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.

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.

"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