Voters Decide: How did Open Enrollment fare at the polls?
March 24th, 2026
In 2024 and 2025, a series of decisions first from the NH State Board of Education and then from the NH Supreme Court sought to clarify the responsibility of a sending district under NH law to pay tuition in an open enrollment system. In a decision released on October 15, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled:
"a sending school district is required to pay tuition under RSA 194-D:5, I, to an open enrollment receiving school in another district even if the sending district has not adopted an open enrollment program."
As a result of that ruling and in an effort to gain control of their admissions policies, most NH school districts turned to the voters to determine whether they are willing to accept students, how many they are willing to accept, and whether they would pay tuition for students to attend another district. Based on current interpretations of the law, only districts that opt to receive students can limit the number of students they send.
Here is how Open Enrollment fared at the polls:
NOTE: This information will be updated as election results become available.