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When district mergers are in the air, from Vermont to Nebraska, educators see efficiencies, parents see disconnection, researchers reach few conclusions

Dawn Hoeke is starting her second and possibly last year as superintendent of the Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District this fall as the newly consolidated school district in southeastern South Dakota winds its way toward possible dissolution in the coming months.

The choice to create Oldham-Ramona-Rutland was obvious in 2021. South Dakota requires school districts of 100 or fewer students to combine. Oldham-Ramona and Rutland — each with about 150 students — were at that precipice. The two districts already shared boundaries and teams in all interscholastic sports.

The school boards formed the required joint committee, drafted a 13-page plan that won state approval and managed to get a majority vote of both communities to proceed with the merger.

To move forward, however, the school board had to build a new facility. Neither district carried debt into the merger. Both had buildings more than 100 years old that failed to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Hoeke says. But try as they might, the new combined board could not agree on a location for the facility.