On the surface, Michael Moher's major challenges as a superintendent do not seem so foreign from any other leader who is responsible for the education of 28,000 students. He has been grappling in recent years with budget shortfalls, school closings, a couple of dissident board members and even a week-long teacher's strike. Moher runs a Catholic…

Discusses the federated school district, a cooperative organizational alternative for low enrollment rural districts facing enrollment decline or fiscal exigency. Describes district characteristics: local elementary schools, small regional high schools, a governing assembly, and a multiple district administrative system. Includes a planning model…

A comprehensive, field-tested plan for changing school attendance boundaries involves community-based committees that analyze the relevant data (with support from central office staff members) and develop the initial recommendations for the school board. Outlines a six-step process and lists some basic principles. (MLF)

The Catholic Schools of Belmont County, Ohio, like many other public and parochial schools, have experienced declining enrollments over the past few years. The causes may be attributed to declining family size and to economic factors affecting the area. The paper describes a study of Belmont County's five Catholic schools undertaken by the Office…

This report contains findings and recommendations based on a study conducted to determine the feasibility of merging the Pitt County and Greenville County (North Carolina) school systems. Each school system is described in terms of pupil population patterns, building use, and educational and administrative services; issues related to these…

Decreasing fiscal budgets and declining student enrollments have forced many school districts to evaluate the alternative strategies in closing certain elementary or secondary schools, either temporarily or permanently, for purposes of consolidation. For rural and other small districts, the strategy of multiple district consolidation (merger) has…

This overview of the literature on school district reorganization: (1) cites four reasons for reorganization; (2) gives two statistics on projected declines in student enrollment; (3) presents factors to be considered during the process of closing a school; (4) lists six administrative leadership skills needed during the school closure process;…

The Jefferson County (Kentucky) Public Schools have a long-term plan for "inventing" schools that will offer excellent programs for students, induct new faculty members, and serve as "exemplars of practice." (Author/TE)

This paper describes how a predominantly white elementary school responded to a school-district reorganization effort to promote ethnic balance among the schools. The redistricting plan reassigned some former students to other schools and bused in many Spanish-speaking students. The school staff encountered language problems with the new students…

The North Carolina Division of School Planning conducted an educational survey of Cleveland County Schools. An architect and an engineer evaluated and rated each facility and site. The report of findings recommends reorganizing the merged school system into a K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 configuration, to improve instructional offerings for particular…

An administrator who has been involved in the reorganizations of five school systems to create middle schools found that the reorganization improved delivery of educational services to K-12 students. A districtwide reorganization improves teacher morale by offering an opportunity for teachers to move to a different grade organization in their…

The superintendent of the Johnson City Public Schools, Tennessee, requested a survey of the physical status of the 10 elementary schools, 1 junior high school, and 1 high school in the district. Onsite investigations were made to gather data with special attention given to site characteristics, amount and use of functional space, and strengths and…

School reorganization has been used extensively as a strategy to deal with the problems of small and rural schools. However, there is no comprehensive evidence to prove that consolidation has met the problems of finance, staff, facilities, and curriculum for which it has been advocated, nor are consolidation's disadvantages and ill-effects of the…

Reports on the effect of external political pressure on the distribution of influence in school districts. Focuses specifically on the influence exercised by school-level administrators and teachers on school-level policy. Expounds on a theory of local variation across institutional organizations using the High School and Beyond study. (CFR)

This chapter addresses cases reported in 1982 involving aspects of school board governance. Topics covered include powers of state boards of education; powers and duties of local boards; open meeting laws; school boards and conflicts of interest; school district and board members' election, appointment, and recall; school district organization;…