District Mergers Continuing To Redraw Educational Maps

By Robert C. Johnston

Buffi Sawyer never wanted to spend her senior year at the new North Cedar High School. She had planned to graduate from Clarence Junior-Senior High School, where students from her central Iowa hometown had always gone.

But the school district in Clarence merged last fall with its rival six miles away. Her old school is now a middle school.

Though Ms. Sawyer dreaded the move at first, it hasn't turned out so bad. At North Cedar, she played on the state's fourth-ranked girls' basketball team, enjoys bigger lockers, takes a wider variety of courses, and eats...