Governor Hassan's Veto Message Regarding SB 320

Statement

Governor Maggie Hassan released the following message after today vetoing Senate Bill 320:

"By the authority vested in me, pursuant to part II, Article 44 of the New Hampshire Constitution, on June 21, 2016, I have vetoed Senate Bill 320, relative to non-academic surveys administered by a public school to its students.

"Senate Bill 320 requires an "opt-in' provision on all non-academic surveys or questionnaires except for the youth risk behavior survey (YRBS) that is developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It mandates written consent from a student's parent or legal guardian to allow a student to participate in all other non-academic surveys, which are administered to aid in the development and implementation of programs to support students and educators, to inform public policy and allocation of resources, and as a requirement for certain grants. Requiring that a student opt-in to a survey through written parental consent would present an undue burden to schools administering a survey and undoubtedly lead to unreliable survey data, creating insurmountable barriers to conducting meaningful school-based research used to promote the well-being of New Hampshire children, families, and communities.

"Parents are critical in determining what students experience while they are in school -- both academically and otherwise. That is why we passed last year House Bill 206, which required every school board to adopt a policy governing the administration of non-academic surveys that includes parental notification, a parental opt-out provision, and the opportunity for parents to review surveys at least 10 days in advance. This law has been in place for less than a year and should be given more time to determine its effectiveness.

"The Department of Education routinely relies on various surveys to develop and implement programs that support students and educators throughout New Hampshire. Non-profit organizations often use non-academic surveys to determine where to direct their resources, as well as to test the efficacy of existing programming. In addition, surveys are often required by the terms of grants supporting important work in our schools. The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the National Alliance on Mental Health - New Hampshire, the University of New Hampshire, the School Administrators Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the New Hampshire Public Health Association all oppose this bill because they rely on data from non-academic surveys to inform their programs.

"There are many factors outside of the academic environment, including the heroin and opioid crisis, that affect the health and well-being of students across the state, and in turn, our future success as a state. Though the carve-out in this bill for the YRBS addresses some concerns, there are many other valuable non-academic surveys that inform how the State and our private partners implement programs and direct resources in order to help ensure that all of our children have the opportunity to seize his or her full potential.

"Current law already requires parental notification and opt-out provisions to protect the parent's role in survey-taking at schools, and Senate Bill 320 would make it nearly impossible to collect reliable data, which could negatively impact our ability to make informed public policy decisions and could lead to important programs and resources that support our children and our schools leaving our state. Therefore, I have vetoed Senate Bill 320."

Source