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Albemarle's Future?

I completely agree, emotional responses many times are not based on fact, but of the ones I heard about at South the other night and Albemarle the week before. they were actually based on fact I believe. You had a teacher who gave the kids an assignment on how to improve their school, and I do not remember the exact percentage, but I believe she said over 75% (unsolicited) of them said they did not want their school to close. Now that part is probably based more on them hearing their parents and fear but you had an EC teacher, who said those kids would have a very difficult time adjusting. You had a parent of an EC student, saying it would be very hard for kid to adjust - This is fact that the school board has to assume, unless they have taught or are specialized in helping EC kids - The parents and teachers of EC kids are going to know them best obviously. You had a parent with a kid that has anxiety about school speak about how difficult it would be for him to have to change. You had a teacher, who had a student, whose parents do not have a car, who said she was going to walk to the meeting if her parents would let her - She was not there. You had a teacher who rides the bus with the kids, talking about some of the living conditions and lack of transportation for many. I believe transportation and the lack there of was the main theme at the Albemarle meeting. Many teachers will tell you parent involvement is way down from where it used to be. I would assume moving kids out of the community will do nothing to help with the parent involvement situation. You had a police chief say their response for police, fire and medical response to Norwood were all less than 1 minute, which I would assume has to be the best of any school in the county - Obviously one issue with Norwood brought up by the board has been safety. He was concerned that if his children were moved, another school could not offer those types of response times. Again that was a fact based, yet emotional response.

All of these speakers were very emotional - But there were facts about the hardships these kids/families would face in those speeches. I did not hear about any parents getting up and saying little Johnnie or Susie do not want to change schools because they might not be in same school with their best friend or Great Grandpa, Grandpa, Father and kid have all went to this school, so you cant make us move now.

I do agree however in what you said about the Board having to separate feeling from fact or no school would ever close.
 
In regards to the EC students moving from Oakboro do they move to WSMS in sixth grade and WSHS as freshmen? Do all the West Stanly district EC students attend Oakboro?

How many emergency visits have the police, fire, and medic made to Norwood ES in the last five school years? Yes, the police chief provided facts but is that truly relevant to whether the school should remain open. It is great to have that available but if that is determining factor the three high schools should never have been built.

It would be great if West Albemarle (closed in mid 1980's?), North Albemarle, Ridgecrest, and New London were all still open with no schools planned to close but the closings of those four schools still leave schools with space and low enrollments although geographical imbalances.

If a strong community school supporting school board is elected how will they correct the imbalance of enrollment and districts? Will they look for funds to expand WSHS and WSMS or will they move student from those schools to AHS and AMS? Will they move students from Locust to Oakboro and Stanfield? This fight may be won by the community school supporters but there is another fight on the horizon as western Stanly grows in population. The new school board will get the same treatment as the current one is receiving when they look at ways to correct the imbalances. One big fight has been drive time to the newly assigned school. When the overcrowding becomes unbearable that same reasoning will be reversed.
 
In regards to the EC students moving from Oakboro do they move to WSMS in sixth grade and WSHS as freshmen? Do all the West Stanly district EC students attend Oakboro?

How many emergency visits have the police, fire, and medic made to Norwood ES in the last five school years? Yes, the police chief provided facts but is that truly relevant to whether the school should remain open. It is great to have that available but if that is determining factor the three high schools should never have been built.

It would be great if West Albemarle (closed in mid 1980's?), North Albemarle, Ridgecrest, and New London were all still open with no schools planned to close but the closings of those four schools still leave schools with space and low enrollments although geographical imbalances.

If a strong community school supporting school board is elected how will they correct the imbalance of enrollment and districts? Will they look for funds to expand WSHS and WSMS or will they move student from those schools to AHS and AMS? Will they move students from Locust to Oakboro and Stanfield? This fight may be won by the community school supporters but there is another fight on the horizon as western Stanly grows in population. The new school board will get the same treatment as the current one is receiving when they look at ways to correct the imbalances. One big fight has been drive time to the newly assigned school. When the overcrowding becomes unbearable that same reasoning will be reversed.

Maybe another fight but if that fight is fought with facts and an honest interest to increase the academics for ALL students with the best interest at heart of everyone and those interest are investigated thoroughly once again with due diligence and scrutiny then there won't be much to discuss. Just because you reside in the west side of
The county does not make you priviledged. I believe with all my heart the new people running that I have discussed previously have great ideas that will put us ahead from surrounding areas and give us something that will benefit stanly county academically as well as economically unlike the current plans that are not even 50% completed and are proven repeatedly to fail our kids.
 
Simply put the current plans have no supporting data that they will even break even. Every single study completed points to a negative impact regardless of community size from big metros to a small town school with 15 kids all have shown negative impacts
 
Maybe another fight but if that fight is fought with facts and an honest interest to increase the academics for ALL students with the best interest at heart of everyone and those interest are investigated thoroughly once again with due diligence and scrutiny then there won't be much to discuss. Just because you reside in the west side of
The county does not make you priviledged. I believe with all my heart the new people running that I have discussed previously have great ideas that will put us ahead from surrounding areas and give us something that will benefit stanly county academically as well as economically unlike the current plans that are not even 50% completed and are proven repeatedly to fail our kids.

Agree but we both know that facts do not always work with boards or certain individuals on a board. Strong personalities or lack of a strong one can be a deciding factor. Just interesting to see how it all plays out.
 
If the schools all remain open what is the plan for East Albemarle and Norwood? Do they each need significant improvements to the facility and will money be spent on that?
 
Btango - The reason I brought up the response time, is that seems to be one of the reasons Norwood is on the chopping block - Commissioner Ascuttio keeps bringing up the safety (or lack there of with the open classroom concept) at Norwood - I hope there never has to be an emergency at any of our schools, but if they are, Norwood would seem to be in the best situation to handle it quickly - When the 3 county high schools were built, the morals of the country are not what they are today - We did not have to worry about the things at our schools that we do now. Guns were at school all the time in the 70-80's, they were just in the back windshields of kids, that went hunting that morning - Knives were in kids pockets, but it was to sharpen their pencil or open their can of dip. So now that the country is the way it is, I would love to know the response time for emergency is as low as possible.

My whole comment was to say that the emotional responses from the other night, did indeed have "facts" in them, where new dawg was saying most emotional responses do not.

If you want to talk about what we do, if all schools stay open - The first thing I would do, is let go of an administrator at the county office, that we have plenty of, and re-hire a grant writer - There are countless grants out there, and this county needs someone applying constantly to try and get those grants. Not having a full time or even part time grant writer is in my mind is a huge mistake.

To answer your questions about improvement at East and Norwood - According to the building maintenance study, they both would need ~$3 million dollars over the next 10 years to update them - Most of the elementary schools in the county were between $2-$4 - What was interesting was Badin was far and away the most costly ($4.7) according to the study, but have not heard a word about that school.
 
I definitely understand the country is different today! One past board member stated he would like to see the system go back to the pre high school only setup. My stance has been that many of the facts used for keeping schools open are irrelevant although safety/security cannot be overlooked. The school board must do what is best for the schools/students within the budget. They cannot do the job of the county commission, city council, and chamber of commerce/economic development issue.

I do think they can close schools without firing teachers. They lose some each year through general attrition and retirement. There may be a few jobs lost which is normal in America. The fewer people that lose employment the better!

A person solely for capturing government and private grants would be a great move.

Oakboro would have the same response time as Norwood and also has the open concept I do believe.

I think the reason that Badin is left off the chopping block to some degree is the location. If East remains open it would not appear there would be room for many additional students from Badin. The other option is to send some of them to Richfield which would be about 10 - 12 miles and I am not sure of the capacity situation there. The schools located in the extreme areas of the county are the ones that are the hardest to figure out which makes closing Norwood more complicated than closing Oakboro from a geographical standpoint.
 
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East Albemarle is not going to close with Plan B - They are just changing locations to the current Albemarle Middle, with Albemarle Middle going to the current Albemarle High
 
That's right. My bad. Thanks. I am removIng that part of the post due to confusing readers.
 
If or when Albemarle closes which team in SC will profit the most in football? Will any schools move up a classification?
 
South stanly would. Well it depends but AHS is not closing.

I spoke last week with a board member who assures me that no final decision will be made before considering the comments heard at the public hearings. This board member does concede that plan B is the way the group was leaning BEFORE the hearings, but that the input received will be given fair and due consideration.

The next day, I went to the public hearing held at WSHS, and in my opinion, the grandstanding done there by County Commissioner Joseph Burleson and Representative Justin Burr (all for their own benefit...it did not give any constructive suggestions for improving or saving schools), coupled with the disrespect Burleson showed toward two of the BOE members during his diatribe, may do more harm than good to the effort to keep Oakboro school open.

Burleson's effort to publicly humiliate and demean board members Tracy Oliver and Lonnie Chandler in his self-serving tirade was completely disrespectful and inappropriate. It sure doesn't speak well for Stanly County voters that they will put someone in office who resorts to personal attacks with no effort toward solutions rather than arguing the issues and suggesting alternatives. He just plays the blame game.

Here is a link to a facebook post by longtime West Stanly HS science teacher and coach Mark Rowles that went online after last week's meeting at WS. I think it may be the best summation of the pitiful political situation in Stanly County and in North Carolina that has put our BOE in the position it is in now:

 
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I spoke last week with a board member who assures me that no final decision will be made before considering the comments heard at the public hearings. This board member does concede that plan B is the way the group was leaning BEFORE the hearings, but that the input received will be given fair and due consideration.

The next day, I went to the public hearing held at WSHS, and in my opinion, the grandstanding done there by County Commissioner Joseph Burleson and Representative Justin Burr (all for their own benefit...it did not give any constructive suggestions for improving or saving schools), coupled with the disrespect Burleson showed toward two of the BOE members during his diatribe, may do more harm than good to the effort to keep Oakboro school open.

Burleson's effort to publicly humiliate and demean board members Tracy Oliver and Lonnie Chandler in his self-serving tirade was completely disrespectful and inappropriate. It sure doesn't speak well for Stanly County voters that they will put someone in office who resorts to personal attacks with no effort toward solutions rather than arguing the issues and suggesting alternatives. He just plays the blame game.

Here is a link to a facebook post by longtime West Stanly HS science teacher and coach Mark Rowles that went online after last week's meeting at WS. I think it may be the best summation of the pitiful political situation in Stanly County and in North Carolina that has put our BOE in the position it is in now:


Regardless of what those two have stated I believe the voters of stanly county has voiced their opinions and have offered some great solutions. Once the new BOE is elected this will be stopped and the folks running for BOE have some great ideas that will move stanly county students as a WHOLE ahead. This whole plan is a political grand stand with the wants of a few over riding what is best for ALL the students. You mention a solution or a plan as it is called that is not even in the final stages with no implementation process. The lines for districting are moving still. That is not a plan. They didn't even do a proper analysis as to why AHS over NSHS or any other HS in the county etc.

Like I said this plan will not go through for 2016-2017 nor will it be implemented. There is a much better plan on the table the BOE is not even considering. One that will have Stanly County ahead of some neighboring counties plus out is in a better situation to compete for new business.

I agree the political climate has to change and improve. I believe and pray it does but my concern are with the kids and what will put them in the best situation to succeed.
 
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I spoke last week with a board member who assures me that no final decision will be made before considering the comments heard at the public hearings. This board member does concede that plan B is the way the group was leaning BEFORE the hearings, but that the input received will be given fair and due consideration.

The next day, I went to the public hearing held at WSHS, and in my opinion, the grandstanding done there by County Commissioner Joseph Burleson and Representative Justin Burr (all for their own benefit...it did not give any constructive suggestions for improving or saving schools), coupled with the disrespect Burleson showed toward two of the BOE members during his diatribe, may do more harm than good to the effort to keep Oakboro school open.

Burleson's effort to publicly humiliate and demean board members Tracy Oliver and Lonnie Chandler in his self-serving tirade was completely disrespectful and inappropriate. It sure doesn't speak well for Stanly County voters that they will put someone in office who resorts to personal attacks with no effort toward solutions rather than arguing the issues and suggesting alternatives. He just plays the blame game.

Here is a link to a facebook post by longtime West Stanly HS science teacher and coach Mark Rowles that went online after last week's meeting at WS. I think it may be the best summation of the pitiful political situation in Stanly County and in North Carolina that has put our BOE in the position it is in now:


The same thing was reported to me. Burr referring to Lonnie Chandler as "that old man" is despicable.
 
The same thing was reported to me. Burr referring to Lonnie Chandler as "that old man" is despicable.

Nothing improves by disrespecting each other and that goes for this BOE as well. Mr. Chandler has not been respectful as well. To not look at somebody when they are speaking and especially speaking to you or even acknowledging they are speaking is also disrespectful. So if you are going to speak of one way speak of both ways that disrespect has been shown. Additionally putting out a plan that is not even close to being complete then trying to push that plan through is disrespectful to the kids involved, decreases moral, and takes away any stability these kids have. So you can stand up for the how he was disrespected but I will stand up for the kids in this situation as they have been bashed by people from the north community and west as well. Mr. Chandler is a grown man and has not shown respect so I have very little sympathy for that but I do agree no disrespect needs to be shown because it hurts the ability to accomplish the goal. But for you and new dawg to sit here and defend that without defending all the kids that spoke and he wouldn't even acknowledge them speaking is in itself a shame.

Funny how you want to Bring up this but none of the facts from
The four hearings that were submitted repeatedly.

Like I said before their are options on the table they have not considered that are better options. Most people for plan B have no clue what's even in plan B. I will say this again there is NO true net savings with this plan you will be spending the same amount of money for the same things you are getting now. No academic gains 0 by what studies show you will see a negative impact. Economically you will see a negative hit by closing these schools. They have 0 supportive evidence that this will be a positive plan. Ask them they have nothing this is all based off of hope and assumption that is it.

These plans need to be immediately removed so that these kids can have some stability and we need to look at better options beginning with redistricting which will provide a savings in itself.
 
There is a much better plan on the table the BOE is not even considering. One that will have Stanly County ahead of some neighboring counties plus out is in a better situation to compete for new business.

I agree the political climate has to change and improve. I believe and pray it does but my concern are with the kids and what will put them in the best situation to succeed.

Nation...what are the basics of this plan that is not being considered? If it's something that will be less divisive than what is currently under consideration, people need to hear about it NOW. A lot of people are not happy with past BOE's trying to keep our system in a circa 1950's setup, and just want something done--anything--that might improve on the status quo while staying within budget.

Many support Plan B simply because it is an action step instead of hanging on to the past. If there is a better plan, people need to hear about it. I'd be 1000% behind something that could keep schools from closing and improve instructional quality and test scores across the board, even if it means a tax increase
 
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Nation...what are the basics of this plan that is not being considered? If it's something that will be less divisive than what is currently under consideration, people need to hear about it NOW. A lot of people are not happy with past BOE's trying to keep our system in a circa 1950's setup, and just want something done--anything--that might improve on the status quo while staying within budget.

Many support Plan B simply because it is an action step instead of hanging on to the past. If there is a better plan, people need to hear about it. I'd be 1000% behind something that could keep schools from closing and improve instructional quality and test scores across the board, even if it means a tax increase

Step 1 redistricting
Step 2 all community schools remain open
Step 3 (one solution I really like) adding a centralized vocational program to the AHS campus open to ALL students. One idea being thrown out there is to offer bus transport from each school to the AHS campus.
Step 4 adding a ROTC program to AHS build structure and stability this will actually take effect 2016-2017.
Step 5 strengthening the relationship with SCC and the program they have instituted giving HS students college credits.

This plan provides college ready kids and job ready kids as balances student enrollment so that mobile units can be removed. More important due to the offerings you are now becoming more attractive to potential businesses.
 
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nation I would like to see those things implemented. I am going to look to you to step out front on the redistricting. Burr, Burleson, and others will then be on the opposite side of the battle. The survival of AHS is based on redistricting but as I have written many times, it is only a delay if the districts for AHS and SSHS do not grow see population growth that will expand the enrollments.

For years the complaint has been that SCS and Stanly County as a whole just seemed to stand still as others passed them by. I do not live in the county but I watch it from afar and try to stay on top of what goes on. I have shook my head many times at some of the legislation I have seen put forth and some of the lack of programs that have failed to catch on. The main thing Stanly County needs is a strong leader whether it be a citizen, a politican, a business owner, et al that will see things with a vision. The issue I see is that many people see Rep Burr as that person and many feel that his type of ideas are what have held Stanly County back for decades.
 
nation I would like to see those things implemented. I am going to look to you to step out front on the redistricting. Burr, Burleson, and others will then be on the opposite side of the battle. The survival of AHS is based on redistricting but as I have written many times, it is only a delay if the districts for AHS and SSHS do not grow see population growth that will expand the enrollments.

For years the complaint has been that SCS and Stanly County as a whole just seemed to stand still as others passed them by. I do not live in the county but I watch it from afar and try to stay on top of what goes on. I have shook my head many times at some of the legislation I have seen put forth and some of the lack of programs that have failed to catch on. The main thing Stanly County needs is a strong leader whether it be a citizen, a politican, a business owner, et al that will see things with a vision. The issue I see is that many people see Rep Burr as that person and many feel that his type of ideas are what have held Stanly County back for decades.

Btango I agree and I have been. The only way to move Stanly County forward is 1 to fix our political climate and 2 put our education system ahead giving our kids the training to be productive adults and having those going to college prepared. We fix those two items we will have an opportunity to bring in business. I have even volunteered my time to help talk to businesses and pitch them about coming here if they do something like this for the education system.
 
Step 1 redistricting
Step 2 all community schools remain open
Step 3 (one solution I really like) adding a centralized vocational program to the AHS campus open to ALL students. One idea being thrown out there is to offer bus transport from each school to the AHS campus.
Step 4 adding a ROTC program to AHS build structure and stability this will actually take effect 2016-2017.
Step 5 strengthening the relationship with SCC and the program they have instituted giving HS students college credits.

This plan provides college ready kids and job ready kids as balances student enrollment so that mobile units can be removed. More important due to the offerings you are now becoming more attractive to potential businesses.

This sounds like it has merit to me:
  • Redistricting: This should have been done periodically since the consolidation of city and county systems in the mid 90's, but Poole and his cronies would not touch it.
  • Community Schools Remain Open: If this can be done it will mend a lot of fences...but can it be sustained over time? Current County Commissioners are unlikely to increase funding to schools; current BOE is powerless to get more out of the commissioners; and new BOE candidates who are likely to get voted in (Poole, Watson, etc.) are the ones who left the current BOE in the mess we are in now.
  • Vocational program: Agree this is an outstanding idea to bring students to AHS...would this mean shutting down vocational programs at other high schools and having only one for the entire county?
  • ROTC: I heard this was a possibility. The ROTC program at WSHS is great, and some students from other schools have been going there to take the program since it is currently only offered at WS.
  • SCC Relationship: This type of cooperation is needed and can fill a valuable need. Would students in this be part of the early college program, or would it be offered at the four HS campuses?
Thanks for the Info, Bulldog. I hope this will be given serious consideration.
 
This sounds like it has merit to me:
  • Redistricting: This should have been done periodically since the consolidation of city and county systems in the mid 90's, but Poole and his cronies would not touch it.
  • Community Schools Remain Open: If this can be done it will mend a lot of fences...but can it be sustained over time? Current County Commissioners are unlikely to increase funding to schools; current BOE is powerless to get more out of the commissioners; and new BOE candidates who are likely to get voted in (Poole, Watson, etc.) are the ones who left the current BOE in the mess we are in now.
  • Vocational program: Agree this is an outstanding idea to bring students to AHS...would this mean shutting down vocational programs at other high schools and having only one for the entire county?
  • ROTC: I heard this was a possibility. The ROTC program at WSHS is great, and some students from other schools have been going there to take the program since it is currently only offered at WS.
  • SCC Relationship: This type of cooperation is needed and can fill a valuable need. Would students in this be part of the early college program, or would it be offered at the four HS campuses?
Thanks for the Info, Bulldog. I hope this will be given serious consideration.

In my opinion we should just have one vocational program and from speaking to a couple of the candidates I think that is theirs as well. My reasoning for it would be to better the programs such as electronics, hvac, auto shop, maybe work with SCC and see if it's possible for a CNC machining and programming class etc.
 
Hey everyone, being on the outside looking in, has there been any new developments or new information on the school closings? I can't even access the SNAP online anymore to keep up.
 
Hey everyone, being on the outside looking in, has there been any new developments or new information on the school closings? I can't even access the SNAP online anymore to keep up.


The school will be open next year. They have not voted on any plans but we all need to get out and vote in March for the right candidates so we can get these closing off the table. If you don't know which candidates are against the closings let me know and I will get you a list.
 
If they are open, will the staff stay intact? Rumor last year was one quit, another was retiring, etc.
 
My understanding is the Head Coach from last year has been gone. He isn't teaching there anymore either.
 
I think the NCHSAA is under the impression they will not be fielding athletic teams next year but that could be outdated information but it has to do with the conference model.
 
How could NCHSAA be expected to know what's going to happen with AHS and the county in general when the BOE the CC and the public in general have no f....... clue as to what is going to happen.
 
When the NCHSAA works on realignment and then conference models they get information from the school districts based on future expectations. They are informed of such things as new schools scheduled to open or if there are any changes expected in enrollments. Some of the alignment is based on speculation. Example are the Wake County schools that are opening.

There has been a lot of work trying to figure out conference setups in 1A which is tough due to so many schools that do not play football which is due to the charter schools. The schools do not want a conference with nine or ten teams but only four play football. That is when a potential "football only" conference comes up. Play football in one conference but all other sports in another.

The "where is Albemarle" question came up when some ADs were looking at some potential conferences. Note, that may not be up to date because this was something that many thought would happen last year and they may have made the change.
 
Btango I am so fed up with the situation in Albemarle I could scream. This up in the air shit has been going on for over a year and we are no closer to a solution than we were then. I for one don't think anyone has a CLUE what to do. Sad.
 
I agree Buddy. Plan B is not the answer but keeping the system as it is cannot be the answer long term.
 
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I agree Buddy. Plan B is not the answer but keeping the system as it is cannot be the answer long term.

I don't know what you are talking about the conference alignment has been completed and the new conference has North Rowan West Mont North Stanly Albemarle Uwharrie Charter South Stanly and Graystone in it beginning 2017??? Plan B is not the long term answer either tango. We have been over and over this. There has been countless surveys completed that all say the same exact thing. Come on man you know this as well as I do. A matter of fact everytime I have discussed this with people for these plans they have nothing except I think or I hope. Sorry sir that's not good enough.
 
nation go back and read my posts.

I wrote that Plan B is not the answer, meaning present nor future.

In the posts regarding the NCHSAA I wrote that I did not know when the conversation took place but the info must has had some merit as the concern was conferences with four or less football playing teams.

To support this has been ink going a year ago the former Thomasville HFC, now the AD at Edenton Holmes, was informed by AHS admin that if they had a replacement game for the AHS date to take it. He told me that himself.
 
nation go back and read my posts.

I wrote that Plan B is not the answer, meaning present nor future.

In the posts regarding the NCHSAA I wrote that I did not know when the conversation took place but the info must has had some merit as the concern was conferences with four or less football playing teams.

To support this has been ink going a year ago the former Thomasville HFC, now the AD at Edenton Holmes, was informed by AHS admin that if they had a replacement game for the AHS date to take it. He told me that himself.

10-4 re read misinterpreted. Yes that was last spring I believe when all this came out without fully understanding the process. Amazingly nobody still really understands what's going on. LOL. Honestly this needs to be taken off the table and allow these kids to have some stability. Redistrict lets get some things going that will move us forward.
 
Ok...if the coach is gone...NO CLASS CLUB MEETING 7:00 a.m. at the Esso station on South Main. We need to get a new thread started so the BOE will know who we want for the next coach. (After what...5 in 7 years, I read that Ben Dover is the leading candidate. He has a solid resume...coached with Parks and Rec for 6 years and only gave up 31 points in 1998.)
 
Ok...if the coach is gone...NO CLASS CLUB MEETING 7:00 a.m. at the Esso station on South Main. We need to get a new thread started so the BOE will know who we want for the next coach. (After what...5 in 7 years, I read that Ben Dover is the leading candidate. He has a solid resume...coached with Parks and Rec for 6 years and only gave up 31 points in 1998.)
This is your best post ever Nipit. ROF LMAO.
 
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I don't believe Albemarle will field a team this year. I could be wrong. I think right now the main focus is fixing the educational crisis and rebound next year...
 
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