but the rural economy and demographics are changing, and that, says superintendent tom wermuth, iacts schools. although our area is growing,we e growing primarily over the age of 60 and becoming more of t retireestination. we're not attracting thet families thaaditionally were of child bearing age. >> brown: so it's a numbers game in part? >> it's a numbers game. and it's a numbers game because student headcount dictates how we're financed.ro >>: but for everyone here, of course, it's abou more than just numbers. the school closures have split communities and pitted towns against one another. >> it was hard. it was emotionally hard. still hard. >> brown: i see. because? >> because it was such a part of our lives. >> brown: karen wilkinson was a teacher at arena elementary for years,ntil she retired two years ago. >> neighbors stopped speaking to neighbors. friendships were divided. >> brown: really? it got to that point? >> it did get to that point. >> brown: she and others say when the arena school was closed, the heart of the town was lost, leaving just one cafe and a cheese shop as

then as now, superintendent wermuth says the goal is to offer students access to classes and programs unavailable at smaller schools. >> we've got phenomenal career and technology educationog ms. we have a welding program, we have an automotive program, we have an electronics program, we amve a business program, we have an agriculture pro >> lots of times when a school oses a community. community, it >> brown: education expert julie underwood says although closurei can be devas to small towns, consolidation is often the only choice to keep school districts viable. >> you want to stay vibrant as ch as possible. d once you start losing that-- by losing students or cutting programs-- you're going to lose more students and cut more ograms. it's a bad cycle. >> brown: she says rural school districts like river valley are victims of a double economic whammy. >> if you ok at the demographic maps of wisconsin, not only has theopulation shifted out of rural areas, but those rural areas haveecome poorer in terms of income, so they have less resources to deal with greater problems. >> brown: and