This bill establishes a School Cooperative Purchasing Program designed to facilitate collaboration among multiple school districts and school administrative units (SAUs) for the procurement of goods and services, ultimately aiming for cost savings and increased administrative efficiency. The program will be overseen by the director of procurement and support services in conjunction with the Department of Education, which will periodically solicit competitive bids for essential K-12 educational expenses, such as transportation services and curriculum materials. The bill allows for voluntary participation by school districts and chartered public schools in state-awarded contracts, ensuring compliance with existing competitive bidding requirements. Additionally, it mandates that school boards and chartered public school trustees adopt specific policies related to operational aspects, including recruitment, budgeting, and anti-discrimination measures.

Furthermore, the bill introduces provisions for the receivership of underperforming schools and SAUs, requiring school boards to adopt policies related to sexual harassment, including definitions and complaint procedures. The State Board of Education is granted the authority to place schools or SAUs into receivership to address significant operational or performance issues, necessitating the development of a turnaround plan in collaboration with the state board. New legal language is inserted to require school boards to adopt policies as outlined in RSA 189:1-a, VI, and a new section (RSA 186:8-a) is added to detail the receivership process. While the bill does not allocate funding or authorize new positions, it is anticipated to result in indeterminable increases in state expenditures due to the potential costs associated with receivership and the implementation of the cooperative purchasing program, while maintaining voluntary participation to preserve local control over procurement decisions.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 21-N:9, 186:8
As Amended by the Senate: 189:1-a, 194-C:5, 186:8
SB580 text: 21-N:9, 186:8