Small Cities Make Big Strides in Partnerships with Schools

Small cities in particular recognize the importance of working with their school districts in a variety of ways. A number of mayors and other municipal leaders meet regularly with the school board or superintendent to discuss common issues or concerns; others give city staff paid time off in order to mentor students and many cities, and school districts have created joint-use agreements that make public school buildings available for community use after the schools have closed for the day.

“Our city recognizes that our real estate values are heavily impacted by the quality of the schools,” said Councilmember Margaret Finlay of Duarte, Calif.

From Marion, N.C., to Hermiston, Ore., and from Duarte to West Carrollton, Ohio, small cities are making big strides in education and city-school partnerships.

Tualatin, Ore. (population 26,208)
Conversations between Tualatin’s city council and school district led to the passage of an $8 million bond measure for joint-use agreements. Although $4.2 million supported the public library, the remaining $3.8 million was used for a green area and park enhancement, which included artificial turf for the high school football field.

The field, built in 2005, is owned by the school, but the city handles scheduling and treatment of the field for non-school uses. School sports teams, community members and local sports clubs all have access to the field.  

Parkersburg, W.Va. (population 31,755)
To help combat childhood obesity, the City of Parkersburg, Wood County Board of Education and several area foundations developed a partnership called the Schools to Pools Project. In cooperation with Wood County Schools, the city has issued a free season pass for use of the city’s pools to all elementary school aged children who receive free or reduced price lunch and attend school in the city.

In addition, the Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority has agreed to give free transportation to and from the pools for any child with a pool pass. In 2007, the city gave out nearly 2,000 free passes.  

Littleton, Colo. (population 40,324)
The Littleton Police Department (LPD) and Littleton Public Schools (LPS) have a long-standing relationship and a history of cooperation. The LPD has three full-time school resource officers — one in each high school and the third responsible for the city’s three middle schools. The positions are partially funded by the school district, with the remainder provided by the city.

The police department SWAT team works in close cooperation with LPS security officers on training and incident response, including providing joint training sessions. LPS allows the police department to use its facilities for emergency shelters and provided the LPD with floor plans of the schools on both paper and computer to aid in incident responses.

West Carrollton, Ohio (population 13,005)
The school district that serves West Carrollton also serves parts of the City of Moraine and Miami Township. Elected officials from each of the three municipalities and school board regularly meet to discuss cooperative efforts and opportunities to better serve the community and achieve mutual goals.

Hermiston, Ore. (population 14,891)
Three times per year, the Hermiston School District, City of Hermiston and local Chamber of Commerce honor two outstanding students from each of the area public and private schools.

They are recognized at a “Breakfast of Champions” sponsored by McDonald’s and other area businesses. Each honoree receives a framed certificate from the mayor of Hermiston. Other surrounding smaller school districts — such as the communities of Stanfield, Echo and Umatilla — are also included.

Duarte, Calif. (population 22,165)
The City of Duarte has a very active, positive relationship with the local school district. The city has formed a 25-year agreement in which it provides maintenance and landscaping for school grounds in exchange for the city having full use of school grounds for recreational programs after school hours.

The city and school district have partnered to pass a $44 million bond to improve five elementary schools, one junior high school and two high schools. The city also pays half the price to send eighth grade students to Sacramento to learn how state government works, contributes money to help fund the annual high school musical and contributed over $300,000 during a three-year period to fund a reading program in the district.

Rexburg, Idaho (population 26,657)
Although the city has four tennis courts in two different parks that the high school tennis program used, the city worked with the school district and community to develop six courts together that were needed for the program. The school district provided the land and $50,000, the city contributed light poles and $200,000 from the Urban Renewal Fund, and the community raised money and received in-kind donations.

Marion, N.C. (population 5,057)
City officials meet monthly with school district and county officials to discuss issues of mutual concern. Each year, the city educates children about local government by hosting a field trip for all third graders in the county to visit a water plant, the waste treatment facility, city hall, and the fire, police and public works departments. Local businesses provide lunch for students at the city-owned community building.

Details: To learn more about NLC’s efforts to support small cities engaged in education, contact Lucinda Dugger at (202) 626-3052 or dugger@nlc.org.