Posted by Hal/Eastern WA on January 24, 2013 at 14:25:34 from (97.115.191.41):
In Reply to: School consolidation posted by Greg K on January 23, 2013 at 10:00:03:
Back in the 50"s what was to be the school district I attended started the steps toward consolidation. Previously there were two turn of the century high schools about 15 miles apart that were pretty worn out, and a bunch of 1 or 2 room grade schools scattered around the surrounding area that fed the high schools. The two high schools were bitter rivals, with the one in an incorporated town that was surrounded with large prosperous farms, and the other high school about 15 miles from the town school in a much less prosperous unincorporated neighborhood surrounded by small farms.
With much debate and discussion, it was finally decided that there would be a consolidation of a fairly large area, requiring a number of bus routes, and construction of a new high school in between the two former high schools. The older high schools were then to be used as consolidated grade schools and all of the small schools were closed. Not everyone was pleased with the many compromises. Supposedly a woman from the rich town said in an open meeting, "Why maybe some of our children might actually MARRY some of those chicken farmers!" But eventually enough of the voters decided that the need for a new high school building would work better with lots more taxpayers paying for it, and that a still fairly small high school would be better for economy of scale than the former tiny high schools had been.
The first class at the new high school was in the 1958-1959 school year. I have talked to people who were in that class as seniors. They mostly said that the kids continued to socialize with the people they knew from their former high schools, and really didn"t do much with their former rivals. The sports teams were combined, and were more successful than the former separate schools had been. But mostly, at first, it was two groups in the school that didn"t have much to do with each other. Too many old rivalries and still a bunch of bitter feelings.
Using the former high school building in the rich town for a grade school worked pretty well, as that building was not in that bad shape, and was large enough for the job. The other old high school was not in good shape at all. The upper story had been condemned for use as classrooms because of structural problems. I went to 6th, 7th and 8th grades in that building and we were prohibited from standing closer than 10 feet from the building outside, for fear that a loose brick might fall on someone (I never saw any bricks on the ground). Somehow the school board came up with a war surplus military hospital that was brought in sections to near the old high school, and it was remodeled into an all wood grade school for 1st through 5th grades. It worked OK, but had terrible heating problems. But it was a way to close the tiny, scattered schools and make a consolidated grade school. Lots of kids got to ride a school bus to school. I lived close enough to the grade school, so I got to walk a mile each way, every day. A mile is a long way for a little 3rd grader!
By the time I started high school, tensions between the town and the other area were pretty much over. We had played against the other grade school in sports in junior high, so there was a little rivalry, but nothing like things were 8 years earlier. As a new freshman, I got to know the kids from the other school and for the most part, we got along fine. Most of the kids from the other grade/junior high school came from much wealthier families than those students from the grade school I attended, and sometimes that produced a little tension and bickering. But we were pretty well consolidated and happy to be going to a relatively new, modern school.
The year after I graduated from 8th grade, a celotex ceiling fell in on a class in the old high school building, and it was decided that the building was no longer safe for classroom use at all. For several years, the school district bussed the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students to the old high school building in the rich town, as there was plenty of room for them there. Those students were then mixed with the students that were already there 3 years earlier than previous students had been.
In 1971, the school district built and opened a new consolidated grade school near the then 14 year old high school and closed the former grade schools. A few years later, with increased enrollment, a new junior high was built next to the grade school.
A couple of years ago, the school district went through the process of replacing the 1958 high school on the same site and remodeling the grade school and junior high buildings. Doing all this cost a lot of money and many questioned the need to do what eventually happened. We will pay for it with our taxes for 20 years. Then new and remodeled schools are very nice, and I am glad that the students have a good place to learn. But since I doubt that any of my grandchildren will ever attend the schools, I do resent having to pay the much higher taxes.
In general, it is my opinion that the consolidation of the school district I attended worked fairly well. One of the KEY decisions that helped it work was the one about building the new school(s) between the two former high schools, rather than building near either school. That was a compromise that was easier on feelings on both groups of students and parents.
From a standpoint of economy, I am pretty sure that it cost less to operate 1 high school and 2 grade schools than it did to operate 2 high schools and maybe 10-15 country grade schools. Part of the equation was the school buses, which got more reliable over the years and roads and road maintenance which responded to the school bus route needs. The consolidation allowed the district to offer some courses that had not been available in the much smaller schools.
Was the education better? It is hard to say. My mother had been a teacher in small schools before she was married. She always said that the BEST elementary education came from little schools, if and only if the teacher was a good one. When she was my 4th grade teacher, there were about 35 kids in the class. My mom tried very hard and did well with most of the students, but 35 students is too large a class. But that was during the post-war baby boom, and they only had one teacher and one room for each grade. My year happened to have lots of students. When the grade schools were consolidated in the new building in 1971, it became possible to have multiple classrooms for each grade. I don"t think they are ever over 25 these days and usually they are smaller groups.
My high school experience was OK. It was nice to go to a fairly new, modern school, and it was big enough so that most of the classes I wanted to take were offered. I found that I mostly dated girls that had come from the other grade school, which would have been more or less unthinkable if I had gone there 10 years before.
Losing its high school is a huge loss for a town. In many ways the town loses much of its identity, since much of the social activity and cohesiveness is connected to the school. Losing its grade school is also bad, since I think it is nice for small children to be able to walk to a nearby school. Long bus rides are endurable, but waste a LOT of time.
In my area, there are lots of new homes, but lots of those homes do not house school children. The high school has grown to more than twice as many students as when I went there 40+ years ago. Unfortunately one of the unintended consequences of building a nice new school system is that now we are getting a lot of students that live in other school districts, but "choice" into our school for various reasons. The "choice" students get some state funding, but the property taxes their parents pay do not come to our district. At least the "choice" students have to supply their own transportation.
In areas of declining population, and fewer students, consolidation may be one of the only good solutions for continuing to provide a decent public education for the students that remain. But consolidation is not easy and WILL ruffle some feathers of the people concerned.
I would suggest lots of talking about the various options and problems that concern your area"s situation. Lots of meetings, surveys and work for the school boards and residents of the area need to happen. A lot of planning and compromise will have to occur. Lots of small steps and a few large steps.
And a consolidation may or may not occur. You will not please everyone, no matter what is decided. It is a HUGE, slow process where you try to do the best you can for the most people. Good luck!
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