Legislation may get involved with Stanly County BOE

[sway1532]

Interesting, N.C. Rep. Justin Burr said that his office is considering legislative action to "give a voice back to the people" in this situation.

If this goes through, we can "Yank" those idiots from their position at any given time.

For you smart people that don't know what "Recall" means:

retention elections held in some some states for members of the judiciary.

Btango, your thoughts?

 

[btango]

It is my understanding that NC does not have a recall system that is in place. In order to have a recall the General Assembly would have to vote to give authorization to the county to have a recall vote and then a recall vote would have to be set up. No idea what the time line is on that. The board was just voted in last election and each member ran from a platform for change with some pinpointing academics and past inaction by the board to correct the issues that are now faced.

What would the General Assembly look at to determine their vote? Would their vote then be challenged in court and can it be? The school grades, which are also controversial, along with the issues faced at Albemarle and East Albemarle would be a major item that would probably come into play. At the end of the day I would think finances and racial inequity between Albemarle HS, East Albemarle, along with lack of academic options as compared to surrounding schools, and the fact of no sensible redistricting for years would all come into play if it is contested in any way. Race and academic success are always a hot button. In this case . This is an area that I do not know about because it is not typical.

As a politician, Justin Burr will act if it will increase his ability to move forward in the political arena.

 

[sway1532]

You are half correct about North Carolina not have a
recall.

North Carolina does not provide for recall through state
law. However, of 552 municipalities, approximately 20 have local level recall
provisions in their charters and ordinances.[1]

Noted municipalities with recall provisions include:[2]

Aberdeen
Asheville
Cajah's Mountain
Carrboro
Chapel Hill
Durham
Foxfire
Greensboro
Hickory
Lewisville
Lumberton
Oak Island
Pinebluff
Pleasant Garden
Raleigh
Randleman
River Bend
Statesville
Troutman
Winston-Salem

How can Albemarle put this into place?

This post was edited on 2/20 10:16 AM by sway1532

 

[btango]

It is my understanding the General Assembly must vote an approval and from there I am not sure. Does the county commissioners also need to vote an approval for a recall?

I just remember this happening at the beach some years back for a city council but I think there was some legalities there that were found which made it easier.

 

[ref4e]

Originally posted by btango:

As a politician, Justin Burr will act if it will increase his ability to move forward in the political arena.

Amen. Burr's best interest is Burr's primary goal.

 

[Sleehrat84]

He is as likely to try to re-call another politician as President Obama is to campaign for Jeb Bush. This is a local school board issue. Even if the county commissioners added funding, the boe will have the final say in the schools closing or redistricting.

 

[btango]

Getting the General Assembly to approve a recall of a school board that was just elected may be a very tough vote to win. Most reps are not very excited to bring up educational issues in NC after the terrible press over the last few years. The first thing that is going to come up from the school system is to provide more money and closing schools will not be required which kicks the state (and county) for not providing enough funding. That is putting the onus on the county commissioners and the state. It is apparent with the way the teachers were treated and how our school system perform there is a problem. A school board that was just voted into office and wanting to make drastic changes may not be what a state rep wants to see on their agenda. If it passes it could bring in outside influences that would be willing to file suit. This could get a lot bigger than Stanly County and I very much doubt anyone in the state government wants to deal with that. A few of Mr. Burr's older and wiser colleagues may pull him aside on this one.

It keeps getting more interesting.

 

[bulldog nation2014]

Personally I believe a decision like this needs to be researched and studied as well as comminuties involvement. The process in which this BOE has acted is not appropriate for the action they desire to take. It's extreme and to this point unjustified and not justified. They are hurting a lot of kids right now. This needs to be tabled and researched carefully and then make a decision based only on academics. Closing AHS for a magnet is stupid. Look at the successful states and see what they are doing don't keep throwing crap against the well and hope something sticks. If we are going to make a drastic change let's make sure it is the proper move that will benefit everybody involved and support stanly county economically so we can get better.

It's not that hard to do. Study the top 10 states look for counties with similar demographics and income and let's see how we can reform our whole system to be better.

 

[sway1532]

One thing I would like to add, there is no bi-partisanship between the BOE and the City Council/Commissioners/Community. With out this, BOE governs themselves without any outside agreement or opinion. This has spelled disaster from the beginning. Who's bright idea was to the BOE the power of a dictator? You can blame your uneducated elected officials we vote for every two years.

Again for you smart guys, without a bi-partisanship between two governmental entities, they can due as they please as long as its within the law. No outside force can thwart their decision. wow.

 

[btango]

Once again. Does anyone really think this school board, that took office in November, came up with this plan in less than sixty days. No way. They may be in the mix now but this had to be going on for some time. There may not have been a definitive direction it was going to go but there was planning in place. If the school system was not looking at changes they were not doing their job and if so they may have been directed to start planning for changes. I expect there may have been more options and this is what they decided to move forward with.

 

[BulldogsFollower]

Burr is Pro Magnet Private Schools. These Folk totally want to get Us back to the 50's

 

[Buddy Rich]

Guys I am growing very weary of all of this and am getting more confused the more I read. Mr Burr make a lot of statements last night at the commissioners meeting. Lot of it was new to me. Can we take Mr Burr at his word OR the county commissioner he was refuteating. I don't know who to believe, but I do understand that politicians do lie and so do commissioners. And like I've said all along its all about the money. Anyway it would be good to read Mr Burr statements on facebook under SCARF. We can all make up our own minds. The final decision on the future will come from the BOE but the county commissioners are major players in this and they must be held accountable in this farce also. Do any of us really know how our tax dollars are being spent. Hell no we don't or at least I don't. Well I think its past time we all stepped forward and demand an account of how our tax dollars are being spent. According to mr Burr the county has 20 million dollars in their savings account when they are only required to have 5 million according to state law. And they can't fund the school system. Give me a break. Like I say my biggest problem is knowing WHO to believe. All I can say is they had ALL better listen to the people or bear the consequences!
.

 

[btango]

Originally posted by BulldogsFollower:
Burr is Pro Magnet Private Schools. These Folk totally want to get Us back to the 50's

Do you not think Burr is for what will propel him further up the political ladder. He writes in his post that he is for the community schools. Who knows.

I found his post to be disappointing as it started out about the school board and swung into an attack on his number one opponent. Also, a few of the things I know something about he slanted it away from the facts. Three sides to every story.

 

[bulldog nation2014]

Here is what we know for sure:

Burr is a politician = will do anything to win a vote

The BOE is full of it and really has no clue to what they are doing proven by the amount of research that has been done.

Most of the people in power have no clue either as they have not taken the time to research and to put together a proper proposal that is supported by pros and cons and the research backing it

The kids are the ones hurting out of all of this as tey still have no clue what school they will be going to or even if they will have their friends with them.

There is 20+million in someone's bank account when the state requires $5million

Did I cover the majority?

Bottom line NO schools should close until the proper tore search can be completed and supported by facts on how we can better our schools academically. Furthermore the #1 priority and really the only priority is for this BOE to put resources up to support ALL schools. Redistricting should be done and west stanly's lines should be cleared away from albemarle city limits.

 

[bulldog nation2014]

I will say this in addition to my previous comment. I don't believe all is true of what Mr. Burr said but I do believe there is some truth to it. The BOE has yet to furnish an accounting of spent funds over the past 12 months I believe the excuse was " we don't see that". Additionally they did try to piggy back the tax for schools with emergency communication system and the costs seem about right. I also heard from another person about a month ago that there is around $20million in a savings.

I would be interested on a fact check, which I will research on if in fact the funding for teachers has increased in the last 8 yrs over $800k. I honestly do not believe the system is hurting for money because of the funding available. Typically the system is spending waste fully but this can only be seen by a report that is not being furnished.

 

[btango]

The $20 million is not the school system's funds it appears but belongs to the county.

If you remember there was a stink being made that SCS had a large sum on money in its operating account and that this should be spent. No one took into account the lag time for teachers pay the first weeks of the new school year nor some other expenses plus having a buffer so the amount of money being discussed was not nearly as large as we thought.

Regarding the $20 million I would much prefer that money generate interest that be used and have it available if ever needed in a severe disaster or some other unexpected financial crisis. Once again, we do not know if some of those funds are needed for lag time on other things depending on when the numbers are viewed. If you look at the account of a business on the fifth day of the month it may look like they have a lot of available cash. Look at it on the 16th day of the month after they pay expenses you may see a totally different picture. The county budget is just short of $60 million based and $4.5 million meets the state mandated 8% threshold. Are there other times when the $20 million dwindles down during the year and builds back up. Currently I would think the coffers would be full since the property taxes were due in January. That may not be relevant but just a thought.

This post was edited on 2/21 1:47 AM by btango

 

[bulldog nation2014]

Ok nobody said the school system had the money I said the 20 mil is there. And after all I said that's all you could combat? Now Btango I know you love debating me almost every single point. lol

I think Brango agrees that the majority of our leadership is full of it and that they should in fact table this and actually do what we like to call a thorough study of what it takes for a school system successful from a school district who is actually successful. Lol.

 

[btango]

Originally posted by bulldog nation2014:
Ok nobody said the school system had the money I said the 20 mil is there. And after all I said that's all you could combat? Now Btango I know you love debating me almost every single point. lol

I think Brango agrees that the majority of our leadership is full of it and that they should in fact table this and actually do what we like to call a thorough study of what it takes for a school system successful from a school district who is actually successful. Lol.

I have written that more study was needed, the board made some political miscalculations, and that the severeness of this would need a lot of supporting data to make it somewhat palatable although many would not support any changes regardless of any scenario. I like the idea of redistricting the county from scratch. I would prefer all the schools remain open but I think the elementary schools are going to have at least one close. I do think if extreme changes are not made we will visit this same agenda in three to five years with South and Albemarle in worse shape both from an enrollment and academic standpoint.

 

[new_dawg]

Originally posted by bulldog nation2014:
I think Brango agrees that the majority of our leadership is full of it and that they should in fact table this and actually do what we like to call a thorough study of what it takes for a school system successful from a school district who is actually successful. Lol.

If I am not mistaken, some elements of Plan A and Plan B were part of the last redistricting study that was done in either 2012 or 2013. Seems I remember the scenario of East Albemarle and Oakboro being closed and some high schools being consolidated (don't remember the magnet school proposal as part of that study, however).

This study was almost immediately shelved by the BOE, but IIRC, the SNAP did a story on some of the recommendations of the study before it was canned.

 

[bulldog nation2014]

I'm sorry Btango I believe the community as a whole agrees some changes are needed. However closing of a city school let alone of 2 schools located in the more populated areas makes no sense. I seen where one person commented as I have yes Albemarle is centrally located and has nice facilities that's why it needs to be a traditional school. Sorry to me from an athletics standpoint it's embarrassing to have a visiting team change in the wood shop classroom. IMHO.

I think the BOE should stand up and say all schools will be open next year although there will be redistricting. Give these kids some comfort and the feeling of stability.

Let's look at the budget see what's needed to assist us in reaching our goal of school of excellence and let's work toward that goal and invest every necessary resource towards that goal. Let's look at the early college and invest resources to improve that.

 

[btango]

Originally posted by bulldog nation2014:
I'm sorry Btango I believe the community as a whole agrees some changes are needed. However closing of a city school let alone of 2 schools located in the more populated areas makes no sense. I seen where one person commented as I have yes Albemarle is centrally located and has nice facilities that's why it needs to be a traditional school. Sorry to me from an athletics standpoint it's embarrassing to have a visiting team change in the wood shop classroom. IMHO.

I think the BOE should stand up and say all schools will be open next year although there will be redistricting. Give these kids some comfort and the feeling of stability.

Let's look at the budget see what's needed to assist us in reaching our goal of school of excellence and let's work toward that goal and invest every necessary resource towards that goal. Let's look at the early college and invest resources to improve that.

I just wrote that I prefer no schools to close. The redistricting to keep the high schools open would not be that complicated in my opinion. The only major changes would be West Stanly with Albemarle and South. May be some tweaks in some other areas.

I think new_dawg will agree with this, we would not be having this discussion regarding the high schools if the above mentioned redistricting would have happened over the last twenty years.

 

[btango]

Originally posted by new_dawg:

Originally posted by bulldog nation2014:
I think Brango agrees that the majority of our leadership is full of it and that they should in fact table this and actually do what we like to call a thorough study of what it takes for a school system successful from a school district who is actually successful. Lol.

If I am not mistaken, some elements of Plan A and Plan B were part of the last redistricting study that was done in either 2012 or 2013. Seems I remember the scenario of East Albemarle and Oakboro being closed and some high schools being consolidated (don't remember the magnet school proposal as part of that study, however).

This study was almost immediately shelved by the BOE, but IIRC, the SNAP did a story on some of the recommendations of the study before it was canned.

I think you are spot on new_dawg. Do not think any high school movement was in the plan which is still crazy to me with the disparities in enrollment and the simple geography.

Oakboro has been on the chopping block once if not twice. The last time the closings were being looked at Oakboro was the school in the west planned for closure. Some way that morphed into the newly remodeled Ridgecrest, which geographically and by enrollment probably made more sense. I have always wondered did the people of Ridgecrest not think how it went from being a remodeled school to replacing Oakboro as the school to close.

 

[new_dawg]

According to the SNAP, Representative Burr offered two possibilities to "give the people a voice for their community schools":
Recall Elections: The first time I ever heard this spoken about was during an
upheaval several years ago in Burke County, NC after a low voter turnout
in an off-year election put several very backwards, vindictive, and
unqualified people, whose sole goal was to oust the superintendent, on
their BOE. The majority of Burke County citizens (many of whom should
have got out and voted in the first place but didn't) quickly realized
they had screwed up by allowing this to happen, and sought relief from
the NC Legislature. Even though the situation got so bad that SACS
(Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) revoked the Burke County
Schools accreditation for a time, the NC Legislature refused to pass any
bill that would have established a recall procedure. If a recall
procedure was not made law in that case, I don't think there is any
chance whatsoever that the Stanly County situation, in which people are
upset about a board taking steps to operate schools in an efficient
manner, is likely to be seen as justification by the legislature to
enact such a procedure.Partisan School Board Elections: Burr said the other means by which the people could get a voice for their community schools was for Stanly County to make their school board elections partisan, with candidates running as Republicans, Democrats, etc. In a county like Stanly, that is already redder than an NCSU jersey, there is really only one political party that would benefit from that, and it just so happens to be Mr. Burr's party of choice. IMHO, this would be the best way to MAKE THE SCHOOL SITUATION WORSE THAN IT IS NOW in Stanly County (or anywhere for that matter). I believe partisan politics is much of the reason Stanly County is behind the rest of the state in things like economic development, infrastructure, and (yes) support for schools. Conservatism can be a great thing...I would consider myself fiscally conservative. But just flat REFUSING to spend money for such needs turns conservatism from a progressive to a regressive trait. That is where Stanly County is now. Many county commissioners over the years have run on the platform, "I WILL NOT VOTE TO RAISE TAXES". That is an admirable goal, and it WILL get you elected. But when there comes a time when the county budget can not pay for everything that is needed, and there aren't any alternative revenue sources (grants, etc) available, you either have to increase your revenue, cut your expenses/services, or do without. Stanly County has done without in a lot of ways (when compared to other surrounding counties), and now it has got us in a situation where we can no longer follow that course, at least as far as schools go.

Just like the county commission's history of fighting change while trying to keep the status quo, so has been the school board history. Stanly County was one of the last systems in North Carolina clinging to a K-8 elementary system until 2012-13 when West Stanly Middle School finally came about. County coaching salaries were cut 20% arbitrarily (with NO input from coaches) in 2012, and one school board member actually suggested not paying coaches AT ALL and getting community volunteers to coach the athletic teams. Most telling has been the board's refusal to address the need for redistricting over the years, despite growing demographic and population center shifts that have some students who live less than two miles from Albemarle High School driving 11 miles to West Stanly High School. Many charge that this has been done to keep the western schools almost lily white, but proving this is practically impossible.

As for Representative Burr, I believe the Recall Election idea is nothing more than political grandstanding. As for Partisan School Board Elections, I hope and pray that that we here in Stanly County don't follow the route of making our local schools a red-blue, conservative-liberal, republican-democrat issue. Our kids deserve better.

 

[btango]

new_dawg I do not remember the specifics of Burke County only that it was an absolute worst case scenario for the county. I think that superintendent went onto much more prominent positions from there and was a very highly sought after administrator.

I am going to try and get in touch with someone from that area that may can shed some light on that.

 

[Sleehrat84]

I am somewhat new to Albemarle...moved here in July of 2012. The schools need some help...but let me be the first to say so do the elected boards that represent us.

WSPC 1010 (local a.m.) had a program on Saturday morning that included a county commissioner (Asciuto)??. Between him and the host...the conversation went this way:,
"Closing schools will save money with attrition and loss of administrators and coaches".

Mr. Asciuto...when the board cut all coaching supplements by 20.5% across the board they claimed to save only $50,000. If you close 2 high schools, you will save how much money? Now ask yourself, with both of those schools losing 5 home football games each in football and 10 home games in basketball, how much money will be lost from the gates? I also ask you...what happens to the 100 or so football players who no longer have a team to play for? (Don't kid yourself...only 11 get on the field at a time...and not everyone will be willing to hang around just to be on a roster somewhere else.)

The host then followed up with a report on bonds and repairs and in that analysis, he said "a million dollars is nothing when it comes to the budget." You can't have it both ways.

If the changes are to better the education of our kids, do the right thing. IF budget is the motivation, do what you have to do...but, please don't think that cutting the supplements of a few coaches and principals (principals and teachers have been told they will have a job with the changes, regardless)....please don't say that cutting out some athletic teams will save you money. You have to consider how much you will lose from their gate receipts in years past.

It is a zero sum there. HOWEVER, there will be an affect on the half of the county's athletes who once played who can't find a spot on the team in their new school. You only get to put 5 on the court at a time...and 9 on the diamond.

Can we get someone to simply tell the truth.

 

[Trench Warrior]

I agree with some of the "money saving" criticism. Cutting coaches supplements along with the comments of a previous board member (Poole) that we don't need paid coaches at all really sums up the importance of athletics in this county. However, I do question your comment:

"what happens to the 100 or so football players who no longer have a team to play for? (Don't kid yourself...only 11 get on the field at a time...and not everyone will be willing to hang around just to be on a roster somewhere else.)

What 100 football players are you talking about? The four high schools in the county couldn't field full JV teams this year! AHS had less than 20, SS folded the tents on their jv's, NS & WS never attempted to have one. This consolidation will only strengthen football in this area. Sure, they will be moved up in classifications & play much tougher competition but the football will be better IF they decide to pay for quality coaches. Same for basketball & baseball. There will be kids who don't make the team but that's life & that happens all over the country.

TW

 

[BDHarris]

So instead of the talented athletes from all over the county attending Albemarle on the sly they will be funneled into North Albemarle or West/South Stanly now? Seems like a win/win other than actually having to play in a higher class. It was nice to pull from four high schools to field a 1A/1AA team. One word. KARMA.

 

[Dogs9]

I have to dissagree with your statement about consolidation making football teams stronger in the county Trench Warrior. You are going to lose a lot of the athletes from Albemarle just because of the transportation issue alone. And like it or not that's where most of the athletes are.

 

[Trench Warrior]

Originally posted by Dogs9:
I have to dissagree with your statement about consolidation making football teams stronger in the county Trench Warrior. You are going to lose a lot of the athletes from Albemarle just because of the transportation issue alone. And like it or not that's where most of the athletes are.

That's a weak argument. Poor, disadvantaged kids all over this state travel 10, 20, 30 miles one way to get to their school. What makes Albemarle any different or more special? Just like the poor academics at AHS, that's an excuse. Players that really want to play will get there.

TW

 

[btango]

It is my understanding the teachers have not received an increase in the county stipend in ten years. As Sleeh wrote the coaches also took a 20.5% cut of their stipend. Sleeh would you have considered the stipend prior to the cut about average or may be slightly below?

If they keep all four high schools open the school board must redistrict the lines for West to Albemarle and West to South. If this is not done and the enrollment decreases further the future choices will be limited.

 

[Sleehrat84]

Trench....100 is saying that Albemarle dressed about 30/35 for the three year average. That is 65 kids. SS dressed 32/18 average last two years. That is 50 kids. I was being generous to say it was only 100 affected. Now that I have been corrected...let me finish.

Athletes have a 15% on average higher attendance rate in the state of NC. This fact was presented at a NCHSAA meeting. Athletes have an average grade point average that is almost (.91) full point higher on the current 4.0 scale. The dropout rate for athletes is 31% less than the student body. (I made that one up so you can correct me again.)

Reality...unless the magnet idea gets kids connected, the loss of athletics as an option is going to affect many families. I will put is as simple as SS and WS merging...and baseball. You have hundreds of kids playing travel and year round as part of the plan to play at the two schools now. After the merger, there will be 15 varsity and 15 j.v. kids left out of high school baseball. You can do the math on the other sports....girls' basketball, softball, tennis, cross-country, football, boy's basketball, etc. (Track and wrestling may be the least affected.)

The supplements for coaching were less than Rowan, Davidson, and Vance BEFORE the cut. I can't speak for other systems.

 

[sway1532]

"I AM TELLING YOU" it is not going to happen....!

 

[bulldog nation2014]

Great Video!!!! One thing not mentioned. Girls basketball: numerous individual scholar athletes, team scholar award (I believe the only team in the county) a heart of a champion award. Numerous all conference all district coy poy etc. In the last two years 2 mcdonalds all american nominees. Member played in the NC/SC allstar game, east/west game. The team will likely get the team scholar award again this year.

http://youtu.be/pTwO8wsbLG4

 

[btango]

Sleeh I would like some of your opinions on the system.

1. Has the county or a single school if that is helpful seen a loss of strong teachers other than for retirement? Move to other systems or leave teaching altogether. Retirement is always going to take teachers.

2. Do you think the system needs to make some severe changes if they cannot get additional funds or would leaving the school open and looking at other cuts be appropriate?

3. If it is proven that a high school must close, do you think it would be better to plan for a magnet as one of the three or three standard high schools closing one?

4. Have you ever been told why there has not been a basic redistricting?

Thank you sir and hope all is well.

 

[Sleehrat84]

Teachers leave for Cabarrus and other places for pay. Ask the folks at West. Albemarle had a 30% turnover in teachers last year. It could be pay...could be working conditions. I D K.

My original post was a reaction to a county commissioner saying that salaries would be the savings noted in closing schools. We still will have the same basic number of kids to educate...same basic funds...where are the savings? The radio conversation implied from salaries and heating costs. Minutes later it was said that a million dollars is "nothing in a budget this large. You can't get a free pass with that whopper. If we are merging and closing...tell the truth. Our current leadership is not producing.

I am okay with the idea of consolidation, but plan A fails to consider the transportation issue. Neither plan will save money...if so, return my property taxes asap. In my opinion, this is a reaction to a parent's group going public last year the week before the shooting at AHS. I am not sure the magnet STEM will attract enough kids unless they come from the 9th grade academy or from Greystone. I have heard of many elementary parents saying Montgomery or homeschooling will happen before their child rides a bus for an extended time to a school.
This post was edited on 2/23 1:43 PM by Sleehrat84

 

[BulldogsFollower]

Right now Montgomery County has 2 small Schools. I despice Parents who think that the World is built around Them and Their Family. Truth is that OurCounty needs to get better more than They need to continue to get worse

 

[btango]

Originally posted by Sleehrat84:

My original post was a reaction to a county commissioner saying that salaries would be the savings noted in closing schools. We still will have the same basic number of kids to educate...same basic funds...where are the savings? The radio conversation implied from salaries and heating costs. Minutes later it was said that a million dollars is "nothing in a budget this large. You can't get a free pass with that whopper. If we are merging and closing...tell the truth. Our current leadership is not producing.

I am okay with the idea of consolidation, but plan A fails to consider the transportation issue. Neither plan will save money...if so, return my property taxes asap. In my opinion, this is a reaction to a parent's group going public last year the week before the shooting at AHS. I am not sure the magnet STEM will attract enough kids unless they come from the 9th grade academy or from Greystone. I have heard of many elementary parents saying Montgomery or homeschooling will happen before their child rides a bus for an extended time to a school.
This post was edited on 2/23 1:43 PM by Sleehrat84

Sleeh the person who said that the "$1 million was nothing in a budget this size" was the radio personality who lives in western Stanly not the politician. (Check me to ensure.) Do not think he is from here but not sure.

From everything I have seen no teacher jobs would be cut but fewer replacements as people leave the system. Like you said, still the same number of students. I think some principals and others may go down a notch until another slot opens. No idea.

I think a magnet school with a high academic entry requirement, job training skills, and the arts is a great idea but does not appear to be one that we can make work in a county this size without doing damage to the other schools. Also, the backlash would be huge and although I think it could end up doing well it would take years with all of the baggage to take off.

So a parent is going to pay tuition and drive their children to Montgomery County for school. It will be very few I expect. It will come out that the person over transportation has studied and told the superintendent that no student in Stanly County would be on a bus more than one hour and fifteen minutes for one of the two rides. My understanding they do the drop off in the reverse order they do the pickups(?).

Home schooling. Great option but after reading some of the comments by parents saying that and also speaking with them I question how smart an idea that is.

 

[Sleehrat84]

Btango...you are right. It was the host...but, the comish didn't disagree. My point has been simple. The board "had" to cut supplements which amounted to less than their "travel fund". I have no problem with closing schools, but I am convinced fewer kids will participate and connect with their schools without the option of athletics. I also agree with you on home schooling. Bob Dylan said it first...the times...they are a changin'.

 

[Buddy Rich]

Just saw on facebook where mr Burr went to Raleigh today and filed 2 bills to recall the members of the SC board of education if they go through with their plan. Interesting.

 

[Trench Warrior]

This is the "kiss of death" for the consolidation effort. The SC school board will now buckle & fold like a cheap suit. Look for a redistricting "compromise" in an attempt to fix the academic/social mess at AHS. This will open another can of worms when the kids that have grown up in the western demographic schools are now sent into the "city"! More fireworks than ever are on the way!! Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for!!

TW