New Hampshire House passes bill to raise minimum high school dropout age

On May 16, the N.H. House of Representatives approved a bill to raise the minimum age for required school attendance, effectively preventing all students under age 18 from dropping out of high school. 

Currently, students are eligible to drop out of the system at age 16 without fulfilling any extra requirements. Under the new bill, students under 18 will still be allowed to withdraw from public school, but only if they can provide documentation of further education, either completed or in progress. Alternate options like early graduation or home schooling will still be available, but the bill also offers new choices for students who do not plan to graduate high school. Substitutes for graduation include “obtaining a GED certificate,” providing evidence of “acceptance into an accredited postsecondary education program” or an “alternative learning plan” confirmed by the school district superintendent. Plans may include participation in independent studies, private instruction, performing groups, internships, community service, apprenticeships and online courses. Leslie Haslam, director of Exeter Adult Education, has spent much of the last few months closely following the bill, and is optimistic about the effects the legislation will have for potential dropouts, as current numbers speak to the urgency of the issue.  Last year, the New Hampshire Department of Education reported a dropout rate of 11.8% statewide, for a total of 2,129 students. 

“During the planning stages of the bill, there was a lot of concern about forcing people to stay in school who were not being successful in a traditional school environment,” says Haslam. “There’s a difference between hating school and not being able to succeed in a high school setting. Now we’ll be able to look at a person’s needs for education and develop a path for them to graduate from high school.”

Haslam stressed that many students already take advantage of educational programs outside the high school setting. “Something that’s not on most people’s radar is that there are already 16- or 17-year-olds in high school who are taking adult education courses to catch up,” she said. But the new bill, which will take effect in 2010, forces all students to stay in school until age 18, expanding their employment options later in life. “A lot of people struggling with high school settings drop out after their senior year when all their friends have graduated and they feel like they just can’t do it,” Haslam said. “There are a lot of people looking for a way out, but when they’re not allowed to drop out, they just won’t.” 

Some worry that the new law will deplete the state’s teenage workforce, but with the bill only keeping an estimated 1,100 potential dropouts from leaving the school system, Haslam says the change will most likely be imperceptible. “The thing to remember is that a lot of high school students are already in the workforce,” she said. Haslam hopes the bill will make minimum-wage jobs temporary positions for teenagers who do not have a diploma but are en route to receiving one—not lifelong careers. 

Many students in the Exeter Adult Education program have full-time jobs and come to class after work. Haslam worries that an influx of teenage students into the program could be discouraging for older students. “Our program is called adult ed. This is taking the ‘adult’ out of adult education,” she said. With changes anticipated to the education and business spheres, it could take time for New Hampshire to adapt to the effects of this bill. 

Smuttynose plans hit a snag

The Portsmouth City Council voted down a zoning amendment 6-3 on May 20 that would have allowed for construction of a new Smuttynose Brewery in a vacant 10-acre plot on Lafayette Road. Plans for a new Smuttynose have been in the works for years, and after an unsuccessful effort to move into an old mill building in Newmarket, Smuttynose owner Peter Egelston has been eyeing the Lafayette Road site.

In recent months, Lafayette Road residents have vocalized their thoughts on the building proposal. Assistant Mayor Thomas Ferrini said locals presented a petition against the Smuttynose plans at Monday’s meeting, and many spoke both for and against the zoning amendment. When it comes to topics like the brewery, Ferrini said, there is always a fair amount of public concern. “Issues like this in Portsmouth are tough. People are going to complain about appearance, traffic and safety,” he said. “It just requires people to have patience with the process.” Although he voted against the amendment, Ferrini hopes the proposal will be considered again. “I think the Planning Board did a great job in getting to us what they did. If the Planning Board reviews it, then it can come back to the City Council again, and I hope that it does,” he said. “I think it would be great if Smuttynose can find something that works for them in that area, maybe add some green space or buffer space, do something compatible with that neighborhood.”

Council member John Hynes also voted against the amendment due to concerns that it would open the door for businesses all over town to undertake similar projects that could negatively affect residential areas. He said he does not want to see Portsmouth change too much. “When it comes to doing something that will upset a major neighborhood such as that one down there, I believe that (the petitioners) have a certain amount of veracity in what they’re saying. I didn’t think it was quite the right thing to do.”

Egelston made no attempt to mask his disappointment with the meeting’s outcome. “Our dream was to transform a rubble-strewn piece of land into a showpiece on one of the city’s primary gateway corridors,” he stated in an email. “We had envisioned an attractive, campus-style facility with a tremendous amount of green space, built to meet high environmental, aesthetic, sustainability and energy efficient standards. But none of the members of the City Council who voted against it—not to mention the signers of the neighborhood petition—had ever seen our current plans. We never got the chance to show them, and, frankly, they were evidently not interested anyway.” 

Egelston also expressed frustration with the lack of leadership among many City Council members, and with local government procedures. He indicated that he is essentially fed up with the process. “I would prefer to find a place where someone with a good plan and a good track record might not be subjected to such a degrading process as this has been,” Egelston stated.

Dover director of economic development position eliminated 

After 13 years of working under the title of director of economic development for the city of Dover, Beth Thompson’s job no longer exists. City Manager Mike Joyal eliminated the position two weeks ago, saying he is “seeking to reorganize the city’s economic development function.” 

With the position gone, Joyal plans to reallocate the duties to the Dover Business and Industrial Development Authority, whose Web-site lists it as a committee to “assist businesses in gathering demographic information, land availability options and financing.” It is made up of representatives from the community who are appointed by members of the City Council.

Created in the 1990s by former City Manager Paul Beecher, the position of economic development director was designed to handle issues associated with the city’s industrial center at the time, Enterprise Park on Sixth Street. Over the past decade, economic growth in Dover has moved away from this area and more toward downtown. Joyal says the primary focus of new economic projects will be centered on “more macro issues, specifically finding potential sites for businesses to open up new office space.” 

Thompson was unavailable for comment because she is on vacation.