CLARK COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) – The Loyal and Greenwood School Districts in Clark County are looking into consolidating. The possible merger comes as the districts face similar challenges, but the hope with the consolidation is to provide more resources to students.
The Greenwood and Loyal School districts are less than ten miles apart. They collectively serve just under 1,000, but the districts are looking into eventually educating these students as one.
“We’re trying to give our kids as many opportunities as we can,” Joe Green, the District Administrator with the School District of Greenwood, said.
The two districts face similar challenges with staffing, declining enrollment and financial support.
“Obviously, the state budget helps us out in some areas, but it isn’t enough,” Chris Lindner, the Superintendent of the School District of Loyal, said.
“We’re to a point where it’s getting harder and harder for voters to balance their own budget and continue to put more money into school funding,” Green said.
The Loyal and Greenwood school districts also share a unique challenge.
“We have a larger Amish and Mennonite population in the district that does not attend public school,” Green said. “They have their own schools.”
The districts already collaborate closely. They provide sports coops, share some classes, and have the same bus service. Green said neither district is in debt, and they also have similar mill rates. So, because of all of these factors, the district is looking to consolidate. Green and Lindner hope the proposed merger would provide even more resources to students.
“Greenwood is paying something. Loyal is paying something,” Lindner said. “As one district, you would pay once. I think that would be very cost-effective for that single districts.”
“There’s not a lot of districts that have done this recently,” Green said. “I think it raises concern for people because of the unknown, but I truly do believe that we have a good school district in Greenwood and a good district in Loyal, and putting two good districts together really gives us an opportunity to be better.”
A joint board of the two districts approved a binding question on the November 2026 ballot about the consolidation. If passed, the target date for the two districts to become one is July 2028.