Baker Demers: HB 1817 Brings Fairness, Consistency To Student Access

By Kate Baker Demers, NH Journal

Imagine paying dues to a local recreation center for years.

Your money maintains the basketball courts, the fields, and the after-school programs. Then, one day, your child tries to sign up for the youth league and gets turned away because your family does not use the facility full-time. Most people would call that unfair.

For years, a small number of EFA families — fewer than 20 students statewide — encountered a similar problem with their local public schools. This was never a widespread issue. Most school districts have long worked successfully with homeschool, charter school, private school, and EFA families. But for the handful of families affected, the access barriers addressed by HB 1817 were very real.

After all, these students were not outsiders. Families who homeschool, use Education Freedom Accounts, attend charter schools, or send their children to private schools still pay the same local property taxes as their neighbors. Most education funding in New Hampshire comes from local property taxes, and EFA families continue paying them in full. Every dollar of that local property tax revenue remains with their resident public school district, whether their child attends that district or uses an EFA instead.

These families live in the same towns and fund the same public institutions. Yet when their children tried to sign up for an advanced class, sports team, or after-school club, the answer often depended entirely on their ZIP code.

Most school districts welcomed them with open arms. Others built bureaucratic walls. A few charged substantial tuition fees for individual courses that bore little relationship to the actual cost of providing them, leaving parents to navigate a patchwork of rules that changed from one district to the next.

That is exactly what HB 1817 fixed. Families are grateful to Gov. Kelly Ayotte for signing this bill into law, as well as to Rep. Valerie McDonnell, the bill’s prime sponsor, and the many legislators who worked tirelessly to advance it through the legislative process.

Their leadership established a framework that protects families while bringing greater consistency and fairness to student access across the state. Because of their efforts, New Hampshire continues to lead the way in building an education system that puts students first.

Beyond the One-Size-Fits-All Classroom

New Hampshire has long recognized that students educated outside traditional district schools should have access to certain public school opportunities. Homeschool, charter school, and private school students already had established pathways to participate.

EFA students, however, were left out of that framework. They were not clearly included in the law, leaving families to navigate inconsistent policies across the state. Whether a student could join a robotics club or enroll in an individual class often depended entirely on where they lived. HB 1817 brings consistency to that system by making clear that EFA students should have access to the same opportunities already available to other resident students.

At its core, the law answers a simple question: Should a child lose access to opportunities in their own hometown simply because their education takes a different shape? Most people instinctively say no.

That answer also reflects how education works today. For generations, schooling generally followed a single path. A student attended their neighborhood school, took every class there, played on its teams, and remained in that system until graduation. That model still works well for many students, but it is no longer the only option.

Mixing and Matching in the Modern Classroom

Parents today combine educational options to meet their children’s specific needs. Some choose traditional public schools. Others use charter schools, private schools, homeschooling, career and technical education programs, online courses, or EFAs. Many families blend several of these options to create a customized learning experience.

A homeschool student may simply need access to an advanced chemistry lab. A private school student may want to join the town’s track team. An EFA student may combine private tutoring, online coursework, public school electives, and career training. These hybrid schedules are no longer unusual; they have become an increasingly common part of modern education.

Students already take courses from multiple providers. Colleges partner with high schools for dual enrollment opportunities, and career and technical education programs serve students across district boundaries. Learning in 2026 is no longer confined to a single building. Given that reality, denying a student access to a class or team simply because their primary enrollment appears on a different roster feels increasingly outdated.

Many New Hampshire districts have managed these arrangements successfully for years. Students have participated in bands, language classes, clubs, and athletic programs without controversy. HB 1817 does not create a new concept. It simply ensures that access is applied consistently across the state.

Students, Families, and Community

One simple truth often gets lost in the political debate surrounding this law: The students affected by it are not outsiders looking for special treatment. They are local children who live in our neighborhoods, whose parents pay the property taxes that support local schools, and whose families vote in local elections. They attend local churches, work summer jobs, and grow up alongside their peers.

Choosing a different educational path does not make a family any less a part of the community. In many cases, those families also absorb significant out-of-pocket expenses for tuition, curriculum, transportation, tutoring, or specialized services. They are paying twice: first by paying directly for the educational environment their child needs, and then by continuing to support their resident public school district through local property taxes. It is not difficult to understand why they become frustrated when their children are excluded from opportunities available in their own hometowns.

Opponents sometimes argue that expanding access will somehow weaken public education. That claim is difficult to reconcile with reality. A robotics team is not harmed because another motivated student joins. A high school band does not suffer because another trumpet player fills out the brass section. Communities are stronger when more students can participate in the activities that bring people together.

Public schools remain vital anchors in New Hampshire communities. They host the games, concerts, performances, and competitions that connect neighbors. HB 1817 does not change that. Instead, it helps ensure that public schools can continue to serve as true community hubs, even as families pursue a wider range of educational options.

This is education in 2026.

Kate Baker Demers is executive director of Children's Scholarship Fund NH. She wrote this for NHJournal.com.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.