STARKWEATHER (AP) - Residents here and in nearby Munich disagree on what direction their schools should take. Both schools in northeastern North Dakota have been struggling with declining enrollment and deficit spending since the late 1990s.

In Starkweather, 80 percent of people who responded to a recent survey wanted to continue as independent districts, even if it meant higher taxes. In Munich, 70 percent favored an education cooperative or a reorganization into one district.

The two schools, located 17 miles apart, already share a superintendent, most sports teams and classes in social studies and technology education. But the school boards have broken off talks about increased cooperation.

"What I heard is that (Starkweather) people wanted to give it some more time until they are absolutely forced to do something else," Starkweather School Board President Keith Nielsen said. "Most feel that eventually we'll have to make some kind of decision, but the majority weren't quite at that point yet."