In my area There is about 15 schools that
Post# of 51175
There is about 15 schools that feed into the community college. The community school in most area's could close 1 building. Most HS spend 9th and 10th grade reteaching 7th and 8th grade stuff. Then most of the kids are left picking their noses in 11th and 12th grade. Most HS no longer teacher trades like when I was in school. Because they can't afford it. Plus they also struggle to offer advanced classes.
You could supply what is needed and missing at the same price in a community college setting. In my area 3000-6000 students would then attended the community college.
Some start up cost. However overall cost should or would go down with the consolidation. You wouldn't want the community colleges to get much bigger than 10,000 student though.