Directs the department of education to require school districts to adopt a policy barring schools from seeking or accepting grant-funded medical products or services unless municipal voters approve such action.
relative to school districts and medically-related grants.
I am a member of the public and I oppose HB695. I have two children with disabilities enrolled in the public school system. This is will negatively impact their right to a free appropriate public education.
As a former older adult student of PCU in the years 1989-92, and as an English major (graduated MCL). I am definitely opposed to cutting English curriculum.. I am now long retired from teaching English Literature and Composition as a professor at Edison College in Naples, FL.. Please don’t lower your standards as a major. University in NH. by reducing the availability of learning to write English that will be required to achieve a professional position in the real world.
School districts should not be prohibited from accessing eligible funding grants and resources for its students, medical or otherwise. This will harm directly students already benefiting from services and products provided by federal grants and students who would otherwise be eligible for such services and products in the future.
Leave the budget for each town in their jurisdiction.
As a state that criminally under-funds education year after year, the fact that any of our elected officials would want to prohibit school districts from pursuing grants is utterly ridiculous. If you spent your time and energy crafting legislation that supports our students instead of proposing ideologically motivated political theater stunts like this, New Hampshire would be a better place. Do better.
I urge you to support this bill as it will enable New Hampshire citizens more transparency of the schools which they send their children to.
It's common sense: A school district should never adopt anything or seek grants from any outside service unless the citizens of that district approve it.
So who should pay for tylenol the nurses' have? You want the nurses to pay for it like the teachers have to buy their own supplies? This bill is ridiculous and probably driven by the false narrative that kids are somehow having surgeries at school. Ridiculous bill. Schools should absolutely be able to apply for grants of funding if they need it, especially in poorer areas of the state.
I vehemently oppose this bill! Keep religion out of public education. Parents can send their children to private instruction on their own, but taxpayers should NOT pay for any education of our citizens that is tied to a particular religion or other specialized viewpoint on the world. We have a good, broad curriculum that has been well vetted, and continually improves. KEEP PRIVATE SCHOOL OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL.
This bill is a ridiculous short-sighted political stunt. It appears to simply be an anti-mask, anti-common sense effort. Please do something more serious for the people of New Hampshire.
As a school nurse, and therefore a servant of public health, for a large percentage of underprivileged and at risk students, I must oppose this bill. Schools are already underfunded and struggling, as well as the taxpayers that are paying the burden of funding public education. Funding for public education is decreasing as we speak due to all the changes being made in government. Why would anyone want to take away a potential resource for a public school? If a school is able to secure supplies and devices, this only benefits the health and wellness of the students that the school is serving. Such medical devices and supplies could include hearing and vision screening devices, which can cost THOUSANDS of dollars for the school district. If the school is able to get a grant for the devices on their own, without needing additional funding, then why would the public need to vote on it? Shouldn't we be simplifying the process instead of complicating it and adding more red tape? How can a bill be proposed when directly in the Fiscal Impact it states "It is unknown to what extent, if any, this bill may impact a local school district from receiving federal funds, as it would be up to local voting. The Department of Education reports this could impact several federal programs (IDEA, Title I-A, Title I-B, Title I-C, Title I-D, Title IV-A and McKinney Vento), which in 2024-2025 totaled approximately $116.7 million." So it is already unclear what the financial impact will be, but if we can't accept grant related medical devices or services and still need those devices or services then the burden will be on the taxpayer to eat that cost. How is that a good sell to the public and the taxpayers?
I work as a school nurse and I oppose this bill as it would impair our ability as school nurses to procure necessary medical equipment such as vision and hearing screening tools.
More pointless Republican posturing. The party of 'small government' trying, yet again, to insert themselves where they don't belong.
Why? Just, why. Do we hate children?
Schools need to mind their own business and concentrate on teaching our kids! The medical needs and wants of a child is not the schools business.
Schools should focus on their primary responsibility: educating students. Medical issues concerning children should be addressed by parents or guardians
Schools need to concentrate on teaching not keeping things from parents!
We have for hundreds of years had a public school system and I believe we should support that system and utilize our dollars to make that system the best it can be.
THis takes decision making power away from duly elected school boards.
The burden of property taxes is way too much. The NH government has proposed raising the State amount on education but you want to fund it with more property taxes. In the mean time this bill would eliminate hundreds of millions of dollar of federal funds from supporting necessary services for our students. It's just plain STUPID!!
This is unnecessarily redundant to the way schools already work, VOTE ITL.
I am a family medicine physician who has provided care to patients in NH for 20 years. This bill would limit the state's ability to provide vaccines for new diseases. Given the frequency at which new infections occur, this would be extremely detrimental to public health as the state would be unable to respond in an appropriate manner to prevent a potential new pandemic.
Schools need resources to provide care to students when sick, and concerns such as vision and hearing screenings, etc.
This is none of your business. This is one place where parents and children will make their own determination.
Grants cover equipment like defibrilators. This equipment could be the differece between life and death at a school. It is also extremly expensive, if a grant could cover all or partial costs for all schools to have one, I think it is imporant to not restrict this type of monetary assistance.