Scoop Special Edition - July 15, 2025
Governor Ayotte opposes her party by vetoing several education-related bills.
🖊️ Governor Ayotte was busy this afternoon considering over 100 bills, some of which have implications for schools. Of course, this flurry of activity occurred right after today’s Scoop was sent out.
Ayotte vetoed House Bill 324, which would have given parents a path to remove books from schools based on content “harmful to minors.” The Governor’s decision was applauded by NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle, who thanked her for “standing up for the freedom to read in New Hampshire.”
Ayotte rejected House Bill 148, a measure that would have permitted businesses and organizations to restrict access to bathrooms, locker rooms, athletic events, and facilities like jails and mental health centers based on individuals’ biological sex.
The Governor denied House Bill 358, which aimed to make it easier for parents to claim religious exemptions from mandatory childhood vaccinations required for school attendance.
House Bill 446, vetoed by Ayotte, was proposed to change how schools administer non-academic surveys to students. If approved, schools would need to obtain explicit, written parental consent—meaning parents would have to “opt in”—before their children could participate in surveys that are not directly related to academics.
Finally, the Governor vetoed House Bill 667, which would have mandated that students view a high-quality animation or video about fetal development as part of their sex education curriculum.
Expect an update to this story in next Tuesday’s NH School Scoop.
(Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin)