[5] According to the Stephens school district's attorney, Clay Fendley, there was, in the words of Mike McNeill of the Magnolia Reporter, "bitterness" resulting from the McNeil consolidation.
[6][7] Under Arkansas law it was required to be shut down and consolidated into a larger district because it had fewer than 350 students for two consecutive years.
[8] Since no voluntary merger was arranged, the Arkansas Board of Education was to determine whether and how the Stephens district would be consolidated or dissolved.
[6] In April 2014 the state education board voted 5–2 to dissolve the Stephens School District,[8] with Alice Mahoney and Toyce Newton opposing.
The portion in Columbia County, serving McNeil and the surrounding area, was given to the Magnolia district.