A few years ago a plan of consolidation was advanced that was based on whether or not a community was capable of sustaining a MacDonald's restaurant and at about the same time another plan had to do with the development of regional school districts based, somewhat, on the same criterion used to determine the location of Wal-Marts. So, Will's proposal certainly makes no less sense than those.
There ARE situations where there is no one close to join. The counties I referenced above are are all over 500 square miles and already have only one high school.
And yes, I know about Rooks County having three high schools.