WISE "? District Two county supervisor Bob Adkins says his recent visit to Letcher County Central High School affirms what he's been saying all along "? that Wise County schools should consolidate.
Adkins and County Administrator Glen "Skip"? Skinner visited the consolidated high school, which has an enrollment of about 975 students, on April 4.
When asked during a Tuesday interview to describe what he saw, Adkins couldn't decide where to start.
"They got a tremendous amount of school for their dollar,"? Adkins said, noting he would advise any curious citizens to set up a visit at the facility, which opened in mid-March 2006. "If we had two schools of that magnitude, it would more than take care of our needs."?
Adkins says nearly everything he saw during his two-hour tour of the school was impressive "? from the family and consumer sciences classrooms, full of new appliances, cabinets and storage equipment, to the standard classrooms, each of which have ceiling projectors wired to teachers' computers.
He liked it all, Adkins said, and walked away feeling more sure than before that renovations aren't the answer for Wise County's six aging high schools.
"It's ridiculous to pour $30 million into J.J. Kelly alone,"? Adkins said, referring to recent renovation estimates included in a study of the high schools commissioned by the county school board. "This was further evidence of what you can get for that amount of money."?
Installing heating, ventilation and cooling systems, new wiring, new plumbing and bringing the schools up to current building code standards would be expensive, Adkins said. And, he added, it still wouldn't get at the issue of equity between schools.
"Not every school has the best art, math, science labs, music departments and ROTC,"? Adkins said. "The playing field is very, very unlevel, and it's unfair that students aren't getting the same opportunities."?
Adkins pointed out that allowing students to participate in dual enrollment courses at local colleges is good for some, but not all students can take advantage of the opportunity. Some students don't have cars, while others can't afford tuition or textbooks.
That's an inequity Adkins noted he didn't see at Letcher County Central. Students spend their days at the high school, even while they're earning college credit. That way, no one has to be left out.
Adkins noted he learned a thing or two from the trip that the county should remember if local schools should ever consolidate. Letcher County did well integrating its students with transition activities, and also by encouraging elementary and middle schools to interact with other feeder schools in the county.
But one step Letcher County took that seemed to be a bad idea to Adkins was the 2005-06 consolidation of students from three high schools into one of those existing buildings before the new facility was finished.
"They told me, if anything, don't move the students until the school's ready,"? Adkins said. Squishing the students into a smaller school caused crowding, he said, and wasn't fair because some students were still in the school they were used to, while others were no longer in their community.
Adkins was quick to note that he thinks the trip, which was his idea, didn't mean he was overstepping any bounds. Citizens who spoke at an April 5 supervisors meeting were critical of Skinner and Adkins for visiting a consolidated school, he noted.
"Some say this is a school board matter that doesn't concern the board of supervisors,"? said Adkins. "But we are the ones with the purse strings, and we need to see what we can buy with X amount of money."?
Adkins added he would love to visit successfully renovated schools in the area, and noted that he had invited other supervisors along for the tour, but didn't reach anyone who didn't have scheduling conflicts.
Skinner, contacted by telephone Tuesday, was hesitant to be interviewed about his trip to Letcher County.
He noted that "they've got a good-looking facility,"? but said he didn't think it was appropriate to discuss his impressions of the school.
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