Janet Bahn has an answer to how small she thinks a school should be before it is closed.

"It should be up to the district and the people to decide, not the state," Bahn said.

Bahn and more than 100 others protested a bill at the Capitol on Saturday that would require elementary school districts with fewer than 100 students to join another district that has a high school. The bill requires a vote of the people in the district before a school is closed.

Bahn, the business manager for Almont School, where there are 24 students, said people in the district fully support the school because if they didn't, people would protest paying the taxes.

Bahn said the school receives about 59 percent of its funding from the local taxpayers, which is significantly higher than some larger districts.

Senators voted 26-19 on Feb. 15 to approve Senate Bill 2333, but opponents are hoping to convince the House to defeat it. Proponets of the bill argue that consolidating schools will save money.

Ron Leingang, president of Little Heart School in St. Anthony, said the bill would affect 33 school districts, jeopardizing 200 teaching positions and 100 other jobs.

Currently, students in Leingang's district attend kindergarten through eighth grade at Little Heart School, and are bused to Mandan when they reach high school.

Leingang argues that his school is paying its fair share of educating students.

Foundation aid money follows the students when they go to high school, and the school district they live in also pays some tuition to the high school.

"Just because we're running our school for less doesn't mean we're not footing our share of the bill," Leingang said.

Baldwin resident Cheryl Woodcock, organizer of Saturday's protest, fears the long distances some students would have to travel if their elementary schools are closed.

"There's going to be kids riding buses for hours a day and that's not right," Woodcock said.

The event was held Saturday to give teachers and students a chance to be there.

The event included small children, teenagers and adults holding bright signs urging defeat of the bill, including one that read, "Supersizing is for McDonalds." Slogans like, "We're from the country and we like it that way," were chanted and people signed petitions that will be presented to House members.

Rhonda Cayko, a teacher in the Yellowstone School District in East Fairview, located just across the border from Fairview, Mont., said if small schools are closed, small towns will shrink.

Cayko said small schools are better because they allow kids to be more involved in activities. She also said it is too dangerous to bus kids long distances in harsh North Dakota weather.

Logan Lang, 16, attends Century High School in Bismarck, but he hasn't forgotten the education he received at Sterling Elementary School.

"I really enjoyed going to a small school and I thought it was a better education," Lang said.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@bismarcktribune.com.)