I hate this for the kids at Wise as well. We have no desire at all to be combined with Pound (works both ways-rest assured), but the bottom line is this is coming for all of us, and we can either live in neverland, or wake up and realize that we are going to have to make the best of it. New facilities,expanded educational programs, and a safe school for my kids to learn in means alot more to me than football games on Friday nights (which is what 90% of folks who oppose this are thinking about). The windows at JJK are shot, the walls are cracked, we have no reliable heat nor air conditioning. Things are as bad if not worse at Pound. Elp6n tells me stories of wearing coats in the classroom in the winter, and I've seen the school enough to know what shape it is in. All of our county schools are around 50. We can either patch it up (charge us the ticket to do this), only to see our kids taxed again in 10-20 yrs to rebuild anyway, or we can do it right ONCE. I love J.J. Kelly, God knows I do and so do you all, but school pride can cloud a person's judgement sometimes. I have talked to the folks over in KY at East Ridge and Letcher. These folks are so proud of their new school. I am ashamed of our tiny lil gym at JJK-unexcusable for a school our size. This is coming guys-just the way it is. Life throws you curves sometimes, and you just have to hit the pitch it gives ya. And before we have to hear the Lee High argument once again, I am aware that there are times that consolidation has it's problems, but I have heard many more examples of positives than negatives. There's alot to be said for proper planning. I know that these little schools are the heartbeat of their communities, but I also know that I don't want my sons to struggle academically because the room is too cold or hot for them to properly concentrate. Athletics are wonderful, but academics are necessary.