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By ETHAN DEWITT

A push to increase who is eligible for free and reduced price lunches in schools is facing a setback, after the Senate Education Committee recommended delaying a decision on the bill until next year.House Bill 572 would raise the income threshold for...

By ETHAN DEWITT

The town of Conway does not have a homeless shelter. But it does have a few motels.That’s enough to draw unhoused residents in the area to the town’s welfare office to seek temporary relief. When they arrive, General Assistance Officer B.J. Parker is...

By ETHAN DEWITT

New Hampshire’s Education Trust Fund has racked up a sizable surplus recently. The fund, which pays out just over a billion dollars a year for the state’s share of public school funding, is expected to end this fiscal year with about $184 million...

By ETHAN DEWITT

For families making up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, New Hampshire public schools offer free or reduced-price lunches, a federal program intended to reduce childhood hunger among low-income residents. But first comes an application. In...

By ETHAN DEWITT

The New Hampshire House on Wednesday voted down an effort to require educators to tell inquiring parents whether their child had made any changes to their pronouns at school – or face jail time.But the chamber left open the possibility of revisiting...

By ETHAN DEWITT

Since 1990, New Hampshire has taxed telephone communications, collecting $30 million a year in revenues from service providers who pass the tax onto customers.This year, Gov. Chris Sununu and Republican lawmakers are hoping to eliminate that tax. And...

By ETHAN DEWITT

As middle school students returned to the classroom after remote learning during COVID-19, Concord School District officials knew they needed a new learning approach. Kids were disoriented after remote and hybrid learning had disrupted their ability...

By ETHAN DEWITT

Three years ago, when Flynn Ortiz came out as transgender, they followed a deliberate strategy. First, they told a friend.“I was like, ‘Do you mind calling me these pronouns? This name?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, sure,’” Ortiz, now a high school...

By ETHAN DEWITT

When the New Hampshire Department of Education investigates a teacher for a potential code of conduct violation, they send a notice in the mail. Under a new proposed law, that teacher could also be served a subpoena. The New Hampshire Department of...

By ETHAN DEWITT

Sixty-two percent of Granite Staters believe that it is a bad time to buy a house in New Hampshire, according to a new survey from the University of New Hampshire and the Business and Industry Association. And about 46 percent of state residents are...

By ETHAN DEWITT

When a proposal for a statewide law allowing single-family homes to be subdivided hit the New Hampshire House floor last week, the outcry was swift. House Bill 44 would have allowed any single-family homeowner connected to municipal sewer and water...

By ETHAN DEWITT

It wasn’t a physical school library book that sent Betsy Harrington into a state of alarm about high school reading material. It was an app.Harrington’s son, a student at Hillsboro-Deering High School, had found a book on Sora, an app that gives...

By ETHAN DEWITT

In 2021, New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission sent the state’s energy utilities into turmoil: It approved a plan to slash funding for the “NHSaves” energy efficiency program down to 2017 levels, sparking an outcry and legal challenges from the...

By ETHAN DEWITT

New Hampshire House lawmakers are considering a bill that requires all multiple-stall bathrooms in public schools to be restricted to one sex, continuing a years-long debate around rights for transgender students.Sponsored by Rep. Michael Moffett, a...

By ETHAN DEWITT

The hospitality program at the University of New Hampshire’s Paul College of Business and Economics offers a number of courses, from event planning to finance. But one of the most sought-after courses is available only to its oldest students. Students...

By ETHAN DEWITT

During the 2022 elections, the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office audited voting machines in six different polling places, checking for accuracy and consistency as part of a one-time requirement by the Legislature.Now, Senate lawmakers are...

By ETHAN DEWITT

Democrats and public school advocates have pushed for years to increase the default amount the state pays public schools per student. This year, Rep. Tom Schamberg, a Wilmot Democrat, has a simple solution: Calculate the average amount school...

By ETHAN DEWITT

New Hampshire cities and towns would be allowed to set their own rent controls on large developments – including limitations on how quickly rents could rise – under a bill proposed in the House this year. House Bill 95 would allow municipalities to...

By ETHAN DEWITT

Efforts to legalize cannabis in New Hampshire are coming back this legislative session, after years of legislative defeats.Lawmakers have tried simple legalization bills and complex legislation. Both approaches have crashed against opposition in the...

By ETHAN DEWITT

Persuasive research papers are a yearly assignment in David Scannell’s English classes, and grading them is part of the job. But last school year, the Milford High School teacher faced a new challenge.The New Hampshire Legislature had passed a law in...