supervisors

[heartbreak kid]

Did they meet tonight?

[red66]

Resolution opposes closing any Wise schools
Motion to table the resolution fails on a tie vote.
By STEPHEN IGO
[email protected]


WISE ? The Wise County Board of Supervisors voted 5-3 on Thursday to approve a resolution opposed to closure of any of the county?s six high schools.
There was no discussion or motion on the latest plan from the school division to operate six schools, with two new ones for Wise and Big Stone Gap, a major renovation to Coeburn and $1.5 million in upgrades each for Appalachia and Pound.
Ronnie Shortt of Pound provided the deciding vote for a resolution that states that supervisors voting in favor ?OPPOSE (sic) the closing of any of Wise County?s six high schools and will not support any appropriations, loans or tax increases that in any way will facilitate the closing of our current high schools and the destruction of the communities in which they reside.?
The resolution also states support for ?reasonable funding requests to update and keep open the county?s six high schools upon a good faith and binding request by the Wise County School Board.?
Shortt?s vote in favor was reluctant because he believes the move could force the school board into doing what consolidation opponents don?t want: close the three smallest high schools at the end of this school year and send those students to the three largest schools beginning in 2011-12.
Prior to the vote on the resolution, Shortt entered a substitute motion to table the matt e r.
Both boards ?went through a period of no communication,? he said, but the two boards have been communicating better in recent months. ?I now offer a friendly motion to table (the resolution) to continue that communication and dialogue.?
Shortt?s motion to table was seconded by Dana Kilgore, but failed on a 4-4 vote. The ensuing vote was 5-3 with Shortt explaining his reluctance to vote in favor.
?I?ve been opposed to closing the six schools all along,? he said. ?I think in all honesty this may force the very thing (consolidation opponents) don?t want to happen. I?ll vote yes for this, but with serious reservations because this may be not exactly what (consolidation opponents) want to happen.?
Robby Robbins, also a staunch consolidation opponent, said he was voting for the resolution because he will not support ?any plan? that would close the high schools in St. Paul or Coeburn.
Kilgore reminded Robbins that the school division?s ?Community Schools Compromise Plan,? presented recently by Schools Superintendent Jeff Perry, keeps a high school in every community.
?I could have sworn that Coeburn would be remodeled and kept open and St. Paul would remain open? under the compromise plan, she said. Robbins said Coeburn residents are fearful that, under the plan, when students are sent to J.J. Kelly High School during renovations to Coeburn High School, ?they?re going to keep them? in Wise.
Chairman J.H. Rivers, meanwhile, in favor of consolidation until two months ago, said he wants to keep communications with the school board open. ?If there?s a plan out there that?s reasonable,? he said, ?we?re willing to listen to it.?
Thursday?s discussions and actions bode ill for the school division?s compromise plan, particularly since that plan elicited no discussion in light of the earlier votes.
Voting in favor of the resolution were Appalachia?s Fred Luntsford Jr., Robbins, and Rivers and Virginia Meador, both of Big Stone Gap. Voting against were Kilgore, Steve Bates and Robert Adkins of Wi s e .

[imported_Hugh_Jass]

better get used to Wise County East, Central, and West High Schools probably starting next year.

[pvfan]

From everything I've read it will be PV, JJK, and Coeburn. Perry is on record stating that the names will not be changed if they close the three smaller schools and force consolidation.

[R0cketer]

If they don't change the names, be prepared for about 200 more meetings to keep that from happening

[SBG]

Changing the names would only be fair. Why should students of the smaller schools be forced to "lose their identity" when those of the larger schools aren't? That's a major part of consolidation. It's no longer Pennington Gap, Jonesville, Keokee, etc. It's Lee High School. If they don't change the names then they deserve one hell of a firestorm.

[Counts]

Changing the names would only be fair. Why should students of the smaller schools be forced to "lose their identity" when those of the larger schools aren't? That's a major part of consolidation. It's no longer Pennington Gap, Jonesville, Keokee, etc. It's Lee High School. If they don't change the names then they deserve one hell of a firestorm.

But Lee built a new school If Lee had closed down Keokee and shiped them to Pennington High I about bet money that the same would have happened there

[R0cketer]

Thats part of the problem. They aren't gonna be looking at new, but old. To rename everything, they would have to get everything new, from letterhead, signs to uniforms.

I still think this is a game of chicken, high stakes.

The School Board says what they will do if they dont get more money, the BOS doesn't think they'll do it. They called the School Board on it, now I guess we see if the school board was bluffing is gonna play their hand out.

[burton2019]

Changing the names would only be fair. Why should students of the smaller schools be forced to "lose their identity" when those of the larger schools aren't?

Seriously? It's a **** high school. Nothing more.

[retiredteach]

I hope the School Board has enough guts to do what they said.