Western North Dakota school district consolidations continue to be a topic of great local concern. This is apparent in the Hebron, Glen Ullin, and Richardton-Taylor school districts. A qualitative case study of these communities addressed the importance of four school district consolidation issues to the area: 1) time zones differences; 2) time on a bus; 3) identifying key stakeholders; and 4) other factors as noted by respondents. Data was collected from a mail back questionnaire sent to administrators and school board members. Major findings were: 1) time zones differences were of minimal importance; 2) time spent on a bus was to be of short duration; 3) the key decision makers were to be the school board members plus patrons; and 4) open enrollment is not so important. Similar issues exist in other rural areas experiencing energy booms, which is why this research has applicability beyond western North Dakota.
","abstract_html":"<p>Western North Dakota school district consolidations continue to be a topic of great local concern. This is apparent in the Hebron, Glen Ullin, and Richardton-Taylor school districts. A qualitative case study of these communities addressed the importance of four school district consolidation issues to the area: 1) time zones differences; 2) time on a bus; 3) identifying key stakeholders; and 4) other factors as noted by respondents. Data was collected from a mail back questionnaire sent to administrators and school board members. Major findings were: 1) time zones differences were of minimal importance; 2) time spent on a bus was to be of short duration; 3) the key decision makers were to be the school board members plus patrons; and 4) open enrollment is not so important. Similar issues exist in other rural areas experiencing energy booms, which is why this research has applicability beyond western North Dakota.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kitzan, Angela M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Geography & Geographic Information Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Devon A. Hansen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:26:17Z","subjects":["energy boom impact, school community, school consolidation, school population, school transportation, western north dakota"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.und.edu/theses/1296","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Devon A. Hansen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kitzan, Angela M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Geography & Geographic Information Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["energy boom impact, school community, school consolidation, school population, school transportation, western north dakota"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.und.edu/theses/1296"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Western North Dakota school district consolidations continue to be a topic of great local concern. This is apparent in the Hebron, Glen Ullin, and Richardton-Taylor school districts. A qualitative case study of these communities addressed the importance of four school district consolidation issues to the area: 1) time zones differences; 2) time on a bus; 3) identifying key stakeholders; and 4) other factors as noted by respondents. Data was collected from a mail back questionnaire sent to administrators and school board members. Major findings were: 1) time zones differences were of minimal importance; 2) time spent on a bus was to be of short duration; 3) the key decision makers were to be the school board members plus patrons; and 4) open enrollment is not so important. Similar issues exist in other rural areas experiencing energy booms, which is why this research has applicability beyond western North Dakota.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Impacts Of Transportation And Population Upon Western North Dakota School Consolidation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Devon A. Hansen"],"dc:creator":["Kitzan, Angela M."],"dc:description.abstract":["Western North Dakota school district consolidations continue to be a topic of great local concern. This is apparent in the Hebron, Glen Ullin, and Richardton-Taylor school districts. A qualitative case study of these communities addressed the importance of four school district consolidation issues to the area: 1) time zones differences; 2) time on a bus; 3) identifying key stakeholders; and 4) other factors as noted by respondents. Data was collected from a mail back questionnaire sent to administrators and school board members. Major findings were: 1) time zones differences were of minimal importance; 2) time spent on a bus was to be of short duration; 3) the key decision makers were to be the school board members plus patrons; and 4) open enrollment is not so important. Similar issues exist in other rural areas experiencing energy booms, which is why this research has applicability beyond western North Dakota.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.und.edu/theses/1296"],"dc:subject":["energy boom impact, school community, school consolidation, school population, school transportation, western north dakota"],"dc:title":["Impacts Of Transportation And Population Upon Western North Dakota School Consolidation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Geography & Geographic Information Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:26:17Z"}