[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6340047,"mediaKeyId","2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9","parentId",2260280,"title","House Education leaders advance, table and study several bills; four recorded votes in executive session","audioSeconds",8510,"startMs",4214000,"endMs",12724000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9&start=4214&end=12724","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9/thumbnail_4214000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6340047/New-Hampshire/House-Education-leaders-advance-table-and-study-several-bills-four-recorded-votes-in-executive-session","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6340047-f57f37b830d7c6b80752727f959c8b27/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157306&Signature=Ba0a6eCGjHI50q5yVu4al9ZH1Y2lQ6snzHvXX9eUep7~LNVtGXLc4HFmmgaZmx0OMLwSIXX02LgmaJpgpafyfTaxH-ws6X39BELmO2jLvYnlMgk~OFgwedcydsUJNI6t1KTYcXBAnXShhFGR~57NPAbDm2RQPBkGExtgqryPtQbWp5HwIWVuSAy3rdDhpir-g623~-xJvM-zjc9p-MYt2-Stnzru1HwkUNFQVA8Y5fs5Npg9yN~IeT-OOFVO3TOn6J7r0GifZJGCIzSS41HfFakCl8ipGMA1UKpwBinu9fFPV6mPoFxovhq20Sj2DH4fbQGyjMO83~osVCiGU48~fQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","NH House of Representatives Committee","date","2025-02-11T00:00:00Z","article","Kindergarten transportation, a career-technical education classroom-use change, and two education grant proposals were acted on during the House Education Committee's executive session. Lawmakers recorded four formal outcomes: HB 319 (transportation for half-day kindergarten) was recommended ought-to-pass-as-amended (OTPA); HB 747 (enrichment scholarships for gifted students) and HB 750 (incentive grants tied to assessment gains) were recommended Inexpedient To Legislate (ITL); and HB 484 (allowing local districts to repurpose CTE space after long exclusive use) was recommended OTPA with an amendment.

Why it matters: The votes move bills forward (or remove them from active consideration) and set the administrative and budgetary work that follows. Several of the measures carry potential budget implications or programmatic changes for districts and state agencies.

What the committee recorded (motions and tallies)
- HB 319 — Motion: Ought to Pass As Amended (mover: Representative Sam McGuire; seconder: Representative San Popovich). Vote tally recorded by the committee clerk: 10 yeas, 8 nays. Outcome: OTPA. (Clerk roll call appears in the transcript.)
- HB 747 — Motion: Inexpedient To Legislate (mover: Representative Rick Ladd; second: Representative Lou Dube as recorded). Vote tally: 18 yeas, 0 nays. Outcome: ITL (bill retained on regular calendar due to fiscal note).
- HB 750 — Motion: Inexpedient To Legislate (mover: Representative Peoples; seconded). Vote tally: 18 yeas, 0 nays. Outcome: ITL (put on consent calendar by the committee).
- HB 484 — Motion: Ought to Pass As Amended (mover: Representative Rick Ladd; amendment moved as 0358H). Committee recorded vote: 16 yeas, 2 nays. Outcome: OTPA with amendment; the committee placed the bill on the regular calendar/consent as appropriate.

Context and next steps: Bills recommended OTPA will move toward the House calendar with the committee's report and amendment language. Bills recommended ITL are, for now, not advanced for enactment this session unless resurrected by further action. Committee staff will prepare the committee reports and amendment texts for the clerk.

Ending: The committee recorded these votes during the executive session portion of the meeting; additional discussion on other bills continued in hearings and work sessions later in the day.

Votes provenance (transcript evidence): See transcript excerpts cited in the article provenance.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Education Funding (02/11/2025)","oneSentenceSummary","Kindergarten transportation, CTE space reuse and two grant proposals drew formal committee votes; recorded outcomes included two ITL recommendations and two OTPA recommendations.","taxTitle","Education, House of Representatives, Committees\t, Legislative, New Hampshire","taxId",17745,"location","New Hampshire","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6340042,"Committee debates Medicaid direct certification and meal-debt policy; amendment removes state buyout of meal debt",2272,11612000,13884000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9&start=11612&end=13884","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9/thumbnail_11612000.jpg","/articles/6340042/New-Hampshire/Committee-debates-Medicaid-direct-certification-and-meal-debt-policy-amendment-removes-state-buyout-of-meal-debt","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6340042-d847d670f5c66ee54f0871c5359e907b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157306&Signature=YJ2YtDr6M5fZzi05i1y7EVofO1SeA9V8yNWlKgV0vCEQyNPwbnjCVEoOvpxqGTQ4CPJ2v5t31lVljuguO9nfWVPm0Zx503xZTjVkAFw2YrfCrKpbsQaeDb60KMB0bcERIDcxFKWWbbL829vwzvV1-yrwyCzF3i-KUW0JU2HkycgDeN6pRe6V1nzhlAMFBqNVDIxIZE7~1s1cUPmzJN5h3VSsd9TOBYHj7pMK9ckWJP1aFbPTUwNZe2vbh~cuNkg-Rc4z~IrBCTAG30pDkdrT3TJCMcAMcAVZXTZHaOBXrPl2W-mJ1yWiEA9~wy1KuOFnClSPJwhn1J3kUK-DL5KgAw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Education Committee spent the afternoon on several measures tied to school meals and eligibility documentation, focusing on a Department of Education proposal to pursue Medicaid direct certification (MDC) for free and reduced price meals and a companion bill to ban practices the committee described as \"shaming\" students with unpaid meal balances.

Lede: Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education staff told the committee technical barriers to MDC are solvable: the state's Medicaid application system can add an opt-in checkbox and transmit qualifying data to the Department of Education in a machine-readable form.

Nut graf: MDC would identify additional students eligible for USDA free and reduced-price meals without a separate household form. The committee heard estimates that MVC could add roughly 10,000–11,000 students to the FRPL rolls, a change that the department estimated could raise adequacy grant obligations by roughly $50 million per year after funding-year timing effects are realized. Committee members discussed an amendment intended to hold district aid effects steady for the first two years to avoid immediate budget pressure.

Details: Representatives and agency staff discussed technical mechanics, timing and secondary impacts.
- Henry Littman, New Hampshire Medicaid director, said Medicaid systems can be modified to include an explicit parental consent checkbox and can transmit an eligibility export in a format DOE can use.
- Mark Manganiello (Department of Education) said the department's analysis using DHHS data estimates roughly 10,000 additional students would be directly certified; the chief district funding effect would appear in the adequacy grant in the year after direct certification is operational (DOE projected students would be certified during 2026–27 and affect FY 2028 adequacy calculations).
- The committee and staff discussed a draft amendment (modeled on language used in the 2022–23 budget) that would lock each district's FRPL percentage for two biennia so that MDC increases in certified students would not immediately raise district adequacy grants until the state and districts could budget for the additional cost.

Meal debt and \"shaming\" bill (HB 703): Representative Sam McGuire moved and Representative San Popovich seconded an amendment (O343H) that removes language requiring the Department of Education to pay off unpaid school meal balances. The amendment keeps provisions that prohibit practices committee members described as identifying or stigmatizing students for unpaid meals, bans collections-agency use to recover meal debt, and encourages local outreach to increase applications for FRPL eligibility. The committee adopted that amendment; the final change leaves local districts responsible for administrative follow‑up, while directing them not to penalize students or single them out in front of peers.

Budget and operational impacts: DOE and nutrition staff noted increased federal meal reimbursements would flow to schools for each additional free meal served, and that meal program reimbursements can exceed locally charged full prices for some districts. The Department of Education said the net increase in federal meal reimbursement would help local meal program budgets but that the state-side adequacy grant increase (if MDC expands FRPL counts) remains the largest fiscal effect discussed.

Ending: Committee members asked staff to prepare technical amendment language to limit FY impacts and to return with data (town-level comparisons of existing FRPL counts versus Medicaid counts and a completed district survey about online application capability and unpaid balances). The committee paused meal discussion for a break and moved into special-education topics later in the day.

Provenance (transcript evidence): topic introduction and the closing discussion with departmental staff are drawn from the committee transcript (see provenance segments).","DOHHS and DOE said Medicaid software can support a parental opt-in checkbox and transmit directly certified students to DOE; staff estimated about 10,000 additional FRPL students and a possible FY-28 adequacy cost impact of about $50M if no transitional hold were used.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6340033,"Committee opens CTE repurposing work, approves representative amendment and asks for subcommittee follow-up",11655,911000,12566000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9&start=911&end=12566","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9/thumbnail_911000.jpg","/articles/6340033/New-Hampshire/Committee-opens-CTE-repurposing-work-approves-representative-amendment-and-asks-for-subcommittee-follow-up","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6340033-134d369e4207071f3c59971710cb568e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157306&Signature=ERQBZAxmcmBXbVycIfFnNhKvCXey0aXsfCReHR0VqZYl6a6Qjdo5lRzs1kX8fhYXWtihbMl-nCyJdnrBb~2cGWiZNEw7w6GBLoz~sEaS2NNIrZgN9pBBUPbb8oKXjcMNOfQYg1Qt3CloDkElrAnrX0sGub02z6stYpTnvWoj4V25AHTFt9s3EDh4cJaiGZzQRhy4nW0kHpmIbdqBbJSTNDXujPYfVUOTxQE94vcTDA56-m-drqMdJxCZY0E1RYhPbj-SrwozNIFi-OsnqH-UgGqdv7xfmeyEDd2HaZZ11YREkVJZvDgXPo5v9176AMlmMr8fd0DVPsTN-x03Q3Bczw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Representative Rick Ladd opened discussion of HB 484, legislation to allow local school districts to repurpose career and technical education (CTE) classroom space that has been in exclusive CTE use for 20 years. Committee members described local examples (Milford, Ringe/Jefferies) in which shared-use or repurposing of older CTE centers could preserve buildings and reduce construction scope and local bond requirements.

Lede: Members agreed to defer immediate action and to form a small subcommittee to work with CTE directors, college and private representatives and DOE career-technical staff to refine language and ensure the bill would preserve CTE capacity while enabling local flexibility.

Nut graf: Committee discussion emphasized local control and the complexity of CTE scheduling and programmatic standards: CTE centers sometimes meet monthly or even more often when reviewing new programs or capital projects; districts and private partners were willing to consult on the draft language.

Discussion highlights:
- Representative Popovich and others supported deferring action to convene a small group of interested members and stakeholders and to return a recommendation before the March deadline.
- Representative Damon and others asked staff to check governor-and-council and appointment processes if statutory language touches bodies that receive gubernatorial appointments (discussion earlier in the docket referenced HB 443 on board terms).
- The sponsor read an OTP (ought-to-pass) blurb for HB 484 clarifying the intent to enable Milford and other districts to repurpose space without losing eligibility for renovation funding in the near term.

Committee action later in the day: An amendment (0358H) was offered and adopted by the committee; the amendment adjusted the narrow language to increase local flexibility (removing a clause that tied repurposing strictly to enabling CTE expansion). The committee then recommended HB 484 OTPA with the amendment and placed it on the regular calendar/consent as appropriate.

Ending: Committee action on HB 484 combined next-step field work (subcommittee and stakeholder meetings) with a technical amendment to preserve local flexibility. The bill now moves forward with an adopted amendment; staff were instructed to prepare the committee report and amendment text for the clerk.","HB 484 would let districts repurpose CTE classroom space after 20 years of exclusive CTE use; the committee asked for a small subcommittee to consult with practitioners and approved an amendment broadening local flexibility.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6340038,"Committee examines rising special-education costs and timing of state reimbursements; data show enrollment and per-student cost growth",1467,16221000,17688000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9&start=16221&end=17688","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2260280-239ebb0ac7f26d31aff534c3ca9295b9/thumbnail_16221000.jpg","/articles/6340038/New-Hampshire/Committee-examines-rising-special-education-costs-and-timing-of-state-reimbursements-data-show-enrollment-and-per-student-cost-growth","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6340038-5af5c140b7487d063c5a759e87cf32fa/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157306&Signature=CpxSG8LcI6dkCmgDZDSR5HrXOwT8i-LJsrxpObaYruBOzAGhCuU2p4mFoDZqsLULpzJonwv9YLrAIun0i0mNdV4M4Mr52tRUojLAFyBoutT5Vwdscjr0Ilk2Aa-dAD85n7Tw0q9F7~HdYtWgwnRAvuloH0StNjLp66u1ugQAjWdqqS2RW6eb-6stY3PVN1sr6obawixjqw7ElgPxQrh25HlsKxdwJzgEIezbbX0TqkHt3Qq8uVM6SMjnmQ1tCTC6blS7O1F0zWl~Ok0Zo4jDtTVrj7iY3zr~pqpjvai7JNZ0Y-ZJ3mXV3iAGVdLD4H9kJMHYBCD5YfwsyBZMASLAaQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Education Committee devoted substantial time to special-education funding, reviewing a Department of Education breakdown of statewide special-education revenues, expenditures and historical trends. Committee members and DOE staff discussed why local districts cover roughly 80\t30% of net special-education expenditures, how reimbursement timing creates year-to-year mismatches, and what data the committee needs to evaluate policy adjustments.

Lede: Department of Education staff presented a district-by-district table showing FY 2024 special-education expenditures and the portion covered by federal IDEA, state special-education aid (formerly 'catastrophic aid') and differentiated aid. The statewide picture showed an increasing share of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) even as total enrollment declined.

Key points:
- Enrollment and IEP trends: Committee materials and testimony showed total statewide public-school enrollment declined from about 84,500 in 2017 to roughly 69,000 in 2024, while the number of students with IEPs rose from about 32,000 to about 35,000 in that period, increasing the percentage of students with IEPs from about 17% to about 21%.
- Costs and who pays: The DOE table presented FY 2024 totals showing the state paid about $33.9 million in special-education aid (statutory catastrophic aid/proration), federal IDEA grants and differentiated aid contributions; districts reported the remaining expenditures as local responsibility. The committee heard that double-counting in the DOE-25 reporting (tuition paid from one district to another and the receiving district also reporting costs) can be material (DOE staff cited ~ $12 million annually as an example of inter-district counts).
- Timing and proration: DOE explained that aid for a fiscal year is based on claims submitted in the next fiscal year, producing timing mismatches in small districts where a single high-cost placement can materially affect year-to-year ratios.
- High-cost placements and variability: The committee asked about an individual maximum student claim (DOE provided a top recorded eligible cost in FY24 near $571,000) and about the drivers of wide variation in per‑IEP spending across districts. DOE staff said some of the variation reflects different local placement choices, differing ability to provide services in-district, and the presence of out-of-district placements.

Requests and next steps: Committee members asked DOE for additional detail: town-level comparisons of Medicaid counts vs. FRPL (for other work), a breakdown of catastrophic claims by cost bands (so the committee could see how many students fall into $0-70k, $70-100k bands, etc.), and a follow-up on whether DOE can model the effect of moving the catastrophic threshold (for example, from 3.5x to 2.5x per-student cost) and the resources required to produce rate-setting or more granular auditing.

Ending: DOE agreed to pull additional detail, including historical trend tables by band, and to respond on what it would take (time and staffing) to produce more granular, auditable cost-per-student measures and to explore whether a state-level review protocol could be established for out-of-district rate-setting.","Committee members and Department of Education staff reviewed statewide special education expenditures, noting rising per-student costs and an increasing share of students with IEPs even as overall enrollment fell. The department provided district-level revenue/expenditure tables and historical trend charts and agreed to provide additional granule","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

House Education leaders advance, table and study several bills; four recorded votes in executive session

Committee debates Medicaid direct certification and meal-debt policy; amendment removes state buyout of meal debt

Committee opens CTE repurposing work, approves representative amendment and asks for subcommittee follow-up

Committee examines rising special-education costs and timing of state reimbursements; data show enrollment and per-student cost growth