Posts by Ethan DeWitt
As New Hampshire’s school boards prepare for the school year, local planning boards are facing a different action deadline: Aug. 23. That’s the day towns and cities must start adhering to a package of new zoning and planning laws passed by the Legislature this year.
On Wednesday, the Executive Council approved a request by the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) to reduce the amount of money allocated to two housing stability programs and divert the dollars to rental relief.
After purchasing a house on Route 101 in March 2020, the group, the New Hope Christian Fellowship, began holding services in the living room. Attendance was modest; just 10 to 20 people participated every week, attending Bible study groups, Sunday services, and pastoral counseling. Meetings were held virtually at first, with church leaders broadcasting from the living room, but the church later moved to in-person gatherings. It began planning an extension to the house that could hold 50 people at once.
A trio of New Hampshire county sheriffs urged the state’s Department of Justice to issue guidance on a new state law barring state enforcement of federal firearms laws Thursday, such as the Gun-Free School Zones Act.
Addressing lawmakers at his State of the State address in February, Gov. Chris Sununu pointed to one of the most pressing issues in the state: workforce housing. Then he presented a plan.
“We’re enthusiastic at the level of investment,” said Elissa Margolin, director of Housing Action New Hampshire, an advocacy group. “And, obviously, we recognize this huge opportunity: really once-in-a-generation federal investments coming to this state.”
It’s a timeless dispute. For decades, residents in New Hampshire cooperative school districts have squabbled over the necessity – and financial impact – of their districts. And for decades, state lawmakers have floated ideas on how to make it easier for individual towns to pull out.
The bill, House Bill 607, would create an opt-in, local version of the “education freedom accounts” program passed this summer. Under the proposed law, parents in participating towns could access thousands of dollars of a town’s portion of public school tuition and use it for private school or homeschooling expenses.
The proposed map would move 365,703 people in total from one district to another, the group added. And the plan would be a major historical shift. The current map has scarcely changed since 1883; in the 138 years since then, lawmakers have moved a total of 22 towns between the districts, according to Open Democracy Action. Under the proposed plan, 75 towns would be transferred in one year, or 25 percent of all towns in the state.
As the new year of in-person classes has progressed, and the Delta variant has continued to spark clusters and outbreaks, school nurses are facing a taxing environment. Some say it’s leading to burnout and compounding a statewide shortage.