enrollment could reduce a district’s outgoing tuition obligations (paying 80% of per‑pupil cost to an open‑enrollment receiving district) but cautioned that local contract details and high‑school arrangements would determine the net effect. He recommended careful review of any legal changes and said the district had sought attorney guidance to understand budgeting implications.
What’s next: District staff will continue to monitor state guidance and advise the committee if the ruling requires policy or contract changes.