T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - West Marshall students prepare for the bus ride home Friday afternoon.

Editor’s note: This is the third part in a Times-Republican Education Corner series on some of the area’s rural schools. The series looks at the history and formation of the schools, as well as what challenges they face in modern times.

A lot has changed since European settlers arrived in Marshall County and set up towns, roads and schools.

From the first one- and two-room school houses in the 1800s and into the 1900s to modern consolidated school districts, education has remained a key part of life in rural Iowa.

Leaders at the West Marshall, East Marshall and Green Mountain-Garwin school districts know that being a small, rural district comes with advantages and challenges.

Taking on challenges

Demographic changes in the early- and mid-20th century played a big role in why small, localized schools decided to consolidate into larger districts. The same kind of force still impacts small districts today.

“Declining enrollment obviously is a challenge … 85 percent of the districts in the state are being challenged by declining enrollment now,” said East Marshall Superintendent Tony Ryan.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau confirms that pattern. While Iowa’s overall population is growing, more people are moving to large metro areas like Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

“Those are where the population growth is occurring in the school systems,” Ryan said.

Lack of students is not the only issue some districts face when it comes to filling classrooms.

“Really, it’s as old as can be. It’s the course offerings,” said West Marshall Superintendent Jacy Large. “How many staff members do we have that teach various offerings in various fields or tracks? We have two high school English teachers but they can only teach so many sections of English, where at some of your larger schools, you’ve seen that there’s more offerings.”

Large would know. He has previously worked at Marshalltown, Southeast Polk and Ankeny school districts, all much larger in population than West Marshall.

Green Mountain-Garwin Secondary School Principal Nathan Kleinmeyer also said large districts have some advantages over smaller ones.

“In general, the challenges smaller schools face is we have the same state requirements as schools moderately and severely larger than us,” he said. “We have to accomplish the same with less sometimes.”

One area all three administrators said keeps their attention is transporting students to and from school. For older students who can drive, a trip from the outskirts of their school district could take a half hour or more.

For school buses with designated routes, the trips can take longer. The longest bus route at East Marshall takes about 1 hour and 5 minutes, including a 10-minute or less wait on the route, Ryan said.

It’s a similar situation for GMG’s longest-lasting bus route. Kleinmeyer said some students who live in the far reaches of the district could be on the bus for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Large said West Marshall students do not stay on the bus longer than an hour on any given route. He said he added a route to the preschool bus schedule that cut the time down last semester.

Rural districts across Iowa with high transportation costs stand to benefit from recent state legislation giving extra money to help cover diesel fuel costs. One beneficiary will be East Marshall.

“East Marshall is ranked 17th in transportation costs among the 300-plus school districts in the state,” Ryan said.

Large said overall financial stewardship is a big part of leading a small, rural district.

“What do you do to spend that money where it’s needed? You always have those adversities – ‘Are we building this school today? Are we creating renovations today?'” he said.

Large said it is important to keep in mind that improvements made to the district now have impacts decades later.

Small town opportunities

While there are definite challenges facing rural school districts, the administrators said there is plenty to smile about at West Marshall, East Marshall and GMG.

“I think smaller, rural districts are still able to provide that community school atmosphere,” Kleinmeyer said. “I think for good or for bad, teachers will know you based on older siblings … they not only know you, they know your family.”

Ryan and Large also said their schools offer a robust sense of community.

“When we look at a smaller district, what we tend to see is kids involved with everything,” Large said. “I’ve been in the metro schools myself, and you might have a kid compete in maybe two sports and maybe one fine art.”

While the overall offerings may be fewer at a small district, Large said students are able to get deeply involved in several athletic, artistic and club activities. He said one example of an opportunity at West Marshall is the high school pool has been certified for use in sporting events.

“I think the unique thing is there’s a camaraderie about a small town or a rural atmosphere, and you have second-, third-, fourth generations in this community that kind of make it whole,” Large said.

Ryan said the generally small class sizes at small, rural districts help students.

“The relationships that are cultivated, in my opinion, can be a little stronger and a little more in-depth,” he said.

Ryan said the small size of East Marshall has not stopped innovation. The district recently completed an upgrade to the security systems at its three locations in Le Grand, Laurel and Gilman.

Kleinmeyer said the real strength of small, rural districts is their importance to surrounding communities.

“I think the rural districts are still the backbone of rural Iowa,” he said. “Hopefully, what we’re instilling in the kids is a grit and determination that they need to move forward.”