194-D:2 Establishment; Parental Choice; Admission. –
I. Any school district legislative body may vote to designate one or more of its schools as an open enrollment school.
II. Open enrollment schools shall operate under the same laws, rules, and policies as any other public school, except as provided in this chapter.
III. No public school, except a chartered public school, shall be required to be an open enrollment school.
IV. A school district may predetermine the number of pupils residing outside an open enrollment school's district or attendance area it deems appropriate to accept.
V. Applications may be made on behalf of eligible pupils to more than one open enrollment school within the state.
VI. Every open enrollment school shall make available information about its curriculum and policies to all persons, and parents and pupils considering enrollment in that school.
VII. There shall be no application fee for pupil admission to any open enrollment school.
VIII. A pupil who meets the admission requirements of an open enrollment school, and who is a resident of the district where the school is located or is a dependent child of active duty military personnel whose move resulted from military orders, shall be given absolute admission preference over a nonresident pupil. Once admitted and unless expelled, open enrollment school pupils need not reapply for admission for subsequent years.
IX. Attendance at an open enrollment school for the purposes of transportation shall not constitute assignment under the provisions of RSA 189:6 and RSA 189:8. Pupils who reside in the school district in which the open enrollment school is located shall be provided transportation to that school by the district on the same terms and conditions as provided for in RSA 189:6 and RSA 189:8 and that transportation is provided to pupils attending other public schools within that district. However, any added costs for such transportation services shall be borne by the open enrollment school. For the purposes of open enrollment, neither the sending nor the receiving school district shall be obligated to provide transportation services for pupils attending an open enrollment school outside the pupil's resident district.
X. Upon approval by each of the district's legislative bodies and after a public hearing, 2 or more school districts may consolidate otherwise eligible resident pupils into one applicant pool for the purposes of an admissions lottery for designated open enrollment schools.
XI. Military-connected students as defined in RSA 110-E:1 who are the dependent children of a member of the active uniformed military services of the United States on full-time active duty status and students who are the dependent children of a member of the military reserve on active duty orders shall be eligible for admission to the school district of their choice. Students shall be eligible if:
(a) At least one parent of the student has a Department of Defense-issued identification card; and
(b) At least one parent can provide evidence that he or she will be on active duty status or active duty orders, meaning the parent will be temporarily transferred in compliance with official orders to another location in support of combat, contingency operation or a natural disaster requiring the use of orders for more than 30 consecutive days.
XII. A school district of residence shall not prohibit the transfer of a pupil who is a child of an active military duty parent to a school in any school district, if the school district to which the parent of the pupil applies approves the application for transfer.