When The Doors Close

However how long can we hurt folks that cannot afford to pay for schools.

Your missing a little of the picture.

Right now we can with the coal boom, afford to not consolidate.

When this is over and were back to retirement area Wise Co. Who will be able to afford, to pay more taxes, to keep schools open with less children attending them.

Im not wild about consolidation.
But i am a bit on the realistic side. When you cannot afford things, you don't purchase them. And when the economy is down. you don't spend wrecklessly. You look at cutting cost by going the best route you can.
In this case it will be cutting the number of schools and staff. Not a thing i like. But one that will happen. It's called facing the facts.

It's just not about the money we have. It's about facing a few realities. I have my problems with it. But i also see where in time it will have to happen.

Common sense?

I work in a minimum wage job, and I would gladly pay more to keep the schools we've already got. If you cannot afford to keep what you've got, then where are you going to get the money to start from scratch? [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wall.gif[/img] And you yourself have said that when you cannot afford things you do not purchase them, so "common sense" would dictate that you do not go out and start building brand new schools when you have perfectly good ones.

The perfectly good one's are over 30 some years old. It's about like an old vehicle. How long do you keep replacing parts on it, till you realize your putting more into it, than it's worth. And we are talking about the building here, not the kids.
It would be less costly to run 3 schools, than it would be to run 6 if done right.
The money for the new schools would come from matching funds or secured funds. With a very low interest or no interest rate applied.
Like i said i see problems with consolidation. But i also see what the kids could gain.
Right now coal is up. There will be no talk of consolidation or not much.
However, when coal drops and people begin to move out again, it will become a top priority.
I'm just being realistic. As i said im not all for it. I see things on both sides.
I love the small school atmosphere.
But i also see where in time, yes in time, something will have to be done.
It won't happen quickly but i do think it's something many should look at kind of get on board with, because you can fight a lot of things, but change does happen.
And again as i said, I'm not all for it. But i do see the benefits of it. Esp. for the kids class wise and for new better buildings.
Biggest thing i see is that it is planned out and done right. And actual timelines and money values applied. No stupidity like we have had in the past.

i heard alpha natural resources donated the land at
southfork intersection to the county and that is the
site for the new school! so everyone from wise will have to come to pound.

I would wager that land near Wise has been donated as well, but it matters not to me where it is as long as it gets done. I am willing to sacrifice for my kids.

Just because something is 30 years old doesnt mean that it's bad. The house I live in, some parts of it are over 100 years old. So does this mean that I am to just tear it down? Move into a doublewide perhaps?

You say it would be less costly to run 3 schools instead of 6 if it were done right. This is probably true, but with the way this whole thing is gone so far, there is no way we can be sure that it will be done right.

As far as change goes, the only reason that change happens is because people let it happen. I don't know what it is but people around here have this idea embedded in their head that change is inevitable and that it's always a good thing when its not. Just like these newer "better" buildings. Just because something is new doesn't mean that it's better than what you've already got. I mean wow, it's got air conditioning!! Oh our poor children would die if they couldn't have air conditioning.

Don't get me wrong, I like air conditioning as much as the next person but I went through 3 years here at Pound without it, and I didn't die. I would have liked to have had it, but not having it didnt cause me to do poorly academicly either. Air conditioning is about the only thing these new buildings would have over the ones we have now.

If people continue to fight consolidation like they have, then I doubt that it will ever happen. I know myself, coal or no coal, that I will fight consolidation until the day I die if I have to. And I know several others that would do the same.

And Indian_Dad, you say that you're willing to sacrifice for your kids, sounds to me like you're willing to sacrifice your kids, as far as their education goes. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/getsmile.tmp008106164.gif[/img] <font color="red"> </font> <font color="red"> </font>

No
Sacrificing my kid's education is giving them limited classes in a run-down school [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Tell all your telling to the kids we have today.
None of us died for lack of AC, however today without a cell phone, ipod, computer and at various levels vehicles, well your not hip. Today's generations.
I don't remember missing as much school as they miss now. And i sure don't remember no heat schedule. See any difference yet.
Today's kids are not like kids of 30 yrs ago.
You argument is valid. But the reality is. It will happen in time.
Not in 3 yrs or probably 5 yrs. But when the next economic drop comes to the local area it will start up.
I am not all for it. But i do see where it could work and how it could work.
And there is every continuing new laws that we have to meet. Fire codes and even handicap accessible laws.
At some point we have to look past what we did 30 yrs ago.

The paper said they are going to use the same plans as last time? Oh well, I guess I'll join the board again. The studies are going to be done for the next group of schools soon. The difference in the quality of renovations was a big part of the original problem. 10 more wasted years. I thought we would see some changes? I'd bet the cost has increased 40% since the first dates went by.

[ QUOTE ]
i heard alpha natural resources donated the land at
southfork intersection to the county and that is the
site for the new school! so everyone from wise will have to come to pound.

[/ QUOTE ] Nothing should be built on land that has been undermined or has any mineable seams near it, after the fiasco with A&amp;G, it should be at least a 3 mile buffer to anything mineable.