The documents and articles annotated here offer many suggestions for developing closure criteria, planning, maintaining public and staff goodwill, and finding ways to use or dispose of school facilities. Examination of this material shows that techniques for school closure are not subject to great debate, but that failure to recognize and use them…

Describes the Adams Township school district's efforts to save its school. (AH)

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 purpose of this task force was to study the program, facilities, and alternatives of the Highline School District as they relate to enrollment decline. Specifically, the task force was to establish criteria for identifying facilities where changes should be considered; identify and prioritize alternatives for use of excess classroom space; and…

Declining enrollment means that school districts must engage in thoughtful, thorough planning to cope with this trend, according to the author. His paper outlines a process for school closing, including ways to involve the community in the decision-making process, thereby reducing the likelihood of community conflict and preserving the school…

Declining enrollment forces school districts to cope with many new problems, but also opens the door to new opportunities. A review of the implications of enrollment decline provides deeper understanding of both the problems and the opportunities. Among the major concerns are the disruptions caused by school closures, the new emphases required in…

The papers in this collection were presented at a midwest regional conference on enrollment decline and school closing. The papers deal with such topics as analyzing enrollment decline, examining trends in school enrollment and demography, and strengthening the educational program, as well as school facilities, public opinion and school closing,…

In response to declining enrollment, the school board and administration of the East Syracuse-Minoa Central School District (New York) undertook a comprehensive effort to examine conditions and plan for the future. Following an initial data-gathering phase, a citizens task force was appointed in 1977 to study the problem and make recommendations.…

Enrollment decline is a problem in the majority of Minnesota's school districts. Declining enrollment means that school administrators must plan for the financial difficulties arising from cutting budgets, reducing staff, closing buildings, and ending programs. Written to stimulate effective planning for declining enrollment, this manual…

This guidebook for managing declining enrollment in an era of fiscal retrenchment is presented in three sections. Section 1 describes the extent of enrollment decline; analyzes its causes, including changes in birth rates, women's work roles, and migration and housing patterns; and explores its effects, including reduced school budgets and staffs,…

The first duty of the educator is to forecast enrollments as accurately as possible, using the best means available. The second is to begin planning long in advance of a school closure or major reorganization. Watchwords of successful management for the years of dwindling enrollment are communication and community participation. Communication with…

School boards, administrators, and representatives of the community should develop long-range plans that not only consider the present state of schools but attempt to project 10 years hence. Demographic changes in communities indicate that managing decline will require a willingness to pare expenditures and an attempt to win back citizens'…