In a small, struggling, rural school district, death of a savvy superintendent leaves it reeling

For small, rural school districts, leadership is crucial, as Climax-Scotts Community Schools in southwestern Michigan knows all too well. Already beset by declines in population and revenue, the system is now reeling from the death of its superintendent, Julie Mack reports for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Its experience may be a lesson for rural districts anywhere.

Colleagues say Geoffrey Balkam's role as a "savvy, experienced leader for the past 12 years" was paramount to fixing the problems the district was already facing before his death. "I don't know what the future holds," Kevin Langs, the Climax-Scotts athletic director, told Mack. "I believe, and Geoff felt the same way, that there is a niche in today's world for small, rural public schools. But just because I believe that doesn't mean it will happen."

Mack reports that small districts struggle because they lack economy of scale, shrinking enrollment and less class offerings. She writes, "While a larger district might be able to lay off a teacher and divide 140 fourth-graders among five teachers instead of six, a district with only 50 or so kids per grade has less flexibility." Recession-driven budget cuts cut deeper in those institutions like Climax-Scotts, which have fewer assets to fall back on. But, despite the dire situation facing the district, the rural community remains fiercely loyal to Climax-Scotts and what it represents. Township Clerk Marcia Lewis, a lifelong Climax resident whose great-grandmother graduated from Climax and whose grandchildren now attend the school, is optimistic, even if logic says otherwise. "Of course the schools will survive. Of course we will." (Read more).