SB 0101

CHAPTER 232

SB 101 – FINAL VERSION

AN ACT relative to payment of costs for certain students attending alternative education programs.

SPONSORS: Sen. Estabrook, Dist 21; Sen. Odell, Dist 8; Sen. Foster, Dist 13; Sen. Kelly, Dist 10; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24; Rep. Rous, Straf 7; Rep. Stiles, Rock 15

This bill permits “at risk” students to attend an alternative education program at a regional vocational education center and requires the department of education to pay tuition and transportation costs for such attendance.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to payment of costs for certain students attending alternative education programs.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

232:1 Regional Vocational Education; Definitions. Amend RSA 188-E:2, II to read as follows:

II. “Sending district” shall mean a school district where students reside, and for whom said district has tuition responsibility, who attend a regional center, [or] regional course, or alternative education program other than within the district itself.

232:2 New Paragraphs; Regional Vocational Education; Definitions Added. Amend RSA 188-E:2 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraphs:

V. “At risk student” means a high school student who has been evaluated by the local school district staff and deemed to be an individual in jeopardy of dropping out of school prior to graduation.

VI. “Alternative education program” means a program that provides at risk students with a variety of options that can lead to graduation by focusing on the student’s individual social needs and the academic requirements for a high school diploma.

232:3 Regional Vocational Education; Concurrent Enrollment. Amend RSA 188-E:6, I to read as follows:

I. Students shall enroll at their regular high school for nonvocational courses and attend a regional vocational center for purposes of taking vocational courses except students may, where distance, transportation, or other physical restrictions prohibit, or where a student has been deemed to be at risk, attend the vocational education center for their entire educational program. Tuition charged for students enrolled part time at the vocational education center shall be prorated on a time basis for both the local district and the state share of the payment.

232:4 Regional Vocational Education; Tuition. Amend RSA 188-E:7 to read as follows:

188-E:7 Tuition. The department of education is authorized to pay from its regular budget tuition for full or part-time students, attending programs at designated vocational centers or designated vocational educational courses at other comprehensive high schools, whose residence is in a district where the high school of normal attendance does not offer a similar vocational education course. The department is authorized to pay from its budget for at risk students who reside in a school district in which the high school does not offer an alternative education program, to attend an alternative education program at a regional vocational education center or the associated high school. The tuition payment shall not exceed the cost of attending the regional vocational education center. The liability of the state and local school districts for tuition shall be determined by the state board under rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A, provided that a receiving district may charge a student from a sending district a differential vocational education rate and that the receiving district shall deposit that differential into its capital reserve account to be used for vocational centers and equipment.

232:5 Regional Vocational Education; Transportation. Amend RSA 188-E:8 as follows:

188-E:8 Transportation. The department of education is authorized to pay from its regular budget the cost of transportation for regional vocational students and for at risk students who attend alternative education programs located at a regional vocational education center or the associated high school. Transportation costs shall not exceed the rate adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A by the state board. The sending district shall be responsible for paying the transportation costs and shall be reimbursed from state funds.