Committee majority backs county‑level SAUs, proposes elected county school administrators

The joint legislative committee studying school administrative units recommended moving most centralized business functions — accounting, human resources, transportation and labor relations — to larger regional entities, largely aligned with county boundaries, and said those entities should be led by elected county school administrators.

The committee’s chair told members the proposal would preserve local school boards’ academic responsibilities while consolidating administrative functions “so we can achieve cost savings and, at the same time, return local control of academics to elected school boards.” The chair cited U.S. Census per‑pupil spending tables showing New Hampshire’s administrative costs are substantially above national norms and a 1993 State Board of Education study describing past consolidation options.

Why it matters: The plan would reduce the number of chief administrative offices from more than 100 SAUs to roughly a dozen county‑level entities (with Manchester and Nashua treated as separate city units).…