N.D. Schools Struggle With Enrollment Declines

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Robinson, N.D.First in a two-part look at issues facing rural schools in the West and Midwest.

For the first time since 1916, the age-worn, two-story wing of the building that has served generations of high school students here sits empty, an eerie portent of what some residents fear will be the demise of this remote farming community.

But just beyond the double doors that lead to the school's elementary wing--added in the 1960s--the echo of little voices breaks the silence. Here, 12 children, in kindergarten through 6th grade, represent both the pride the community has always taken in educating its own and the fading hope for the future of this depressed area.

In spite of dwindling enrollments and a gloomy outlook for the area's agricultural economy, the 150 or so residents of Robinson have refused to give up on local education. They are resisting pressure from the state of North Dakota and neighboring districts to simply merge with other school systems--a vivid example of the local resistance that...