BY LAUREN SAUSSERHooksett Schools Superintendent Charles “Phil” Littlefield is looking at what the district has been spending on energy costs and is more than a little worried. With sky-high gas prices sure to set in this winter, the picture isn’t looking any brighter, either. “The problem we’re facing is that a year ...

BY DERRICK PERKINS Under the gun to put in place a public kindergarten by September of next year, School Board members are leaning toward accepting the state’s offer of leasing portable classrooms. “In order to have something in place by next fall, it appears right now that the board is going to pursue an option to ...

BY JENN McDOWELLAfter just about a year of studying the elementary levels of the Hooksett School District, the School Board’s Long Range Planning Committee came back with the conclusion that the town would need another school in the next 15 to 20 years, according to enrollment projections. They also concluded the district would need to do ...

BY TOBY HENRYA Candia selectman said officials might consider tapping a conservation funding source in light of increased town expenses while some School Board members said they’re hoping to flatline their budget as much as possible. Selectman Joe Duarte said he is growing increasingly concerned over what will happen this winter as home ...

BY JENN McDOWELL School officials for Salem, Pelham and Windham schools are breathing a sigh of relief now that the state has agreed to extend the deadline for instituting public kindergarten. In its definition of an adequate education, the state Legislature included public kindergarten as a requirement. Since then, 12 ...

BY TOBY HENRYAuburn school officials report good progress on the construction of a new kindergarten area while plans to address building a new school facility are on hold. School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs said that, in all likelihood, the lack of space at the town’s only public school will still persist this year as staff tries to find a ...

BY JENN McDOWELL After renegotiating their contract with the Salem School Board, the Salem Educational Personnel Association has withdrawn its Superior Court petition asking for a judge’s approval for a special meeting and revote on salary increases for the 2008-09 school year. “The contract was renegotiated with language ...

BY JENN McDOWELL The Salem school secretaries union is just about ready to file a Superior Court petition asking that an item for a vote on renegotiated raises be placed on the September primary ballot. Jack Brouse of the National Education Association, who is representing the secretaries union in the collective bargaining process, ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEYBedford School Board members voted to make the high school’s Booster Club district-controlled, although the decision could be revisited after some current club members felt they weren’t given enough input on the matter. Booster Club members had hoped to raise money as an independent, nonprofit organization, but at its ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEY Bow School District officials found a savings of about $330,000 in the 2008-09 school budget, as the actual employee health care rate was significantly lower than the guaranteed maximum rate set in October. Each year, the district receives the guaranteed maximum rate from HealthTrust and bases that portion of the ...