One of the state's smallest school corporations needs to think big if it's to act in the best interest of its students and taxpayers.
At tiny Union School Corp. in Randolph County, the handwriting is on the wall — the school system has about two or three years of funds left. School enrollment growth does not appear to be a viable solution, nor does an infusion of cash from the state.
Tough decisions must be made by educators, administrators, school board members, parents and even students, regarding the school's future. And they must be made soon. Options appear to be limited to merging with another school system, or dissolving the district.
Neither one is pleasant for a school corporation that prides itself on smallness, and the advantages that offers, such as a tight-knit organization familiar with the needs of its students.
The dilemma facing Union, with an enrollment of 340 students, is, or will soon be, faced by other school corporations in East Central Indiana and across the state. Union might be the first domino to fall. The course it charts will be watched closely.
We would urge the school board and administrators to look further out than just a few years. They must devise a long-term solution that lasts decades. Here's why.
To Union's east lies Randolph Southern, with an enrollment of 535 in 2012. To the south lies Blue River Valley with an enrollment of 688. Monroe Central to the north has an enrollment of 1,006, also in 2012.
None of these schools, according to a 2014 Ball State study on corporation size and education costs, is large enough to meet a "minimum efficient scale for school corporations in the state." The study concluded that minimum was 2,000 students. No corporation in Randolph County reaches that level.