This embedded mixed methods case study described the decision-making influences relevant to Wisconsin rural school district's consolidation. In 2015, Wisconsin's K-12 schools experienced financial cuts that were amongst the largest in the country. As a result, school district interest in consolidation was a natural topic of discussion for many of Wisconsin's rural communities. A review of the literature included consolidation leadership, processes, and pressures. The research question was what are the influences of the school district consolidation decision making? The related research questions were: (a) What is considered best practice of rural school leadership as it relates to rural school district consolidation? (b) How do rural school district Board members' consolidation experiences influence their decision to consolidate? (c) What are the Board members' perceived benefits and challenges of consolidation for rural school districts? and (d) How do those perceptions influence the decision-making process? Twenty-four Board members from five rural school districts that participated in two parallel communitywide consolidation studies were participants. Two Board members from each school district completed a structured interview with fourteen pre-established questions. All twenty-four Board members that participated in the decision-making experience completed a questionnaire with closed-ended questions and predetermined response scales. The researcher created a case study database and timeline through the organization of documents and archived records. A connection was found between the Board member's consolidation decision and the three variables of leadership, process, and pressures. Findings also identified that community pressures influenced the Board member's consolidation decision. The study suggests that consolidation decision making requires transformational leadership and a customer centric decision-making process to properly address the community pressures that might otherwise dominate the outcome. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]