NH Senate Votes Unanimously to Boost School Building Aid, Disentangle Kindergarten Funding from Keno

CONCORD, NH—Today, the New Hampshire Senate voted 24-0 in favor of SB 266-FN, which would fund full-day kindergarten grants entirely from the Education Trust Fund and divert Keno revenues to school building aid.

Senator Watters (D-Dover), prime sponsor of SB 266-FN, and Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes (D-Concord) released the following statement after the vote:

“School districts, property tax payers, and New Hampshire students are counting on lawmakers to begin to fix our broken education funding system. Today’s vote is a step in the right direction. SB 266 will create stability by treating kindergarten funding like every other grade level and give school districts an extra boost with school building aid funds that will help them afford critical educational facility projects,” said Senator Watters.

Senator Feltes added: “Today’s unanimous vote was a bipartisan rebuke to the state’s current system of kindergarten funding. It was an overwhelming message to the governor, who underfunds kindergarten in his budget once again, that the Senate wants to end the connection between kindergarten and keno and finally treat kindergarten students as equal to every other grade in the state’s education funding calculations.”