Charter school News and Updates April 2024

Working on behalf of NH Public Charter Schools since 2016

Dear Charter School Supporters,

We are thrilled to share some exciting updates with you in this edition of our newsletter! As advocates for quality education and innovative learning environments, your support is invaluable to us, and we're excited to engage with you on two significant fronts.

First, we're thrilled to announce that the Alliance will be participating in NH Gives! This is an incredible opportunity for us to come together as a community and make a lasting impact. With your generous contributions, we can continue to advocate for exceptional educational experiences for our students and empower them to reach their fullest potential in NH charter schools as well as support our school leaders.

Second, we're delighted to inform you that a brand-new website is on the horizon! The Alliance has been hard at work updating our website which will serve as a hub for all things related to our charter school.

We can't wait to share these exciting developments with you, and we're grateful for your ongoing support as we strive to make a difference in the lives of our students.

Thank you for your support!

Free, Public, and Open to All Campaign

In February, partnering with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, we launched an online campaign to champion charter schools. Our campaign featured a variety of engaging ad formats, including static displays, videos, Facebook, and Google Display Network ads. The results were remarkable, with a total of 662,195 impressions achieved, underscoring the campaign's success.

REMINDER: The National Charter School Conference

The National Charter School Conference (NCSC) will be held close to home in Boston this year 6/30-7/3! It will a great time to network amongst your peers, advocates and other leaders in the charter school movement. The NH Alliance will be having a networking event at the conference for NH charter school attendees. Details to come as we get closer.

Click here for more information and registration. Hope to see you there!

Fiscal Year 2024 Federal Appropriations

The Fiscal Year(FY) 2024 federal spending package was passed including $440 million for the Charter Schools Program(CSP). Although we are not seeing an increase, this is a win for the charter school community given the president's proposed cuts to the budget and a challenging political climate.

The CSP grant includes several key changes.

Clarifying use of technical assistance funds through grants to state entities.
Improving access to state facilities incentive grants.
Advanced notice of proposed priorities and competitions.

Click here to read the full article.

NH Charter School Celebrations

Our charter schools in NH are dedicated to enhancing the educational experience for both students and teachers, investing significant time and effort towards achieving their goals. We extend our congratulations to the following charter schools for their notable accomplishments:

Founders Academy in Manchester, now open 10 years, has had its charter renewed for another 5 years.

Benjamin Franklin Academy has moved into its newly purchased building in Loudon.

Birches Academy, located in Salem, has purchased the building they have been in for the last 10 years.

If you would like to submit a celebration about your school for the next newsletter, please submit an email here.

Future Membership Meeting Dates 2024:

To finish off the school year we will be hosting an evening event geared towards board members. Keep an eye out for more details!

Legislative Updates

HB1583 relative to the per pupil cost of an adequate education

HB1583 is sponsored by Rep. Wheeler, Rep. H. Howard, Rep. Selig and Rep. Kenney. The original bill proposed that the base adequacy per pupil amount for all public schools be increased to $10,000. The committee has met several times and the amount has been changed from $10,000 to $4,400 and then to $7356.01. Most recently, the committee has sent the bill for Interim Study for further discussion and research. Click here to contact a representative on the committee as they study the effects this bill could have on charter schools. Click here to read the bill in its entirety.

HB1646 relative to chartered public schools

HB1646 is sponsored by Reps. Luneau in the House Education Committee. This State Representative is proposing to add language to the existing definition of New Hampshire's public charter schools, inserting the word private into current law among other changes.

The original language reads:

"Chartered public school" means an open enrollment public school, operated independent of any school board and managed by a board of trustees. A chartered public school shall operate as a nonprofit secular organization under a charter granted by the state board and in conformance with this chapter.

The proposed new language would insert the following noted here in bold:

"Chartered public school" means an open enrollment public school, operated independent of any school board and managed by a board of trustees. A chartered public school is a private corporation, incorporated under the laws of New Hampshire, and shall operate as a nonprofit secular organization and 501(c)3 corporation under a charter granted by the state board and in conformance with this chapter.

The Education Committee met for an Executive Session on March 6th to discuss HB1646. The committee has sent the bill for Interim Study for further discussion and research. Click here to contact a representative on the committee as they study the effects this bill could have on charter schools. Click here to read the bill in its entirety.

Would you like to start a charter school in your area? Do you want to learn more about the process in New Hampshire? If so contact us today! We are here to answer your questions and we assist groups at no charge.

About Us

Based on our core belief in supporting innovation in public education, the NH Alliance for Public Charter Schools calls upon over a decade of experience creating, operating, and supporting NH Charter Schools through peer support, models for best practice and for sustainable leadership, and boosts the public's understanding through the sharing of non-partisan information.