Gibsonburg Exempted Village School District

The District

Photo by Stough & Stough architects

The Gibsonburg Exempted Village School District serves the village of Gibsonburg and neighboring sections of Madison and Washington Townships. The district’s high school and middle school share a campus, and the singular elementary school has its own campus in a different area of town.

In school year 2016-17, the district enrolled 916 students in its high school (grades 9-12), middle school (6-8), and elementary school (PK-5). This enrollment (916) represents the lowest number of enrolled students during the five-year period 2012-13 through 2016-17. The highest enrollment during that time period, 1,049 students, was in 2013-14.

Reflective Questions

Enrollment in Gibsonburg’s schools fell from 1,049 students in 2013-14 to 916 students in 2016-17, a decline of nearly 13%.

  • What might account for this significant decline in enrollment?
  • What might be some of the effects in the school district of such a sizeable decrease in the number of enrolled students?

There are five other school districts neighboring Gibsonburg, four of similar size, and one (Fremont) much larger that enrolls about 4,000 students. Of these six districts, Fremont has the lowest median annual household income, about $45,000, and Eastwood has the highest ($65,000). None of the six districts is notably impoverished or affluent. The “grades” on the Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) “district report cards” for these six districts are very similar.

Gibsonburg School District has only one central office professional, the superintendent. The middle school and high school are led by a single administrative team, comprising a principal, dean of students, and guidance counselor. The elementary school has its own principal. The district’s teaching staff is about 95% White, 3% Black, and 1% Hispanic.