There is a lot of passion surrounding small schools. A planned march from Columbia Falls and Cherryfield, where elementary schools may close, to Augusta exemplifies the strong feelings surrounding this issue. Some of that passion has become anger directed at efforts to urge the consolidation of school districts and functions.

Before lawmakers make any decisions on this issue, several things need to happen. First, there needs to be a recognition that for many communities, a school is the center of local activity. Take the school away and the town withers. This part of the debate isn’t about money, it is about community vitality. In such instances, schools likely deserve help to stay open and to offer local children a high-quality education.

Second, talk of large and small schools is meaningless unless these terms are defined. Does a small school have 50 students, 200? Currently, advocates on both sides of the issue are talking past each other because they aren’t using a common language.

Finally, before dedicating more money – the governor called for an extra $3 million for high performing small schools in his State of the State speech – to the state’s littlest schools, lawmakers and state officials should review two forthcoming reports. The analyses should guide what is, at heart, a philosophical, question.

A report from the Center for Education Policy, Applied Research & Evaluation, due to the Legislature’s Education Committee next week, should help in a couple ways. The University of Southern Maine center was asked to determine what it costs to run a high-performing school, with performance determined by three years of scores on the Maine Educational Assessment.

While the data is still being assessed, the center’s director, David Silvernail, says it likely costs more to run a high-performing small school than a larger one. But, he rightly emphasizes, the state should want all schools, regardless of their size, to perform well.

While the USM group is looking at finances, the Department of Education is studying the qualities of high-performing schools in hopes of duplicating these characteristics in other schools. They may find that the low student-teacher ratios in small schools and the parental involvement that small communities allow improve student performance. Conversely, they’ll probably determine that small schools can’t offer the diversity of classes and activities that a larger one can and this can harm student performance.

Overshadowing this work is the governor’s push for consolidation of school administrative services. It could be that administrative consolidation and efficiencies, and the cost savings that result, are the salvation of small schools. The premise is that money saved on transportation, food service and administration – functions handled at the district level – can be used to improve classroom instruction, in schools of any size, but the money shift is especially important for smaller schools.

This is what the governor is trying to do by putting money in his budget for both administrative consolidation and support for high-performing small schools. The challenge for lawmakers is to help school districts do both.