Policy committee sends state-mandated parental bill of rights to full board after debate on confidentiality and transfers

The Nashua School District policy committee voted to send the new state-mandated parental bill of rights to the full school board after a lengthy review of what the policy requires and what is already in statute.

Heather Raymond, who opened the meeting, told the committee the policy largely reproduces statutory language and contains 19 elements. "A lot of this comes directly from statute," she said, adding that the Department of Education has technical advisories that identify which rights were already in place. Dr. Posca noted that many provisions are not new but "it does put all under one place the right parents have with respect to their child's education."

Committee discussion focused on several contested points. Members examined the manifest educational hardship process and a new intra-district transfer requirement that a parent file a request by July 1; according to the committee discussion, under the new language "the money then follows that student to the other district," a change members said will shift funding when a transfer is granted. The committee also pressed staff for clarity about what counts as "existing school capacity," with legal counsel split over whether the statute references fire-code capacity or classroom-based capacity.

A substantial portion of the debate addressed changes to disclosure rules for staff. Raymond summarized the change: "teachers cannot withhold information from parents under any circumstances" when the staff member knows the answer to a parent's question, and staff have 10 business days to respond. She and others stressed that the duty to report suspected abuse remains: "If the staff member feels that making that disclosure is going to put the child at risk of abuse or neglect, they must call the DCYF," Raymond said.

Members asked how the policy interacts with FERPA and other confidentiality limits. Committee members were advised that FERPA still prevents disclosure of another student's records to a parent, and that school staff should contact DCYF when they believe a child's safety may be at risk. The committee also discussed the requirement that a copy of the parental-rights materials be included in an annual report and posted on the district website and in handbooks; staff said they will work to define how that reporting requirement will be implemented locally.

After discussion, Raymond moved to send the parental bill-of-rights policy (AB) to the full board without changes; a member seconded and the motion passed. No formal roll-call vote against the motion was recorded in the committee transcript.

The committee's approval sends the policy to the full board for final action; staff said they will also work on posting language and handbook updates to meet the new annual-reporting expectation.