Cedar Grove Parents Meet as School Closure Looms
News Channel 11/ Tim Davis
Cedar Grove School in Kingsport, may be part of a number of school closings in Sullivan County.
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Parents in Sullivan County are banding together to fight yet another possible school closing.
Cedar Grove Elementary School, near Kingsport, was one of three schools originally named by the Sullivan County Board of Education to close next year as a cost-saving measure. At the Board’s meeting on Jan. 15 the proposal to move schools in the north school zone, north of Kingsport, would save the school system $455,638. The moves include:
* Close Cedar Grove Elementary School and send students to Brookside or Kingsley Elementary School.
* Make Brookside and Kingsley only for pre-k to third-grade students and send their fourth- and fifth-graders to Ketron Intermediate.
* Send Ketron’s seventh-graders to North High School, where they will merge with North’s eighth-grade class in a segregated school environment.
“I don’t think my 12-year-old is ready to go to high school with [17-18] year olds,” said parent Aaron Estep. “Our eighth graders are already at North because they shut down Gravely a year ago. I don’t think seventh graders should be in a high school.”
This area suffered a similar blow five years ago when the board closed Bloomingdale Pike’s Gravely Elementary School.
There will be a community meeting at Cedar Grove to talk about the possible closure. The meeting will be held at the school, 100 Coley St, Kingsport, on Friday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. in the gym.
Parents are asking for everyone to attend the community meeting.
Valley Pike and Akard Elementary were also named as schools that could possibly be closed. Mary Hughes School could also face partial closure as their middle school students face moving to Holston. Parents at Valley Pike will meet Wednesday night at 5 p.m. to discuss closure.
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Reader Reactions
I don’t know about the Cedar Grove situation but I have two children that will be affected by Akard Elementary closing.
My older children have attended Blountville in the past but due to moving we are in the Akard Elementary school district.
I have to say that both schools are fine with us. Blountville is larger, which has its advantages.
The Principal, the teachers and the staff at Akard have done a fine job with my children.
Same for the Blountville folks.
Even though it is a lot more convenient for me for my children to go to Akard I would go along and be happy about my children going back to Blountville.
My children have friends at both schools so that is not an issue. They made good grades at both schools.
I never understood the economic sense of having two schools so close together. Especially when it comes to any extracurricular activities.
I wouldn’t care if my home was annexed by the city so my kids could play sports in the city schools.
My biggest gripe with the Central school district is their ineptitude in the sports programs, starting with the small age groups all the way up to high school.
I think that every coach from the high school level down, plus the organizations that run the football leagues, basketball leagues and baseball leagues should be scrutinized. Their is NO synergy between the age groups. No one seems to be on the same page.
I have watched their be very good basketball teams in the middle school grades to only have the teams be mediocre when they reach varsity level.
And we won’t even go into the football program. 7 wins and 43 losses speaks for itself.
This speaks volumes of how the good old buddy system works in this area.
You have 3rd and 4th grade coaches coaching teams that have no clue on what they’re doing.
I went to one football game this year and i felt sorry for the two teams that I watched. Both lost in a big way. It was like two different age groups playing. The one team had no ability to run plays. This was one of the last games of the year.
I think most parents feel the same way. No one wants to say anything publicly to rock the boat.
I think the boat needs to be traded for another boat.
Getting back to the school closings I hope that the commissioners really have wisdom in making these tough decisions and that they don’t let some parents sway them either way. I hope they do what’s best for the children and the county. No matter how hard the decisions might be.
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