A recent study by an ISU professor found merged school districts have beneficial effects on students who attend them. Students who attended consolidated schools agree.

Thomas Alsbury, assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies, conducted a national study of nine merged U.S. school districts and found benefits behind some apparent disadvantages.

“There are some initial negative feelings because a community has lost its school, but after [people] have gotten used to the idea, it’s a positive experience,” he said.

Positive effects of merged schools include increased diversity, funding stability, more course offerings, enhanced programs and a high quality of education, Alsbury said.

Iowa school districts have held out longer than many states from merging school districts because there has not been as much population movement into urban areas, he said.

Chad Winterhof, a 2001 ISU graduate now working in Cedar Rapids, avidly supports small schools and organized a rally at the Iowa Capitol building March 25 to lobby against state-forced consolidations. More than 300 people from across the state attended the rally.

Winterhof grew up in Walnut and went to a high school with about 100 students. He graduated in a class of 21.

“Kids don’t fall through the cracks in smaller schools,” he said. “You’re not just another face in the crowd.”

Winterhof said he was aware of the consolidation study done by Alsbury, but said it did not address the economic impact of losing a school in small communities.

“Schools are the economic life blood of a community,” Winterhof said.

North Cedar School District, located along Highway 30 in Cedar County, merged in 1995 to combine Lincoln and Clarence-Lowden schools.

North Cedar brings in students from four towns, with elementary schools in Lowden and Mechanicsville, a middle school in Clarence and a high school in Stanwood.

Richard Hobart, superintendent of North Cedar School District, said the schools were merged because of declining enrollment and the growing financial burden each school was facing. The merger was completed in phases with the two schools first sharing a superintendent and football program.

Alsbury said it is common for schools to merge in phases, which helps build relationships between them. He also said once schools are merged, it is important for administrators to embrace both communities as a single, new community.

“It’s important to develop a new and unique identity to create a unified feeling that makes both communities feel valued,” he said.

Hobart said the North Cedar School District wanted to find a new identity separate from the previous schools and picked new colors, a new mascot and a new school song.

“The first year there was still a lot of pride in previous schools, and it was hard for them to know they were Knights instead of a Rebel or Panther,” he said.

Hobart said North Cedar would like to take further steps to consolidate and reorganize the schools, but each community is against losing a school building in their town.

“Some of the people who have lived in the communities all their lives still harbor grudges [about the consolidation],” he said.

Caleb Bell, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication, attended school in the North Cedar School District. The schools merged prior to his seventh grade year, he said.

“I remember walking into art class the first day and seeing all the Lincoln kids on one side, and the Clarence-Lowden kids on the other,” he said. “There was all these new faces. It was a big change.”

Bell said there were more academic opportunities with the larger school.

North Cedar’s enrollment is increasing, with more than 1,000 students in its schools. North Cedar also offers advanced classes and expanded programs, which the previous schools were not able to offer.

“After the initial year, we didn’t think about Clarence-Lowden and Lincoln anymore,” Bell said.

Winterhof said he thought consolidations can be positive if the level of sharing is left up to the communities rather than imposed by the state.

“It just seems that a lot of people are unaware of the value of small schools,” he said.

Currently there are no state laws that can mandate school consolidation, but Winterhof said he worries that the Legislature will try and pass a bill next year.