Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire

Schools and Stakeholders Must Work Together to Improve Education

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NH schools will soon receive over $315 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan to safely reopen and address the impact of COVID-19 on students.  How each school district decides to use their funding is still an open question and the public now has an opportunity to weigh in on their district’s plan.

Parents, students, and advocates can use this Template Comment Letter as a guide as they consider what their school district should be using the funds for.

You can find your Superintendent’s contact information Here

Individual school district plans must be submitted to the NH Department of Education by August 23 so you should provide input to your Superintendent as soon as possible.

DRC-NH would like to see these education relief funds be targeted, and equitably distributed to, the students who need them the most. This includes students with disabilities, students who were struggling before the pandemic, and students who belong to marginalized communities or were unable to access instruction due to limited access to technology.

Below are some of our priorities for school districts:

  1. address the social and emotional needs of students
  2. address learning loss and implement strategies to promote accelerated learning to
    prevent students from falling further behind;
  3. promote the delivery of high quality, individualized school to post-secondary school transition services as a pathway to competitive integrated employment; and
  4. support students’ success and achievement by implementing programs such as MultiTiered Systems of Support (MTSS), restorative justice, and other strategies to eliminate or significantly reduce the use of disciplinary-related school removals that result in lost instructional opportunities.

 

Additional Resources

American Rescue Plan Funding by school district

Contact information for school superintendents

DRC-NH Template Comment Letter

About DRCNH

Disability Rights Center – New Hampshire is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers for people with disabilities across New Hampshire. DRC is the federally designated protection and advocacy agency for New Hampshire and has authority under federal law to conduct investigations in cases of probable abuse or neglect.

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