The involvement of the community is absolutely essential in planning for declining enrollment and school closing. Through the use of the community task force, the frequently painful decisions entailed by a no-growth policy can be made more palatable. There are three types of task forces (the indepth seminar, the six- to eight-week study group, and the extended study committee). The task force may be led by an outside consultant, a central office administrator, a board-appointed leader, or a leader elected from within the group. The composition of the committee should be representative of the community as a whole. Organizational structure is all-important if the task force is to accomplish its duties (for example, specifying which schools will be closed first). Decision-making models such as KEMEC can assist in identifying evaluation criteria, which usually include economic, facility, and social factors. An example of how this decision-making model is applied in a hypothetical school district indicates the process to be followed by the task force. (DS)