The number of public high school districts in North Dakota declined from 256 in 1970 to 186 in 1994. Thirty-one percent of the decline in number of districts occurred from 1990 to 1994. Eight communities (four pairs) that had gone through a school district consolidation and school closure during the last five years were studied. This paper presents the results of a mail survey of patrons who paid property taxes to the eight different school districts. Host communities were defined as those gaining the majority of the students from the consolidation while vacated communities' schools were closed. Community involvement, retail services, quality of life, and consolidation impacts for host and vacated communities were compared.