Facing tighter budgets North Country school districts are participating in a task force exploring ways they can cooperate and save money.

There are two broad goals, said Wayne Gersen, the former superintendent of the Hanover school district, who is heading up the group.

One is to give students more educational opportunities, perhaps by having SAUs share teachers in areas such as music, art or even special-education testing.

“It is very difficult for districts to recruit part-time employees, but if there was a way they could work together and create intentional full-time assignments between districts we think that would not only save money but help with recruiting,” Gersen said.

The New Hampshire Senate has approved a constitutional amendment to give the state more leeway in how it distributes school aid. 

The amendment would make it easier for lawmakers to target money to poorer communities but not explicitly undue the Claremont rulings that require the state to fund an adequate education for every child. After the vote Governor Lynch described the proposal as “a significant milestone.”

“The milestone being that it has passed the state Senate, and that it is an amendment endorsed by the governor, by me. And now we are all going to work together to talk with our colleges in the house about the importance of the goals that we are trying to achieve.”