The Ad Hoc Committee for Interdistrict Educational Cost Sharing grew out of a discussion among the First Selectmen,  Board of Education chairs, and school superintendents  of the Towns of Scotland and Hampton. These officials were concerned that the decline in enrollment in the elementary schools would begin to detract from the excellent education the schools had already provided. In addition, as state and federally mandated educational requirements grew, the schools were forced to do more with less, and town finances were increasingly strained. 

The group decided to explore the possibility of combining school services, and a committee was appointed by the first selectmen in each town. A report by the superintendents indicated that there were no substantial savings to be achieved by consolidating staff or faculty positions or other resources. The committee decided to investigate the possibility of combining the schools. 

Rather than creating a regional school district, or having one town send its students to a school operated by the other town's Board of Education,  the committee decided to look into ways for the two Boards to operate a single school together, using a Cooperative Agreement. Cooperative Agreements  are contracts between Boards of Education that have been used widely across the state for various purposes, but never to operate a school in its entirety. 

To navigate these uncharted waters, the committee has established two subcommittees, one to create a governance structure by which the two boards will run the school, and the other to determine the programming that such a school will offer. The committees will present a proposal for a Cooperative Agreement to the Boards of Education for their consideration. It will be up to the boards to decide whether or not to enter into the contract.  

Before the proposal goes to the boards, it will be presented to the towns in a series of informational sessions, at which residents' input will be solicited and suggestions for changes considered. Committee and subcommittee meetings will be public and citizen participation is encouraged. And people with questions or concerns are  welcome at any time to address them to any committee member, or to the chair, Gary Greenberg (firstselectman@scotlandct.org)