Schools Not Being Used

[ASpasticHamster]

I have 12 students and couple more about to be school age. I have had an empty school for a couple of years now but now students are using it. The other school is a lot further from their homes so they are staying students until age 20-22.
Shouldn't a student attend the school closest to their home? I know once they are at school they will not move to another school, even if it is closer, but the children that are not yet at school age are all going to the first school when they are old enough, even though there is another empty school much closer.
Is there anything i can do to influence which school they go to or is it like houses (the game sets where they go)?

[bmrigs]

Did you hire a teacher? You have to have teachers for the school to function. Also, always make sure you have at least one laborer on hand in case your teacher suddenly dies. If not, all your students will leave the school and become part of the workforce without being educated.

[ASpasticHamster]

Yes, there is a teacher assigned to both schools. I'm wondering whether it just takes a while, like when villagers change jobs. I'll wait a while longer and see what happens.

[bmrigs]

I use a mod where they age naturally so it takes the kids to be a certain age to get into the school. Education is a time consuming investment which will pay off later with better production of labor.

[seaZ78]

Same question here. I have one school with a student count that ranges from 7 to 14, it fluctuates. When the count reached 14 I placed another school but haven't built it yet. When do you know the time has come to build another school, or, is one school always enough? The answer is elusive around the webs.

[mbutton15]

One school is certainly not enough if you plan on having a large population. Each school will hold a maximum of 20 students. Graduation age is determined by time spent in school so if a student attends a nearby school they graduate quicker.

If all your school spaces are filled when a child turns 10 then they go straight to an adult and will become an uneducated adult at the same time. There is no second chance as they won't find a school later even if a space becomes spare.

As for the OP question - Maybe try marking the empty school for demolition, then give it a little while for the demolition to actually start and then reclaim the school.

[ASpasticHamster]

Just to update (and thanks for all the advice) I left the game to play out naturally for another 2 years and students did start using the second school if it was closer to their house. So patience is key!