The Somers School District 29 board of trustees unanimously decided to have the district join the Northwest Montana Schools Cooperative Agreement in an effort to save the district money during their regular board meeting on Nov. 20.

By joining the cooperative, District 29 joins other school districts in northwest Montana to create a strength in numbers approach for obtaining cheaper health insurance for staff and other benefits that come from purchasing as a large group. The Whitefish and Columbia Falls school districts are also currently in the cooperative.

“There isn’t a lot of structure to it yet but it sounded appealing to me, we are going to get $8,000 for doing nothing at this point,” Superintendent Paul Jenkins said.

Jenkins also said the cooperative plans to look into purchasing dental insurance as well.

Membership renewals for the cooperative occur on a yearly basis and the board opted not to join the cooperative last year.

As of Nov. 20 the Somers Music and Arts Fund was approaching $4,000. The fund is set up at Flathead Bank in Lakeside and all donations are tax deductable. Sam Bagley, fund trustee and District 29 School Board member, will receive notification whenever a deposit is made and will then transfer the same amount of money from his personal account into the fund up to a total of $5,000.

The district is still accepting musical instrument donations for the band program, donated instruments can be new or gently used and just in need of being refurbished. They are currently having six donated instruments repaired and are purchasing two French horns and one bass saxophone.

In other District 29 news:

• Prior to the board meeting, the board held an open workshop from 6-7 p.m. where board members and staff discussed health insurance options, union, and co-op management. They also discussed salary schedules, but no official plans or decisions have been made at this time.

• The board approved the use of the Montana School Board Association’s attorneys should the district require legal advice. Board member Tim Rogge pointed out that MTSBA attorneys would already be familiar with the language used in school related issues. The district was already a member of the MTSBA, this just takes their involvement a step further.

• Enrollment is down by one as of Nov. 14 when compared to Nov. 7, 2011. Attendance at Lakeside Elementary School dropped from 395 students to 378, and Somers Middle School increased from 185 students to 201.

The next board meeting will be held Dec. 18 at SMS with a work session at 6 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7 p.m., both segments are open to the public.