@PenMJM @lcamarota - Twitter Profile

My response to an email from a school board Chairman: Kerri, Thank you for taking the time to write and to outline the concerns raised by your board and residents. I appreciate the level of engagement your community has had on this issue. That said, I want to be very direct about why I support SB101, and why the situation you describe in Rollinsford is, in fact, a clear example of why this legislation is necessary. Your district’s decision to limit incoming students to two, while prohibiting any students from leaving, is precisely the kind of local policy loophole that undermines the fundamental purpose of open enrollment. It effectively traps families within a system, regardless of whether that system is the right fit for their child. That is not a principle we should be defending. Families—not districts—should have the primary say in where their children are educated. When a school board adopts a policy that allows no one to leave, it ceases to be about community and becomes about control. You characterize open enrollment as a threat. I view it as an opportunity. If a school is truly delivering a top-tier education, it will not lose students—it will attract them. Parents will seek it out. Enrollment will grow organically based on merit and outcomes. That is how every other successful system operates. Conversely, if there is a concern that students will leave in meaningful numbers when given the option, that is not a reason to restrict their movement. It is a signal that improvement is needed. Locking students into a system based solely on zip code, particularly when better-fitting educational environments may exist nearby, is not a defensible policy position. SB101 introduces a degree of accountability and competition that has long been absent. It does not dismantle local schools, it simply ensures that they must compete to retain and attract students by delivering quality education. That pressure, while uncomfortable for some districts, ultimately benefits students and families. I understand the concerns about budgeting, capacity, and logistics. Those are real operational challenges. But they cannot outweigh a child’s opportunity to access an education that better meets their needs. At its core, this legislation is about fairness and access. It ensures that a student’s future is not dictated solely by the town they happen to live in. For those reasons, I will be supporting SB101. Respectfully, Rep. James Spillane Rockingham 2 (Deerfield, Candia, Auburn)