In St. Louis County, the Missouri House of Representatives is considering legislation that would allow some school districts in the county to withdraw from the Special School District—a process known as secession, withdrawal, or separation. These partner districts are currently obligated to use the Special School District for special education services.
For students, parents, administrators, and teachers, the decision is a personal one that shapes the day-to-day experience of students’ education, families’ well-being, and educators’ livelihoods. At the same time, secession decisions are complex and have potentially far-reaching consequences for education revenue and operations.
To better understand secessions, like the attempt playing out in St. Louis, and their ripple effects, we’ve produced a uniquely comprehensive database of school district secession attempts from 2000 to 2026. In this article, we use it to highlight secession trends across the US. In the future, we’ll also use this database to analyze the impacts of secessions on school district makeup and funding. This research can equip state and local leaders and communities involved in secession decisions with the information they need to understand what’s at stake for students, families, educators, and communities.
What is school district secession?
School district secession occurs when a city, town, or neighborhood uses local and state policies to leave its original school district and create a new one. Supporters often frame the move as a way to gain more local control over schools. Detractors point to how secessions can ripple beyond the new district’s borders, especially when the fragmentation concentrates resources, such as property taxes that fund schools and social and community capital.
School district boundaries determine who goes to school together, how local tax dollars are shared, and how state and federal resources are allotted. When a split happens, it reshapes both the resources available and the student populations in the districts involved, potentially indefinitely. New districts (PDF) can be less economically and racially diverse than the original district was before the split.
Secession attempts are increasing, but defeats are also on the rise
To understand the current landscape of school district secessions, we began with EdBuild’s dataset of school district secessions (PDF) from 2000 to 2019. We updated this database by conducting a broad internet search to identify news articles and legal documentation of new secessions (2020 and beyond) and older secessions that had previously gone undocumented or whose status had changed. We also used the National Center for Education Statistics database to look for new non-charter public school districts established in the past 25 years.
Our final dataset, spanning 2000 to February 2026, has 174 total secession attempts across 30 states. As the table shows, 94 of the attempts—more than half—were successful. Thirty-seven attempts were defeated, and 27 were inactive, meaning there was no evidence of the attempt being procedurally shut down and no evidence of activity in the past year. Sixteen attempts are ongoing. Our dataset adds 18 successful secession attempts to EdBuild’s original dataset, as well as several ongoing and defeated status updates.
Sources: Counts derived from EdBuild’s 2000–2019 secession dataset, authors’ extensive desk search for new secessions in 2020 and beyond, and the National Center for Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data accessed through the Urban Institute’s Education Data Portal v. 0.25.0.
Notes: Counts are as of February 2026. As of publication, two secessions are procedurally successful, but the districts are not operational yet. An attempt was deemed inactive if we could find no signs of ongoing efforts in an internet search of community spaces (e.g., Facebook or Reddit discussion, meeting minutes) in the past year. Ongoing attempts showed signs of activity in the past year. For more about the construction of the database and definitions of statuses, visit the Urban Institute’s Data Catalog.
Overall, secession attempts are increasing. As the figure shows, successful secessions peaked in 2014, with 15 across the US. Since then, more attempts have been increasingly defeated. Since 2020, the number of successful secessions has decreased and settled around an average of 2 to 4 per year.
Sources: Counts derived from EdBuild’s 2000–2019 secession dataset, authors’ extensive desk search for new secessions in 2020 and beyond, and the National Center for Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data accessed through the Urban Institute’s Education Data Portal v. 0.25.0.
Notes: Counts are as of February 2026. For more about the construction of the database and definitions of categories, visit the Urban Institute’s Data Catalog.
Some states have had more secessions than others
Secessions in Tennessee and Maine drove the peak in secessions between 2013 and 2015. Both states have unique consolidation histories and relatively more-permissive school secession laws. For example, in Shelby County, Tennessee, withdrawals from the largest school merger in the state’s history spun off six new districts.
Maine and Tennessee Have Had the Most School District Secessions
School district secession attempts across the United States, by status, 2000–2026
Source: Counts derived from EdBuild’s 2000–2019 secession dataset, authors’ extensive desk search for new secessions in 2020 and beyond, and the National Center for Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data accessed through the Urban Institute’s Education Data Portal v. 0.25.0.
Secessions can help us understand more common education policy movements that affect students’ access to education resources
Despite the uptick in attempts, secessions are rare. But that doesn’t mean they’re irrelevant. A split can reshape school funding, shift student demographics, and alter students’ access to programs and experienced educators for years to come. In addition, each case helps define the legal and political boundaries of what’s possible, potentially lowering barriers for future efforts.
Secessions are one of several mechanisms for redistributing students and resources across schools and systems. Charter schools, voucher programs, open enrollment, redistricting, and school closures are other, more active policy movements. Together, these mechanisms reflect roiling debates over local control, efficiency, and equity and illustrate how educational boundaries are continually reshaped in response to demographic and political pressures.
Secessions, though infrequent, can illuminate the broader dynamics shaping education policy and practice, offering a lens into how communities can influence governance decisions and the outcomes of doing so. By understanding the impacts of school district secession, state and local education policymakers and communities can take more informed and effective action to ensure their decisions enhance—rather than erode—access to vital education resources for all students.
Over the coming months, we will use our new database and case studies to learn more about school district secessions’ processes and impacts and the legislative and oversight tools available to communities considering them.
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