Losing Schools in Small Towns: What’s Next?

Originally authored by Kenneth Sherin, former SDSU Extension Community Vitality Program Director.

School closings are often bookmarks in a community’s history. Do you live in a town that has closed its school? Population decline in many rural communities has forced school closings in South Dakota.

Robert Wuthnow writes the following about school closures in small towns: “If a school closes because of declining population of consolidation, the blow to the community is more than simply having to see the remaining children bused to another town. It strips the town of a critical piece of its identity” (p 104).

Wuthnow’s book reveals the sentiment of how people feel about losing their community school through a series of quotes gathered from hundreds of people he interview while doing research for his book, Small Town America: Finding Community, Shaping the Future.

Here are some of those quotes:

• “You jerk the school out of there and you just cut the town’s throat.” (p 104)
• “When the school leaves, it just sucks the life out of the town.” (p 106)
• “It was just like they took the heart out of our town when they did that. People no longer have a regular place to go.” (p 106).

These quotes reveal the emotional side of closing a local school. The emotional impact to the community happens regardless of the economic factors driving the closure. So what can be done to soften the trauma to the community?

Wuthnow reports that some communities have started community homecoming celebrations on the same weekend the traditional homecoming football game was held. This helps nurture community spirit, and provides a time to celebrate the town. There are other examples of old school buildings being turned into community centers, housing or repurposed for business ventures.