Overview

When the Kearsarge Regional School District was formed in 1967-1968, the 7 towns agreed that if an elementary school were to be closed, the town in which the school was located would need to vote to close the school. HB 1374 was designed to directly contradict this agreement.
HB 1374 was signed into law by Governor Ayotte in July, 2026 and went into effect October 8, 2026.
Per the bill, 20 district voters may petition a school board to close a school.
Rather than at the town level, a school closure vote must take place by voters of all 7 district towns, with a majority vote required.
A petition to close Sutton Central School was delivered to the Kearsarge Regional School District on October 8, the first day the new law went into effect. Signers include State Senator Dan Innis of Bradford, who wrote part of the new school closure law—and only one resident of Sutton.

Unintended Consequences

There is no time limit per petition - the same petition may be filed the day after a vote.
There are no limits on petitions - petitions may be filed at any time, about any school in the district. 20 high school seniors could petition to close the high school.
Holding a special session for a petition vote will cost the District, and therefore District taxpayers, over $20,000. Costs are similar to the cost of the annual deliberative session held in January and include chair rentals, police detail, and hiring buses to transport voters from parking to the meeting.
Closure of a school via a HB 1374 petition will result in activation of the District’s Emergency Plan for school closure, details below.

Emergency Plans for School Closure

If Simonds and Sutton Central were to close before Fall, 2027 per HB 1374 petition, one emergency plan requires moving 5th Grade to Kearsarge Regional Middle School to accommodate the influx of students being sent to the elementary schools in Bradford and New London.
There would not be enough time to negotiate contracts with the teachers’ union, resulting in the loss of jobs.
If closed, the Simonds Elementary property would revert to the Dow family, requiring a costly and complicated legal process to trace and notify their many descendants as the new legal owners. The Dow and Bean families gifted the land for Simonds School in 1871, and the deed specifies that upon school closure, their descendants would inherit the property.
If closed, the District would still need to pay for repairs to Sutton Central School before the property could be leased or sold.
Per RSA 194-61, charter schools would have the right of first refusal to purchase the Sutton Central School property if it were to be sold, preventing it from being purchased by the Town of Sutton such as former schools were in Bradford, Newbury, Wilmot, and Springfield.