I wonder if Johnny White and other Speake parents would be happy if the Board of Education allowed Speake to continue to operate a high school without the required number of teachers? The community would still have its school and athletic teams, but the children wouldn't receive an education. What do the parents from Speake think about that? Is that an acceptable alternative? Let's hear from some of you.

I don't think that's an option. I'll ask you a question in return. Why is Hubbard being left open as a 1A school that will not have enough state funded teaching units to adequately teach the required state mandated curriculum? I think we know what the answer is, but just thought you might want to meditate on that too!

Hubbard does have the required teaching units, actually they have 3 units over their alloted units for their school size. As for Speake- do the parents know that if they don't have the required teacher units that the school can not issue diplomas. Why would you keep teaching high school students if you can not issue them a diploma when they finished. I am sure their is alot of politics involved in this consolidation process, but the bottom line is funding; if funding isn't there then they can not pay the teachers to teach. I work in the school system and I know that without this consolidation there are a few schools that would not financially be able to finish the next school year. It is time to accept the decison made and try to be the positive influence the students need as they are dealing with the change. They will follow the adults lead on how the transition is handled. I am one of the employees that has been relocated, so I know how hard it will be. Change is never easy.

To my opinion;

Yes, Hubbard may have the needed units, but they are not earned through their enrollment. They are given by the BOE. That's my point. If Speake, which has more students enrolled than Hubbard, does not have enough teaching units, then how can Hubbard have enough (Hubbard will have less next year than Speake would have had)? The only answer is our BOE is paying for local units to make that school work (offer enough subjects for a diploma). You see, I'm for consolidation, but it ought to be fair for all the schools and for all the tax-payers in the county. The Hubbard school will end up costing mega-bucks to support, becuase of not enough student enrollment to earn the needed state-funded teaching units (not counting the athletic needs). The only solution is to build a West Lawrence HS and shut down Hubbard! Then you will have a school with an enrollment large enough to earn the needed units to give these students a quality education that will not have to be supplemented and funded through local units paid for by you and I, as taxpayers. Of course, that would only happen if you take ALL the politics out of the way, which I doubt will ever happen. By the way, good luck at your new destination.

To Dale: Maybe you can tell me the reason Hubbard is being left open. I might not know the answer to that question, but I can tell you that if you look at student addresses, and compare them to where they should be going to school, you will find that a large number of students at Hatton, Lawrence County, East Lawrence and even Hazlewood should be attending Hubbard. That's a fact, and I think the judge in the case knows that. If you go to the BOE's website you can read all of the recent documents pertaining to the consolidation. They are rather lengthy, so you can use the search option to find "hardship transfers". If things were fair, the judge would have ordered students at schools outside their districts to attend the school in their districts. He instead allowed them to finish where they are, which means a student attending school outside his or her district can finish elementary or middle school where they are, but they must attend the next level of school in their rightful district.

To My Opinion: The school board for years has provided Hubbard with more than its earned units and the school was still short of the required number of units, hence the relience on ROTC classes to fill it schedule.

If, Dale, you are saying that Hubbard was left open because it's a predominantly Black school you may be right. This entire issue is about race, and the fact is that Lawrence County Schools and the county government has never lived up to the desegregation order of the late 1960s. The order, and others like it, was put in place for a reason.

I don't mean to insult anyone, that's not my reason for writing on this forum, but the attitudes of White citizens in Lawrence County, and the Deep South in general, is still to give Blacks what they want them to have, regardless of what the Federal Government says. The underlying issue in Lawrence County is whether or not Black students can benefit from a proper education. School board members, at least those in the past (the late 1990s) have argued openly about whether "throwing money" at Black schools would fix the problem. The board, through its actions (or non-action) decided that money would not fix the problem. It meant that for years Courtland High School was issuing diplomas to students who did not earn them, because the school did not offer the required courses. The students were willing to learn, but the board was not willing to provide them with the required education. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools should have removed the school systems accreditation, but it ignored the violations.

Presently, the main issue is finances. Were it not for a lack of funds it would be business as usual: a less than adequate education for the majority of Lawrence County students and an even worse one for majority students at majority Black schools. So this is one instance where being in the red, or close to it, can have a positive outcome.

My question to anyone willing to answer is how can Lawrence County Schools even think of gaining unitary status when it has not fulfilled its obligation with regards to Federal requirements? It's a slap in the face to the courts to even ask. The judge said as much by telling the board that it is going to be impossible to gain unitary status, even with the present consolidation plan (search for "unitary status" in the ruling at the BOE's site). Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the alignment of schools after this consolidation is where it will stand for a very long time.

One reason is that school boards past and present have wasted the money that could have been used for consolidation. The other reason is this consolidation creates an even more segregated school system, and I have a feeling that a lot of people, Black and White, are going to grow comfortable with it.

It was about race from the beginning. Watch carefully and see how much money will be saved. Gas prices are going up as we speak. The judge really didn't know the real problem in Lawrence County, or maybe he did..(Race) You can put anything in a black school that you can put in the white. If the teachers refuse to teach in these schools, you may want to do some soul searching about your profession. In a profession as such, it's time out for only being accustomed to a certain environment. A swing of a few teachers with a swing of a few books would have been more cost effective than spending millions more to justify a decision. What's the problem with changing the ciriculum in a county school.? Are the blacks too ignorant to learn trig and calculus? i don't think so!

The whites that went to Hazlewood will not go to Hubbard. A large number of whites at Hatton should be at Hazlewood. Again, the problem here is monies leaving because of a "hardship transfer". No real challenge to prevent this. If you want segregation, (and that is truly what you want), make the playing field even. That's what the civil rights movement was all about. Not really intergration.

But since we are back to segregation, let's update it by being fair with everyone. All of the moves made in this consolidation were to appease a few, not really the one's that will be affected. But if I'm a selfish person, my main concern would be about "my kids", not "OUR KIDS".

I have to agree with Dale--The only way that we can offer the small schools as much as some of these bigger schools is to proceed towards a West Lawrence School. This would definitely bring the west end of the county to a more unitary school.

Can we stop thinking about just the small schools for a moment. I have children at MES and I don't care if someone is black or white. I just want classes taught to my children that are taught in other area schools. Music perhaps! I am so thankful that these little area shools that have been draining Moulton schools are finally closing I can't see straight. Yes the BOE has in the past been unfair, but get over it. Schools in Moulton have put up with unfair for a long time and you don't hear us bellyaching every single day. GET OVER YOURSELVES! Obviously we can't build a new school in West Lawrenc County right this minute, but hopefully we can someday. In the meantime let's be thankful that Heath Grimes is trying to solve the problems of the county whether its popular or not. If he can get the economics of it taken care of then maybe in a few years some of our newly educated students can figure out even better solutions. In regards to Speake, this person filing yet another motion is just putting more money in Jerome Thompson's pocket. Let's accept this! LCHS is thrilled to welcome students from Speake. If they don't come in with attitude I can guarantee that LCHS students won't have attitude.

It's funny I hear all these parents complaining, but I haven't heard very many children complaining as fiercely. As parents we need to set the example. The job of our children is to go to school and learn and to do it with repect to their teachers and school staff. Let's have the same respect. If we show a positive attitude our children will mimic it. If we have an utter disregard for authority then our children will mimic that also. It is time for Lawrence County to come together, support our BOE and our teachers and be thankful. Our children will follow with a positive attitude and will prosper.

Joyce, I agree with most of what you said. I don't agree, however, that smaller schools have been draining Moulton schools. Moulton has never been denied the units it earns. The city's schools might not have had many units over the minimum, which is required for higher classes, but I can't remember them ever being under the required number of units. There are a lot of people in Moulton who shae your opinion, and I wonder what makes you all assume that you deserve to have the extra units when other schools don't have them. Moulton schools also have, in the past and presently, benefited from the enrollment of children from other districts in its schools.

With regards to the children accepting the situation better than adults, you are absoultely right. It's the adults in Lawrence County who for too long have held back their childrens' progress by fighting so hard to keep small schools open. The school board members will have to be proactive and make the tough choices in the future alignment of schools and in selecting courses.

One of the toughest choices will be to eliminate Agriculture classes and replace them with keyboarding and software classes, especially at smaller schools where it's one or the other. Yes, Lawrence County is one of the state's top producer of certain crops, yet its children are not likely to apply for Ag jobs. North Courtland is home to a large number of students at Hubbard. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Alabama, and it's children are more urban than rural in terms of their living conditions. They are, like the majority of Lawrence County students, more likely to encouter jobs that require knowledge of Microsoft applications than ginning skills.

For those of you inclined to think in terms of extracurricular activities (sports) just think of what consolidation will mean for Lawrence County and Hubbard. Speake's football team was one win away from a state title last year, farther than Lawrence County has ever been. The former Bobcats will bring their athletic ability to the field in Moulton with their fans in tow. The Friday night atmosphere will be tremenndous. Hubbard and Hazlewood...I'll bet there are teams around the state that would pay to keep them apart.

It sounds like the beginning of a winning situation to me.

"The teaching establishment and politicians have hoodwinked taxpayers into believing that more money is needed to improve education. The Washington, D.C., school budget is about the nation's costliest, spending about $15,000 per pupil. Its student/teacher ratio, at 15.2 to 1, is lower than the nation's average. Yet student achievement is just about the lowest in the nation. What's so callous about the Washington situation is about 1,700 children in kindergarten through 12th grade receive the $7,500 annual scholarships in order to escape rotten D.C. public schools, and four times as many apply for the scholarships, yet Congress, beholden to the education establishment, will end funding the school voucher program. Any long-term solution to our education problems requires the decentralization that can come from competition. Centralization has been massive. In 1930, there were 119,000 school districts across the U.S; today, there are less than 15,000. Control has moved from local communities to the school district, to the state, and to the federal government. Public education has become a highly centralized government-backed monopoly and we shouldn't be surprised by the results." --George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams