Again, Lee High is a full county consolidation....spread out as it is.
Look at Twin Valley, look at East Ridge, there are ones that work, we're all worried due to all the rumors/talks of Lee.
Learn from Lee County, consolidation sucks!!
Again, Lee High is a full county consolidation....spread out as it is.
Look at Twin Valley, look at East Ridge, there are ones that work, we're all worried due to all the rumors/talks of Lee.
What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it.
I totally agree with you Counts. There doesn't need to be a rush to do anything immediately, but a decision will probably need to be made soon. When a decision is made, hopefully they will thoroughly explore all options taking into account all negative and positive aspects.
Frankly, I'm really concerned with the idea of pumping huge amounts of money into our old high schools, regardless how many are eventually decided upon. Retrofitting all those circa 1950ish schools would require upgrades to all utility systems (water, sewer, electrical, HVAC), windows, roofs, etc. and then you have to deal with issues like asbestos removal/containment and how many others just because of the old construction methods used in the past. That's just one aspect that could greatly affect the costs involved. As Counts pointed out, how long can you upgrade or modify old facilities until there is a point of diminishing returns, i.e., throwing money down the drain when investing in new facilities makes more sense in the long run. I'm not convinced of the right path to take right now because I've not seen all of the facts yet. But, the 2003 study that gave us the $54 million price tag to retrofit most of the old schools is probably a good starting point to begin judgement. I'd like to see what the estimated construction costs for new schools would be. If the costs are either less or marginally more than the retrofits, I would want my tax dollars going to the new facilities that would be expected to last maybe another 50+ years, instead of older ones that would require constant upkeep and modifications. The fact that our elementary and primary schools have already undergone renovations and are in great shape should provide some idea of what I mean. We started with much newer facilities and improved them at a much reduced cost and now they are pretty much set for many years to come.
This is just my take on it and I know I don't have all the facts that are probably before the School Board and Administration. Whatever form the final solution takes, I hope it will position all of our schools to be viable institutions that will not require further expense modifications and will provide equal access for all our children to the most classes, programs, etc. possible. In that way, my daughter can have the opportunity for a better educational foundation than I had and be better prepared to deal with whatever life has to in store for her in the future. I would hope that is our common goal for all our children. Otherwise, what is the point of all of this any way?
......and I thought truth was universal. Silly me......
Exactly Rock. Apparently Lee High has had many problems and I'm not so sure its solely because of consolidating most of the high schools into a single institution. There are probably other issues that have factored into the results. Conversely, there are many success stories of consolidation even within our own region. So, we can't judge or draw conclusions about the issue based upon a single perceived bad outcome. And, any potential consolidation on Wise County's part would probably involve multiple "new" schools and not a single large one with any potential drawbacks associated with that option. Even if we halved our six high school into three, we are only talking about enrollments of approximately 500 each, if students are approximately distributed equally. 500 students in a single school is not a large school by any stretch of the imagination. We would not be creating a Dobyns-Bennett sized school even if one consolidated County high school was the result and that has never been proposed as far as I know. 500 students is probably not much more than PV or JJK had to themselves back 20 some years ago. So, any fears of mega consolidated schools are unfounded IMO.
......and I thought truth was universal. Silly me......
I work with several parents of kids that go to both East Ridge and TwinValley and both groups agree that they are much better off now than they were befor consoladation. The East ridge parents in paticulay just have a hard time beliving that they were able to get by with what they had for as long as they did.....Lee is dafantly not a success story in consoladation but consoladation in Lee was more than just Penigton and Jonesville there were several smaller schools (St Charles is the only one springing to my mind right now) that in all honisty should have been combined with eather Penaton, TW, or Jonesville now this would have still been consoladation just a better option IMO which is why a snap disision should not be made everyone involved should try to come up with the best option avalable
I've been to East Ridge once to watch a softball tournament. They have a SUPER NICE school. I always remember at the golf matches at Willow Brook a few years back when Fed's Creek was still around, they said they were glad their school was being consolidated so they could go to a nicer school.
Jonesville, Flatwoods, Pennington, St Charles, Keokee, and Dryden were the schools that combined to form Lee High.
Add Thomas Walker to that mix and I believe they should have considered at least two schools. I don't know that it would have been smoother, but I think it probably would have at least been better in some way.
......and I thought truth was universal. Silly me......
I always thought that Lee High should have been two schools insted of one.....One thing is for sure it would have solved alot of there travel problems
If Lee County would have consolidated Jonesville, Flatwoods, and Thomas Walker into Lee West, and Pennington, St. Charles and Dryden into Lee East then it would have solved a lot of the problems Lee currently faces. Both schools would probably have Single A numbers and wouldn't have any travel problems. But Thomas Walker blocked that and kept their own school. The rivalry between the Lee West school and the Lee East school would be crazy though, probably one of the biggest rivalries in the area. But I guess we can only wonder what might have been.
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