Dive Brief:

• Upstate New York's Schodack Central School District is offering rent-free space in its middle school to startup companies, in exchange for learning opportunities for teachers and internships for students.
• The district has seen declining enrollment, thanks to an aging population, and the school was at just 33% of its capacity.
• The companies to take the district up on the offer include a group working on a solar-powered merchant vessel, an open-source activist organization, and a startup looking to turn wastewater into energy.

Dive Insight:

School districts, and rural schools in particular, often struggle with the question of what to do with school buildings in the face of dropping enrollment. At the same time, they also struggle to offer students the same kinds of opportunities more populous areas can offer. The solution Schodack came up with has the potential to address both of those issues. “The students are able to get a good look at what is involved in being in business,” Superintendent Bob Horan told District Administration. The district also gets some financial benefit if a startup makes it big.

There are a few small practical hurdles to clear, though. For example, Horan had to quell concerns about security and safety, and the district won’t offer the space to any company working with hazardous materials.