Small School Districts

Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the First day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the first day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Video ‘You’ll Make New Friends’: What Happens to Students When Their School Closes
How two middle schoolers managed uncertainty as their rural school closed its doors.
Elizabeth Rich & Marvin Joseph, September 8, 2026
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1 min read
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Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Special Report Big Ideas 2026: Building Bridges So Students Can Thrive
How can you create strong partnerships and manage conflict? A roadmap for education leaders.
September 8, 2026
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School & District Management Opinion For This School Board President, Leadership Starts With Humility
Amid a big transition, active communication helped this leader hold the community together.
Mark Qual, September 8, 2026
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4 min read
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Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion ‘Our School Leaves Town Every Day’: A Story of Rural Resilience and Survival
For more than a year, this town’s only school has stood empty. The spirit of community endures.
Steven L. Johnson, September 8, 2026
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7 min read
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Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion When Your District Goes Through Big Changes, Relationships Are Critical
A neighboring school closed. His district embraced a reorganization. It was a lesson in leadership.
Justin Fryer, September 8, 2026
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4 min read
big ideas jones
School & District Management Opinion The Question That Guided This School District Through an Impossible Decision
Declining enrollment reshaped her district. This school board member has lessons for other leaders.
Chelsey Jones, September 8, 2026
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5 min read
Collage-style illustration with a photo looking down a road surrounded by fields on either side, with squares of other images on top. The squares show two signs: one that reads "Lisbon" and another that reads "Fort Ransom." Pieces of these signs are coming together in the squares and stacking on top of each other in the center of the frame. Some squares off to the edges are blank.
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Photos by Natalie Behring for Education Week.
School & District Management Two Districts Pave a Road Toward a Shared Future and Survival
A rural school district was facing the urgent threat of dissolution. Its leaders found another way.
Elizabeth Rich, September 8, 2026
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2 min read
Chairman Brendan Carr testifies before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission at Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr testifies during a House committee oversight hearing of the FCC in Washington, on Jan. 14, 2026. Some education organizations opposed a measure the FCC recently approved to create a new bidding portal for federal E-rate funds.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Ed-Tech Policy Education Groups Say New E-Rate Bidding Portal Will Hurt Small Districts Hardest
Supporters of the measure say it will create a more transparent bidding process.
Mark Walsh, May 1, 2026
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3 min read
First-grade student Brennen Marquardt, 6, looks out the bus window at Friess Lake Middle School on Sept. 4, 2018, the first year of operations for the newly consolidated Holy Hill district in Richfield, Wis. The district was the most recent to consolidate in Wisconsin, which is among the states where lawmakers are exploring ways to force or incentivize district mergers.
First-grade student Brennen Marquardt, 6, looks out the bus window at Friess Lake Middle School on Sept. 4, 2018, the first year of operations for the newly consolidated Holy Hill district in Richfield, Wis. The district was the most recent to consolidate in Wisconsin, which is among the states where lawmakers are exploring ways to force or incentivize district mergers.
John Ehlke/West Bend Daily News via AP
States States Consider District Consolidations as Student Enrollment Drops
Rural educators say the decision to combine school districts is a matter of local control.
Evie Blad, December 5, 2025
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8 min read
A hand offering a small school building.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School & District Management Opinion 'We Get to Be a Kayak': Why This Superintendent Isn't Panicking Over Politics
A small, rural district is ready to prove the relevance of its schools to parents and policymakers.
George Philhower, April 28, 2025
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4 min read
Aerial View of School Bus on Country Road at Sunrise
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Rural Schools Are Fighting for Their Existence. What the Future Could Look Like
Rural schools have long been contending with enrollment declines that are still relatively new to districts in more populated areas.
Mark Lieberman, July 29, 2024
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8 min read
Two elementary students read together on a bench at UCLA on Jan. 21, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Two elementary students read together on a bench at UCLA on Jan. 21, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Allison Shelley for EDUimages
School & District Management Video How This Superintendent Overhauled Literacy Instruction
This Kentucky superintendent made overhauling literacy instruction a top priority. Two years later, he’s already seeing results.
Elizabeth Heubeck & Lauren Santucci, September 29, 2023
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Russellville High School ESL teacher Edmund Martinez works with students in Russellville, Ala., on December 9, 2022.
Russellville High School ESL teacher Edmund Martinez works with students in Russellville, Ala., on December 9, 2022.
Tamika Moore for Education Week
English Learners Project The Language of Equity
An Alabama district has overhauled how it supports English learners—making great strides in early grades that it may not be able to sustain.
January 30, 2023
Long Lake Superintendent Noelle Short in front of Long Lake Central School in Long Lake, N.Y., on Sept. 1, 2022.
Noelle Short is the superintendent of a single-school district in upstate New York with fewer than 100 students.
Heather Ainsworth for Education Week
Education Funding In Their Own Words This Superintendent's Tiny, Rural District Got No COVID Aid. Here's Why That Hurts
The aid formula left Long Lake, N.Y., out of the mix. The superintendent worries that could happen for other kinds of aid in the future.
Mark Lieberman, September 6, 2022
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3 min read