I spoke with a former Albemarle resident last night. He agreed with me that the thorn is the SSHS and AHS issue of enrollment and their district lines. He also mentioned that the sturctural problems with the two elementary schools, Norwood and East, are a major problem also. Closing AHS allows East students to move to AMS and those students onto AHS. Norwood kids get a worse option as they go to East, Aquadale, and possibly some to Badin. I thought the "open enrollment" doomed AHS.
He also thought Oakboro closing may be a bad logisitical move. Their district lines are surprisingly fairly tight for Oakboro and with the growth in Locust and Stanfield areas it would be expected that the school will be needed in the future.