Nidwalden votes to remove school communities from constitution

Nidwalden will vote on November 29 on removing references to school communities from its cantonal constitution, bringing it into line with a system already in place, SRF reports.

School communities once operated as independent bodies alongside political municipalities. They ran schools, hired teachers and managed budgets, with their own democratic structures, including school boards that oversaw schools.

The arrangement became inefficient as responsibilities overlapped and the demands of managing schools grew. Nidwalden’s education director, Armin Odermatt, says combining the structures simplifies administration, with one municipal assembly and one budget covering both areas.

Ennetmoos was the first municipality to abolish its school community, in 2010. Stansstad and Oberdorf, the last of the canton’s 11 municipalities to do so, followed on January 1, 2025.

School communities no longer exist in practice, but references to them remain in the cantonal constitution and laws. The proposed change would have no effect on education or municipal and cantonal finances. It would, however, remove the option of bringing school communities back.

The proposal is unopposed. Municipalities gave positive feedback during consultation, the Landrat, Nidwalden’s cantonal parliament, approved it unanimously, and the government recommends a yes vote.