(As these are in todays Coalfield and there are some really nice pictures, I would recommend anybody who can, get the paper and see what they have)
General summation is as follows:
There are strong feelings in Wise County both for and against consolidation of public high schools. Our stories about Letcher County Central neither endorse nor oppose consolidation.
These stories explain why and how Letcher County consolidated its high schools. Thursday's edition will explore the academic and social results of that process.
By November 2002, the Letcher County School system was ready to consolidate its three high schools, Letcher, Fleming-Neon and Whitesburg, into one large school.
But there was much left to do, explained Terry Sturgill, the school system's assistant superintendent for finance and operations. A site needed to be picked, plans needed to be drawn, and the community needed to pick new, neutral school colors and a mascot.
Sturgill, who was the superintendent's designee to oversee the consolidation process, said in a Friday interview at his office that out of the starting gate, the school system formed a steering committee. The committee included principals, parents, teachers, students and business representatives from each community, along with a school board member and several school system administrators.
Building a school
The first step, Sturgill said, was looking at other new schools to gather ideas. The full committee visited about 15 recently built Kentucky schools across the state, armed with notebooks and cameras. They wrote down and photographed everything "? features they liked and features they didn't want to see in their community.
They also asked faculty, staff and students in the new schools for advice. Folks at many of the schools they visited lamented their lack of storage space and advised Letcher County to build plenty of closets "? advice the school system followed, Sturgill noted.
Another early task the committee tackled was finding a site for the school. They knew they wanted to build the school within the city limits of Whitesburg, so it would be centrally located and would have access to city services like water and sewer.
Acquiring the 100 acres on which the school now sits was tough, Sturgill said. About 90 acres were owned by one landowner, but the remaining 10 were owned by five families who had homes there.
After a firm had been chosen to design the school, the committee asked every high school department from each of the three schools to make a "wish list"? reflecting what their ideal school would be like, then set about cutting it down for architects.
By August 2004, construction was underway. The school wasn't completed until mid-March 2006, Sturgill noted.
integrating students
For most of the 2005-06 school year, Letcher County Central High School students were waiting for their new school to be completed.
The students were already attending school together, because the steering committee had decided to place them all in one building at the beginning of the school year.
All 975 students were combined into Whitesburg High School, which had previously served only about 700 students, Sturgill explained. Some classes had to be taught at the city library and a local community college due to lack of space.
Letcher County Central secretary Lisa Wagoner noted during a Friday interview that integration activities took place during the 2004-05 school year to get students at the smaller high schools acquainted with their future classmates. All underclass students from each of the three schools participated in several group activities that year, she explained.
The school system's new mascot, the cougar, and its new colors, blue and white, were chosen through a series of community polls, Sturgill noted.
Community sponsorship
While most of the $21 million needed to purchase land, prepare the site and build the school was financed with bonds, many of the furnishings inside the school and amenities for its sports facilities were paid for with donations.
Letcher County schools Superintendent Anna Craft helped form the Letcher County Education Foundation, a non-profit organization overseen by about 15 prominent community members, to raise funds for the new school.
Many classrooms at the new school have plaques outside their doors that tell which organization or business paid for everything inside.
For example, Mountain Comprehensive Care, a local medical organization, gave $100,000 to buy everything needed for a science lab, Sturgill explained. The nurse's wing was furnished by a local Lions club, while the furnishings for a computer lab were paid for with funds provided by a coal company.
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