This position paper presents arguments countering the proposed closing of select small schools--particularly one geographically isolated school--in Randolph County, West Virginia. The first section briefly summarizes the county board of education's plan and rationale for school consolidation and the concerns of residents opposed to the school closings. The second section draws on a representative sampling of the literature on the effectiveness of small and rural schools to rebut the county's argument that academic achievement will improve as a result of consolidation. The third section outlines conditions imposed on the school district by the state: (1) increased educational standards in response to the mandates of the Recht decision; (2) a state aid formula that increasingly reduces staff positions, but does not contain weighting factors that address ruralness or population sparsity; and (3) large amounts of incentive aid for new educational facilities to districts that enact higher educational standards and qualify under the staffing ratio. The effect of these conditions is to force consolidation as a local choice where, in fact, no choice exists. The fourth section discusses the right of children to a quality education and the responsibility of the state to deliver educational services to children without worsening their present condition. This report concludes that the opponents to the school closings are appropriately seeking to dissuade school authorities from proceeding with consolidation, and recommends legislative, legal, and educational options. (SV)