The state board of education shall, in addition to the duties assigned by RSA 21-N:11:
I. [Repealed.]
II.
Supervision. Supervise the expenditure of all moneys appropriated for public schools, and inspect all institutions in which or by which such moneys are used.
III.
Budget: Information. Prepare a budget for such expenditures, give to the public information as to the educational conditions in different parts of the state and the opportunities open to pupils in the public schools, and all such further information in respect to educational matters as will promote the cause of education. For this purpose it may employ lecturers and publish and distribute books and pamphlets on education and educational subjects.
IV, V. [Repealed.]
VI.
School Registers. Prescribe the form of the register to be kept concerning the schools, the form of blanks and inquiries for the returns to be made by the school boards, and seasonably send the same to the clerks of the several cities and towns for the use of the school boards therein.
VII.
Public Documents. Keep on file in its office and distribute all state documents in relation to public schools and education.
VIII.
District Returns. Preserve in accessible form the returns of school boards and of all other officers required to make returns to the board.
IX.
Instruction as to Child Abuse Prevention, Youth Suicide Prevention, Intoxicants, Drugs, HIV/AIDS, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
(a) Direct the department to develop academic standards to serve as a guide and reference in health, physiology, and hygiene as they relate to the effects of alcohol and other drugs, child abuse, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and sexually transmitted diseases on the human system, and which are designed to help students lead longer, healthier lives.
(b) Provide information about HIV/AIDS to all public and private schools to facilitate the delivery of appropriate courses and programs.
(c) Review HIV/AIDS curriculum materials to assure relevancy in assisting students to become health-literate citizens and lead longer, healthier lives.
(d) Provide information about youth suicide prevention to all public and private schools to facilitate the delivery of appropriate courses and programs.
(e) Submit a report no later than December 1, 2010, and biennially thereafter, prepared in conjunction with the commissioner of the department of education, to the chairpersons of the house and senate education committees, the house health, human services and elderly affairs committee, and the senate health and human services committee, detailing the state's efforts in fulfilling the policies relating to health education in kindergarten through grade 12 as set forth in subparagraphs (a)-(d).
IX-a. [Repealed.]
IX-b.
Health and Sex Education. Require school districts to adopt a policy allowing an exception to a particular unit of health or sex education instruction based on religious objections. Such policy shall include a provision for alternative learning sufficient to enable the child to meet state requirements for health education.
IX-c. Require School Districts to Adopt a Policy Allowing an Exception to Specific Course Material Based on a Parent's or Legal Guardian's Determination that the Material is Objectionable. Such policy shall include a provision requiring the parent or legal guardian to notify the school principal or designee in writing of the specific material to which they object and a provision requiring an alternative agreed upon by the school district and the parent, at the parent's expense, sufficient to enable the child to meet state requirements for education in the particular subject area. The policy shall also require the school district or classroom teacher to provide parents and legal guardians not less than 2 weeks advance notice of any curriculum course material used for instruction or program of human sexuality, human sexual education, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression. The policy shall address the method of delivering notification to a parent or legal guardian. The policy shall also acknowledge that no notice is required if a school employee is responding to a question from a student during class. A school district shall make curriculum course materials available to parents or legal guardians for review upon request. The name of the parent or legal guardian and any specific reasons disclosed to school officials for the objection to the material shall not be public information and shall be excluded from access under RSA 91-A.
IX-d.
Require School Districts to Adopt a Policy Governing the Administration of Non-academic Surveys or Questionnaires to Students. The policy shall require school districts to notify a parent or legal guardian of a non-academic survey or questionnaire and its purpose. The policy shall provide that no student shall be required to volunteer for or submit to a non-academic survey or questionnaire, as defined in this paragraph, without written consent of a parent or legal guardian unless the student is an adult or an emancipated minor. The policy shall include an exception from the consent requirement for the youth risk behavior survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The policy shall also allow a parent or legal guardian to opt-out of the youth risk behavior survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The school district shall make such surveys or questionnaires available, at the school and on the school or school district's website, for review by a student's parent or legal guardian at least 10 days prior to distribution to students. In this paragraph, "non-academic survey or questionnaire" means surveys, questionnaires, or other documents designed to elicit information about a student's social behavior, family life, religion, politics, sexual orientation, sexual activity, drug use, or any other information not related to a student's academics.
IX-e. Require School Districts to Adopt a Policy on Parental Notification of Changes in Student's Mental and Emotional Well-Being, or Related Services. A school district may not adopt policies, procedures or student support forms that prohibit school district personnel from answering questions from a parent about his or her student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being, sexuality, or a change in related services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such information. School district personnel may not discourage or prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. This paragraph does not prohibit a school district from adopting procedures that permit school personnel to withhold such information from a parent if a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect pursuant to RSA 169-C:3.
IX-f. Require School Districts to Adopt a Policy Prohibiting Transportation for Medical and Health-Related Appointments. A school district shall adopt a policy prohibiting any school district personnel from transporting a minor or accompanying a minor during transport, except emergency transport by ambulance, for a medical appointment, mental health appointment or visit that includes any type of mental health evaluation, treatment, or counseling, or any other health-related appointment or visit, without the knowledge and approval of the minor's parent or guardian, unless he or she is following a published school district emergency health or medical emergency protocol or policy.
X. Adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to:
(a) Certification of teachers, supervisors, and administrators in the public schools. The state board shall also examine the qualifications of candidates for those positions and issue certificates to those who meet the requirements of said rules. Such rules shall require all candidates seeking an initial New Hampshire license for administrator, teacher, instructional specialist or educational specialist to obtain passing scores on professional education assessments as determined by the state board of education. Career and technical education teachers may be exempt from this requirement if they pass the basic academic skills testing or an industry recognized credential.
(b) Fees to be paid to the commissioner of education for the administration of proficiency exams and other competence evaluations and other related fees including, but not limited to, fees for late filing and duplicate credentials, for the issuance of educational credentials, and for the processing of criminal history record check clearance. These fees must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual costs related to such activities. Funds collected from these fees shall be expended only for purposes of fulfilling the requirements of this paragraph. No portion of the funds collected from these fees shall lapse, nor be used for any other purpose than fulfilling the requirements of this paragraph, nor be transferred to any other appropriation.
(c) Approval of professional preparation programs.
(d) Procedures for the electronic certification of educational credentials.
(e) Establishment and enforcement of a code of ethics and a code of conduct for licensed or certified educational personnel as provided in RSA 21-N:9, II(cc).
XI. [Repealed.]
XII.
Vocational Education. Cooperate with the U.S. Department of Education for the purpose of carrying the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 and its successor acts into effect insofar as that act relates to this state.
XIII.
Education for Persons with Disabilities. Prepare, develop and administer plans to provide educational facilities for persons with disabilities.
XIV.
Lectures. Lecture on educational subjects in as many cities and towns in this state as the time occupied by the commissioner's other duties will permit.
XV.
Truant Officers. Report frequently to the chairman of the several school boards the relative efficiency of the several truant officers in the state.
XVI. [Repealed.]
XVII.
District Contracts. Examine contracts made by districts with academies, high schools and other literary institutions, for the purpose of deciding whether they are calculated to promote the cause of education.
XVIII.
School Attendance. Enforce the laws relative to school attendance and the employment of minors; and for this purpose the board and its deputies are vested with the power given by law to truant officers.
XIX.
School Laws. Compile and issue, at the close of each session of the legislature, an edition of the school laws.
XX-XXIV. [Repealed.]
XXV.
Assistants. Employ as many supervisors, inspectors, stenographers, accountants, clerks and agents as may be necessary to enable it to perform the duties imposed on it by law.
XXVI.
Conferences. Hold conferences from time to time with superintendents, other school administrative unit personnel, principals, and teachers, or their representatives, for the purpose of inspiring mutual cooperation in the carrying on of their work and of unifying educational aims and practices.
XXVII.
Programs. Prepare, publish and distribute such school programs, outlines of work and courses of study as will best promote education interests of the state.
XXVIII.
Health. Have authority to employ a competent person or persons to examine and care for the health of pupils, subject to the provisions of RSA 200.
XXIX. Adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to reasonable criteria for approving non-public schools for the purpose of compulsory attendance requirements. The rules may contain criteria for conditional approval as specified by the state board. The state board of education may, upon request, designate which schools meet those criteria, and may, upon the request of a non-public school, approve or disapprove its education program and curriculum.
XXIX-a. Adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to establishing a process for receiving, investigating, and resolving complaints from parents or legal guardians concerning school safety and school violence in nonpublic schools.
XXX. [Repealed.]
XXXI.
Driver Education. Establish jointly with the department of safety, teacher qualifications, course content and standards, in connection with the driver education program conducted in secondary schools in this state; and adopt such rules as may be necessary to carry out the program and supervise the driver education program in the secondary schools of the state. Driver education instructors shall not be required to be certified as secondary school teachers. Although authority is shared by the departments of safety and education, those regulations, directions and procedures that have a direct or indirect relationship to a life or safety issue shall rest with the department of safety as the final and ultimate authority.
XXXII.
Learning Disability Teacher. Establish the qualifications, conditions and exceptions for providing a learning disability teacher in each school district.
XXXIII.
Discrimination. Ensure that there shall be no unlawful discrimination in any public school against any person on the basis of sex, race, creed, color, marital status, or national origin in educational programs, and that there shall be no denial to any person on the basis of sex, race, creed, color, marital status, national origin, or economic status of the benefits of educational programs or activities.
XXXIV.
Missing Child Education Program. Administer the missing child education program as established in RSA 193:31.
XXXV.
Certification Standards for the
Credential of Master Teacher. Adopt rules creating the educational credential of master teacher based on the provisions of RSA 189:14-f.
XXXVI.
Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention. Develop and distribute to school districts a technical assistance advisory for the purpose of providing guidance to school districts on the implementation of pupil safety and violence prevention policies as required under RSA 193-F.
XXXVII.
School Resource Officers. Require each school district in the state to which a school resource officer is assigned to develop and implement a policy which shall include, at a minimum, a requirement for a signed memorandum of understanding between the school district and the law enforcement agency from which the school resource officer is deployed. The memorandum of understanding shall be made available as a public document.
1919, 106:9. 1921, 85, I:8. PL 116:11. 1929, 145:3. 1939, 8:1. RL 134:11. 1953, 243:1-4. RSA 186:11. 1957, 252:1, 2. 1961, 196:1-3. 1963, 117:2; 147:1; 303:7; 305:1-3. 1965, 199:1; 339:4. 1967, 448:1. 1969, 69:1-3. 1971, 371:4, 5; 443:4. 1973, 140:15; 209:2; 242:1. 1974, 28:1. 1975, 23:1; 207:1; 505:6. 1977, 432:1; 452:6. 1979, 53:1; 459:4, 9, 10. 1981, 318:1. 1985, 318:4. 1986, 41:8-10, 29, II. 1987, 161:1. 1988, 262:7. 1989, 266:37. 1990, 28:1; 140:2, III. 1992, 123:1. 1993, 322:9, I, II. 1996, 298:5, I. 1998, 174:4, 5; 314:3; 389:8, 9. 1999, 157:1. 2000, 190:2. 2003, 39:1; 186:2. 2005, 92:1. 2008, 251:1, 4, 5. 2009, 105:1; 280:1. 2011, 271:1. 2014, 62:1. 2015, 161:6. 2016, 14:1; 84:2. 2017, 9:1, eff. June 16, 2017; 22:2, eff. June 24, 2017; 251:1, eff. Sept. 16, 2017. 2019, 258:2, eff. Sept. 17, 2019. 2021, 227:3, eff. Oct. 24, 2021. 2024, 207:1, eff. July 1, 2024; 235:1, 2, eff. Sept. 17, 2024. 2025, 22:1, eff. July 13, 2025; 64:1, eff. June 2, 2025.