| This study was undertaken to develop reorganization plans that would simplify the existing structure of public school districts in North Dakota. A review of present practices in the North Dakota public school districts revealed enrollment and program disparities. A minimum educational program for the secondary schools was devised, and alternative plans of a state educational organization were examined. The constraints were considered to be transportation logistics and population sparsity.; To begin planning for student enrollments necessary to support the proposed program, the public school students were allocated to townships based upon data gathered from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. In all, four contrasting educational structures were created. The first three plans were based on achieving target enrollment minimums of 200, 250, and 300 pupils in each district. Non-operating, rural-graded, and elementary districts were eliminated. The fourth plan examined the feasibility of reorganization based on educational units defined within the boundaries of the existing 53 counties.; The first stage of the analysis computed the average, maximum, and total transported miles for pupils within each plan. The distance effects of each reorganization plan were compared to those that exist within the present structure. Under each reorganization plan, the number of operating school districts was reduced to approximately one-half or less than what presently exists, the average transported miles per student was increased by less than two miles, and the maximum distance increases were slight. The second step involved a regression analysis which found that the number of transported students explains approximately as much of the variance in enrollment as is possible when using transported students, transported student density, or total transported miles.; An examination of the findings led to the conclusion that the needed school district reorganization in North Dakota, despite its population sparsity, could best be accomplished under the "county" plan. While the proposed common core program could be achieved under all four reorganization plans, the "county" plan best offset the political and educational limitations of reorganization. |
