ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÊÓ

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÊÓ Newsletter

There’s a long-held misconception that students’ opportunities are constrained by the size of their town. In many people’s minds, rural career and technical education and career-connected learning are synonymous with agriculture and manufacturing, while college prep is limited to a path from the graduation stage to the nearest state school.

Unfortunately, this mentality can be difficult for many school leaders to shake. When and the local tax base is small, investing in new initiatives comes with a high price tag that many districts can’t afford.

While they face distinct challenges, rural schools are equipped with agility and adaptability that larger districts may find difficult to match. Resourcefulness is a necessity, compelling school leaders to think more creatively, and without bureaucratic red tape, schools that can take large districts years to coordinate. 

In rural Indiana, innovation looks like collaboration between high schools that are competitors on the football field, but partners in opening doors for their students. Through the known as RAZ-32, six neighboring districts share classes, instructors and resources so students can take career-focused courses at any participating school. 

Like many small districts, Randolph Eastern School Corporation wanted to offer more dual credit CTE courses to prepare students for the rigor of college-level coursework. However, with such a small student population, filling these classes with enough students to make them viable was difficult. Conversations with other superintendents revealed they faced a similar problem — they wanted to offer a broader range of courses but lacked enough students to justify offering niche classes or the budget to bring on new teachers to lead them.

What began as a partnership between three neighboring districts — Randolph Eastern, Monroe Central and Randolph Central — in 2024 has grown into a regional example for expanding career education. By creating a formal agreement that allows students to criss-cross district lines, the schools opened the door to opportunities that no single campus could offer on its own. 

Key to the partnership was inviting students, educators and business leaders to shape the experience so that pathways reflected the region’s workforce needs and the diverse interests of students themselves. With these insights, RAZ-32 stayed true to its districts’ rural roots while preparing students for careers whether they stay close to home or pursue opportunities outside Indiana after graduation. 

In addition to traditional CTE pathways like welding and agriculture, the regional alliance has expanded to eight different pathways that align with students’ ambitions, such as broadcasting & media production, health care, early childhood education, and marketing & sales. This fall cybersecurity, hospitality and public service pathways will be added due to student interest.

Transforming a vision into curriculum required a high level of collaboration among districts. School leaders had to be candid and transparent regarding their districts’ strengths — and where they needed support from fellow superintendents. Rather than viewing gaps as limitations, they were the starting point for identifying where expertise, instructors and resources could be shared.

All participating districts contribute to a joint funding model by allocating a portion of their CTE dollars to the host school. The host school then directs a share of those funds to RAZ-32, sustaining the alliance’s collaborative functions such as transportation, executive director salary, equipment,and professional development. RAZ-32 also receives financial support from local county commissioners and is part of the, which funds new competency-based learning models.

Today, students can enroll in career-focused and dual-credit courses at any participating district. If one school doesn’t offer precision machine technology, for instance, their students can access the program at a nearby school to gain the credentials needed to earn their industry certification. 

Making a regional model like this work requires thoughtful planning. The participating schools are 15 to 40 minutes apart, depending on the route, with most students traveling less than half an hour to reach their host campus. Rather than expecting students to fit transportation around a traditional bell schedule, the districts aligned their academic calendars, coordinated school start times and built three-hour morning and afternoon instructional blocks that include both class time and travel. 

Students do not receive a free period simply because they attend a program at another school, although counselors may incorporate a hybrid or virtual course when needed to ensure they stay on track for graduation while taking advantage of expanded opportunities.

Students who are interested in participating in the program have someone to guide them from day one. RAZ-32’s executive director works with administrators and counselors in every school to schedule visits between students and program teachers as well as outline their CTE pathways step-by-step. During each district’s, students put in their request to participate.

Helping increase RAZ-32’s impact are the partnerships with local employers to offer workplace learning, including Ivy Tech Community College and Reid Health. About 82% of students on the RAZ-32 medical assistant pathway earned their Certified Clinical Medical Assistant certification through in-hospital instruction this past school year. In addition, students can participate in a federally-approved apprenticeship with Reid Health their second year and continue to work in the field while completing their associate’s degree in nursing at Ivy Tech.

During RAZ-32’s first year, 81 students enrolled in the program: 92%o completed pathways, 83% earned dual-credits, and nine students earned a post-secondary credential. In 2025, shared enrollment in the program increased by 74%, and three more schools — Eastern Hancock County Community School Corporation, Liberty-Perry Community School Corporation, and Northeastern Wayne School Corporation — joined the initiative.

Beginning this school year, RAZ-32 will also provide at the host schools for participating districts, expanding access and increasing opportunities for students without reliable transportation.

The regional alliance illustrates one approach rural districts can take when working together. At a time when many of rural schools, such alliances offer an alternative. Even with small enrollments and small budgets, rural districts are expanding opportunities for students while building the skilled workforce needed to support Indiana’s long-term economic future.

With every new initiative, rural school districts are challenging the — that they are isolated, less inclusive and fail to prepare students for a world beyond their town borders. School leaders are successfully leveraging the strengths that are the heart of rural communities, including civic pride, resourcefulness and interdependence, to create new opportunities for every student.

Did you use this article in your work?

We’d love to hear how ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÊÓ’s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.