Six small Arkansas school districts consolidated to improve the quality of education and to give citizens more value for their taxes. Citizens in all six communities approved construction under the same roof of a new elementary school and a new high school. Students' tests scores have improved, the dropout rate has declined, and more graduates are…

This paper describes school consolidation in six small towns in South Nevada County, Arkansas. None of the six schools had the resources to meet the requirements of advanced programs set by the Arkansas Educational Standards Act. School boards met with each community to gather support for consolidation, discussing increased taxes to pay for a new…