Go to facebook and then go to "Scarf". Plan C was presented to the BOE tonight. See what you think!!!!
Plan C for SCS is up on Facebook!
- Thread starter Buddy Rich
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I can also report that NO vote was taken tonight as they are still gathering information. I will study the Plan C a little closer tomorrow. Don't know if the board will even consider it but it was presented to them tonight. Good Night all.
Albemarle HS and South Stanly HS take on some magnet school programs in addition to their current district students.
East Albemarle ES is closed and shifts to Albemarle MS to become a K-8.
Norwood ES is closed and shifts to South Stanly MS.
Oakboro ES remains open.
I think that is a win/win for everyone involved. No "school" actually "closes". It is basically almost the same location for East Albemarle. It is four miles from the current Norwood ES to SSHS. This plan came from a group that has strong representation in the East Albemarle district so I would think they will be on board. If the Norwood community complains about this I would be surprised. This would appear to be the plan that all three effected districts should jointly support.
The schools that supposedly, and I would tend to believe, are in the worst physical condition are Norwood ES and East ES. They also have the nearby middle schools they could combine with that are in relatively short distance.
East Albemarle ES is closed and shifts to Albemarle MS to become a K-8.
Norwood ES is closed and shifts to South Stanly MS.
Oakboro ES remains open.
I think that is a win/win for everyone involved. No "school" actually "closes". It is basically almost the same location for East Albemarle. It is four miles from the current Norwood ES to SSHS. This plan came from a group that has strong representation in the East Albemarle district so I would think they will be on board. If the Norwood community complains about this I would be surprised. This would appear to be the plan that all three effected districts should jointly support.
The schools that supposedly, and I would tend to believe, are in the worst physical condition are Norwood ES and East ES. They also have the nearby middle schools they could combine with that are in relatively short distance.
Thanks btango for putting this in terms even I can understand. To me this looks like a win win for everybody. For one thing it elemiates a lot of long bus rides for the kids involved. It also lets everybody keep their community schools and closes the 2 schools in the worst physical shape. I see no reason that all the students and families involved would not support this plan as it is way better than either of the 2 plans the school board has been considering. Does it save money? I don't see why not with 2 schools shutting down. and a whole lot less busing. Also with both AHS and SSHS becoming a magnet school within a school there will be more courses offered than before. Would redistricting still take place as I saw no mention of it last night? I would think probably so. By the way the lady that presented this plan is a teacher in the Montgomery County school system. I just hope the BOE will give this plan strong consideration and look at the many benefits it offers. I think it is a step in the right direction to make our schools better in stanly county and also a plan that most people effected would support.
I wonder if moving the middle school to the high school is not a better concept than a K-8 plan. Many 8th graders already are taking Algebra and other high school level courses. A K-6 plan and a 7-12 plan could fill your empty classes and they could easily bus the middle school athletes back to their former campus for practices. IDK...but, regardless, this plan might have a chance of passing without a riot.
This is defiantly a win/win! This is one plan that I agree with. I know that some schools were eventually going to have to be closed down, but I believe that Dexter Townsend on the city council asked why couldn't they just implement magnet classes at AHS in the first "Frigging" Place!!! which was immediately SHOT DOWN!.....whatever. This is the plan that will be voted on and approved, I knew for a fact that AHS wasn't going to close for a full magnet school. Some people tend to loose hope too soon and don't have enough faith to believe.....oh well. Football this August.
Just a few thoughts. After speaking with two experienced principals this am, there are quite a few holes in this plan. If you're not closing schools & not doing an extensive "county-wide" redistricting, how do they plan to fund the new staffing required for the proposed "school within a school" magnets at the high schools? Just closing the buildings doesn't save enough $. How many students are they projecting that will now leave WSHS/NSHS/GSD to attend AHS or SSHS because of these new "STEAM" classes? How are they going to pay to bus the few would attend that live out of those districts? Without getting students from these other schools, there are not nearly enough students at AHS capable of handling a STEM level curriculum. As far as creating a K-8 at AMS, why would SCS make this move on a trial basis & if it doesn't work, repair the buildings at East ES & Norwood ES? This would also drastically change the levels of preparedness at AMS with East kids being in a K-8 concept & Central still being a K-5 feeder.
TW
TW
What you say may be true TW, but there are also a lot of holes in plan A and B that they are now considering. There is no perfect plan and I think plan C is by far the best of the 3 purposed. JMO.
You may be right. Takes someone much smarter than me to figure this out! There is also the "EGO" factor that may prevent Plan C from being seriously considered. Not many Board Members, County Commissioners, & certainly not the SCS Central Office personnel willing to take advice from a teacher!!!
TW
TW
Plan C is the best option and it will work. TW, you wanna know how AHS and SS will draw students for STEM? Well "Guy" you'll just have to wait and see..... The audacity of the BOE to even consider to close AHS was a bunch of "BS!" and bogus and was not going to go thru and it "WILL NOT GO THRU". You'll damn near have a riot here in Albemarle...! As Buddy said, there is no perfect plan as their is no perfect "Life". On top of that! one of the main issues was that AHS didn't offer any AG classes and now, we have a potential to offer more and people still have an issue? Get out.....
Can't be a "wait & see" scenario, GUY! How is it going to happen? You won't have ONE kid leave Graystone OR West Stanly & head into that environment at AHS unless redistricting occurs. Plan C won't likely pass but I do see a compromise coming.
TW
I think Plan C is the best presented concerning closing less schools, less travel distance for closed schools, students remain in the community. It is a nice idea in presentation but there are other things that must be looked at such as enrollment capacity, classroom availability, and meeting certain state,federal, and local guidelines. Good in theory but there will need to be more numbers and research performed.
I do not like a K-8 but I do think that is better than a complete redistricting of East and Norwood. I like the middle school concept for transitioning from elementary to high school. Freshman year is when things really start "counting" for post high school life.
I would expect some redistricting will be needed. Will some Central students go to Endy? I think that could be a possibility.
The superintendent's plan that the elementary school that a student attends will not be the determining factor of the high school they will attend needs to be implemented. There still needs to be redistricting completed between West to Albemarle and West to South. I think without that there will not be significant movement to allow for the magnet school classes and this is where the financial numbers could be an issue.
I do not like a K-8 but I do think that is better than a complete redistricting of East and Norwood. I like the middle school concept for transitioning from elementary to high school. Freshman year is when things really start "counting" for post high school life.
I would expect some redistricting will be needed. Will some Central students go to Endy? I think that could be a possibility.
The superintendent's plan that the elementary school that a student attends will not be the determining factor of the high school they will attend needs to be implemented. There still needs to be redistricting completed between West to Albemarle and West to South. I think without that there will not be significant movement to allow for the magnet school classes and this is where the financial numbers could be an issue.
Tango, I agree with the k-8 proposal, but I was told from a reliable source that the K-8 proposal will be temporary. As presented the alternative plan "C" is designed to only utilize the K-8 concept for a short term basis (1 -2 years) in an effort to allow ample time to renovate East Albemarle & Norwood Elementary. Additionally we know that Oakboro Elementary will need renovations as well.
@TW unfortunately you "Will" have to wait and see. After being blindsided by the BOE for plan A and plan B, patience is needed. Also, the board couldn't answers the most "Simple" questions from the community when Plan A and Plan B was drawn up two weeks ago, now your asking a question like this? That's bias.... Your question will be answered eventually right?
This post was edited on 3/4 12:36 PM by sway1532
@TW unfortunately you "Will" have to wait and see. After being blindsided by the BOE for plan A and plan B, patience is needed. Also, the board couldn't answers the most "Simple" questions from the community when Plan A and Plan B was drawn up two weeks ago, now your asking a question like this? That's bias.... Your question will be answered eventually right?
This post was edited on 3/4 12:36 PM by sway1532
Plan C is totally irrelevant & was in the trash before the meeting was over. We were looking for one of two directions from the board last night. First was to table the whole consolidation plan & let it fade away saving face for the new board. That didn't happen so the second direction will be to "Ram" (could be a great mascot for one of the new re-branded schools) Plan A into place. This will meet greater resistance bringing the ultimate compromise of repairing the schools that need work & redistricting the entire county in an effort to balance the enrollments/demographics of each school.
TW
Lets plan that Albemarle remains open. What are the community activists plans to improve the success of the students both in school and prepare them for post high school? What are the expectations for dealing with behavioral issues and students that are not interested in being students? When AHS gets the green light to the future it cannot be the same as it has been. Everyone can say what they want about the system, admin, teachers, etc but the community must be involved supporting strong discipline and increased educational standards.
I have written here several times that I do not see AHS being able to offer the advanced classes unless the redistricting with West Stanly is completed or the school becomes a complete magnet. For long term sustainability at AHS and to help with the capacity issues at West Stanly MS and HS the western part of the city limits and their outskirts must be redistricted.
I expect that if the plan is to renovate East and Norwood this plan is doomed. The budget has a short fall currently which is part of the reason that I find Plan A hard to figure out. Plan B seems to be the one that makes the most sense between those two.
I think it is becoming obvious that finances are the issue. Politicians can say that it is bad management of funds or a "spending problem" but that is a great way to shift the issue away from the shortcomings our state has with education.
What I want to know btango. What kind of time frame are we looking at here. The next school year starts in Aug. That's roughly 5 months away. Can they implement any of these plans by then. I don't see how. Or will what ever they decide be implement in the next school year.
sway I read a good some information earlier that somewhat compared Orange County with Stanly County. They have two systems, the county and Chapel Hill/Carrboro. The county tax base is figured to be at least three times larger than Stanly County and I am sure their overall available funds are extremely higher.
Orange County has 30 schools as compared to 19 in Stanly County. Five high schools with approximately 6,200 students to four high schools with approximately 2,300 enrollment. Funds come from federal, state, and local sources but that does give some idea of a percentage breakdown. 2.7 times the students with 1.25 the number of schools on the high school level. I think most people agree that Stanly County is a two high school county but due to lack of funds to build new high schools it does not work out as the current schools are not optimal to serve a two school setup. That is the rub. I think if there were two new high schools being built and everyone was moving to those two newly districted high schools there would be much less ruckus.
Regardless what people think there are issues and the fix is not simple. How bad the issues are and what can be done with the least amount of student disruption are the keys.
Orange County has 30 schools as compared to 19 in Stanly County. Five high schools with approximately 6,200 students to four high schools with approximately 2,300 enrollment. Funds come from federal, state, and local sources but that does give some idea of a percentage breakdown. 2.7 times the students with 1.25 the number of schools on the high school level. I think most people agree that Stanly County is a two high school county but due to lack of funds to build new high schools it does not work out as the current schools are not optimal to serve a two school setup. That is the rub. I think if there were two new high schools being built and everyone was moving to those two newly districted high schools there would be much less ruckus.
Regardless what people think there are issues and the fix is not simple. How bad the issues are and what can be done with the least amount of student disruption are the keys.
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