KEENE, NH – The Keene School District will no longer accept high school students from Winchester after the 2026-2027 school year.

Keene announced in a news release Friday that they have notified the Winchester School District that they are terminating the existing tuition agreement that automatically renewed each year unless either party provided written notice of termination.

According to the release the Winchester School District has asked to modify the agreement twice over the last nine years to not require all of their students to be sent to Keene High School for their 9-12 school years. The agreement stipulates that Winchester must send all of its pupils to Keene, and Keene will accept the students.

Based on those two requests, the Keene School District has determined that it is unable to provide the flexibility Winchester is asking for while maintaining the same expectations they have with other districts that tuition their students to Keene.

“Having that agreement in place enables the Keene School District to prepare a responsible budget for approval to meet the needs of the students,” the release says. “The predictability of enrollment also ensures a stable staffing model and minimizes the addition and reduction of staff on an annual basis, which makes Keene a desirable place to live, learn, and teach.”

The termination does not prevent the two districts from seeking an alternative agreement, and Keene has invited Winchester to develop and implementation plan for the termination by identifying solutions to minimize any negative impact on students.