The decision to close schools, reorganize, or consolidate districts is perhaps the most troubling and painful challenge a community can face (Flowers, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore and provide a better understanding of the school district whole-grade sharing, reorganization, and/or consolidation phenomenon as seen through the…

District consolidation is a highly emotional process. One key to success is sticking to the facts. In Iowa, school districts facing financial difficulties or enrollment concerns do not have to move directly to consolidation. In many cases, districts begin by developing sharing agreements. These sharing agreements may start with simple sharing of…

The problem. To consider reorganization of two or more Iowa school districts in light of declining enrollment, dwindling financial resources, the end of the state budget guarantee program and pressure to provide the most rigorous and relevant education possible to Iowa's students. Specifically, the problem is to determine what two or more school…

The combination of the costs of providing services in sparsely populated areas and the equal opportunity benefits of comprehensive schools generates problems in terms of school district organization. The research reported here examines the relationship between increasing school district enrollment and increasing the distance children have to…

This document is a collection of five reports on school restructuring in Iowa from 1989 to 1993. The first report summarizes the restructuring activities in Iowa school districts during 1989, addresses problems that developed during the year, and chronicles future restructuring events. It also gives a historical perspective on school restructuring…

This paper examines the forces behind political integration through the lens of school district consolidations, which reduced the number of school districts in the United States from around 130,000 in 1930 to under 15,000 at present. Despite this large observed decline, many districts resisted consolidation before ultimately merging and others…

Although 1951-1966 marked 15 of the most dynamic, hectic, painful, and questionable years of Iowa school district reorganization, 28 school district reorganizations have come about in the succeeding 15 years without a state law or Department of Public Instruction regulation mandating the elimination of certain kinds or sizes of local school…

Position papers on planning for school district organization were prepared for the project staff of the Great Plains School District Organization Project, a four-state study. A total of 104 studies and reports were prepared by personnel from secondary schools, institutions of higher learning, State Departments of Education, and related educational…

An overview of the history of rural school consolidation in north central Iowa reveals that by 1994, 9 of the 10 high schools in towns of less than 500 in 1940 had closed, and 3 of the 5 high schools in towns with populations of 500-999 had closed. However, all three towns with populations over 1,000 in 1940 had high schools in 1993-94. This…

Financial conditions and new demands suggest that Iowa school districts will continually struggle to satisfy state and community needs. Given this situation and districts' opportunities for seeking alternative arrangements, the recent trend in school closings and district reorganization is likely to continue through the year 2000. This study…

An analysis of the experiences of two states perceived as school choice innovators, Iowa and Nebraska, is presented in this paper. Three problem areas contributed to uncertainty are identified: classroom capacity, transportation, and funding. Recommendations include: limited parental choice; establishing enrollment loss ceilings; clear governance…

The Great Plains School District Organization Project, approved by the State Boards of Education in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota and financed by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, had two objectives: (1) To strengthen the State Departments of Education, and (2) to seek ways and means of strengthening the Departments…

This 17th "Annual Condition of Education Report" provides a wide range of demographics, statistics, and student achievement data to help Iowans better understand their public educational system. Much of the data in this report demonstrates that Iowa schools rate above national averages in areas such as student test scores, college…

Political organization is an alternative to the so-called inevitability of losing one's rural school or one's small community; People United for Rural Education (P.U.R.E.), organized to promote the survival of rural schools and the concept of rural as a credible way of life, has been an effective political organization. The reversal of urban…

Alternatives in coping with the problems related to declining enrollment in rural school districts were explored in a study undertaken in 1976 by a special committee appointed by the Iowa Association of School Boards. Over a two year period the 18 member committee examined enrollment, finance, curriculum, facilities, faculty, mergers, and other…