The philosophy permeates the entire organization, from Burns’s office to the custodial staff. When the school board faces tough choices or administrators debate major changes, they apply the same lens.“We are mindful of the other individuals, but first and foremost is what is best for students. And then we figure everything else out from there,” Burns says. In an educational landscape where Indiana’s perstudent funding has declined by $574 compared to 2007 levels, such clarity of purpose becomes even more critical. Angel Hocker, the district’s Director of Learning, sees this student-centered approach play out daily across the corporation’s four schools. The district serves approximately 26,400 residents in Decatur County, where the median household income of $74,228 exceeds state averages, yet leadership knows that economic stability doesn’t guarantee educational success without intentional focus on student outcomes. SECURING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IN RURAL INDIANA Rural schools across America face mounting pressures, with more than half of districts enrolling fewer than 2,000 students experiencing declining enrollment over the past decade.Yet Decatur County Community Schools represents a powerful counternarrative, achieving recognition that places it among Indiana’s educational elite.The district’s performance metrics tell a story of sustained excellence that defies conventional assumptions about small-town schooling. “South Decatur High School for three consecutive years is a US News top school in the state of Indiana. North Decatur High School has been the same for the last three to four years,” Burns reports. “Last year they were ranked 24th in the state, the 24th ranked high school in the state of Indiana.” Both high schools have earned this prestigious recognition while serving a student population that could easily get lost in larger urban districts. Burns details a comprehensive portfolio of achievements: “Our elementaries have had extremely high I-Read scores and have been recognized by the state as being high performing schools, meeting that 247 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 08 DECATUR COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
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