Plymouth State University has backed away from in-person classes and canceled all sports after a “dramatic increase” in COVID-19 cases this week.
The university put the changes into effect on Wednesday, after 104 students and faculty members tested positive for the coronavirus between Sunday and Tuesday.
In addition to switching to fully remote classes and ending all sports, PSU banned all campus events, is allowing take-out dining only, and told on-campus students not to visit other residence halls. Those residing on campus are to “stay on their respective floors in their residence halls and go outside to socialize with anyone not living on their floor,” the university ordered.
Senate Supports Stabilizing Education Aid
The New Hampshire Senate on Thursday voted to maintain state education aid at the 2019-2020 level, despite the decline in enrollment and registrations for free and reduced-price meals that would have triggered a sharp reduction in revenues to school districts across the state.
The formula that determines state adequacy aid relies upon daily enrollment and student lunch aid figures, but during the pandemic, students were taking classes remotely and the federal government was providing food to all students, regardless of need, resulting in a drop in the number of families applying for the reduced school lunch program.
While Senate Bill 135 passed unanimously and now goes to the House for action, Republicans did not go along with a proposed amendment that would also maintain “disparity aid” for property-poor school districts. Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) said the amendment would require sending the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee for review before a final vote, which would delay its passage in the Senate, which is necessary before sending it to the House.
Bradley also said the question of disparity aid should be among a number of other bills aimed at reducing property taxes, arguing that they should be considered together as part of the total budget package.
The Time Has Not Come For School Choice
Both Democrats and Republicans were relieved that House Bill 20, which would support school choice by giving parents of students attending public schools between $4,500 and $8,500 toward the cost of any private, religious, or alternative school, was pulled from the docket.
Democrats worried that the bill would harm public schools by diverting some of their funding to outside entities, while members of both parties worried about the lack of specificity in the bill’s language.
The bill’s co-sponsor, Representative James Allard (R-Pittsfield), said, “A bill of this significance needs to be right and the folks in this committee are the ones to do it. It is a good move to pause and reflect and get this done the way it should be.”
Democrat Barbara Shaw of Manchester said, “Eventually school choice is going to be part of education, but if it is going to be done and done correctly, it has to have bipartisan support and proven beneficial for everyone to the parents, to the taxpayers and mostly to the children.”
An amendment proposed for the bill on Wednesday would have limited the eligibility to parents with incomes less than 375 percent of the federal poverty guideline, or about $99,000.
Supporters also agreed not to immediately drop state adequacy aid to school districts that lose students under the program, providing 100 percent of the money the first year the child leaves, 50 percent the second year, and 25 percent the third year.
The bill would have allowed some of the school choice money to pay educational costs for home schooling, computers, and books.
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