And Then There Was One. . .

[Palehorse]

ANDERSON — The Anderson Community Schools board voted 5-2 Tuesday in favor of consolidating the district's two high schools into one, among other efforts to address growing budget concerns.

Board members Bill Riffe and Keith Millikan voted against the plan for one high school, while Philip (P.T.) Morgan, Timothy A. Long, Tobi K. Jones, Teddy Bohnenkamp and Irma Hampton Stewart voted in favor of the proposal.

The board's decision on Tuesday evening capped months of sometimes emotional debate as the schools aimed to chart a new course amid continuing declines in revenue and students.

The decision means that at the beginning of the next school year, either the current Anderson or Highland high school building will become a school for students in grades 10-12. The other building will be converted into a middle school for children in grades 7-9. The board took no action on which building - Anderson or Highland - would become the singular high school. . .

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/breakingnews/local_story_349183432.html

Finally. . . a decision that makes sense to me, sort of. . .(Now, if they'd only close that stupid Wigwam!)

I just am not understanding what they gain by closing one HS but then using it as a middle school though. Unless of course the 4 additional schools they are closing will account for the reported 5.5 million in savings. . . (Edgewood, Forest Hills, Killbuck and Twenty-Ninth Street.)

[pariann]

they are consolidating.  The two middle schools will become 4th - 6th grade centers... The remaining elementary schools will be k - 3.  More division if you ask me.  I would have preferred to see two jr-sr high schools rather than busing half the city north and then half the city south.  I'm just happy I'll only have to worry about one child.  This year, I'm having to drive one child north and one child south....when the younger one misses her bus. And the one that is dropped off second is always going to be late.   Now if they make Highland the Jr. High,  I reckon that when she misses the bus....she's going to be out all day.   If my financial situation remains the same, I'll not be in any hurry to waste my gas.

[incognito]

THE CONSOLIDATION OF HIGH SCHOOLS HAS THE TENDENCY TO TAKE ANDERSON BACK TO WHERE IT WAS BEFORE THE INTELLECTUALS OF THE TIME TOOK OVER!

A COMMUNITY THAT LEARNS TO GROW TOGETHER AS ONE(1)REGARDLESS OF IDEOLOGY. THOUGH IDEOLOGIES STILL SURVIVE. DIFFERING IDEOLOGIES LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER AND IDEOLOGICALLY SEPARATE WHEN DEEMED NECESSARY.

IN *my*MIND: IT IS THE RIGHT BEGINNING FOR A NEW AND BURGEONING SOCIETY!

THE FUTURE WILL LEARN EACH OTHER IN A MANNER OTHER THAN WHAT OTHERS TEACH ABOUT THAT THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW.

AMERICAS CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN TO THINK/PROVIDE FOR THEMSELVES BY THEIR OWN IDEOLOGY AND NOT THE IDEOLOGY THE PAST WANTS TO FORCE UPON IT!

*i* APPLAUD THE FORWARD THINKING OF THOSE WHO CAME TOGETHER ON THE FUTURE OF THEIR COMMUNITY RATHER THAN THEIR PERSONAL TODAY IDEOLOGY!

don carter
ANDERSON,IN

[Palehorse]

You know Don, there's a lot of truth in your last post. I too think that more is to be gained through unity than just finances, and certainly the drop in student levels as well as retained learning and skills makes such a move necessary.

I feel for those students who are going to have to leave their high school though, (I hear it will be Highland), but while it is a sad and upsetting period in their lives, it is a lesson they must learn and unfortunately get used to. It will not be the worst thing that happens to them in their lifetimes. . .

[pariann]

Wanna take bets on how many of those Highland students become Anderson students if HHS is the one that is closed?  I'm reading over on the other forum that people are already requesting transfers to surrounding school districts for just about every grade.

There are a lot of people who don't seem to think their children will get the quality of education that they are receiving in their current school at another school in this city.  What they are forgetting is that teachers are going to be shifted, and it's the teachers who are the ones educating the students...not the buildings.

[Palehorse]

Wanna take bets on how many of those Highland students become Anderson students if HHS is the one that is closed?  I'm reading over on the other forum that people are already requesting transfers to surrounding school districts for just about every grade.

There are a lot of people who don't seem to think their children will get the quality of education that they are receiving in their current school at another school in this city.  What they are forgetting is that teachers are going to be shifted, and it's the teachers who are the ones educating the students...not the buildings.

Proof that some parents are not taking enough of an active role within their child's education, and/or are not committed to their responsibility as parents to make the hard choices for their children by divorcing themselves from the emotional aspects of the situation, and reviewing things rationally.

While the child's commitment to a particular school is admirable, as you say the facility itself is not the educator, but rather the teachers themselves. If they are moving along with the children, (for the most part), then it should be an easy decision for them. However, if the child is not obtaining an acceptable level of education, or is not retaining the knowledge necessary to enable them to be successful within the present environment, that is an entirely different situation. . .

Some friends and neighbors have children attending one of these schools, and they are strongly considering selling their home and moving because of what they say is a hostile environment that is not conducive to learning in the current environment. (In one of these cases the two children that are presently in one of these high schools transferred in from the Las Vegas system about 2 years ago. They were straight A students in that environment that now find themselves unchallenged, bored, and their grades reflect this).

The other part of this whole thing is that if a significant number of students do end up out of the city school system, the current situation may very well be just the first in a long series of similar moves.