Brown County Schools 

Students in Indiana’s smallest schools struggle as enrollment continues to decline
A new statewide study fuels ongoing discussions around rural school consolidation.
BY: CASEY SMITH – JANUARY 5, 2024 7:00 AM

• • A report released Wednesday by Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research shows that students enrolled in school districts with less than 2,000 students scored lower on state-standardized exams and lack the same amount of access to high-level courses.
  • About 20% of the state’s K-12 students are enrolled in districts of less than 2,000 students, according to study data. Almost 5% of Hoosier kids are in a school district with less than 1,000 students.

School consolidation conversation should focus on fact, not emotion Niki Kelly  OCTOBER 6, 2023

• • It is this focus that the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is bringing to a push for lawmakers to consolidate school districts with fewer than 2,000 students. … It’s not a new idea — it goes back to at least 2017.
  • Previous studies showed that around 2,000 students is the minimum for school corporations in Indiana to support adequate student performance. But more than half of Indiana’s school corporations had K-12 enrollment lower than 2,000 in 2022.
  • In a September letter, Doden said that while the goals of such a policy might have some merit, eliminating “small public school districts through consolidation will be seen as a death knell for the millions of Hoosiers who live in small towns and rural communities.”

    He has instead called for Indiana to adopt an initiative that would redirect 10% of what the state spends on economic development — around $100 million per year — to small towns and rural communities.

    “We need a vision for Indiana that reverses the population decline and makes our small cities and towns a destination to live, work and raise a family as opposed to plans that are perceived to give up on them entirely,” Doden wrote. “For far too long, our state has ignored our small and rural communities and had no plan for them, only giveaways to corporations.”