Accountability posts

**What Sunapee residents need to know before March 10 — and what wasn't on the agenda at the February 19 School Board hearing.**

On February 19, the Sunapee School Board held a public hearing on open enrollment under RSA 194D. The public agenda described it as an 'open enrollment discussion.' What actually happened was a substantive legal and financial briefing on a specific warrant article strategy — including the disclosure of a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling that could cost the district up to $250,000 per year. That ruling was not listed on the agenda. Residents had no advance notice it would be the central topic of the meeting. That is a transparency failure, and it matters because a vote is less than three weeks away.

Here is what was discussed: A December NH Supreme Court decision now requires districts that are NOT open enrollment schools to pay approximately 80% of per-pupil costs — roughly $25,000 per student — if their students choose to attend an open enrollment school elsewhere. The superintendent estimated that just 10 students leaving could trigger a $250,000 bill, paid quarterly, coming directly off the district budget. To protect against this, the board is proposing a warrant article on the March 10 ballot that would make Sunapee an open enrollment district — but set both incoming and outgoing student limits at zero percent. The superintendent described this plainly as a legal workaround: technically compliant with state law, but designed to prevent any actual transfers while new state legislation is developed.

There are two additional details voters should understand before March 10. First, if the warrant article passes, the school board — not town meeting voters — will have the authority to raise enrollment thresholds above zero at any future point without returning to voters for approval. That is a meaningful shift of policy control that was presented as a convenience, not a concern. Second, the entire strategy is premised on new state legislation arriving within a year to fix the underlying funding formula. Senate Bill 101, which would have addressed this, was sent back to committee with no guaranteed timeline. The board acknowledged this uncertainty and recommended proceeding anyway as the best available option.

The superintendent himself expressed concern that only around 200 of roughly 1,000 eligible voters might show up on March 10, and that many won't fully understand what they're voting on. The board's response was to ask community members to spread the word. No additional public hearing, no mailer, and no formal outreach campaign was proposed. If you live in Sunapee, please read the warrant article carefully, share this information with your neighbors, and show up on March 10 prepared to vote on something more complex than it may appear on the ballot. https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/school-board/2026-02-19/ #MeetingWatch #SunapeeNH