Sununu veto expected to keep teacher tenure period in the state at three years

Gov. Chris Sununu ... veto tally now at 59, with just two overridden (Rochester Voice file photo)

CONCORD - A veto from the governor's desk on Friday will likely mean the time it takes for a New Hampshire public school teacher to receive tenure in a school district will stay at three years.

HB 226 would have shortened the probationary period to two years.

Sununu announced his decision in a press release, saying two years is not enough time to properly vet a new teacher.

"Like all of us, teachers must be accountable to school officials, and ultimately to parents," Gov. Chris Sununu said. "HB 226 reverses the groundbreaking teacher tenure reforms passed by the Legislature eight years ago. These reforms gave young teachers time to learn on the job before local districts had to make a long-term decision to keep them. This increased the ability of local school boards to replace low-performing teachers with better ones."

The Democrat-controlled Legislature has overturned just two of Sununu's 59 vetoes this year.