Cornish
Board member Nicole Saginor, who is on the committee as Cornish transitions from SAU 6 along with Claremont and Unity to its own, single district SAU, explained the arrangement in Hooksett.
Saginor said the Hooksett superintendent told her when his school district terminated an agreement to send all students to high school in Manchester they replaced it with separate contracts with two high schools — Manchester and Pinkerton Academy — which agreed to take all Hooksett students if asked to. Hooksett then set the tuition rate which Saginor said was about equal to what the high schools charged.
“My suggestion is we follow this model partially because it is sanctioned by the Department of Education,” said Saginor, who gave the board copies of the contracts.
She also said Hooksett has separate contracts with five other high schools to accept students, though not 100 percent of them. Some of those tuition rates are higher and the parents pay the difference from the rate set by Hooksett. One of the five is Bow High School.
The board next agreed to have Saginor contact the five area high schools where most Cornish students attend after eighth grade: Stevens, Windsor, Hartford, Lebanon and Hanover. The board did not discuss what the new SAU would set as the tuition rate but agreed that having contracts is important.
“It is good to have something in writing,” board Chairman Justin Ranney said.
Ranney said it would be ideal if each of the five schools agreed in the contract to take 100 percent of the Cornish students.
The high schools set the tuition rates they charge sending districts but Cornish can set the rate that it will pay.
“We as SAU 100 set the tuition rate for the district,” Saginor said. “If you go to a school that costs more money, you pay but everyone would have choice.”
When the district ended an agreement in 1992 to send all students to Stevens, voters approved a new arrangement whereby Cornish would pay the highest tuition rate among Stevens, Windsor and Hartford. Parents who sent their children to Hanover, which is more costly, have always paid the difference. However, no formal agreements were signed; it was only the vote of the school meeting that determined the policy.
“Essentially we will be doing what we have been doing but this puts it in a contract,” Saginor said.
Earlier in the evening, resident Bill Wall urged the board to recommend to voters in March a tuition rate of $14,500, which is what Stevens lowered its tuition to last year. It is now significantly less than Hartford and Windsor. Wall said taxpayers are burdened enough and this would save $140,000. But resident Caroline Storrs disagreed, worrying such a move would jeopardize choice.
“I would hate to see anything happen to that choice. It is a big selling point of our school,” Storrs said.
Also Monday night, the board agreed not to adopt a policy on transgender and gender non-conforming students. It instead wanted to be sure the school could come into compliance with such a policy regarding use of the bathrooms. Without a transgender bathroom, unless one were to use the nurse’s office, the board was hesitant to have a policy where students would use a bathroom based on their gender identity.
Board member Greg Clark said the policy must work for all students.
“Let’s make sure it fits for all students, not one student,” Clark said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
