In 1988 Trumbull County and the State of Ohio striped and stole from the children, families, community and town(s) of West Farmington and Farmington, its long established (1817-1988) and highly successful local school. We seek help in deconsolidating from Bristol School District (notice its not called Bristol-Farmington School District) and a return of sovereignty, equality and sustainability for our town, children and families.

In 1986, the high school seniors in the Farmington Local School District, Trumbull County, Ohio, scored an average of 26 on their ACT college board examinations. The average score for Ohio was 19. Farmington students won the Academic Challenge, a quiz show for students in Trumbull County. And won the Ohio State competition among the Beta Clubs, a organization for Honor students. In the schools history, high school drop outs were a rarity. And the school had no high school drop outs in the years before it was forced to close. The high school Valedictorian of the class of 1986, was accepted by all three national service academies. She attended and graduated from West Point and is now a Doctor.

Farmington school was K-12. And Farmington Local School educated all the children of Farmington. Including Amish children who only attend school through the 8th grade. The Amish sent their children to Farmington school rather then to “only Amish schools” for both the superior educational experiences and the social diversity of mixing with the “Yankee” children.

The Farmington school District spent less per pupil then most any other district in the State. And since 1956, the burden of school support and funding was largely placed on Farmington residential home owners. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources began acquiring the towns farmlands in 1956. Limiting and all but nullifying opportunity for industry or large scale farming. The once farmland, but now Game Reserve, currently encompasses over 7,600-acres of Farmington land. And the State of Ohio pays no taxes on this 7,600 plus acres and continues to swallow up what few farms remain. And perhaps more poignantly, the State continues to rob the town of Farmington of tax dollars, economic viability and its future existence.

The loss of the school has played well into the hands of the State which long had a plan to put an end to education in Farmington. No one wants to live in a town without a school, without local business, where property values continue to plummet disproportionably compared to towns with a school. What parent wants their children to ride upwards of 2 hours a day on a bus to attend school in a neighboring town. And what parent wants for their children to have little to no opportunity to participate in after school activities, or to perform lower on test scores, have higher drop out rates and lower academic achievement then the children of the town which hosts the consolidated school. With few people desiring to move to a town without a school. homes, farms and land are abandoned in towns without a school. And unable to sell a property which they must still pay taxes on, Farmington property owners often find the State to be the only willing buyer.

Having a host town educate children also is a factor in the continued decline of towns without schools. In Farmington children feel no alliance to the town in which they sleep, eat and live. But rather they take pride in being “Bristol Panthers”. When these kids graduate and move out of their parents homes, they flee Farmington like the sinking ship it has become. They seek to live in a town with economic opportunities and the prospect for recreation, employment, businesses investment or the ability to buy gas, groceries, get a hair cut, get a pizza, a cup of coffee… And they seek to live where their children will have opportunities they were denied by living in a dying town. They seek also to reap the reward of their tax dollars.

Towns without schools have their children and their tax dollars and shoveled out to the host town. The State of Ohio pushes and mandates the poison of school consolidation with the proven fallacy of “the economics of scale” and the promise of increased educational opportunities. However, thirty years of research reveals, “Larger schools, in contrast, have been shown to increase administration and transportation costs, raise dropout rates, lower student involvement in extra-curricular activities, widened achievement gaps, and predicted future economic opportunities and outcomes and harm rural communities’ sense of place.”

“Students and families in towns where schools are closed are more likely to experience harm than are students and families in the towns where schools “receive” students from the consolidation of schools,” “The most dramatic effect of school and district consolidation is often on communities which loses’ its hometown school.” “Put simply, the loss of a school erodes a community’s social and economic base — its sense of community, identity and democracy — and the loss permanently diminishes the community itself, sometimes to the verge of abandonment” For “fiscal efficiency or educational quality” … “deconsolidation is more likely to achieve substantial efficiencies and yield substantial improved outcomes”.

Help us fight to deconsolidate and return education to Farmington. If you are not moved to do it for us, then do it for you and your town and your children. The State of Ohio is revisiting their mandated plan for school consolidation State wide. If you live in a small town, or cherish small town America, this directly and personally effects you. By helping us return education and our school to our town, you help fight back against an imposed system which strips the sovereignty and solvency of all towns. And your small town is next on the State of Ohio’s list.