When The Doors Close

And your the prime example of what is wrong. You leave without even the idea of voicing, an opinion where it counts. At the school board meetings. Where others can hear what you have to say. And understand that.
Pro or con. Voice in either have to be heard.
Running off don't solve the problem, for those here, or those who wondering what needs to be done.
Hate to say it.
But that is the cowards way out, and your way out of dealing with the issues, of what your kids need and what you, yourself can help to fix.
But you'd rather run off. Oh well just another person who could add some insight. But chose to leave.
Hmm. Common ain't it. Better jobs and education here or there. So i'll leave. So how have you helped since you returned?
And not to be totally rude but take it how you want.

The upper crust school systems in Virginia (particularly Fairfax County) find the SOL's to be a nuisance more than anything. Most people I knew considered them to be a joke as well.

Virginia is considered to have one of the best secondary systems in the United States, and one of the reasons for that is per capita we have the highest percentage of high schoolers scoring 4's or 5's on multiple AP exams.

I guarantee you the SWVA is NOT doing it's part to raise these numbers. If you want to talk about actually prepping students for college then AP courses will do it as a majority of the country's universities have shown that AP courses are taught at a higher level than 1st year college courses (assuming they are ACTUALLY AP courses where students are expected to actually take the exams and do well, and not just "make believe" AP courses that are called "AP", where at most 1 or 2 students make a 4 or 5 on the exam if any even take them). FYI making a 4 or 5 on an AP exam will translate to college level credits. Why it's advantageous to have these courses taught in high school to those college bound is that it's much easier to prepare students for academic rigor when they have the comforts of home and mamma, thereby making the transition to college a lot easier (even if you stay home for college as you'll be dealing with more freedom and need a good conception of what kind of studying it takes to do well at the college level).

The only school systems in Virginia that care about the SOL's are the ones that fear in a given year they won't be up-to-snuff. The fact that we use SOL performance as validation in both the City of Norton and Wise County is a joke. It's like being proud of just barely making the NAIA basketball tournament.

Of course when measuring academic performance for those not college bound, that's another issue.

In addition, it's going to take some bright and seasoned veterans or bright new stars to teach these kinds of courses.

And be perfectly honest, we know they are few and far in-between in Wise County/Norton as of late. Pooling together resources by consolidation could help alleviate this problem (assuming things were done right, but we all know politics would shaft some good teachers).

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Anyway, saying anymore would be useless because most people are so closed minded and can't open there eyes and see the forest through the trees. Like I said, the best thing for me and my children is to get out of here before they end up so closed minded that they can't make the best decisions for their own children.

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If you're an example of being "open minded" then I think I'll lock mine and throw away the key.



And enough of this garbage about how things are done "away from here".. Who cares? Why should we care what Fairfax County does or does not do? How ridiculous. What needs to be done here is worry about what Wise County needs, not what some bean counter behind a desk in some city thinks is best. I know the Fairfax thing came up over SOL's but while I grant you the SOL's in themselves are quite worthless, nevertheless they do represent a measurement of academic achievement, and Wise Co. has done well by that measurement.

We can set our own precedents here. We don't need northern or eastern Virginia bean counters to show us how.

I see your point, but that just mires us in the mud of just getting by instead of reaching for the stars and grabbing them.

Say what you want about me, I do not care because I know myself and what I stand for. . . You have no clue about either. I work hard daily to help our children achieve, and prepare them for the real world. They need even more, though, and I am just one person. Changes must be made, whether is is consolidation or not, but they must be made to keep pace with the educational system of the rest of the country.

Amen, what SWVA needs is to keep up with everyone else. The standards are set way too low back home.

The phrase "state of the art" needs to be considered closely. All the smaller high schools can be adapted to cover any new structural needs caused by advances in technology. I have talked to proponents of consolidation about problems that would make the current buildings (Pound, Appalachia, Coeburn, and St. Paul) obsolete - and they are impossibly vague. One person told me that a new building would be better because it should have a fountain in the lobby. Can air conditioning and new windows be installed at the existing schools? Yes. The debate about the buildings is more about cosmetics than about damage and decay.

The funding of Wise County Schools is more than adequate. State funding is pretty stable. The real funding issues concern local taxes. I believe the people in the small towns will ante-up to keep and improve their schools. I do not believe they would be willing to support a massive tax increase to build a new school out of their community. Will consolidation improve the tax bills for most taxpayers? No. On top of the construction costs, they will have added transportation costs, and the proponents of consolidation want an extensive addition of classes and services. People who favor consolidation have told me that more classes can be offered - more classes mean more expense. The number of teachers in the core subjects (English, Math, etc.) are going to stay the same. You will have no decrease in the number of teachers employed. But, if a huge number of bizarre electives are added, costs for instruction could easily spiral out of control.

If consolidation is about funding, one can only say that the pie is not going to be expanded, it will only be cut one or two ways instead of six. The per-pupil expenses and funding will be the same whether you have one or two high schools or six. It is to be regretted that so much of our current school funding is wasted.

One thing is for sure, I am not willing to pay another penny in taxes to the county so that they can shoehorn an AC unit into a 60 year old school.

Can it be done? Yes. But as long as you have 60 year old windows, you're doing nothing but letting the bought air outside.

It makes absolutely no sense to continue to shovel money into these old buildings. '

[censored] can the sports and worry about EDUCATION.

SOL's are not perfect. But they are a judgement passed on academic accomplishment. The SOL's are designed to measure core competency. I do feel that they have sometimes encouraged teaching by rote and I have never approved nor have I trusted standardized tests. This being said, they still are, in my opinion, the best yardstick we have to measure performance. They do prove that Wise County Schools, in their present state offer a very, very good education.

I was a veteran of Forensic teams in high school, and in drama competition each school only entered one play. Granted - you can have Senior and Junior class plays, but in Forensic competition, unless the rules have changed, it is only one play per school. Unless you split the characters in the play like amoebae, you are going to diminish the chances of kids participating in forensic competition.

Check and see how much money is being spent on thes old buildings. GET out the check book pilgrim. And don't forget to write for all the wasted studies to the local boys that can't be used cause the old board studied the old buildings. Get rid of the rest of'em.