Rural School Consolidation: Area Districts at the Time of the 1932 Consolidation Study

In the Eighty-Third Report on the Public Schools of the State of Missouri issued in 1932, a supplement of over 1,650 pages was included, with recommendations devised by committees presented on the consolidation of school districts by county.

The report provides us a glimpse of the situation of area schools at that time. Missouri then had four classes of school district: common (rural), city, town, and consolidated. High schools were classified as first class (offering four full years of instruction), second class (three years), third class (two years) or unclassified, with schools funded under the Job Act considered a special kind of third-class high school but often treated as an entirely separate classification. Education for many rural students ended after the eighth grade.

Dade County had 62 common districts, three town districts (Lockwood, Everton and South Greenfield), and four consolidated districts: Arcola C-1 (three-year high school), Dadeville C-2 (four-year high school), Pennsboro C-3 (no centralized school or high school with four one-room schools still operating), and Greenfield C-4 (four-year high school). District No. 18 at Bona maintained a two-year high school funded by the Job Act.

Lawrence County had 85 common districts, city or town districts at Aurora, Halltown, and Verona, and five consolidated districts: Consolidated District No.1, in the rural area north of Aurora; Marionville C-2, Peirce City C-3 (the proper spelling at the time), Miller C-4, and Mt. Vernon C-5. Job schools were maintained by districts No. 10 in Red Oak and No. 26 in Stotts City. The Forest Park area – soon to be part of Monett – was already included in the Monett school district, which was considered to be a Barry County district.

Barton County had 89 common districts, one city or town district, Lamar, and three consolidated districts: Liberal C-1, Minden C-2 (at Mindenmines), and Golden City C-3. While Lamar was considered to have a city or town district, it was also sometimes called District No. 13 of Lamar Township (being named before “City Township” was formed). Job schools were maintained in Iantha (Central Township District No. 7), Milford (Newport Township No. 3), Nashville (Southwest Township No. 2) and Oskaloosa (Leroy Township No. 3); the Burgess district (Ozark Township No. 7), bordering Mulberry, kan., maintained a two-teacher elementary school.

Greene County had at least 85 common districts (out of 98 total), and five districts identified by name as consolidated: Strafford C-2, Willard C-3, Fair Grove C-4, Republic C-5, and Ash Grove C-7 (the Bois D’Arc C-10 district wasn’t formed until 1947). There were five two-room elementary school districts and one four-room elementary school district (District No. 90, Oak Grove, which also offered students the option of one year of high school instruction), five Job schools and eight first-class high schools, including Walnut Grove, Ash Grove and Bois D’Arc.

Cedar County had 70 common districts and three consolidated districts: Bear Creek C-1, Caplinger Mills C-2, and Eldorado Springs C-3. First class high schools were maintained in the Jerico Springs town district, the Stockton city district, and by Eldorado Springs C-3. Districts C-1 and C-2 maintained third class high schools; Cedar Springs District No. 3 had a Job school; Hartley District No. 83 had a two-teacher elementary school.

Jasper County had about 90 common districts (out of 112 total), but only one consolidated district listed in the 1932 state report, Asbury C-1. That is a bit misleading, though, as local school boards always had (and have) some leeway in choosing a name, and most districts in Jasper County chose to retain the former common number of the dominant partner in a consolidation, e.g. Jasper C-7, Alba C-46, however the state report made no distinction. There were 10 districts operating first class high schools: Alba C-46, Carl Junction C-70, Carterville C-91, No. 77 Carthage, Duenweg C-119, Jasper C-7, No. 121 Joplin, Sarcoxie C-110, Waco C-41, and No. 92 Webb City. No. 72 Oronogo operated a second-class high school while No. 57 Avilla and No. 83 LaRussel had Job schools. There was one nine-room (No. 98 Oakland and Royal Heights) and one four-room (No. 120 Duquesne) elementary district, as well as three three-room and six two-room elementary districts.

Polk County had at least 89 common districts (out of 101) and four consolidated districts listed, however, the situation with consolidated districts is likely similar to that in Jasper County. There were nine districts maintaining first-class high schools: Aldrich, Bolivar, Emma D. (at Goodson), Fair Play C-7, (No. 6) Flemington, Halfway C-8, Humansville, Marion C. Early (Morrisville) C-5, Pleasant Hope C-4. Dunnegan (No. 107) had a second-class high school while the King (No. 87) and Brighton (No. 92) districts had Job schools. There were also three two-room elementary schools. The Halfway C-8 district was a special case, with five one-room schools and one two-room school in the district.