View source for School district

{{Short description|Special districts for the operation of schools}}
{{Distinguish|Catchment area}}
{{Multiple issues|{{globalize|date=August 2010}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|it should read as a coherent whole and not include a mishmash of contradictory statements and me-too-ism|date=May 2017}}}}
A '''school district''' is a [[special-purpose district]] that operates local public [[Primary school|primary]] or [[Secondary school|secondary]] schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school district and is used to assign students to schools in a district and not to determine government authority.<ref>"[https://ballotpedia.org/School_district_attendance_zone_map_drawing_policies_in_a_selection_of_districts School district attendance zone map drawing policies in a selection of districts]", from [[Ballotpedia]].</ref>
{{Toc limit|4}}

==North America==
=== United States ===
{{Main list|Lists of school districts in the United States}}
In the U.S., most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts. A school district usually operates several [[Elementary schools in the United States|elementary]], [[Middle school#United States|middle]], and [[Secondary school|high schools]]. The largest urban and suburban districts operate hundreds of schools.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} While practice varies significantly by state (and in some cases, within a state), most American school districts operate as independent local governmental units under a grant of authority and within geographic limits created by state law.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |last=Mendoza |first=Marcos A. |date=15 Sep 2020 |title=The Limits of Insurance as Governance: Professional Liability Coverage for Civil Rights Claims Against Public School Districts |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3669869 |journal=Quinnipiac Law Review|volume=38|issue= 3 |ssrn=3669869 |via=SSRN}}</ref>  The executive and legislative power over locally-controlled policies and operations of an independent school district are, in most cases, held by a school district's board of education. Depending on state law, members of a local board of education (often referred to informally as a ''' school board''') may be elected, appointed by a political office holder, serve ''[[ex officio]]'', or a combination of any of these.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

An independent school district is a legally separate [[legal personality|body corporate and political]]. Most school districts operate as independent local governmental units with exclusive authority over K–12 public educational operations and policies. The extent of their control is set by state-level law. Litigation against school districts is common and some law firms specialize in education law. Districts typically maintain professional liability insurance in order to pay its settlements and legal liabilities.<ref name="auto"/> {{As of|2023}} in most U.S. states, public school districts may lay taxes to fund their operations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite report |url=https://www.cga.ct.gov/2023/rpt/pdf/2023-R-0094.pdf |title="Board of Education Taxing Authority" |last=Pinho |first=Rute |date=9 March 2023 |publisher=Office of Legislative Research, Connecticut General Assembly |id=2023-R-0094}}</ref>  In others, such as [[Maine]], some school districts are able to lay taxes and others are not.<ref name=":0" />

Independent school districts often exercise authority over a school system that is separate but similar to a [[town|town's]] or a [[County (United States)|county's]] powers. These include the power to enter contacts, use [[eminent domain]], and to issue binding rules and regulations affecting school policies and operations. The power of school districts to tax and spend is generally more limited. For example, many school districts in [[New York (state)|New York]] state require a majority of voters living in the district or the local government to approval their annual budget, but [[school division|school district]]s in [[Virginia]] have no taxing authority and must depend on another local government (county, city, or town) for funding.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} A district's governing body, usually called a [[school board]], is typically elected by direct popular vote but may be appointed by other governmental officials.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} The governing body might also be known as a "board of trustees", "board of education", "school committee", etc.. This body usually appoints or hires an experienced public school administrator to function as the district's [[Superintendent (education)|superintendent of schools]] – a district's [[chief executive]]. The superintendent oversees daily operations, decisions and implements the policies of the board. The school board may also exercise a [[quasi-judicial]] function in serious [[employee]] or [[student]] [[discipline]] matters.

School districts in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] and [[Western United States|West]] tend to cross municipal boundaries, while school districts in [[New England]] and the [[Mid-Atlantic states|Mid-Atlantic]] regions tend to adhere to city, township, or county boundaries.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=https://www.census.gov/did/www/schooldistricts/ |title=School Districts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610024507/http://www.census.gov/did/www/schooldistricts/ |archive-date=Jun 10, 2015 |website=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |access-date=June 20, 2015}}</ref> {{Asof|1951}} school districts were independent governmental units in 26 states, while in 17 states there were mixes of independent school districts and school districts subordinate to other local governments. In nine states there were only school districts subordinate to local governments.<ref name=StateLocalgov1951p2>"State and Local Government Special Studies: Governments in the United States 1951". ''Property Taxation 1941''. [[U.S. Census Bureau]]. G-SS-No. 29, March 1952. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=je6wa6nBhCkC&pg=RA3-PA56 2] ([[Google Books]] RA3-PA56).</ref>

In most Southern states, school systems operate either as an arm of county government or at least share coextensive boundaries with the state's counties. A 2010 study by economist William A. Fischel found that "two-thirds of medium-to-large American cities have boundaries that substantially overlap those of a single school district" with substantial regional and state variations in the degree of overlap, "ranging from nearly perfect congruence in [[New England]], New Jersey, and Virginia, to hardly any in Illinois, Texas, and Florida."<ref name=Fischel>{{Cite journal |last=Fischel |first=William A. |date=4 May 2010 |title=The Congruence of American School Districts with Other Local Government Boundaries: A Google-Earth Exploration |url=http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=967399 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |language=en |doi=10.2139/ssrn.967399 |ssrn=967399 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Florida school district governments have boundaries that parallel those of counties.<ref>{{cite map|author=Geography Division|url=https://www2.census.gov:443/geo/maps/dc10map/sch_dist/st12_fl/DC10SD_S12_001.pdf|title=SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Florida|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|date=January 10, 2011|access-date=2024-09-09}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/sch_dist/st12_fl/DC10SD_S12_SD2MS.txt Text list]</ref> According to Fischel, older and more populous municipalities "tend to have boundaries that closely match those of a single school district."<ref name=Fischel/> Noting that most modern school districts were formed by consolidating [[one-room school]] districts in the first seven decades of the 20th century, Fischel argues that "outside the South, these consolidations were consented to by local voters" who "preferred districts whose boundaries conformed to their everyday interactions rather than formal units of government" and that "[t]he South ended up with county-based school districts because [[segregation in the United States|segregation]] imposed [[diseconomies of scale]] on district operations and required larger land-area districts."<ref name=Fischel/>  

In [[New York (state)|New York]], most [[Administrative divisions of New York#School district|school districts]] are separate governmental units with the power to levy taxes and incur debt, except for the five cities with a population of over 125,000 ([[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], [[Yonkers]], and [[New York City]]), where the schools are operated directly by the municipalities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dos.ny.gov/lg/publications/Local_Government_Handbook.pdf|title=Local Government Handbook|publisher=New York Department of State, Division of Local Government Services|date=March 13, 2018|edition=7th|page=93|access-date=August 31, 2018|archive-date=May 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527080423/https://www.dos.ny.gov/lg/publications/Local_Government_Handbook.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Hawaii State Department of Education]] functions as a single statewide school district, unique among states.<ref>Linda Jacobson, [https://www.edweek.org/leadership/report-faults-hawaiis-statewide-school-district/2003/12 Report Faults Hawaii's Statewide School District], ''Education Week'' (December 10, 2003).</ref><ref>Jan Zulich, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20403957?seq=1 Hawaii's School System Is One of a Kind], ''The Phi Delta Kappan'', Vol. 70, No. 7 (March 1989), pp. 546-549.</ref>{{efn|The [[District of Columbia Public Schools]] operates district public schools in [[Washington, D.C.]]. Additionally, [[Puerto Rico Department of Education]] and [[Guam Department of Education]] operate all public schools (other than [[Department of Defense Education Activity|ones in the military system]]) in [[Puerto Rico]] and [[Guam]], respectively. Furthermore, the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] and [[American Samoa]] each have one public school system, [[Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System]] and [[American Samoa Department of Education]], respectively.}}

According to a 2021 study, the demographics of voters who elect local school boards in the United States tend to be different from the demographics of the students. This difference is "most pronounced in majority nonwhite jurisdictions and school districts with the largest [[racial achievement gap]]s."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kogan|first1=Vladimir|last2=Lavertu|first2=Stéphane|last3=Peskowitz|first3=Zachary|date=2021|title=The Democratic Deficit in U.S. Education Governance|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/democratic-deficit-in-us-education-governance/22C2591CF26F46663D14BFAC5CBACF4C|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=115|issue=3|pages=1082–1089|language=en|doi=10.1017/S0003055421000162|s2cid=214493859|issn=0003-0554|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

====History====
There were 130,000 school districts in the country in 1930, with an average student population of 150.<ref name=BurnetteDaarelII>{{cite news|author=Burnette, Daarel II|url=https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/02/17/consolidation-push-roils-vermont-landscape.html|title=Consolidation Push Roils Vermont Landscape|work=[[Education Week]]|date=2016-02-17|access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref>

From 1942 to 1951 the number of school districts declined from 108,579 to 70,452, a decrease of 38,127 or 35%.<ref name=StateLocalgov1951p12>"State and Local Government Special Studies: Governments in the United States 1951." ''Property Taxation 1941''. [[U.S. Census Bureau]]. G-SS-No. 29, March 1952. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=je6wa6nBhCkC&pg=RA3-PA55 1]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=je6wa6nBhCkC&pg=RA3-PA56 2] ([[Google Books]] RA3-PA55 and PA56).</ref> Many states had passed laws facilitating school district consolidation. In 1951 the majority of the school districts in existence were rural school districts only providing elementary education, and some school districts did not operate schools but instead provided transportation to other schools. The [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] had a large number of rural school districts.<ref name=StateLocalgov1951p2/> In 2013 the number of U.S. school districts was under 13,000. By 2013 the rate of school district consolidation across the country had declined.<ref>{{cite news|last=Stokes|first=Kyle|url=https://indianapublicmedia.org/stateimpact/2013/10/03/indiana-school-districts-consolidated/|title=
Why More Indiana School Districts Have Not Consolidated|publisher=[[Indiana Public Media]]|date=2013-10-03|access-date=2025-06-05}}</ref>

Previously areas of the [[Unorganized Borough]] of [[Alaska]] were not served by school districts but instead served by schools directly operated by the [[Alaska Department of Education]] and by [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] (BIA) schools. The state schools were transferred to the Alaska State-Operated School System (SOS) after the [[Alaska Legislature]] created it in 1971; that agency was terminated in 1975, with its schools transferred to the newly created Alaska Unorganized Borough School District, which was broken apart into twenty-one school districts the following year.<ref name=Barnhardtindex>Barnhardt, Carol. "[http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/Articles/CarolBarnhardt/historical.html Historical Status of Elementary Schools in Rural Alaskan Communities 1867–1980]." Alaska Native Knowledge Network (ANKN), [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]]. Retrieved on March 13, 2017.</ref>

In the 2022 Census of Governments, the [[United States Census Bureau]] enumerated the following numbers of school systems in the United States:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/gus/tables/2022/cog2022_cg2200org09.zip|title=Table 9. Public School Systems by Type of Organization and State: 2022 [CG2200ORG09]}}</ref>
*12,546 school district governments
*571 county-dependent school systems
*227 municipal-dependent school systems
*36 state-dependent school systems
*479 township-dependent school systems

School districts in the US have reduced the number of their employees by 3.3%, or 270,000 between 2008 and 2012, owing to a decline in property tax revenues during and after the [[Great Recession in the United States|Great Recession]].<ref>{{cite web |agency=USA Today |date=March 13, 2012 |page=A1 |url=https://www.pressreader.com/usa/usa-today-us-edition/20120313/292238166434774 |title=Property taxes start to decline |first1=Dennis |last1=Cauchon |via=PressReader }}</ref> By 2016 there were about 13,000 school districts, and the average student population was about 5,000.<ref name=BurnetteDaarelII/>

====Terminology====
Although these terms can vary slightly between various states and regions, these are typical definitions for school district constitution:

=====Schools=====
* An ''elementary''  or ''primary school'' usually includes [[kindergarten]] and grades [[first grade|one]] through [[fifth grade|five]] or [[sixth grade|six]]. In some school districts, these grades are divided into two schools. ''Primary school'' is most commonly used for schools housing students in kindergarten through grade two or three in districts where the older elementary students are in intermediate schools (see below).
* A ''middle school'' usually includes grades six or [[seventh grade|seven]] through [[eighth grade|eight]] or [[ninth grade|nine]]. In some places, the alternative terms ''junior high school'' or ''intermediate school'' are still used. ''Junior high school'' often refers to schools that cover grades seven through nine. ''Intermediate school'' may also used for schools that cover grades three through five (or so) when they are separated from elementary schools, or the name ''Intermediate school'' may be used in a way synonymous with ''middle school'' or ''junior high school'' in other school districts.
* A ''high school'' usually includes grades nine or [[tenth grade|ten]] through [[twelfth grade|twelve]] and may also include grades seven and eight. Many high schools cover only grades ten to twelve; this type of school is sometimes referred to as a ''senior high school''.

=====Districts=====
{{anchor|U.S. community school districts}}
These terms may not appear in a district's name, even though the condition may apply.
* A [[unified school district]] includes [[Primary education|elementary]] and [[Secondary education|secondary]] ([[middle school]] and [[high school]]) educational levels.
* The word ''central'' in a district's name indicates that the district is formed from a consolidation ("centralization") of multiple districts and that the central district's operations are centralized relative to those of the previous districts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.niskayunaschools.org/about-us/district-history/|title=District History}}</ref>
* The word ''community'' in a district's name indicates that the district is formed to serve a community of people with common interests and associations and with a community center.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cite.case.law/ill/301/45/|title=People ex rel. Vick v. Kirkham, 301 Ill. 45 (1921) &#124; Caselaw Access Project|website=cite.case.law}}</ref>
* The word ''free'' in a district's name indicates that no tuition is charged to attend district schools. In New York, it is used in conjunction with the ''union'' to indicate a district composed of multiple, formerly independent common school districts now ''free'' of restrictions placed on New York State's common school districts.
* The word ''union'' or ''consolidated'' in a district's name indicates that it was formed from two or more districts.
* In [[Missouri]], most district names include a ''C-'' or, more commonly, an ''R-'' followed by a number, commonly in [[Roman numerals]] (i.e. "[[Fox C-6 School District]]", "[[Mehlville R-IX School District]]", etc.) Both are used to represent consolidated school districts, but ''C-'' indicates that the district was consolidated through the consent of voters, while ''R-'' indicates that the district was consolidated by the state government.
* The word ''joint'' in a district's name indicates that it includes territory from more than one county. By extension, a ''joint state'' school district, such as [[Union County–College Corner Joint School District|Union County–College Corner JSD]], includes territory in more than one state.
* The word ''[[independent school district|independent]]'' can have different meanings, depending on the state.
** [[Kentucky]] — Under [[Kentucky Revised Statutes]] § 160.020, an "Independent" district is defined as one whose jurisdiction does not cover an entire county.<ref>Kentucky Revised Statutes [https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43808 § 160.020].</ref> If [[List of counties in Kentucky|a county]] has no independent district, its school district boundaries coincide exactly with its borders.<ref>Kentucky Revised Statutes [https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=3657 § 160.010].</ref> Following the most recent closure of [[Silver Grove Independent Schools|an independent district]] in 2019, the state has 52 independent school districts along with 120 county districts,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article226061635.html |title=Kentucky will have one less school district with this decision to close and merge |first=Valarie |last=Honeycutt Spears |newspaper=[[Lexington Herald-Leader]] |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington, KY]] |date=February 12, 2019 |access-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref> with the most significant concentrations of independent districts found in [[Northern Kentucky]] and the [[Eastern Kentucky Coalfield|Eastern Coalfield]] region. These districts are generally associated with a city, or sometimes with a cluster of adjoining cities. Unlike county districts, independent districts can cross county lines, as in the [[Caverna Independent School District]] centered on [[Cave City, Kentucky|Cave City]] and [[Horse Cave, Kentucky|Horse Cave]] and the [[Corbin Independent School District]]. Some districts in the state are independent despite not having "Independent" in their official name, as in the [[Owensboro Public Schools]] and [[Paducah Public Schools]].
** [[Minnesota]] — Per Minnesota Statute 120A.05, "Independent" denotes any school district validly created and existing as an independent, consolidated, joint independent, county, or a ten or more township district {{as of|July 1, 1957}}, or under the Education Code.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=27 July 2015|title=120A.05 – 2014 Minnesota Statutes|url=https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=120A.05|work=Minnesota Legislature - Office of the Revisor of Statutes |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150418203255/https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=120A.05 |archive-date= Apr 18, 2015 }}</ref>
** [[Texas]] — Here, "Independent" denotes that the district is separate from any county- or municipal-level entity. All of the state's school districts are independent of any municipal or county control; this includes the state's sole municipal school district, [[Stafford Municipal School District]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov:443/govs/cog/gc0212tx.pdf|title=Texas|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|page=1|access-date=2024-11-01}}</ref> Moreover, school district boundaries rarely coincide with municipal limits or county lines. Most districts use the term "Independent School District" in their name; in the few cases where the term "Common School District" is used, the district is still an independent governmental entity. An independent school district resulting from a consolidation of two or more independent school districts is called a consolidated independent school district, sometimes abbreviated as "CISD".<ref>"[https://www.burnetcisd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=459991&type=d&pREC_ID=1007360 About Us]", from [[Burnet Consolidated Independent School District]].</ref>
*In [[Ohio]], school districts are classified as either ''city'' school districts, ''exempted village'' school districts, or ''local'' school districts. City and village school districts are exempted from county boards of education, while local school districts remain under county school board supervision. School districts may combine resources to form a fourth type of school district, the joint vocational school district, which focuses on a technical skills-based curriculum.<ref>"[https://archive.today/20120711193217/http://ohioline.osu.edu/b835/b835_4.html D. Special-Purpose Governments]", Ohio State University. Accessed 2008-01-05.</ref>
*In [[Michigan]], there are [[intermediate school district]]s (ISD), regional education service districts (RESD), or regional education service agencies (RESA), largely at the county level. The local school districts run the schools and most programs, but often bilingual aides, programs for the deaf and blind, special education for the severely impaired, and career and technical education programs are run by the intermediate school district or equivalent.
*County-wide school districts are most commonly found in Mid-Atlantic and Southern states such as [[Maryland]], [[West Virginia]], [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Florida]], [[Alabama]], [[Arkansas]], [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]], [[Tennessee]], and [[Kentucky]]. Nevada and Utah also have mostly county-wide school districts, and Alaska has many [[Boroughs of Alaska|borough]]-wide school districts. [[Hawaii]] operates its schools at the state level through its [[Hawai'i Department of Education|department of education]].
*In [[Maine]], there are [[regional school unit]]s wherein smaller districts were consolidated into RSUs in 2008 when state laws changed.

==Europe==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2024}}

In [[England and Wales]], [[School board (England & Wales)|school boards]] were established in 1870, and abolished in 1902, with the [[county council]] and [[county borough]] councils becoming the [[local education authority|local education authorities]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Education: School Boards |url=http://archives.powys.gov.uk/hold/board.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010702135640/http://archives.powys.gov.uk/hold/board.html|archive-date=July 2, 2001|access-date=27 July 2015|work=Powys County Archives }}</ref>

In France, the system of the [[carte scolaire]] was dismantled by the beginning of the 2007 school year. More school choice has been given to French students; however, priority is given to those who meet the following criteria:

* students with disabilities
* students on scholarships or special academic merit
* students who meet "[[group cohesiveness|social cohesion]]" criteria (essentially to [[Diversity (politics)|diversify]] the school population)
* students who require specialized medical attention from a hospital
* students who want to study a course offered only by the school
* students who have siblings that attend the school
* students who live close to the school

In [[Germany]], schools and teachers are predominately funded by the [[states of Germany]], which also are in control of the overall education policies. On the other hand, school buildings are mostly run and funded by [[Municipalities of Germany|municipal governments]] on different levels of the municipal system (municipalities proper, districts), depending on the size and specialization of a certain school or the population size of a certain municipality. As with other fields of government, for more specialized schools, special government bodies ("Zweckverband") can be established, where municipalities, and not voters, are members; these are to a certain degree comparable to a school district. Other arrangements are possible: certain types of [[Special_education#Special_schools|special schools]] in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] are run by the [[States_of_Germany#Area_associations_(Landschaftsverb%C3%A4nde)|Landschaftsverbände]]. There also exist [[Education_in_Germany#Public_and_private_schools|private schools]], mostly funded by the States, but run by private entities like churches or foundations.

In [[Italy]], school districts were established in 1974 by the "''Provvedimenti Delegati sulla scuola''" ("Assigned Laws [to the Government] about the school").<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/decreti/dpr416_74.html |title=Text of the DPR n° 416 del 31 maggio 1974 ("Assigned Laws about the school") |date=1994 |orig-year=31 May 1974 |access-date=2016-03-30 |language=it}}</ref> Each district must contain a minimum of 10,000 inhabitants. The national government attempted to link the local schools with local society and culture and local governments. The school districts were dissolved in 2003 by the "legge finanziaria" (law about the government budget) in an attempt to trim the national budget.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/02289l02.htm#legge |title=L 289/2002: Text of the law n° 289 del 27 dicembre 2002 ("legge finanziaria 2003") |date=2003 |orig-year=27 Dec 2002 |access-date=2016-03-30 |language=it |archive-date=2011-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122202048/http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/02289l02.htm#legge |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the Republic of Ireland, 16 [[Education and Training Board]]s (ETBs) administer [[Education in the Republic of Ireland#Secondary education|a minority of secondary schools]], a few primary schools, and [[List of further education colleges in the Republic of Ireland|much further education]]. (Most schools are neither organized geographically nor publicly managed, although the [[Department of Education and Youth]] inspects and funds them and pays teachers' salaries.) Each ETB area comprises one or more [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|local authority area]]s, with city or county councilors forming the bulk of the ETB board. The ETBs was formed in 2005 by amalgamating [[Vocational Education Committee]]s established in 1930, also based on local government areas.

==Asia==
In [[Hong Kong]], the [[Education Bureau]] divides [[primary school]]s into 36 districts, known as school nets, for its [[Primary One Admission System]].<ref>{{cite web |title=POA2020 Choice of Schools List by School Net for Central Allocation |url=https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/spa-systems/primary-1-admission/school-lists/index.html |website=Education Bureau |access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref> Of the 36 districts, districts 34 and 41 in [[Kowloon]] and districts 11 and 12 in [[Hong Kong Island]] are considered the most prestigious.<ref>{{cite web|date=15 July 2013|title=四大名校網範圍|trans-title=Four famous school network scope|url=https://www2.hkej.com/property/article/id/91809|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718204320/https://www2.hkej.com/property/article/id/91809|archive-date=July 18, 2013|access-date=29 January 2020|website=Hong Kong Economic Journal}}</ref>

In Iranian cities school kids normal registrations are limited by school districts, register is online at my.medu.ir and the parent sees schools within range online.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1402/02/19/2891810/%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AB%D8%A8%D8%AA-%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4-%D8%A2%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%AF%D8%A8%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86/|title=اطلاعاتی برای ثبت‌نام دانش‌آموزان در کلاس اول دبستاناطلاعاتی برای ثبت‌نام دانش‌آموزان در کلاس اول دبستان - تسنیم|website=خبرگزاری تسنیم &#124; Tasnim}}</ref>

==Examples==
* [[London School Board]]
* [[List of school districts in Canada]] - organized by province
* [[Lists of school districts in the United States]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Schools}}
* [[Lists of school districts in the United States]]
* [[List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment]]
* [[State education agency]]
* [[School division|School division (Virginia)]]
* [[Unified school district]]
* [[School district drug policies]]
* [[School Improvement Grant]]
* School [[catchment area]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}} 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/100_largest/table_app_a_1.asp|title=Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2000-2001|publisher=[[National Center for Education Statistics]]}} - Links to rankings from 1 to 500
* Yan, Wenfan ([[Indiana University of Pennsylvania]]). "[http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED493423.pdf A Comparison of Rural School Districts]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140419025101/http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED493423.pdf Archive]). The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]]. September 2006.
* "[http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2011/edu/district_consolidation/district_consolidation_050211.aspx How Small Is Too Small? An Analysis of School District Consolidation]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140419014904/http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2011/edu/district_consolidation/district_consolidation_050211.aspx Archive]). Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) (Fiscal and policy advisor of the [[California Legislature]]). May 2, 2011.

==External links==
* [https://www.census.gov/govs/www/gid2002.html 2002 Census of Governments]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060214005816/http://www.allthingspolitical.org/school_districts/school_districts.htm U.S. School Districts Online]

{{USCensus Geography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:School District}}
[[Category:School districts| ]]
[[Category:Local government]]