Mergers, annexations, dissolutions: whatever it's called, school district consolidation can try superintendents' souls and test the limits of rural community pride.
School Administrator › Vol. 63 Nbr. 3, March 2006
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Mergers, annexations, dissolutions: whatever it's called, school district consolidation can try superintendents' souls and test the limits of rural community pride.
Things are going much better than expected with the school district consolidation that's taking place in Corning, Ark. Created from two separate districts in 2004, the newly expanded system has about 1,200 students and covers 400 square miles. There are two secondary campuses, one each for the old and new districts, and three elementary buildings, two in the new district and one in the old one.
Most logistics have been worked out. Community concerns have been addressed, and, perhaps most unexpectedly, the superintendent who once headed the smaller of the two districts and oversaw the consolidation has kept his job. What makes this situation all the more remarkable is that the consolidation wasn't done voluntarily. Arkansas passed contentious legislation in 2004 mandating consolidation for any district with fewer than 350 students. With just 230 students at the time, the Biggers-Reyno district in northeast Arkansas had to consolidate. It wound up merging with the neighboring Coming School District and its 1,000 students in the summer of 2004. The merger took place with minimal disruption, according to superintendent J.M. Edington, who previously ran Bigger...See the full content of this document
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