HB 1393 would allow petitioning residents or a school board to propose an arbitrary cap on education spending per pupil in their town.  

-The proposed cap on district spending per attending student chosen by the petitioner or school board and could irresponsibly cut school budgets.  
-There is NOT a requirement in the bill that the arbitrary budget cap be sufficient for meeting the educational needs of students.
-The proposed budget caps would need to be approved by 3/5 of voters by ballot in SB 2 towns (SAU 21 and 90 towns included) or 3/5 of voters at the annual town meeting or special meeting in non-SB 2 towns.
-If approved by the district, the capped per pupil spending could only increase each year by the chosen increase in inflation (which could be set as low as 0%) or could be rescinded entirely by a 3/5 vote. 

The proposed cap on spending per pupil would be chosen arbitrarily by the petitioner and not by professionals as part of an informed process that will meet the needs of students. 

Bill language: IV. The wording of the question shall be: “Shall we adopt the provisions of RSA 32:5-d, and implement a budget cap whereby the school board (or budget committee) shall not submit a recommended budget that is higher than ______ dollars times the average daily membership of the school district as of October 1 of the year immediately preceding the proposed budget year plus a ______ annual increase for inflation.”

If you’re familiar with the recent events in Croydon, you can see how this could go terribly wrong for NH school districts, students and teachers/staff.  This bill has already passed the House so please take a moment to sign-in to oppose this bill in the Senate Committee and/or email the Committee directly.  
You can sign-in to oppose HB1393 here.
You can email the committee here.

Please continue to check in with NEANH’s Legislative Action Center here.

HB 607 would create another, even more dangerous school voucher plan that takes from your locally raised public school tax dollars to fund school voucher accounts that can be used to pay for private, religious, or home schooling. There is NO limit on the income level of families who can receive funding from the community. HB 607 could remove dangerously huge chunks of public school funding at the local level. This bill would represent a dramatic expansion of the school voucher program which is already 5,000% over budget. HB 607 has little accountability built into it and outsources local property taxes to a 3rd party that is not accountable to taxpayers.

Go to the NEA-NH Take Action Page for details on how to help stop HB 607
from taking even more money from our public neighborhood schools.
neanh.org/nea-nh-legislative-dashboard/nea-nh-legislative-take-action-center/

Call Your Legislators and let them know:
•HB 607 would have a disastrous effect on our local school districts and could result in big property tax increases in order to fund two school systems at the expense of a quality public school education for all.
• It means working families will pay for the private and home school tuition for ultra-wealthy families with no accountability.
• The recent state voucher plan is resulting in millions of new spending, it’s time to pump the brakes before we risk that happening at the local level at the expense of public schools.

Examples of the money that New Hampshire school districts will lose if that community is forced to pay for private school or home schooling:
Thousands of dollars would leave the public school districts using this method with each child that uses a local level voucher from HB 607. For example:
• $11,462 per student in Newfields,
• $10,787 in Rumney,
• $4,871 in Conway, and
• $8, 870 in Deerfield.

Access updated information, documents, MOAs and contracts by clicking on Contract & Docs. Thanks for all you do for your students, schools and communities, SEA members!

1. Take Action to Stop the Voucher Program HB20!

The House Education Committee is hearing this bill on Tuesday, February 2 at 1:15pm

From NEA-NH:
About the Bill

A new bill that would create the country’s first nearly universal voucher program has been introduced as the top priority for lawmakers in the 2021 session. House Bill 20 (HB 20) would require the state to use tax dollars currently allocated for public education to fund “Education Freedom Accounts.” Parents could then receive between $3,786 and $8,458 per student in state dollars, depending on eligibility and fees, to use for private/religious school tuition or homeschooling expenses. 

The bill creates the same voucher program that lawmakers originally introduced in 2017 which was killed because of the deep inequities it would cause for students, as well as the steep costs to the state and local towns. 

House Bill 20 has no accountability requirements as to whether students are getting an adequate education or that public funds are being used for the correct purposes. This bill is similar to the bill that was present by lawmakers back in 2017. This bill was defeated because of the major costs to state and local taxpayers. 

Read about the bill here:

NEA-NH Legislative Take Action Center

The most expansive voucher program in the country released as top priority in NH this session

To speak out against HB20, school voucher program:

The hearing on HB 20 is scheduled for the House Education Committee on this Tuesday, Feb. 2, beginning at 1:15 pm. We encourage every reader of this update to sign in against HB 20 using the process outlined below. We also encourage individuals to testify against HB20.

Committee hearings are being held remotely so you have an opportunity to register your opposition by clicking the following link: Register Opposition to HB 20.

1. Click on the calendar for February 2nd
2. Select House Education Committee
3. Select, “I am a member of the Public”
4. Click “I oppose the Bill”

Please be sure to do this in advance of the 1:15 pm hearing time.

If you wish to testify, this should be a long hearing so check into the meeting when you can at Members of the public may attend using the following links: 1. To join the webinar: https://www.zoom.us/j/99800820017 2. Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): 1-929-205-6099 3. Webinar ID: 998 0082 0017   You are encouraged though to still complete the form as noted above. If you would like to submit written testimony you can send it to this address: HouseEducationCommittee@leg.state.nh.us

2. Petition to Add New Hampshire Teachers to Phase 1B:

New Hampshire is one of only two states that has chosen to not vaccinate teachers in phase 1B, as recommended by the CDC. Let’s share our concern with our Governor, Chris Sununu, our students families and the task force in charge of distribution! Sign the petition to voice your concern: https://www.change.org/p/new-hampshire-state-house-add-new-hampshire-teachers-to-phase-1b

3. NEA-NH Opposes HB609: “Innovation Schools” Bill 

This overly broad piece of legislation creates a method by which public schools and districts can seek waivers of rules and laws that pertain to providing education to students. 

It gives tremendous, arguably unconstitutional, power to the State Board of Education to approve waivers on a nearly unlimited number of education and labor standards including waiving: provisions in your collective bargaining agreements teacher certification standards numerous labor and workplace protections special education and other critical services that every student deserves.

HB609 removes local accountability by giving state-level officials—rather than elected local school boards—chartering authority for schools that do not follow the legal obligations of public schools undermining more than 100 years of local control of our schools.

This bill is, in essence, a way to create charter schools within the public school system and again, like many ALEC corporate proposals, targets changing worker’s rights and the rules for teacher pay, pensions, hours, and other conditions of employment. The bill would give chartering authority for these so-called “innovative schools” to state-level officials, even though the bill purports to respect the tradition of local administration of school systems.

SEA and NEA-NH encourage you to vote for pro-education candidates tomorrow! Below you’ll find a list of recommendations from NEA-NH for candidates who support public education at the local, state and national levels. Additionally, NEA has endorsed the Biden/Harris ticket in the presidential race. If you live outside our school districts, please click here for NEANH’s full list of recommendations

NEANH New Hampshire Seacoast Recommendations:

For Governor:
Dan Feltes

For US Senate:
Jeanne Shaheen

For US Congress:
Chris Pappas

Hampton 
Jeanne Shaheen- US Senate
Chris Pappas- US Congress
Mindi Messmer- Executive Council
Tom Sherman- NH Senate
Robert “Renny” Cushing- NH House
Mike Edgar- NH House
Katherine Harake- NH House
Tom Loughman- NH House

Hampton Falls, Seabrook
Jeanne Shaheen- US Senate
Chris Pappas- US Congress
Mindi Messmer- Executive Council
Tom Sherman- NH Senate
Aboul Khan (R)- NH House
Greg Marrow (D)- NH House
Patricia M. O’Keefe (D)- NH House

North Hampton
Jeanne Shaheen- US Senate
Chris Pappas- US Congress
Mindi Messmer- Executive Council
Tom Sherman- NH Senate
Jim Maggiore- NH House

Mindi Messmer:
https://neanh.org/2020/08/06/nea-nh-recommends-messmer-for-district-3-executive-council/

Andru Volinsky:
https://neanh.org/2020/07/30/nea-nh-recommends-volinsky-for-governor/

The first meeting of the 2020-2021 SEA Executive Board is 8/12 at 6pm. Check your email for Zoom meeting link and agenda. See you there!

As we prepare for the 2020-2021 school year and the potential for full re-entry into our classrooms, we recognize that many of you may have concerns regarding your ability to return to school in person.  For a variety of reasons, you may be wondering whether you qualify for benefits under the Families First Act and/or whether you qualify for ADA accommodations, which may enable you to work remotely from home. As a result, you may need to know how to request accommodations from the district.

Seacoast Education Association and NEANH are here to support you and provide assistance in navigating these waters.  It’s important for you to have the necessary tools and information as they become available.  We’ll be with you every step of the way: providing materials, answering questions, and accompanying you in your meetings with the district.

In addition, SEA has been working hard on two Memorandums of Agreement to address a wide range of changes for the 2020-21 school year beginning with our top priority: your health and safety.

1. Families First Coronavirus Response Act Benefits:

Determining Your FFCRA Eligibility (link)

FFCRA Paid Leave Rights (link)

The US Department of Labor has developed an online flow chart to help you determine if you qualify for benefits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.  These benefits include emergency paid sick leave and/or paid leave to care for children if school or daycare is closed.  

2. Medical Accommodations per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):

If you have health conditions that increase your risk if exposed to COVID-19 (e.g. respiratory conditions, immune deficiencies, heart conditions, etc.) then you are considered “high risk.” In the event that employees are asked to return to work in school buildings, you have protections available under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that require your employer to provide accommodations.  SEA has already made the district aware of this process and your superintendents are already preparing for the accommodations that may be requested by “high risk” employees.  This request will trigger an “interactive process” in which SEA representatives will accompany you through meetings with the district to discuss potential options and determine what accommodations are reasonable to implement. 

Conditions likely to qualify for ADA Accommodations include: Chronic lung disease, asthma, serious heart conditions, immune system compromising conditions, diabetes, hypertension, kidney or liver disease. Conditions that may qualify include certain mental health conditions (anxiety disorder, OCD, PTSD), pregnancy, or being 65 or older (age is not in itself a disability, but it does not hurt to make a request if you are 65 but have no underlying health condition, since it puts the district on notice that you are particularly at risk)

Possible ADA Accommodations include: Working remotely, performing duties that require less interaction with other people, additional protective equipment, etc. Your employer is only required to make a reasonable accommodation and is not required to take actions that would impose an undue hardship on the employer or other employees.  However, you will not know what is possible unless you make a request. 

SEA Members caring for high risk individuals likely do not have ADA rights, however such rights can be bargained and members may have leave rights under the Families First Coronavirus Recovery Act or the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Requesting ADA Accommodations for Returning to School During the COVID-19 Pandemic:

1. Copy and paste the italicized text below into an email to your superintendent.
2. Cc your SEA president, your SEA building representative and your principal or immediate supervisor.
3. Read and edit the text as appropriate before sending. 

Dear Superintendent:

I am writing to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I understand that you may require employees to return to work in schools before the COVID-19 virus has been controlled.  I have a health condition that places me at heightened risk for serious complications from COVID-19.  Please let me know if you would like me to provide medical documentation.  

My suggestions for accommodations are the following:

I would like to hear the District’s ideas about possible accommodations also.

Please respond to my message in a reasonable amount of time so we can decide on reasonable accommodations before the school year begins.  Please include my union representative (copied on this email) in discussions and meeting invitations related to this request.

Sincerely, 

Your name

We hope you find this information helpful in these difficult times and we will provide more as it becomes available.  Please feel free to reach out to your SEA representatives or leadership at any time if we can be of further assistance in this process.

Thank you, SEA members, for voting in our 2020 elections and a big thanks to our dedicated representatives and officers -present and future.  A special shout-out goes to John Croteau and AJ Pruett for so many great years of service as President and Vice President.  We all appreciate your steadfast leadership and the sacrifices you made to be there for us time and time again.  Thank you, John and AJ!

The results are as follows:

SAU 21 Reps:
Hampton Falls
Kelli Maynard
Amy Roy

North Hampton
Daniel Singer
Debra Vasconcellos

Seabrook Elementary
Lyndsey Hamblet
Janice Hartley

Seabrook Middle
Rebecca Scherbon
Matthew Wooley

South Hampton
AJ Pruett

Winnacunnet
Ron Auffant
Wendy Bergeron
Stacy Brown
John Croteau
Sarah Edgar
Andy Gushee
Michael Myers
Amy Scholes
Sarah Trahan
Amy Waterhouse

SAU 90 Reps:
Centre School
Johanna McPhee
Cindy Colby

Hampton Academy
Justin Coggeshall
Jim Doherty
Sean Tierney

Marston School
Michelle Croteau
Amber Levine

SEA Officers:
Co-Vice Presidents:
Amy Murphy
Andy Gushee

President:
Andrew Wallace

Treasurer:
Brandon Michaud

Secretary:
Karin Backstrom