Dresden School District - Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Dresden School District?
Hanover, New Hampshire and Norwich, Vermont, towns across the Connecticut River from each other, formed the country's first interstate school district in 1963.
What grades are in the Dresden District?
Students in grades 7-12 attend first the Richmond Middle and then Hanover High School.
How is the District governed?
School boards are made up of elected citizens, with elections taking place at the annual school district meetings in February and March. The Dresden District School Board consists of eleven members - the seven members of the Hanover School Board and four of the five members of the Norwich School Board.
How is the District administered?
School districts in New Hampshire are grouped geographically into School Administrative Units (SAU's). The three Hanover Schools plus the Marion Cross Elementary School in Norwich are grouped into SAU #70. The SAU office, also called the "Superintendent's office," is located at 45 Lyme Road, Room 207, 643-6050, sau.70@valley.net; www.sau70.org.
What do the voters decide?
Voters elect school board members, pass a budget, and vote on other questions on the warrant for the annual District Meeting.
What is the SAU#70 Budget?
The three boards (Norwich, Hanover and Dresden) together, hire the superintendent, the assistant superintendents, and seven other employees who do the books, employee benefits, etc. These expenses comprise the SAU budget. The total budget for the SAU office is right around $1M, and it is done first in the budget cycle.
Once Board Members know what the SAU budget is, they allocate the expenses to the three districts (Norwich, Hanover and Dresden) based on the number of students and teachers that each district has. Then they can start working on the individual district budgets. When the district budgets are voted on in March, a portion of each budget is actually the SAU budget.