Iowa has shuttered more than 4300 school districts since 1950 as a result of demographic changes in rural Iowa. What that means for residents and students in rural Iowa is highlighted in a new documentary “Lost Schools.”
“As we were traveling through rural Iowa for other stories, we realized there was a lot of rural rot, what we’re using to describe what’s happening as population changes,” explains Jason Clayworth of the Des Moines Register who co-produced the documentary. “We were scratching our heads about how to tell the story of towns drying up, then we started to notice the connection to the schools.”
During this hour of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with Clayworth and Charlie Litchfield, also co-producer of the film.
Gregg Cruickshank, who is secretary-treasurer for the Rural School Advocates of Iowa and a shared superintendent for Syndey and South Page Schools, also joins the conversation.
The documentary will premier statewide on Iowa Public Television on Thursday October 22 at 7:00 p.m.
