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School boards and administrators warn against broad open‑enrollment proposal
Summary
Witnesses from the New Hampshire School Boards Association and School Administrators Association urged the Senate Education Committee to oppose House Bill 709, saying the measure—allowing parents to enroll children in any district where they pay property or school taxes—raises unanswered questions about renters, commercial property, residency definitions and funding shifts.
Representatives of New Hampshire school governance groups told the Senate Education Committee they oppose House Bill 709 because it would create legal and fiscal ambiguities that could harm receiving districts.
Barrett Christina of the New Hampshire School Boards Association said the bill’s language—allowing parents who "pay property tax or school district taxes" to enroll children in those districts—leaves open whether renters, owners of commercial property and people living with relatives would be eligible. She warned the measure does not clearly address whether delinquent taxpayers would qualify and said open eligibility could complicate how average daily membership and adequacy aid are calculated under RSA funding formulas.
Jerry F of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association echoed concerns that the proposal could produce overcrowding in receiving districts and strain middle and high schools because open‑enrolled elementary students could later bottleneck into higher grades. Both witnesses urged comprehensive study and flagged unanswered questions about perpetual enrollment rights and long‑term fiscal consequences.
Senators asked whether existing intra‑district or inter‑district open‑enrollment laws would already address some aims; witnesses said the intra‑district provisions do not resolve cross‑district funding and residency concerns. After testimony, the committee voted to recommend Interim Study or ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate) on HB 709 to allow more comprehensive consideration of the policy’s funding and residency implications.
The committee’s ITL recommendation preserves those fiscal and residency questions for future work rather than advancing the bill this session.
