(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.


Letcher County's three high schools weren't consolidated overnight, points out Terry Sturgill, the school system's assistant superintendent for finance and operations.

The process was at least 20 years in the making, Sturgill says, with rumblings of the possible need to combine schools starting in the 1980s.

When the topic first surfaced, it was volatile, Sturgill says, because the rural Kentucky communities were centered around their small schools and sports teams.

"If you wanted to start an argument with someone, all you had to do was bring up consolidation,"? Sturgill recalled during a Friday interview at his office.

Discussion continued through the late 1980s and early "?90s, but no decision was ever made, Sturgill said.

Meanwhile, enrollment was declining. The school system could only get state funding for one teacher per 25 students. Enrollment numbers in Fleming-Neon and Letcher high schools dropped to around 200 or less, and about 10 teachers remained at each school.

"We were barely able to provide the basics,"? Sturgill said. "Our electives were gone. Home economics and industrial arts were eliminated, because it was that or math."?

State takeover

During the 1992-93 school year, the Kentucky Department of Education took over the Letcher County school system, removing its superintendent and a school board member, and examining every aspect of school operations.

When asked why the takeover occurred, Sturgill said a member of the state board of education who was from Letcher County encouraged the state to step in.

"We were not doing ugly things,"? Sturgill was quick to point out, but things could have been better. And although the state takeover was embarrassing, and is something Letcher County school officials still don't like to talk about, Sturgill says the school system is better for it.

Experts who closely examined the school system said at that time that the high schools were too small to provide the curriculum students needed, Sturgill said.

Further study

By the 1995-96 school year, the Kentucky Department of Education asked the school system to create a facilities improvement plan.

That study strongly recommended consolidating to two high schools of about 750 students each.

In 1996, the school board began to heavily consider consolidating its schools, but did not begin the process officially until 2002, Sturgill explained. By that time, the system's high school enrollment had dropped to 1,000 students and the two-high-school plan was deemed too expensive.





Letcher County Central High "? quick facts

Building size: 150,000 square feet.

Total high school site: 100 acres.

High school enrollment: 975 students in grades 9-12.

Countywide enrollment: 3,300 students.

Feeder schools: Seven elementary schools, one middle school.

Administrators: One principal, two assistant principals and one school resource officer.

Guidance department: Three full-time counselors, one secretary.

Teachers: About 60.

Average pupil-teacher ratio: About 20 to one.

Longest bus ride to reach school: About one hour and fifteen minutes.

Average bus ride to reach school: 45 minutes.

Cost for new school: $16.5 million for construction, $1.8 million for site purchase, $3.4 million for site preparation.

Construction cost (bid in mid-2004): $105/square foot.

Still left to build: New vocational school, baseball field, softball field and track.

Total computers in new school: About 300.

Scheduling system: Traditional seven-period day.