All this talk about how things used to be in Mt. Hope and Speake is not doing any good....Get behind your kids and support them in the new schools that they will be attending and stop all this derisive talk on how the kids will be socially handicapped by going to a bigger school. People in Mt. Hope and Speake need to realize that the world is bigger than the communities of Speake and Mt. Hope.

If you are reading this, Brian Smith, where have you been for the last 20 years? You are just a few years younger than me and I can remember talk of consolidation when I was in high school. This is not something brought on by Heath Grimes. This is a solution to a problem that has been ongoing for decades. Do you even know Heath Grimes? I do. Personally. He is such a great person, Christian, father, friend, and leader. Was this an easy decision? I doubt it. I imagine he prayed very hard before undertaking this problem. Did you ever stop to think about the claims you are making? Probably not. Heath probably never fully realized the opposition he would receive when trying to consolidate. I'm sure he knew he would catch some flack, but to have his and his children's lives threatened just shows how truly ignorant some Lawrence County citizens are. If people truly cared about the education of the kids and not their "little communities", they would realize this is a step in the right direction. Instead of bad-mouthing, criticizing, and ridiculing Mr. Grimes and this decision, try praying for a succesful consolidation. Try praying for united schools, teams, and children. Try praying for the future of our children. Try praying for yourself and the hard feelings you hold towards one individual. As the article says, he didn't make the decision, he proposed it. A judge ruled on it. All of the negativity shown by the parents is just setting an extremely poor example for the children. Students who will be changing schools need to be supported and encouraged to gain from this experience. They should be encouraged to utilize the extra classes they will be offerred. We should not be complaining, AFTER MANY MONTHS, about something that is inevitable. Your attitude is not going to change the decision, it is just more fuel to the fire. How do you think sports events are going to go when we still have all of this negativity from the parents? Do you think this is going to encourage the children to get along? I don't. I think it is just going to push them even harder to alienate themselves from the schools they are enterring. Let's try the golden rule...Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

I'm not sure how "you" people who aren't affected by this total mishap can comment on something you know nothing about. Heath Grimes is NOT a great person. He has taught our children to not trust elected officials. Grimes lied to our children in some of the worst ways possible. What kind of person tricks children into trust then takes away their schools for fakes reasons. Grimes has given jobs to his friends and girlfriends to a degree that any financial benefits are null. Take a look at who got jobs a LCHS in the last month. Brian Smith is a great person for standing up for us. Thank you. Parent from Speake

Sheron from Danville is a prime example of what I was talking about in the very first post on this story. These parents would rather socially cripple their kids than have them get a good education.

R..........my friend, no one could have said it better. Good looking out!!!!!!

...and then they wonder why people use "Lawrence County" as the butt of many jokes....

OF COURSE it is heartbreaking;

OF COURSE it is a sad time, and it will hurt in the community. But if it gives a kid a better chance at a first rate education, do the ball games and social events really matter?

I'm sad for the kids at Speake and Mt. Hope- I really am. I grew up around there and I know what its like to be in that kind of a community. But it's time to put on your big girl panties and play nice, PARENTS. Set the example for your kids.

Sheron from Danville, I am affected by this "total mishap" as you put it. I live in Lawrence County and my children will attend Lawrence County High, the good Lord willing. I would like for you to tell me exactly how Heath Grimes has "lied to our children". What are you calling fake reasons? Unless you live in a hole somewhere, consolidation has been an issue in our county for YEARS!!! It should have been taken care of 20 years ago. A county our size should not have 7 highschools. There is no need for it. If you have a graduating class less than 40 or 50 people, then you are wasting money that could be spent on better educating all of the children. Mt. Hope had less students in the ENTIRE school than Moulton Elementary has in just a few grades. Speake is the same way. This is just a waste of money. I want my children to be able to get the very best education possible. Ideally, our children could be offered numerous foreign language classes, not just Spanish. They could be offered more AP classes to prepare them for college. This was not going to happen as long as the money was being divided to run 7 different highschools.

Please, tell me what "friends and girlfriends" of Mr. Grimes were hired this year. I truly doubt he has a girlfriend and if you can't prove that, then I would keep your slanderous remarks to yourself. I'm sure his wife really appreciates you making false accusations about their marriage. I really wish you would cite exact names of people hired that you feel were unneccasary. Don't just throw your words out there, back them up. If you have proof, maybe you have a valid complaint. If not, then keep your slander to yourself. People like you are the ones that will be holding our and your own children back from integrating and settling in to the new schools.

From Teddy Roosevelt in 1910: "It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena..." It is a long quote that is part of even a longer speech you can easily find online. My point is that if you do not like what is going on - run for office, get involved, work hard, come to teacher conferences (which maybe 5% of parents do), go to all school board meetings. The easiest thing in the world to do is be critical, there is no work involved in it at all. I highly respect any man or woman that voluntarily steps into the arena and fights - keep up the good work Mr. Grimes.

It is funny how only people from the BIG CITY OF MOULTON support Heath Grimes, of course they are going to get behind him. YES, they like Speake coming to their school, WHY you ask, because they might actually win a football game this year. I have not seen any new classes that are offer at LCHS, WHY you ask, because my child is now enrolled there and nothing new that Speake did not have. All I see is Heath getting both of his nieces jobs with in the school system, and friends. Look, we (SPEAKE, MT.HOPE, HAZELWOOD) will grow up and let go when YOU(LCHS) quit supporting a liar and face the truth. If you want to talk about the Bible and his faith, then you judge a tree by the fruit it bares, and so far every apple that has fell from the tree was rotten. NEED WE SAY MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!10 COMMANDMENTS-Let's see how many he breaks of them, we already know of 2.

Please Dawn, tell me what 2 commandments he has broken. Let me tell you something, I COULD NOT CARE LESS who wins a football game in Lawrence County. I don't care who plays, wins, or loses any sport in Lawrence County. I ONLY CARE ABOUT MY CHILDREN'S EDUCATION AND THE FUTURE OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. The county WOULD NOT be able to support all 7 schools if they continued the way things were going. Would all of you parents, who are so against consolidation, rather see the state take over our county? Let me ask you this. Are you against consolidation or just Heath Grimes? If it is consolidation, then get off your horse. AS I SAID IN PREVIOUS POSTS, he is not the first person to bring up consolidation. He is just the first one to have the nerve to actually do something about it. If you are against Mr. Grimes, then that is your personal problem. I read the minutes posted in the DD concerning the hiring and such for this school year. Who exactly did he hire that is a family member? I am not saying he didn't, I just want to know which person/people he hired and what job they will be doing. Also, why does my supporting Mr. Grimes have anything to do with you growing up? That was your words exactly, by the way. If you are a parent of a child that this situation has affected, I certainly hope you have already grown up. If not, your children will be suffering because of it. Another question, what languages did Speake offer before the transition? Did they offer advanced math classes? Just questions to allow you to back up your claims.

Yes Speake did, even way back when, Spanish and advance maths. I hope your mouth doesnt overloaded your butt, because you know nothing of what you are talking about. You are on the other side trying to get in a A &B conversation, so C your way out. That is the problem you know nothing of the things that were told to these 3 communities. Maybe you need to go to those places and talk to the people he wanted to vote for him and let everyone tell you the things he directly said to them, or talk to the children he lied to and see their faces of hurt. Not just because of who he is, but these children took him in their school and community and believe in him and the words he spoke. We believe what he told to us because we believe he wanted what we wanted. JUST QUIT with the system going broke, it only goes broke when people use the money wrong and put it where it doesnt belong in the first place. YES, I would have rather the state come in, just because they did with Winston and they not only kept every school opened but are still advancing ahead. Advance Math are YOU A JOKE! Everyone can tell you can not add 1+1 right now. Just because we were smaller schools we still had the same offered to us. AND as of growing up, I was responding to the statement make in another comment, SORRY YOU ONLY READ WHAT YOU WANT, that shows your ignorance of paying attention to all detail. But who knew that people who don't have all the facts respond with stupid statements as yours. As for my child suffering, you know nothing of what these children have had to face, so R, either learn what everyone is facing or shut up! You are truly ignorant to everything surrounding this transition. The only thing I don't agree with is making personal attacks against him. Yes, he is a good family man and I give him that, I do agree that people should not go in that direction, but he is in a political office and he should be able to handle what the community thinks about the lies he told directly to them. So R, can you come up with anything else besides the crap you know nothing about. In 5 years come back and let us know what you think, because there are more surprises he and some others have got planned, don't let me say "I TOLD YOU SO".

Dawn from Tanner....The typical speake parent who cares more about the schools sports programs than she does about the education their kids are supposed to be getting. Guess what Dawn, we dont give a rats butt about speake's or lawrence county's football program.....ITS ALL ABOUT THE EDUCATION....Sports should come second, its just too bad you want your kid to grow up ignorant.....but boy can he throw around a ball!

Sheron, I went back and read EVERY SINGLE POST on this article just to make sure that I didn't miss anything and there was not one reference to you growing up. That was about the third time I had read all of the posts, by the way. I didn't miss anything. Please don't assume that I am not affected by this situation. I went to one of the schools that is being consolidated. I grew up in one of these smaller schools and I can tell you, I would have loved to have had numerous electives offered. But, the county didn't have the money to offer those at the smaller schools. There was no drama class, no Renaissance studies, only 1 AP class was offered, no law classes, no ROTC, no Bible classes, no chorus, no music classes (outside of band), and no distance learning classes were available to us.

No, I am not a joke. I am a graduate of a very small school who graduate from a highly respectable university, so yes, I think I can add 1+1. Now, I will admit, I don't know what Mr. Grimes came and told the 3 communities you speak of. That is why I asked you to tell me exactly how he lied to you. So far, no one, not one single person has told anything that he specifically said during election time. All we have heard is that he lied to you and your children. I simply asked how. No one has yet to offer up names of individuals that he has given jobs to inappropriately. I've asked that as well. Seems to me that people are throwing things out there, yet won't back them up.

I am not on the other side, as you put it. Do you honestly think that Lawrence County High is not affected by this? Do you think only the smaller schools are affected? Open your eyes! All of the schools are going to feel the impact of this. Speake is not the only school in our county, but they sure are the ones complaining the most. A previous poster commented on all of the classes that will be offered at LCHS this year. Do you not think that your child might benefit from this? Probably not. Most Speake parents are just worried and concerned about the sports. Sports is important, but for the majority of students, it won't help them get into college. A good education will.

If I don't have all of the facts straight, then by all means, please enlighten me. These are the facts I do know. Dewayne Key discussed consolidation when he was in office and the smaller schools complained. Dexter Rutherford discussed, and tried really hard to get, consolidation, but all of the smaller schools complained. Heath Grimes finally got someone to do something about it. Guess what? The smaller schools are still complaining. It is a done deal. For at least this year, the smaller schools will be going elsewhere. Be the parent here. Guide your children and teach them to grow with changes, not to just continue to complain about them. Impart on them how this could be beneficial to them in the long run. Allow them the opportunity to learn from this. Then, in the next election, if you still don't like the way things are going, run for office yourself. Try to change things. This name calling and throwing sixth grade remarks like the A+B thing is not doing any good. It just makes you look silly. You keep repeating that Heath lied to you, but you won't say how. You still haven't given me the so called proof of the "2 commandments" he broke. People are going to quit listening if you don't offer hard facts. If you look through the posts and read them, as you suggested I do, you will see that you are already the minority on here. Maybe not on all articles concerning this situation, but at least this one. If you want to be heard, have the facts. Offer them up. Quit making statements that you won't back up. Seems to me that the majority of the people who have posted on this article are of above average intelligence and they might would respond if you could offer up anything other than just your opinion. See, I have more than just my opinion. I did research on our financial situation. I did my research on our county versus Morgan County, Lauderdale County, and Colbert County. Our schools offer much less than those. Whether my children were going to Speake, Mt. Hope, or LCHS, I still think a better education should ALWAYS come first. I really don't care whether Mr. Grimes lied or not. I was always for consolidation, even when it would affect me directly, not just my children. I always cared about my education and felt that I was being short-changed because LCHS offered many more classes than I could take. You do always have the option to move if you don't like a situation! Thankfully, I made sure my children would be able to go to Lawrence County. They will have the options I didn't have.

Sheron - don't let your mouth ruin your business.

what is Sheron's business?