Mascoma Valley Regional School District Community,

The Ed 306 Minimum Standards for Public School Approval have been a focus for many educators and education leaders. This Wednesday, April 3 - from 1:00pm - 4:30pm (@ the NHED Offices - 25 Hall Street in Concord) the State Board will have a PUBLIC HEARING on the "front-half" of the 306s (does not include the sections previously enumerated as 306.31 - 306.48).

April brings a variety of Earth Day Activities to our schools!

EVS - We are getting sun flowers for each student to plant and care for inside. We will then plant them outside before the end of school.

CES - Aaren Dow will be organizing an outdoor clean-up and recycling activity.

IRS - Campus Clean-Up!

MVRHS - Individual Classes:

● Recycling Collection by students begins April 1

● How wildfires impact and the risk of mudslides

● The chemistry of plastics and polymers

● The link between Earth day and human health

● A unit about energy efficient cars

Canaan Conservation Committee's Earth Day Clean Up will be scheduled for Saturday, April 27th. Mascoma Interact Club will be participating in the event.

Art students traditionally do sidewalk chalk outside based on nature and Earth Day themes (around the school). The drawing and painting classes will be sketching and watercolor painting outside.

We are still actively hiring for the 2024-2025 school year. Job openings are listed on the Mascoma website. If anyone needs more information on a position, they should contact the school with the opening.

On March 1, 2024, the CDC updated COVID guidance to match the guidelines for influenza and other respiratory illnesses. The new updates are as follows:

● Stay home when you are ill, you may return to school or work when your symptoms are improving and you have been without a fever for at least 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin).

● Once you resume normal activities the CDC encourages you to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to protect others around you. Some strategies to protect others around you include increasing ventilation by opening windows when indoors and wearing a well-fitting mask.

Please contact your child’s school nurse for more information on these new guidelines.

We expect to see more mud this April. Please make sure to check your email for road and busing updates.

Best wishes,

Concern regarding the NHED Proposed Updated Minimum Standards From Various Sources, Including Reaching High New Hampshire & NEA-NH

Recommendations to Reverse Harm and Strengthen Public Schools

Reaching High New Hampshire

October 18, 2023

All New Hampshire students deserve access to public schools where they can learn, grow, and thrive. Public schools are often the heart of their communities and flourish when they have the support and investment from their communities. Every young person, regardless of their background, family income, or zip code, deserves an education that prepares them for the future of their choosing.

One of the most important ways that we as a state can ensure that all young people have access to high-quality public schools is through the Minimum Standards for Public School Approval that lays the foundation for all public schools. These minimum standards, known as the public school approval rules, are laid out in State Administrative Rule ED 306 and are mandates for a school to operate in New Hampshire.

The public school approval rules should be rigorous yet flexible so that local public schools can meet the needs of the students, teachers, and communities they serve. They should also set a foundation to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality education in a safe school, no matter where they live, and empower local communities to design and implement learning environments tailored to their needs.

Revisions to the public school approval rules are an opportunity for us to reimagine how our public schools can create nurturing spaces where all young people have a strong sense of belonging and where they can learn, grow, and thrive. It is an opportunity for the state to apply evidence-based practices in every classroom in the state to ensure that all students have access to high-quality instruction and learning opportunities.

However, the New Hampshire Department of Education and the State Board of Education are in the process of an overhaul that would erode public schools in communities and statewide by removing necessary safeguards for students, teachers, and families, undermining teachers, and opening the door to the commodification of education.

Download the full report here.

Four Concern Areas

In September 2022, Reaching Higher NH analyzed the proposed rule overhaul that identified several major areas of concern. Though there have been some minor changes to the proposal, the New Hampshire Department of Education did not substantially address the concerns in the document presented to the State Board of Education on March 9, 2023. In fact, the NHED made additional changes that would harm students, teachers, and communities.

The four concern areas include:

• Equity and student protections: The NHED’s proposed overhaul would remove guidance for safe and healthy schools and protections for students and staff.
• Gutting of program elements: Removes all requirements for programs of study, including the basic elements that exist in each content area to ensure equitable student experiences.
• Local control: Removes local competencies and removal of certified educators in granting credit.
• Lowering standards for schools, teachers, and students: Removes references to instruction that dilute learning and minimize the science of teaching.

About the Proposed Overhaul

The public school approval rules serve as the foundation for public schools and should reflect the state’s desire for high-quality public schools for all that contribute to strong and prosperous communities. The current proposed overhaul is harmful to young people, schools, and communities and would erode and dismantle the public schools that the vast majority of New Hampshire young people attend. As currently proposed, the New Hampshire Department of Education’s proposed overhaul opens the door for private companies to dismantle public schools and exploit our students and communities.

Recommendations to Reverse Harm and Strengthen Public Schools

Reaching Higher NH offers the following recommendations in order to address major concerns and craft meaningful public school approval rules that advance a positive, student-centered vision for our schools. These recommendations address the concern areas by reinstating requirements for equity and student protections, restoring program elements, empowering local leaders and schools, and raising standards for schools, teachers, and students.

These recommendations serve as a starting point to ensure that the public school approval rules design an educational system that centers innovative learning, prioritizes flexibility and research, and advances a vision for high-quality public schools for all.

The State Board of Education has the responsibility to engage communities in crafting public school approval rules that advance Granite Staters’ collective vision for public education and a prosperous future. These recommendations serve as the necessary step for that critical dialogue.

Recommendation 1: Ensure that requirements that guarantee opportunity for all students are included in the public school approval rules.

Recommendation 2: Include rules that create safe, supportive, and nurturing learning environments.

Recommendation 3: Ensure that school boards and school leaders have the frameworks they need to build learning programs that are robust, comprehensive, and responsive to student needs.

Recommendation 4: Restore the ability for school districts to design high-quality local competencies that align with statewide academic standards.

Recommendation 5: Anytime, anyplace learning requires high-quality assessments where learning is captured through authentic evidence and student work that demonstrates mastery against clear standards and criteria.

Recommendation 6: Remove harmful language that will dilute, commodify, and privatize learning.

Recommendation 7: Recenter high-quality instruction and materials.

Recommendation 8: Institute consistent, clear, and actionable definitions of key terms.

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Overhaul of public school minimum standards are a cause of concern for future of public education in New Hampshire

February 14, 2024

On Thursday, February 15, the NH Department of Education is expected to introduce their proposed Minimum Standards for Public School Approval, also known as the Ed 306s, to the NH State Board of Education. The proposal, which appears to be largely crafted by Commissioner Frank Edelblut, would undermine public schools by weakening the standards to which our public schools are held.

“The NHED’s proposed overhaul of the minimum standards is the most concerning one we’ve seen to date,” said Nicole Heimarck, Executive Director at Reaching Higher NH. “Despite years of public outcry and recommendations, the NHED doubled down some of the most controversial changes, forging ahead on a path of undermining public schools and eviscerating local control.”

The document includes changes to state requirements around school climate and a student code of discipline, locally developed competencies, program elements, and definitions and terminology that could redefine what classifies as a “public school.”

In analyzing the proposed rules, Reaching Higher NH has identified six preliminary high-level themes:

• PRIVATIZING LEARNING: Replaces instruction with open-ended references like “opportunities,” which could lower the bar for what constitutes a course or credit and set the conditions for the state to outsource them to private companies.
• REMOVING CLASS SIZE REQUIREMENTS: Removes maximum class size requirements for K-12. Note: this is not addressed in other sections of rules or in statute; therefore, New Hampshire would not have maximum class sizes.
• MOVING TO A STATEWIDE MODEL OF COMPETENCY AND ASSESSMENT: Removes references to local competencies, local graduation requirements, and local assessments, opening up questions on what the role of public schools are in developing competencies and courses that meet the needs of their students and communities.
• LAWMAKING THROUGH RULES: Includes regulations that may go beyond their statutory authority, especially in areas that lawmakers are considering this session or have outright rejected. This includes NHED-approved assessments for local courses, school nurse requirements, and superintendent duties, among others.
• REMOVING REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENTIATED SUPPORT: Mandates that school districts provide “opportunities” for timely and differentiated support, rather than requiring instruction is differentiated.
• REMOVING KEY TEACHING PROVISIONS THAT HAVE MADE NH A MODEL FOR OTHER STATES: Makes significant and potentially impactful changes to language, including: changing “certification” to “license” in teaching requirements; changing “instruction” to “learning”; removing all references to local accountability and assessment; and weakening the definition of “competency” and “competency-based education.”

Reaching Higher NH is undergoing a more thorough analysis of the proposed rules, and will publish updates as they become available. RHNH offered key recommendations for consideration by the NH Department of Education and State Board of Education in October. Read those here: Recommendations to Reverse Harm and Strengthen Public Schools

A public hearing on the rules is tentatively scheduled for April 3, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. Please click here for more information on educator listening sessions scheduled throughout the state.