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School board recommends limits on open enrollment at Portsmouth High School amid uncertainty over state bill
Summary
The Portsmouth School Board voted to recommend the City Council designate Portsmouth High School as an open-enrollment school with tight caps — allowing up to 0.2% additional non-resident high-school students (up to 20) and limiting resident students leaving the district — citing major unanswered questions in pending state legislation about funding, special education and transportation.
The Portsmouth School Board on April 14 recommended that the City Council designate Portsmouth High School as an open-enrollment school under New Hampshire RSA 194-D, while imposing conservative caps intended to limit disruption if the state’s open-enrollment proposal moves forward.
The motion, read aloud by the board, would allow the high school to accept non-resident students equal to 0.2% of district enrollment or up to 20 students, whichever is lower; it would also limit resident students who choose to attend schools outside the district to no more than 0.05% of total district enrollment. The board read the motion into the record and voted to forward the recommendation to the City Council for its public hearings and final decision.
Board supporters said the caps are a cautious interim step while Senate Bill 101 works its way toward the governor and many operational details remain unresolved. “There’s no additional funding coming from the state. There’s no clarity around timelines for when students could come or go from districts. There’s not a lot of clarity around how special education would function, who would pay the bill, who would transport kids,” the superintendent told the board, summarizing the district’s concerns and the reasoning behind the modest numerical limits.
Opponents and questioners stressed that district capacity varies by school and that decisions should reflect where space actually exists; board members also noted the need to revisit the policy once state rules or funding become clearer. The board’s recommendation is advisory to the City Council, which must hold its own public hearings and may adopt, reject or amend the district’s recommendation.
The board voted in favor of forwarding the recommendation; the recommendation will next go to the City Council for its statutory public process and final action.
