THE RURBAN FRINGE

The Impacts of Rural School Consolidation

Posted on | February 9, 2009 | 3 Comments

Rural schools have always played an important role in their communities by providing both an education and fostering a community’s sense of identity.

Beyond their educational function, rural schools are used for sports.  Music and theatre.  Community events.  And are increasingly vital for the cultural and economic development of their communities.

Vibrant communities generally have schools; dying or dead communities usually do not.  The capacity to maintain a school is a continuing indicator of a community’s well-being.

With several rural schools targeted for consolidation within my region, the impacts have yet to be seen.  The impact on students will be immediate, but the impacts on the respective communities – both socially and economically – will likely take place over several years.  And not for the better.

What the communities in question will face is …

  • loss of employment
  • loss of social, cultural and recreational opportunities
  • lost taxes
  • declining property values
  • lost businesses
  • less-developed municipal infrastructure
  • eroding ‘quality of life’

What policymakers, educational administrators and local citizens need to understand is that schools are vital to rural communities.  And the smaller the community – which often has less resources and civic space to begin with - the bigger the impact.

While school consolidation will likely remain a threat to many rural communities in the coming decades, a shift of thought is needed that focuses on building community capacity by drawing on the strengths and assets of each community, with special attention centered around building a partnership between the local school system, community organizations, agencies and individuals.  Schools cannot be expected to operate – and thrive –  in isolation.

In such a way, the only limit is the community’s creativity.

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Comments

3 Responses to “The Impacts of Rural School Consolidation”

  1. Learning to Fly : The Rurban Fringe
    February 10th, 2009 @ 8:46 am

    [...] to my post about The Impacts of Rural School Consolidation, I wanted to share some impressive solutions rural schools have developed – often in partnership – [...]

  2. Joanne Steele
    February 28th, 2011 @ 8:42 pm

    Thanks so much for your insightful posts! I was having this conversation several night ago over dinner.
    One friend floated an idea he is taking to one of our local school boards. The problem is that each rural school is offering exactly the same menu of courses to ever-diminishing numbers of students.
    How about creating a regional magnet school approach, where schools in each town could specialize in certain things, keeping the school strong and open, build relationships among neighboring towns and give students a variety of different options often only available in big urban centers.
    Know anyone who is doing this that we could contact??

  3. Jennifer
    March 1st, 2011 @ 11:51 am

    @ Joanne – Hmmm, not off the top of my head … I corresponded with CIEL several months ago on this same topic – they were looking for unique ways communities had managed to keep their schools and/or repurpose school buildings for community use. IMHO, technology will have to play a vital role and collaboration with local agencies will be key.

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