This email contains:
- No School Friday & Monday
- Schoology Maintenance Saturday Morning
- Citizens’ Petition for Special Election
- Mask Status Update
No School Friday & Monday
Friday is a teacher workshop for staff, so students have off. The district is closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day.
Schoology Maintenance Saturday Morning
Schoology will be performing system maintenance on Saturday, October 9, 7 to 9am. This should impact very few people.
Citizens’ Petition for Special Election
On September 17, the school district received a citizens’ petition requesting that the Hudson School Board hold a “special meeting” regarding masks. In this case, “meeting” means an election, including a deliberative session.
The petition asks Hudson voters to make masks optional for students, staff and visitors to school facilities.
NH state law allows for citizen petitions but other laws dictate the role of school boards. In this case, RSA 189-1a and RSA 189:15 vests the authority to adopt rules regarding masks and COVID protocols within the role of the school board and would be advisory only. Therefore, the school board denied the petition to hold a special election. More information is at the bottom of this email.
Mask Status
It is great to see the number of COVID cases dropping in Hudson. DHHS used to report the data around 4pm. For the last few weeks DHHS has reported information at the town level between 7-8pm. Moving forward, changes to mask status will be emailed by 8pm for the following day. Be sure to carry a mask in your bag in case we move back to masks required.
Have a great long weekend!
Larry Russell
Superintendent of Schools
Important Dates
October 8 – Teacher Workshop Day – No School for Students
October 11 – Columbus Day – No School for Everyone
October 18 – School Board Meeting
Hudson School District - COVID Protocols page
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Citizens’ Petition for Special Election
This section includes:
- Text for the Citizens’ Petition
- RSA 197:2 Special Meeting
- RSA 189:1-a Duty to Provide Education
- RSA 189:15 Regulations
Text for the Citizens’ Petition
September 17, 2021
Petition for Special Meeting
To the Hudson, NH School District:
Pursuant to RSA 197:2, we, the undersigned duly registered voters within the Hudson School District, in the town of Hudson, New Hampshire, hereby make application to our School Board to warn a Special Meeting to act upon the following question:
“To see if the voters of the Hudson School District will vote to adopt the following provisions pertaining to requirements to wear face coverings within the Hudson, NH School District; (a) The use of face coverings shall be optional for all students at the sole discretion of their parent or guardian, (b) the use of face coverings shall be optional for any employees and visitors on school district facilities and attending school sanctioned events.”
Please find our petition, necessary signatures, and copy of RSA 197:2 included in this cover letter. A meeting with vote is requested within the legal time frame of 30 days of submission of this petition.
Thank you,
The concerned parents and citizens of Hudson, New Hampshire
RSA 197:2 reads:
"A special meeting of a school district shall be held whenever, in the opinion of the school board, there is occasion therefor, or whenever 50 or more voters, or 1/4 of the voters of the district, whichever is less, shall have made written application to the school board therefor, setting forth the subject matter upon which action is desired ..."
RSA 189:1-a Duty to Provide Education. (in part)
I. It shall be the duty of the school board to provide, at district expense, elementary and secondary education to all pupils who reside in the district until such time as the pupil has acquired a high school diploma or has reached age 21, whichever occurs first; provided, that the board may exclude specific pupils for gross misconduct or for neglect or refusal to conform to the reasonable rules of the school, and further provided that this section shall not apply to pupils who have been exempted from school attendance in accordance with RSA 193:5.
II. Elected school boards shall be responsible for establishing the structure, accountability, advocacy, and delivery of instruction in each school operated and governed in its district. To accomplish this end, and to support flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches, school boards shall establish, in each school operated and governed in its district, instructional policies that establish instructional goals based upon available information about the knowledge and skills pupils will need in the future.
RSA 189:15 Regulations
The school board may, unless otherwise provided by statute or state board regulations, prescribe regulations for the attendance upon, and for the management, classification and discipline of, the schools; and such regulations, when recorded in the official records of the school board, shall be binding upon pupils and teachers.