CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office on Monday sent a three-page letter to the Manchester City Clerk’s Office stating that proposed charter amendments heading to the ballot this fall regarding the autonomy of the Manchester School District and its governing body are inconsistent with New Hampshire law.
In the letter sent by Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Chong-Yen, according to wording in RSA 49-B:15 requires that any amendments to Manchester’s City Charter addressed to Manchester School District voters be proposed by a School Charter Commission rather than the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA).
Under Section 8.03 if the Manchester City Charter, the BMA is responsible for placing any charter amendment questions before the voters, and in a legal opinion from Attorney Dean Eggert to the Manchester School Charter Commission sent in September 2020, Eggert stated that RSA 49-B would require that an elected body within the Manchester School District needing to be the nominating body for charter amendments would only apply if there was a separate school district charter, which there is not.
Chong-Yen and Eggert also exchanged letters last summer regarding the lack of “recommendations for a procedure” regarding conveying proposed charter amendments to the public which is required under state law, with elections later determined to be the procedure assumed under the law.