The Consolidation of Alleghany County and Covington City Public Schools: A Case Study

Many factors can threaten the financial viability of communities, including an aging population and a lack of viable local industries and job opportunities that result in the out-migration of the workforce—both of which can result in a reduction of school-aged children within certain towns and regions. Hence, communities facing such challenges must consider ways to economize so that they can provide as many essential services as possible, and of a quality that best serves the local population. The consolidation of school divisions is one strategy to consider when localities are struggling financially and the numbers of students are declining. School consolidation is not a common occurrence in the U.S., which is why there is limited available research on the topic. In late-January 2021, the Virginia Board of Education voted unanimously in favor of the consolidation of Alleghany County and Covington City school divisions within the Alleghany Highlands, which is a region in Western Virginia beset by economic challenges and a declining population. This is the first consolidation of school divisions to be approved in the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2014, and only the third consolidation to occur since 1982. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the factors that led to the consolidation of Alleghany County Public School and Covington City Public Schools through an analysis of historical artifacts and interview data obtained from two composite groups of respondents with deep knowledge of the process: (a) current and/or former school employees (e.g., former and current superintendents and finance directors), and (b) current elected or appointed officials and community members from either Alleghany or Covington (e.g., council members and school board members). Three research questions guided this study: (1) What factors led to the decision to consolidate the school divisions of Alleghany County and Covington City? (2) Since this is not the first time that school division consolidation has been proposed in the Alleghany Highlands region, what factors were different or why were the factors weighed differently this time? (3) What role did funding made available by the General Assembly play in this decision? The findings obtained from interviewees were analyzed based on the most-cited factors to the least-cited factors. Among the prevalent themes that emerged from the qualitative data were the importance of trust and open lines of communication from the inception of the process, the good working relationships of those driving the process, community buy-in, and taking into account the regional identity and pulse of the community in decision-making. Also found to be important was illustrating how the consolidation would benefit students in increased course offerings. Given that only three school division consolidations have occurred in the Commonwealth of Virginia in almost four decades, it is expected that a record of the events and essential factors that were found to be pivotal in the decision to consolidate these two school divisions in the Alleghany Highlands could be useful to other school divisions, both in Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S. that might be considering a similar decision for both the fiscal health of the local communities and the best pedagogical outcome for students.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department dc:contributor.department

Counselor Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Fobare, Corey Scott

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Alexander, Michael D.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Salmon, Richard G.
• Cash, Carol S.
• Lyons, Daniel Eugene
• Worner, Wayne M.

• School Division Consolidation

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:33943

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/108878