The Department of Education has approved the Oldham-Ramona-Rutland school district’s revised plan to dissolve and set an election date of December 16. At a special meeting October 27, the ORR school board approved that election date, with a snow-day make-up date of December 23. Early voting started October 31 and runs through December 15 at the Rutland school during regular school hours and by appointment.
This December election culminates a process launched by 190 district voters who petitioned to dissolve the district last spring. Oldahm-Ramona and Rutland consolidated just two years ago but failed to win public consensus on building a new school building to replace the two 100-plus-year-old school buildings in which they had separately operated. Oldham and Ramona consolidated in 1990.
DOE stats show that eleven South Dakota school districts have dissolved since 1990. Additionally, in 2004, Tea split from Lennox to form its own school district. In 2024, Colome ended its weird discontiguous 2010 consolidation with the Wood and Witten areas and split its northern island between White River and Winner.
The ORR school district fact sheet notes that dissolving the school district will eliminate 42 jobs. These jobs won’t reappear in other districts: splitting 193 kids among nine adjacent, absorbing districts probably won’t require any of those schools to add teachers or support staff:
- By ORR’s projections, Arlington stands to see the largest enrollment increase by percentage, with 38 ORR kids adding 14% to their Fall 2024 enrollment of 277. (DOE will publish Fall 2025 enrollment next month.) That’s roughly three kids per grade, which might justify hiring and additional teacher or two if those newcomers land in a grade that’s already over capacity.
- Lake Preston would see a 12% enrollment boost from ORR refugees, 20 more kids adding to the current 164. That’s maybe a couple kids per grade, again not likely to justify a new FTE in any one grade.
- ORR projects Madison will see the largest number of new students, 46. But Madison already has 1,172 K-12 students. Spread those kids across the grades, each of which are already spread across multiple classrooms, and teacher workload will hardly change.
At best, I’d estimate that each school district might add one FTE—maybe a teacher, maybe a special ed aide—so maybe nine new positions, leaving a net loss of 33 jobs. If we count those jobs as part of Lake County’s workforce, that loss would be enough to raise the county unemployment rate from 2.0% in August to 2.5%.
If it had just been Rutland – Oldham – Ramona they would have persevered. Ror over Orr.
Also, you lose administrator positions and non-teaching staff positions. There may be a slight increase in transportation costs to receiving districts. I wonder what the savings to taxpayers will be.
Why does a welder or a coder or even a registered nurse need a liberal arts education especially when the Holy Bible and The Turner Diaries are all you’re allowed to read in South Dakota?
I don’t know where to find the statistics on this but my guess is that of the 130+ resident students that left ORR or the last two years, Madison got the majority of them with Sioux Valley next in the number of students received.
Madison provides a very acceptable education environment and experience. At least all my friends from there know how to speak proper English, spell, and follow and discuss current events.
Q ~ Where do unemployed SD teachers go to get work? Do they mingle into other schools in the state or migrate to the “big time”? You know. Like Nebraska. #grins
Pollock chose to consolidate with the Mobridge School District (30 miles) over Herried (18 miles) because of the rivalry between them. Maybe they’d just rather be a tiger than a wolverine. I don’t know who pays for the transportation but there is only a handful of kids for the bus to pick up.
There were not many staff at the old school in Pollock as the population dropped and it became a fishing haven with houses as 2nd homes and RB&Bs. I don’t know what the advantage was for Mobridge as they had to buy a smaller bus for a handful of students. Hurts for snow days.
I think consolidation of schools is a given in the rural areas with less kids. And pardon me if I say that there is too much administration for the pay they receive. In other states, elementary principals may have an assistant if they have 700 – 1000 students. More money is directed to teachers and other staff who are working directly with the students. In rural S.D. there’s a superintendent, and 3 principals for 200 – 500 students in K-12, not just elementary. And classroom sizes are smaller here, along with the pay for front line workers.
Rambler: latest DOE statistics show Madison received 47 open enrolled students (doesn’t say where they come from); Sioux Valley received 134 and ORR 106 (total enrollment 311).
Donald and VM raise a reasonable question about transportation costs. Absorbing districts might have to spend more on buses, as Mobridge did when it absorbed Pollock, but I would think the increased state funding they’ll get from increased enrollment would balance that cost out. Plus, (from SuperSweet’s figures) the third of ORR’s students who are open-enrolled will likely travel less distance to get to their new schools than they do traveling to ORR, meaning that, in the big picture, we’ll burn less fuel getting them to school than we do now.
I get the impression that parents don’t rely on the buses as much as they used to, even in rural districts. Is that the case? Are more students going to school in family vehicles instead of on the bus?
Salaries are the biggest education cost, bigger than transportation. Again in the big picture, if ORR dissolves, South Dakota will be paying 33 fewer teachers. That’s 33 fewer teachers’ worth of state aid available for other uses.
Bussing can be an expensive issue no matter the per student revenue. That gets eaten up from staff salaries. McLaughlin sends 5 buses a day to Little Eagle, Kenel, Bullhead, Bear Soldier, and McLaughlin rural areas and in town. They’ve bussed so many because some schools are just K-5.
However, Ft. Yates, sends busses to those same 5 schools. McIntosh sends a bus to McLaughlin. Wakpala, across the river, sends a bus to Mobridge and picks up about 35-40 students. Selby sends a bus to Mobridge to pick up a few.
With so many busses running every which way but south, parents are grateful for the “free ride” that isn’t so free but does keep so many parents off the roads and all the kids in one big safe place, the dreaded bus.
Oh, and most districts run late busses for sports practices, other curricular activities, and detention.
I think there are three colony schools in the district. I estimate about 50 voters per. So that is 150 votes +/-. A good sized voting block and each colony votes the same. This could have a big impact on the election. How will they vote?