
MANCHESTER, NH – On Monday, the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) expressed concerns about proposed changes to the New Hampshire Department of Education (NHDOE) Administrative Rules, specifically Part 306.
This portion of the administrative rules refers to minimum standards for public education, and according to Ward 2 BOSC Member Dr. Sean Parr, these changes would significantly undermine local schools and school boards by removing or lowering regulations on class size maximums, teacher certification, differentiated teaching and more.
In particular, Parr expressed concern over the weakened standards on definitions of adequate education, impacting state aid to local school districts.
Parr also expressed frustration with a document produced by the New Hampshire State Board of Education, which is responsible for decisions on NHDOE Administrative Rules. That document was introduced in February and changed the direction of discussion on 306 updates against recommendations submitted by the BOSC.
Other BOSC members shared those sentiments.
Ward 9 BOSC Member Robert Baines felt that the move has a political agenda behind it and could jeopardize the ability of local high schools to receive accreditation from colleges, potentially blacklisting students from college entry.
He also expressed concern that this might open the door to future school boards completely dismantling public education throughout New Hampshire.
“Why the state board is walking away from this is perplexing in some ways, but understandable in other ways,” he said.
At-Large BOSC Member Jim O’Connell voiced opposition to changes that frequently removed the word “local” throughout the proposed new 306. He expressed frequent changes of the word “shall” with “may,” comparing the changing guidelines for the type of steel that goes into skyscrapers, insinuating that without stringent requirements in those situations that buildings would fail due to the propensity toward lower standards.
“By replacing ‘shall’ with ‘may’, you’re automatically implying ‘may not’,” he said.
A roll call vote expressing opposition to the proposed changes was passed unanimously with the exception of Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who said he did not feel comfortable joining the rest of the board’s viewpoint until NHDOE Commissioner Frank Edelblut could come before the BOSC to provide more details on the proposed changes.
A public hearing on the proposed changes is scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m. at the NHDOE Building on Hall Street in Concord. Public comment will remain open on the proposals until April 30.
The proposed changes can be seen here.