Windham Taxpayers

April 30, 2008
Boston.com

CONCORD, N.H.—Orange trucks will help drivers from seeing red during the morning and evening commutes on Interstate 93 in southern New Hampshire.

The state Transportation Department is beginning roving service patrols on Thursday between the Massachusetts border and Exit 3 in Windham.

The idea is for Transportation Department employees in orange pickups to solve minor problems such as flats or overheated cars before they cause major traffic jams or accidents.

For the six-month pilot project, the pickups will be on the road during the morning and evening commutes on weekdays and from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. There might be extra patrols on holidays and for special events.

Project Manager Peter Stamnas says minor incidents like flat tires on a congested highway can cause other problems that typically are more serious.

April 29, 2008
Concord Monitor

Lawmakers may limit districts to four-year private contracts

A plan to allow the state’s 12 kindergarten holdout school districts to contract with private providers is moving ahead - but with a time limit.

The proposal, which still needs to go before lawmakers, would allow the districts to contract with private kindergartens for no more than four years in order to comply with a bill that makes kindergarten mandatory. In the meantime, district officials would need to determine how to offer kindergarten within the public school system. The proposed bill would require the state to help districts with the costs of adding public kindergarten.

“We’re dealing now with 12 districts that for whatever reasons have chosen up until this point not to have kindergarten; the state, as an educational policy, has said that the school districts must offer kindergarten,” said Rep. Marjorie Smith, a Durham Democrat who serves as chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, which is reviewing the bill. “This legislation is an attempt to ease the transition.”

As of last week, members of the House Finance Committee appeared to be leaning toward a proposal that would allow the 12 districts to contract with private providers indefinitely, rather than offer the service in public schools, provided that those providers met some state standards. Yesterday, Smith introduced an amendment that placed a three-year time limit on those contracts.

After a lengthy discussion, lawmakers decided to extend the time limit from three years to four years, in an effort to gain support for the proposal from more members of the committee. The House Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal today. Yesterday, a majority of the committee’s members seemed to support the plan.

For the plan to pass, the full House would have to support the changes. The proposal would then go back to the Senate. An earlier version of the proposal - which wouldn’t have allowed districts to contract with private providers - passed the Senate and recently won preliminary approval in the House.

Although some lawmakers would rather districts not be allowed to contract with private providers at all, the time limit is likely to allay their concerns.

“I think it’s stalling a little longer than it needs to,” said House Education Committee Chairwoman Emma Rous, a Durham Democrat who sponsored the version of the plan that won preliminary approval in the House. “But if it makes it easier for districts to comply, then I support that.”

Among the concerns raised by those who dislike the idea of contracting with private providers were the lower licensing and certification standards. Teachers in private kindergartens don’t need certification.

Under the proposal lawmakers reviewed yesterday, private providers would have to meet Department of Education standards in order to win a contract with one of the 12 districts.

At issue with the bill is how much leeway to give those 12 holdout districts.

Last year, lawmakers included kindergarten in the definition of an adequate education, paving the way for an end to New Hampshire’s status as the sole state not to offer kindergarten to every student. Now, lawmakers are grappling with how to bring the remaining 12 districts into compliance with the law.

Although it initially seemed as though the 12 districts would have to provide kindergarten by next school year, lawmakers eventually scrapped that idea. In the version of the bill that won preliminary approval in the House, districts would have until September 2009 to begin offering the service.

Apart from the option to contract with private providers, the bill offers the 12 districts numerous incentives.

Under the proposal committee members were considering yesterday, the state would offer construction aid to the 12 districts. District officials could choose between a state grant to cover 75 percent of the actual cost of constructing kindergarten facilities (a program that has been available to other districts in the past) or 100 percent of the cost of designing and constructing a basic, code-compliant kindergarten facility.

The state would also help those districts that decide to use temporary classrooms, giving them time to create permanent facilities. Yesterday, House Finance Committee members appeared to be leaning toward a proposal that would pay the full cost of establishing temporary classrooms for four years. In addition, the state would help pay for furniture and equipment.

Although the proposal would give district officials flexibility, they would not be allowed to contract with private providers for four years and then establish portable classrooms for four years before finally creating a permanent kindergarten facility. In other words, even if district officials choose one of the temporary measures, they need to begin thinking about how to create space for public kindergarten, lawmakers said.

“It would be my intention that it’s not cumulative, because that completely defeats the purpose,” Smith said.

Once the districts begin offering kindergarten, the state would distribute a per-pupil grant. In the coming school year, that per-pupil grant would be $1,200, under the proposal. The bill would also allow districts to contract with other public school districts to provide kindergarten.

The idea of allowing districts to contract with providers arose after lawmakers representing several of the holdout districts expressed concern with the version of the bill that passed the Senate.

Rep. Lynne Ober, a Hudson Republican and finance committee member, said that several of the districts within her region wouldn’t have time to build kindergarten facilities by September 2009. Ober also worried about the state mandate - if lawmakers didn’t allow districts to contract with private providers, the state could end up in court, with local officials arguing that the state must cover the full cost of whatever it mandates, she said.

Along with Ober, Rep. Peter Leishman recently proposed allowing districts to contract with private providers. Yesterday, Leishman, a Milford Democrat and finance committee member, said he was content with the four-year time limit.

“What Lynne and I were really looking for was flexibility,” Leishman said. “I’m very pleased with what happened.”

The districts that don’t offer public kindergarten are Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Mason, Mascenic, Milford, Pelham, Auburn, Chester, Derry, Salem and Windham.

Eagle Tribune
April 27, 2008

SALEM, N.H. — Dan Chin had his ticket in hand by 11 a.m., ready to be one of the first people on the Corkscrew Coaster.

Then the Methuen teen planned to hit the Xtreme Frisbee, Skater, Boston Tea Party and if he was feeling brave enough, maybe a spinning, floor-dropping ride on the Turkish Twist.

Dan had decided to end his school vacation week with a bang, and lucky for him, Canobie Lake Park happened to be opening its doors yesterday.

“It’s fun,” the 17-year-old said. “My parents have brought me here since I was a kid. It’s definitely gotten better. The rides are a lot cooler.”

Hundreds of people like him visited the New Hampshire landmark yesterday morning to ring in the start of the amusement park’s 106th season.

The park is open today, but then people have to wait again. Canobie is only operating on weekends until Memorial Day weekend, when it begins its summer operating schedule, open every day.

It will stay open through Sept. 28.

The park has managed to continue bringing in crowds, despite the growth of larger parks like Six Flags in the New England area.

Marilyn Hale, of Bow, N.H., said she thinks it’s the history that keeps bringing people to the park. She came when she was a child growing up in Windham, and now she brings her 4-year-old grandson.

“He loves riding the automated cars and the canoes,” Hale said. “Those were my favorite too.”

While the park will not feature any new rides this year, there are more than 85 rides to choose from. Canobie will also offer new music shows and stage performances, including a children’s show based on Bob the Builder and a show just for animal lovers, called “Jump,” which features performance dogs.

Last year, the park installed a new main gate and entrance plaza, and unveiled the Xtreme Frisbee, where riders soar 63 feet in the air and spin.

“A lot of people look forward to opening day every year,” Canobie Lake Park spokesman Chris Nicoli said. “We’re looking forward to a good season.”

When to go - Canobie Lake Park is now open on weekends.
For more information on hours and rates, visit http://www.canobie.com

April 16, 2008
Nashua Telegraph

CONCORD – For the second time in two weeks, homeschool parents and their children turned out in droves to oppose a bill that would require parents to submit a curriculum plan to the state.

“I think that the people who are supporting this are really grasping for straws and trying to make the most out of their arguments,” said Nikki Powers, a Barrington parent who homeschools her two children.

The Senate has already approved SB337.

Parents and their children packed the 400-seat Representatives Hall at the Statehouse on Tuesday for the continuation of a hearing before the House education committee that began April 2.

The bill would require parents who are new to homeschooling to submit a plan outlining their curriculum before they start to educate their child. The legislature passed a bill in 2006 that eliminated the requirement for parents to submit such a plan on an annual basis.

Opponents argued the change would do nothing to improve the state’s homeschool program and could even deter parents from exploring the homeschool option in the future.

The state Department of Education is supporting the bill. Roberta Tenney, an administrator for the department who oversees the homeschool program, said the bill would help get a dialogue going with parents who are looking to homeschool as an option.

“We want, as educators, to be part of that conversation,” she said.

Tenney said the department does not want to mandate what parents teach their children, but wants to be able to direct parents who are just starting out toward some available resources, such as the state’s grade level expectations.

Since the change in 2006, parents are now required only to notify their local school district that they intend to home school their children.

“It’s a precipitous change to go from every year planning to no planning at all,” Tenney said.

Some states have no regulations over homeschool programs, and others require approval of the programs. Tenney said the state is trying to strike a balance between the two ends of the spectrum. She cautioned that the state would not be looking to approve the plans, only making sure they are submitted.

“We are looking for that middle road of communication,” she said.

One of the arguments in support of the bill is that it would help children in neglectful homes from falling through the cracks. Powers argued it’s easier for children to fall through the cracks in public schools.

“It’s a little insulting to a lot of us that the public school system wants to make suggestions,” she said. “We are already accountable.”

Dawn Lincoln, a Westmoreland home school parent, suggested that the bill would discourage parents from starting a home school program. She said the “added barriers” would do nothing to improve home education.

If the state wants to have more dialogue with home school parents, there is nothing stopping them, she said.

Lincoln said to expect home school parents to follow the same guidelines used in public school is unreasonable.

“If we’re going to be tied to the state’s grade level expectations, our flexibility and ability to meet the child’s needs . . . is gone,” she said.

Some parents went as far as to say that the bill discriminates against them.

Members of the education committee said they weren’t convinced the bill was necessary.

State law currently mandates specific subjects to be taught in a homeschool program: science, math, language, government, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, art, music and a history of both the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

The proposed bill would require parents, prior to starting a homeschool program, to outline their plans for implementing their curriculum.

The bill would also require parents to notify the school district each year if they intend on continuing to homeschool their child.

State law currently requires parents to maintain a portfolio, documenting reading materials used and samples of writing, among other things. Parents are also required to have their children evaluated each year, either by having a licensed evaluator review the child’s progress or by taking a standardized test.

Given the requirements currently in place, Rep. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, questioned whether the bill was necessary.

“After looking at this, I don’t see the need for this law,” she said.

Rep. Paul Ingbretson, R-Grafton, pointed out that recent test scores revealed that only one in four high school students are proficient in math.

“I wonder if you’re really the right people to be consulting with homeschool parents,” he said to Tenney.

In an overflow room outside the hall, some parents had set up a makeshift school. Some children were reading and others were gathered around a computer.

Jamie Hupfer, a homeschool parent from Deering, brought her two children – 4-year-old Xander and 11-month-old Zoe – to Tuesday’s hearing. Both of Hupfer’s children were wearing T-shirts with the message “Vote No on SB337″ printed on them.

Hupfer said she and other home school parents decided it would be a fun project to make the T-shirts. She decided to homeschool her children because she didn’t want them confined to a specific curriculum.

“I want to allow him to study what he’s interested in,” she said.

Tenney said there have been rare cases of neglect or abuse and said that if there had been some communication at the offset, they may have been avoided.

Opponents of the bill maintained nothing would change under the new requirements.

There are approximately 4,600 students currently being taught at home, according to the state Department of Education. However, the percentage of students in each district fluctuates, depending on where you look.

According to data from last year, Nashua had 109 homeschool students, which represents less than 1 percent of the students enrolled in public school. But in the Mascenic Regional School District, there were the exact same number of homeschool students as Nashua, which represents 7.8 percent of the enrollment in that district.

Laurie Johnson, assistant superintendent for the Milford School District, said she has regular correspondence with the district’s home school population. The district’s primary role is to make sure that the annual evaluation shows that progress is being made.

Sometimes parents need reminding to send in their paperwork, but “the large majority of them send everything in without any reminders,” she said.

Cases where parents who are unresponsive are forwarded to the state, she said.

Johnson said it’s unclear what the change the bill is proposing would add, considering that the plans aren’t approved, only submitted.

“I’m not sure it’s that much different from what we do now,” she said.

The education committee did not vote on the bill yesterday. The committee will likely vote at some point next week. If the committee approves it, the bill will move on to the full House.
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Additional Info: Here are the minutes of NH’s Home School Advisory Council of April 2008 which suggest the addition of a study commission.