School districts in Nebraska are independent governments. No public school systems in Nebraska are dependent on other layers of government.[1]
Nebraska school district classification
Nebraska public school districts are divided into four classes:
Class 3 (district has 1 to 499,999 inhabitants)
Class 4 (district has more than 100,000 inhabitants in primary cities; Lincoln Public Schools is the only district in this class)
Class 5 (district has more than 200,000 inhabitants in metropolitan cities; Omaha Public Schools is the only district in this class)
Class 8 (State-operated school districts)
Three additional classes of Nebraska school districts, Class 1 (grades K-8; affiliated with one or more Class 2-5 districts and/or joined with a Class 6 district for tax purposes) and Class 6 (grades 6–12; was joined with one or more Class 1 districts) were dissolved on June 15, 2006, and Class 2 (district has 1,000 or fewer inhabitants) was dissolved in 2018.[2]
All unlabeled districts on this list are class 3; others will be specified.
History
The highest number of school districts the state ever had was over 7,000.[3] In 1921 the state legislature passed a law that caused the first wave of school district consolidation. Increased highway transportation and a desire for a strong education in all parts of the state prompted more consolidations. After the law passed 5% of the area school districts closed or merged up to World War II.[4] 6,604 school districts remained in the 1950-1951 school year.[5]
Post-World War II de-ruralization meant that school district populations declined further, with a large number consolidated in the 1950s and 1960s.[3]
In 1990 there were 812 school districts. In 2004 this was down to 501,[5] and later that year the number of school districts went below 500.[3]
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