Small School Districts

Aerial View of School Bus on Country Road at Sunrise
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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
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
3:16
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
3 min read
Ben Thigpen, the superintendent of the Jones County school district in rural North Carolina, started a telemedicine program in partnership with East Carolina University to provide acute minor medical care and mental health and nutrition counseling to students and staff.
Ben Thigpen, the superintendent of the Jones County school district in rural North Carolina, partnered with East Carolina University to bring a telehealth program that provides acute minor medical care and mental health and nutrition counseling to the district's students and staff.
Alex Boerner for Education Week
School & District Management Leader To Learn From Health Care Was Hard to Come By. So This Superintendent Stepped Up
Ben Thigpen, the superintendent in rural Jones County, N.C., launched a telehealth program to improve medical care for students and staff.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 16, 2022
8 min read
Twin brothers John and Jonathan Easter walk together in their hometown of Bradley, Ark. a few weeks before they are going to begin college on July 30, 2021.
Twin brothers John and Jonathan Easter walk together in their hometown of Bradley, Ark. a few weeks before they are going to begin college on July 30, 2021.
April Kirby/For Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Video Resilience, Faith, and Support: How Twin Brothers Forged Diverging Paths to College
Twin brothers from rural Arkansas reflect on their path to college in the midst of the pandemic.
Brooke Saias, September 21, 2021
1 min read
Education Funding Medicaid Treats Small Districts and Rural Schools Unfairly, Report Says
Medicaid spending is the third-largest source of federal funds for K-12, but a national group representing superintendents says the program can do better.
Andrew Ujifusa, February 20, 2019
1 min read
School Climate & Safety News in Brief Small Arkansas School District Installs Safe Rooms in All Classrooms
A school district in a small Arkansas city has installed steel safe rooms in every classroom.
The Associated Press, January 22, 2019
1 min read
Classroom Technology News in Brief Public School District Enrolls Students From Private School for Online Classes
A small and shrinking school district near Los Angeles has come up with a novel way to stem its enrollment loss: Set up a virtual school and enroll students from faraway Roman Catholic schools.
Arianna Prothero & Tribune News Service, September 19, 2017
1 min read
Student Achievement Virtual Summer School an Option for Students in Small Illinois District
In this district about 11 miles outside of Chicago, students can choose among four different summer learning opportunities, including a virtual summer school program.
Marva Hinton, May 5, 2017
2 min read
Law & Courts News in Brief Court Dismisses Funding Suit Filed by Small N.Y. Districts
A judge has thrown out a lawsuit against New York that claimed the state was shortchanging students in eight small-city districts and denying their constitutional right to a "sound basic education."
The Associated Press, October 4, 2016
1 min read
Families & the Community Vt. Residents Vote Against Consolidating School Districts (Video)
In a small region of Vermont, a fierce debate raged over consolidating five tiny school districts into one.
Stacey Decker, June 9, 2016
1 min read
School & District Management Video Merging Small School Districts: Showdown in Vermont
With a plummeting student enrollment and skyrocketing education costs, Vermont lawmakers decided last year to begin an ambitious and controversial experiment to consolidate its vast system of public schools. The law, Act 46, intends to dramatically reduce the number of districts in the mostly rural state-there are currently 280 of them-by 2020 using a series of tax incentives. Supporters argue that by sharing resources more efficiently, the state will save millions of dollars and give students access to academically rigorous programs and more electives like the arts. But opponents say the initiative stabs at the very heart of Vermont, with its hundreds of tiny school houses and, more importantly, Vermonters' deeply-felt sense of local control. In this report, John Tulenko of Education Week profiles a northern region of Vermont where residents are sharply divided on whether to combine its five school districts. Read more about this issue on edweek.org. This video aired on PBS NewsHour on May 31, 2016.
June 3, 2016
6:36
Equity & Diversity News in Brief Court Orders Miss. District to Desegregate Schools
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision striking down racially segregated public schools, one small Mississippi district had resisted—until now.
Corey Mitchell, May 31, 2016
1 min read