Closing Schools Will Hurt Wise County

BY JEFF NEAL
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER

Wise County school leaders should think hard before embracing consolidation. Once these decisions are made, there is no turning back.
Two arguments for consolidation are predominant– that it is cheaper than renovation and that a more broad and varied educational experience will be available for Wise County children as a result. School leaders should reconsider the totality of this logic.
The educational experiences offered in Wise County are unique. The students, faculty and community all have a vested interest in the school system. I no longer reside in Wise County but was born and raised there. I have received two doctoral degrees, which I attribute to my educational experience in the Wise County school system, specifically St. Paul High School.
THE ST. PAUL faculty are active, integral members of the community. The majority of St. Paul parents not only know their child’s teacher, but they know their family and friends as well. This close-knit, integrated community is the aspect of the Appalachian coalfields I have missed most since leaving. We are now discussing not only disrupting what is unique to our communities but destroying it all together in order to become more in line with the larger cities in Virginia.
My wife and I recently lived in Richmond and had the opportunity to experience public education in these large consolidated schools. Interestingly, the current “vogue” in Richmond (and most large cities) is to send your child to private day schools to avoid the large public educational facilities. Of course, these schools are extremely expensive and only a small number can afford to attend; yet in their advertising, these schools point out their small faculty-to-student ratio and close-knit, community environment. Sound familiar?
Wise County has the model school system that residents of Richmond, Northern Virginia and Virginia Beach are paying to send their children to.
One must consider the entire educational experience when thinking about the size of the school. As a St. Paul student, I had the opportunity to participate in a large number of extracurricular activities. I am not the best athlete, nor am I the smartest, yet I played varsity sports and competed with the Pace team. These may seem like small things, but these activities, in addition to didactics, make the student. Have Wise County parents considered how many of their children will compete in extracurricular activities if the county consolidates to two large high schools?
WOULD YOUR child be talented enough to play basketball in a school with 2,000 students or attain the lead in the school play? Again, this type of involvement in the high school fosters involvement in the community and an identity for many of these small communities of the coalfields.
I have read with a great deal of humor the editorials that decry Wise County residents for “making an emotional rather than an economical” decision when considering consolidation. What more can a community ask than that its citizens be emotionally invested in the local school system? Go to inner city Richmond and ask the administrators of those 2,000-student schools how strong the community’s emotion/involvement is for the school.
As for educational variety, a large school system may have the resources to offer more diverse classes. Would you rather have faculty and administrators you know and who live in your community teaching your child or have a high school that offers Latin or more advanced AP classes? Again, a vested interest in a child will create a sense of belonging which, in turn, fosters security and helps children to achieve at a higher level.
Finally, the economic vitality of small Southwest Virginia towns is directly affected by the local school system. The median household income for Wise County in 2005 was $30,386 while the median household income in the state was $54,240. For the 2001-02 school budget, the starting salary for teachers was $26,750 with a maximum of $50,630. Thus, Wise County teachers and administrators are among the highest paid county residents. Consolidating the school system will shrink the faculty, which in turn will lead to fewer high-paid residents in these towns.
TRUE, THERE will be an immediate, upfront savings from consolidation, as opposed to renovation; however, over the long haul, consolidation will be the economic demise of many of the smaller communities.
Closing Appalachia High School, Pound High School and St. Paul High School will be economic death to these communities.
This is not an easy decision, but the positives of keeping schools open vastly outweigh the negatives. Members of the community and the various boards considering this must have courage and believe in the future of the county. Leadership, by definition, entails making difficult decisions. Show the residents of Wise County that you believe in their communities by assisting them in keeping their schools open.