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Representative Lad frames HB1121 to codify 'base cost' elements of an adequate education
Summary
Rep. Rick Lad told the Education Finance Committee HB1121 would enshrine long-used "base cost" elements (teachers, principals, counselors, library/media, tech, custodial, supplies, facilities maintenance, transportation) in statute and exclude central-office administrators and some non-instructional roles; senators pressed him on whether dropping the 10-year review risks outdating the list.
Representative Rick Lad, the prime sponsor, told the Education Finance Committee he introduced House Bill 1121 to put into statute the resource elements identified in a 2008 joint legislative oversight committee as the universal components of the "base cost" for an adequate education. He said: "the components that make up the base cost are teachers, principles, administrative assistant, guidance counselor, library media specialist, technology coordinator, custodian, instructional materials supplies, technology, teacher professional development, facilities operation and maintenance and transportation" and that these have been used in New Hampshire since 2008.
Lad said HB1121 is not intended to fund every service schools may provide but to identify the curriculum- and instruction-focused elements that should be part of adequacy. He argued central-office administrators, school nurses and paraprofessionals were not included in the 2008 definition of universal base cost because those roles do not fit the statute's curriculum-based definition of adequacy.
Committee members pressed several operational and policy questions. One legislator asked whether including facilities operation and maintenance in the base cost would obligate the state to increase building aid; Lad replied that building aid historically pays for new construction and reconstruction, while maintenance is reflected in the per-pupil base allocation and is distinct from school-building construction grants. He estimated the maintenance component had been roughly "about $356 per pupil" for custodial and routine building upkeep.
Members also raised the role of school nurses and services for students with complex medical needs. When asked whether some children require a nurse to attend school, Lad said such needs are frequently addressed through the IEP process and sometimes through out-of-district or residential placements; he noted high-cost special-education placements exist and that, in an example, "the most expensive person we have that has an IEP is about $600,000 a year." He said Medicaid and other agencies complicate where certain costs should be assigned.
Senators questioned whether HB1121 would remove the existing statutory requirement for a periodic (10-year) review of adequacy resource elements. Concerned that a fixed list could become outdated as roles evolve (for example, media specialists and technology coordinators have emerged in recent decades), one senator asked if removing the review risked ossifying the formula. Lad responded that the legislature remains responsible for reviewing and updating elements and said he would welcome more frequent legislative review rather than waiting 10 years.
The hearing closed with no members of the public signed up to testify on HB1121. The committee moved to the next item on its agenda.
