City to host NH school board meeting

NASHUA – The state Board of Education is taking its show on the road.

Next stop? Nashua.

The board will hold its December meeting in the career center at Nashua High School South on Wednesday.

The board has typically held its meetings in Concord at the state Department of Education offices. John Lyons, chairman of the board, said the meeting in Nashua is part of a new initiative by the board to get out into the communities and schools.

Lyons said he hopes it sends the message that the board wants to work collaboratively with educators.

“More importantly, that we are there to support them and specifically the teachers in the actual classrooms who deliver the services directly,” he said.

The seven-member board held its November meeting in Berlin. Lyons said the meeting in Nashua is the board’s second attempt at meeting at a new location.

The meeting Wednesday is open to the public and there is a period for public comment. The meeting is scheduled to run from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

The meeting will start with a series of presentations from the Nashua School District.

The state board has several responsibilities, which include reviewing all programs and activities of the state Department of Education and making recommendations to the commissioner and advising the commissioner regarding department goals.

The board is also responsible for hearing appeals and making decisions in disputes between individuals and local school systems.

The governor appoints members to the board, which then have to be approved by the Executive Council.

There are several items on the agenda for the meeting, including a discussion on a report called “Tough Choices or Tough Times,” which came up with a series of recommendations to improve education in America.

The report was the source of a proposal being considered in New Hampshire that would allow some students to opt out of the last two years of high school and start taking community college courses.

There will also be discussions on high school redesign, the implementation of a new law requiring students to stay in school until they are 18 and dropout and graduation reports.

The full agenda for the meeting can be found at www.ed.state.nh.us.