MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2026, The Manchester Board of School Committee’s Education Legislation Committee discussed Senate Bill 101, a piece of legislation currently before the New Hampshire State Legislature that would allow parents to enroll their children in any school district in the state.
Manchester School District Executive Legal Officer Matt Upton voiced concern over the bill, which would allow parents to enroll their children in any public school in the state. Upton noted that in the past, school districts such as the Kearsarge Regional School District in New London would accept students from other districts but would not allow students within their district to leave. This both provided stability regarding projected enrollment numbers at the beginning of each school year, making it easier to plan for future budgets.
In the past, strategies such as these were buffered by the fact that it was difficult for parents to transport their children to other school districts. However, with the rise of online education, that limitation and the limitation for school building capacity is fading away and Upton said that more school districts in the state will seek open enrollment policies to attract new students from other districts to keep budgetary stability, a trend that would accelerate if this bill passes.
Indeed, he stated that within the next two months, the Manchester School District may have to decide whether it will be an open enrollment district and attempt to draw in parents commuting into Manchester or seeking to take advantage of unique programs to Manchester, such as dual-language immersion schools.
Senate Bill 101 received a 6-1 “ought to pass with amendment” recommendation from the New Hampshire Senate Finance Committee hours before the evening’s Manchester Board of School Committee’s Education Legislation Committee.
As of last July, parents within a school district could enroll their child within any school in that district following changes to state law, although that full effects of that change are not likely to be felt until enrollment for the 2026-’27 school year.
“I think you’re going to see more and more districts become open enrollment not because they necessarily want to see more children to come in, but because they want to protect their budget and stop children from leaving,” he said.
“I don’t think we can be naïve enough to say that open enrollment will never happen and I think we need to be prepared,” he added. “We need to start selling all the positive things that it has because at some point, we may have to compete for students.”
Upton said that he will be bringing forth a policy to put the district in compliance with the new law, also noting that the law has an exception for transfers when it would violate district class size limitations.
He also added that he expects New Hampshire Department of Education Commissioner Caitlin Davis is likely to add her voice to the discussion regarding this bill, hoping that she would provide “guardrails” to the legislation as a lack of those guardrails would be “devastating.”
Manchester Board of School Committee At-Large Member Cindy Stewart asked about the push for online learning given criticism of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Manchester Board of School Committee Vice Chair Jim O’Connell stating that the bill sought to destroy geographically-based public school districts.
“There is a way of applying logic, if you understand it to be an effort to undermine public education and to take death by a thousand cuts and do everything you can to undermine public education, suddenly the clouds part and it all makes sense, because in absence of that, it doesn’t make any sense,” said O’Connell.
O’Connell added that the fact that students are constantly enrolling and disenrolling into schools made the process all the more difficult and the lack of nearby schools could add to transportation costs to the district.
The Manchester School District’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget had grown to $237,999,925 from $183,052,004 for Fiscal Year 2021. Initially the Manchester Board of School Committee recommended $246,050,206 for the Fiscal Year ’26 budget.
Senate Bill 101 was one of several bills currently under deliberation by the New Hampshire State Legislature that Board of School Committee Education Legislation Committee believes could significantly impact that could impose significant new costs, reduce local control and destabilize school district budgets if enacted into state law.
O’Connell noted that trying to track the hundreds of bills currently before the legislature in Concord is like trying to drink through a hose and he also wondered about the purpose of some bills that were discussed during the meeting, adding that many of these proposed laws add to what he sees a tendency of micro-management from Concord toward school districts. He also criticized supporters of the bills, stating that supporters of the bills are often those who speak most loudly about the costs of school districts while adding on costs to school districts with new requirements.
“With the best of intentions, and it isn’t always well-intentioned, but let’s presume it is, are putting restrictions on schools,” he said.