CHAPTER 211
HB 771-FN - FINAL VERSION
05/15/2025 1881s
2025 SESSION
25-0788
07/02
HOUSE BILL 771-FN
AN ACT relative to funding for open enrollment schools.
SPONSORS: Rep. Peternel, Carr. 6; Rep. Ladd, Graf. 5; Rep. Terry, Belk. 7; Rep. Verville, Rock. 2; Sen. Rochefort, Dist 1
COMMITTEE: Education Funding
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ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Changes how funding for open enrollment schools is sent and received.
II. Requires school districts to establish a line item in their operating budgets that reflects expenditures for open enrollment tuition costs.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05/15/2025 1881s 25-0788
07/02
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT relative to funding for open enrollment schools.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
211:1 Education; Open Enrollment Schools; Definitions. Amend RSA 194-D:1, I to read as follows:
I. "Open enrollment public school", [or] "open enrollment school", or "open enrollment program" means any public school which, in addition to providing educational services to pupils residing within its attendance area or district, chooses to accept pupils from other attendance areas within its district and from outside its district.
211:2 Education; Open Enrollment Schools; Funding. Amend RSA 194-D:5 to read as follows:
194-D:5 Funding.
I. There shall be no tuition charge for any pupil attending an open enrollment school located in that pupil's resident district. For an open enrollment school authorized by a receiving [the] school district, the pupil's sending [resident] district shall pay the receiving district [to such school] an amount equal to not less than 80 percent of the sending [that] district's average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the sending district to the department.
II. In accordance with current department of education standards, the funding and educational decision-making process for children with disabilities attending a chartered public or open enrollment school shall be the responsibility of the sending school district and shall retain all current options available to the parent and to the school district.
[III. Any federal or other funding available in any year to a sending district shall, to the extent and in a manner acceptable to the funding source, be directed to an open enrollment school in a receiving district on an eligible per pupil basis.]
III. [IV.] The commissioner of the department of education shall apply for all federal funding available to open enrollment schools [under the No Child Left Behind Act, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,] or other federal [source] sources of funds. The commissioner shall expend any such funds received in a manner acceptable to the funding source.
IV. [V.] A sending district may provide funds, services, equipment, materials, or personnel to an open enrollment school, in addition to the amounts specified in this section in accordance with the policies of the sending school district.
V. [VI.] An open enrollment school may accept pupils at tuition rates at less than the amounts established by this chapter.
VI. [VII.] An open enrollment school may receive financial aid, private gifts, grants, or revenue as if it were a school district.
211:3 Education; Open Enrollment Schools; Budgets. Amend RSA 194-D:6 to read as follows:
194-D:6 Budgets. Each school district shall establish a line item in their operating budget, on an annual basis, reflecting estimated expenditures for open enrollment school tuition and offsetting revenue estimates from sending school districts [That portion of a school district's estimated expenditures on open enrollment school tuition shall be shown as a separate line item in a school district's budget].
211:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: July 15, 2025
Effective Date: September 13, 2025
| Date | Amendment |
|---|---|
| May 1, 2025 | 2025-1881s |
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 7, 2025 | House | Hearing |
| Feb. 18, 2025 | House | Exec Session |
| Feb. 18, 2025 | House | Floor Vote |
| April 25, 2025 | Senate | Hearing |
| April 17, 2025 | Senate | Hearing |
| May 8, 2025 | Senate | Floor Vote |
July 22, 2025: Signed by Governor Ayotte 07/15/2025; Chapter 211; eff.09/13/2025 HJ 18
July 8, 2025: Enrolled Adopted, VV, (In recess 06/26/2025); SJ 17
July 8, 2025: Enrolled (in recess of) 06/26/2025 HJ 18
June 12, 2025: House Concurs with Senate Amendment 2025-1881s (Rep. Ladd): MA RC 189-160 06/12/2025 HJ 17 P. 4
May 15, 2025: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2025-1881s, RC 15Y-8N, MA; OT3rdg; 05/15/2025; SJ 13
May 15, 2025: Committee Amendment # 2025-1881s, AA, VV; 05/15/2025; SJ 13
May 2, 2025: Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2025-1881s, 05/15/2025, Vote 4-2; SC 21
April 9, 2025: Hearing: 04/17/2025, Room 103, SH, 01:20 pm; SC 17
April 4, 2025: Hearing: 04/25/2025, Room 100, SH, 09:20 am; SC 17
April 9, 2025: ==CANCELLED== Hearing: 04/25/2025, Room 100, SH, 09:20 am; SC 17
March 12, 2025: Introduced 03/06/2025 and Referred to Education Finance; SJ 7
March 6, 2025: Referral Waived by Committee Chair per House Rule 47(f) 03/06/2025 HJ 7 P. 46
March 6, 2025: Referred to Finance 03/06/2025 HJ 7 P. 37
March 6, 2025: Ought to Pass: MA RC 205-169 03/06/2025 HJ 7 P. 35
Feb. 25, 2025: Minority Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate
Feb. 25, 2025: Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass 02/18/2025 (Vote 10-8; RC) HC 14 P. 20
Feb. 12, 2025: Executive Session: 02/18/2025 10:30 am LOB 205-207
Jan. 29, 2025: Public Hearing: 02/07/2025 01:00 pm LOB 205-207
Jan. 23, 2025: Introduced (in recess of) 01/09/2025 and referred to Education Funding HJ 3 P. 26