Small school districts face tough times

    As the Kansas Legislature chews on plans to make more drastic cuts to an education budget that K-12 schools claim is already cutting into the bone, small rural districts grapple with a particularly complex set of issues.
    In addition to facing the same questions concerning staff layoffs, increased class size and a decrease in service, small districts are inevitably forced to come to terms with the issue of consolidation. 
    Consolidation remains a sensitive topic for the many rural Kansas districts in which schools and churches play a central, if not singular, role in community life. That some consolidations are inevitable is clear; yet, because the small districts in our region are well-accustomed to the exigencies of survival, consolidation is by no means a given for many.
    In fact, rural schools are already experts at cooperation and have been sharing their resources for years now.
    For the full story, go to dodgecitydailyglobe.ks.newsmemory.com.