School officials from Lynn and Swampscott have met this summer to discuss the possibility of a partnership between the two neighboring communities, superintendents from both school systems confirmed Friday.Lynn Superintendent Nicholas Kostan and Swampscott Superintendent Matthew Malone have had several meetings this summer to share ideas on how the two communities could help one another in the future as the state continues to cut funding while standards and accountability requirements increase.Both sides say talks are in their earliest stages and nothing is definite, but a partnership would make sense as each community has resources the other could use.”We have met a few times, but we are just in the talking stages at this point about sharing some resources between our students,” Kostan said. “I don’t know if anything like this has been done in other places, but it makes sense for us to start looking at potential collaborations.”Some of the ideas discussed involved both academics, such as the sharing of teachers and programs, and business as Kostan suggested the two communities could save money by combining textbook and other supply orders.”The two communities are right next to each other, we have some resources that would be helpful to them and they have some resources that would be helpful to us,” Kostan said. “We are both interested, but it is in the planning stages. We are talking now, and we will probably talk again. I think this could be something good for both sides.”If the partnership takes off Swampscott would be the fourth community to partner with Lynn this summer, joining Salem, Peabody and Gloucester. Lynn joined those three communities on a professional development grant earlier this summer, and will continue to share technology and ideas throughout the school year.Malone said he is excited about the prospect of working with Lynn, and looks forward to working with Kostan in the future.”The time is right for us to continue discussions on ways we can work more closely together on programs that serve students,” he said. “Nick (Kostan) and I are working together on having an ongoing and open dialog on this subject.”Malone said during his tenure in Swampscott, Kostan has “been a friend and a mentor.””We do not have any deliverables to air yet,” he said. “But we are optimistic to the opportunities that could be open to us. I’m pretty excited and positive about where we are with our districts.”Swampscott School Committee member Glenn Paster said he perceives the discussion between the two districts as a positive development and he is in favor of regionalization of some services.”I think in today’s environment, both financial and educational, the more partnering we can do with other communities the better,” he said. “If Lynn has a great vocational education program and Swampscott is challenged to fund that program perhaps our kids could utilize their programs. If we offer a foreign language or other program Lynn is unable to fund then their kids could come over here. I really believe the future of education is in regionalization.”One idea Kostan proposed was a potential teacher swap program, where educators from Swampscott could trade places with those in Lynn to gain experience teaching in an urban school district.”One possibility is a principal and teacher exchange,” Kostan said, reiterating that this is only an idea at this stage. “It will give them a chance to see what it is like in an urban school district and give our people a chance to see what is going on over there.”