Written By Jim Hoft
The Government Integrity Project (GIP) has uncovered laws that give parents legal authority to mandate THEIR wishes and decisions are implemented!
No more pleading with school board members about masks… or CRT… or DEI/J… or any other decisions that are being made against your will. Mandate what you want your school board to do via a voter-approved petition – and they have to do it!
This newfound power is not limited to mask policies. Parents can take decision-making control into their own hands for any issue at any time.
Parents have this authority via RSA 197:2 (in single town school districts), and RSA 195:13 (in cooperative school districts), to call for a special meeting (i.e. special election) so voters can vote to override the school board.
The two sample petitions below are written to empower PARENTS and GUARDIANS with the authority to decide whether or not their children will wear masks in school. The GIP has provided the petitions in PDF as well as Word format to make it easy for you to modify the petition language for CRT, DEI/J, or any other issue you want addressed in your school.
It’s simple. Follow the steps below for your type of school district.
Single Town School Districts:
1. Download a copy of the School District Petition template: (PDF, Word)
2. Fill in the blanks with the name of your school district and name of your town (see completed example below), and make as many copies as you need.
3. Modify the subject matter to define what you would like to be voted on. In the example provided in the template link above, the subject matter is shown below:
“(a) The use of face coverings shall be optional for all students at the sole discretion of their parent or guardian, (b) the use of face coverings shall be optional for any employees and visitors on school district facilities and attending school sanctioned events.”
4. Per RSA 197:2, you will need to obtain original signatures on the petition for 50 or more registered voters, or 1/4 of the registered voters of the district, whichever is less.
5. Deliver the signed petitions to your school board or to someone you know in the District office. Make sure to get a stamped date/time receipt.
Cooperative School Districts:
1. Download a copy of the Cooperative School District Petition template: (PDF, Word)
2. Fill in the blanks with the name of your school district and name of your town (see completed example below), and make as many copies as you need.
3. Modify the subject matter to define what you would like to be voted on. In the example provided in the cooperative template link above, the subject matter is shown below:
“(a) The use of face coverings shall be optional for all students at the sole discretion of their parent or guardian, (b) the use of face coverings shall be optional for any employees and visitors on school district facilities and attending school sanctioned events.”
4. Per RSA 195:13, you will need to obtain original signatures for 5% of the registered voters in the district on the petition.
5. Deliver the signed petitions to your school board or to someone you know in the District office. Make sure to get a stamped date/time receipt.
Suggestions
1. Obtain at least 10% more signatures than are required by law in case some of the ones you collect are invalid.
2. Try to collect the contact information of those who sign the petition so that you can alert them to the date/time when the special meeting will be held.
If the voters approve the Warrant Article, the School Board will be compelled by law to follow the will of the voters.
