Experience from around our country and throughout the world all illustrates the same community killing consequences that follow school mergers and school closings. And the local experience of merged schools within 25 miles of Canajoharie and Fort Plain validates that national and international research. School mergers are devastating for small communities.

Previous posts on this site, Do Schools Build Community?, and How do school mergers impact communities?, highlighted research results indicating that schools are key to rural community vitality. This post shares additional research: from a national book-length study, from international research in Europe, and from local experience. From my own perspective, this is the most important reason to oppose the merger. Of course, it is important that the supposed financial benefits of merging are entirely theoretical; disproven by both research and local experience. Similarly, it should concern everyone that claims about benefits to students also fail to find validation in either research or local examples. But, for me, the universal evidence of real, permanent damage done to communities is the most pressing reason to say “no!” to a school merger.

First we have a book-length study titled Small Town America, published in 2013 by Princeton University Press. Author Robert Wuthnow conducted 250 interviews in 18 states; and followed that by a national survey of over 1,500 subjects. He then conducted 400 additional interviews in small towns throughout the country. The importance of local schools fills an entire chapter, and impacts discussions of community vitality in several other contexts. And while many of the topics that Wuthnow explores find support on both sides of question, on school consolidation the verdict is overwhelming: school mergers damage communities. Here are a few quotes from the book. (1)

“It is difficult for an outsider to truly appreciate what having a school means to a small town—or the effect of losing one. In one of the mining towns we studied, there were two school buildings now vacant because the children were being bused to a town ten miles away. The buildings were crumbling hulls, waiting against hope ever to be reopened. They were a constant reminder, one of the residents explained, of better days. The silence was too. Residents remembered when children’s laughter from the playground could be heard throughout the town. They recalled children riding their bicycles and walking to school. Now the town was quiet. We talked with people in another town where the school had recently closed because of consolidation. ‘It’s an ugly, ugly thing,’ a resident told us, referring to the merger process. ‘When the school leaves, it just sucks the life out of the town.’ In another town that had lost its school more than a decade ago a man told us, ‘It was just like they took the heart out of our town when they did that.’” (p106) May I remind readers that each of our communities already has a vacant, abandoned former school building? There is no doubt whatsoever that if schools merge we will soon have more. And, again, from Wuthnow: “‘It was just a smoke job,’ the disgruntled interviewee said. ‘They spent more money closing the school than
keeping it open. That’s really when the town started going downhill.’” (p106)

Second, the international study starts with a literature review, with the original research exploring school consolidation in Denmark. First, from the literature review: “Considerable research has been done on the importance of the local school and local school closures.” “Several studies have stressed the importance of the local school for the local community. Thus, small rural schools have been found to promote social cohesion and social capital (see e.g. Bagley and Hillyard, 2014; Autti and Hyry-Beihammer, 2014), be rich on parent involvement (Downes and Roberts, 2015; Hargreaves, 2009), and to contribute to the general “health of a community” (Kearns et al., 2009, p. 131; Witten et al., 2001, p. 309).” ” Lehtonen (2021) found a clear negative population effect when analysing the community-level population effect of rural school closures that were carried out in Finland during 2011–2018.” And the original research conclusion: “a statistically significant population decline of 7.6 percentage points was found in the eight communities affected by school closures throughout the 10-year post-closure period. Stated differently, we found that the population development in the affected communities would have been 7.6 percentage points more favourable if the schools had not been closed.” “In sum, we found clear evidence of a negative population effect of rural school closures. This is in line with the results of Lehtonen (2021) who came to the same conclusion in his community-level study of the Finnish case.” (2)

Finally, we have the local experience from schools that have merged regionally. How were communities impacted? Here is a quick run down of four regional merges. Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School was formed 40 years ago, in 1986. School buildings in Cherry Valley (K-12), Springfield Center (K-6) and East Springfield (7-12) were closed. A new K-12 School was constructed half way between Cherry Valley and Springfield. All three communities lost their local school. East Springfield and Springfield Center never recovered; both lost nearly all of their local businesses and have become clusters of houses rather than communities. Cherry Valley is just starting to recover (40 years later!), with some life coming back into the downtown blocks.

Cobleskill and Richmondville merged in 1993. A new high school was built half way between the two. Cobleskill hosts the primary (K-2) and Middle (6-8) schools, and the Richmondville building is grades 3-5. While Cobleskill, with its college, hospital and chain stores, has done OK; Richmondville, as a working village, has died. The downtown blocks of buildings stand empty. The same story repeats itself over and over. Previous posts have shown how the CVA (2013) and OESJ (2014) mergers failed to produce either financial or student achievement results. These mergers also damaged communities. Downtown Mohawk now boasts a smoke shop and a pawn shop. Both Mohawk and Ilion have many empty storefronts. And both Oppenhiem and Ephratah have dwindled sadly.

It doesn’t matter where you look. Large national studies, international research, or a simple drive through some local communities that once, but no longer, housed thriving schools. When communities lose local K-12 schools, they begin to come apart. Merger supporters: what kind of community do you want to live in?