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Blue Ridge parents speak against consolidation

By Lynn Hotaling
Local school officials don't have to wonder any longer about the feelings of residents in the southern end of Jackson County with regard to where their children should attend high school. The message came through crystal-clear Tuesday (Aug. 15) when some 19 parents and community residents told Jackson County school board members in no uncertain terms that they want their students educated close to home.

"I'm strongly opposed to consolidation," said parent Melissa Rice, who spoke fervently in favor keeping high school students at Blue Ridge. Her comments, which stressed safety concerns for school buses traveling up and down the mountain on busy N.C. 107, were echoed by most of the other speakers.

School board Chairman Martha Queen limited each speaker to 5 minutes and the entire meeting to 2 hours. The purpose of the forum was for board members to gather information, Queen said. School officials responded to only one question.

Tom Holden, who has three children at Blue Ridge, asked why the board has considered consolidation. Queen told him the school board has not discussed combining Blue Ridge's high school with Smoky Mountain High in Sylva.

"Then why was it in the papers?" Holden asked.

Queen replied that a county commissioner said he favored consolidation, but that school board members have not discussed the subject.

Superintendent Frank Burrell made brief remarks and discussed some fact sheets he had compiled.

"Hear this if you hear nothing else," Burrell told some 450 parents and community members gathered at the K-12 school. "We are not here to discuss consolidation."

But consolidation was the subject on every speaker's mind, and all who spoke voiced opposition to sending their high school students to be educated in Sylva.

Rice cited figures on the number of accidents on N.C. 107 between Cashiers and Sylva, and said the road is too narrow in places for school buses and tractor-trailers to pass. School board members must take the lives of children into account, she said.

"This community will hold you completely and wholly responsible for (our children's) lives in the event of consolidation," Rice told the five board members.

Blue Ridge English teacher and parent Dianne Gholson told board members that some research indicates smaller schools are better, and that students achieve more when they're part of "smaller learning communities."

Jim Nichols, who spoke both as a parent and member of the Cashiers business community, said he planned to begin attending monthly school board meetings in order to be better informed about board decisions and policy.

"Just five years ago our neighbors in Highlands went through a similar thing," he said. "With more involvement, and more resources, now they are an exemplary school. If money is released and used as intended, we can make our school worthy of pride."

Nichols referred to the school board's Aug. 7 vote to table a decision on accepting bids for a classroom addition for Blue Ridge's high school until after Tuesday night's forum.

A community member and Blue Ridge graduate, Brenna McCall Holland, accused board members of giving preferential treatment to schools in the Sylva-Cullowhee area.

"Education should not be about politics," Holland said to loud applause. "It should be about each individual child." Holland spoke of the positives of Blue Ridge and said "the only way being small hurts us is with regard to allocations."

She also questioned the message the school board is sending to the county. "Smoky Mountain High students are learning that it's permissible to put their needs first," Holland said.

The Western Carolina University student said she had heard that school board member Ray Trine, who represents the Cashiers district, said money hadn't been made available to Blue Ridge because the community hadn't "pushed" hard enough. "Appropriated money should not have to be fought for, it should be guaranteed," Holland said.

Former school board member Larry Moss said he has contacted people in the state's Department of Public Instruction, and all recommendations are that - even on good roads - children should not be bused more than 45 minutes one way. Most Blue Ridge students ride for 45 minutes just to get to that school, he said.

"This board has a chance tonight to leave a legacy. I'm asking as a former school board member, grandparent and parent. Whatever you vote to do, do what's right. You have a chance with this school. You can say 'we can cut over here and over here to provide what's needed (at Blue Ridge)," Moss said.

Several speakers mentioned that course offerings at Blue Ridge could be increased through the use of already-available interactive-television technology.

Regina Marrone, the parent who made the initial request for bus transportation for her SMHS freshman and then withdrew her request, said the issue was always to provide her daughter with the classes she needed. She begged the school board to offer those classes at Blue Ridge.

"Please offer the courses here so I don't have to make that drive," Marrone said. "Please bring the teachers and courses to Blue Ridge."

A number of speakers said that the southern end of the county pays the majority of county property taxes yet does not get their fair share in return.

"We're the last to be taken care of," Holden said. "Most of the advances are made from the (Thorpe) powerhouse down. We need to reverse that trend."

Chairman Queen thanked everyone for coming and indicated a consensus among board members to let things remain as they are at Blue Ridge.

"This board has always been committed to a quality education for students at Blue Ridge. We're committed to the building program," Queen said. "We came to you tonight to begin a dialogue."

Superintendent Burrell said he was "pleased" with the meeting. The speakers communicated well, he said.

According to information Burrell provided, per pupil expenditures for instructional (certified) personnel at Blue Ridge High ($7,722) are more than twice as much as at SMHS ($3,451). With regard to all personnel and with elementary students included, the Blue Ridge figure for instructional personnel dropped to $5,407 per pupil as compared to Smoky Mountain's $4,056. Personnel cost per pupil at the county's four other schools (all K-8) ranged from $3,417 to $3,889.

Based on state formulas for allocating teachers, Burrell said, Blue Ridge would have 12.5 certified personnel. Currently, the school has 33, he said, with the additional personnel paid through a combination of local, state and federal funds.

With regard to total school expenditures per pupil, Blue Ridge again led all schools with $7,841. Smoky Mountain's figure was $6,015, a difference of some $1,800 per pupil. These two figures cannot be compared exactly, Burrell said, because Blue Ridge's total includes the school's elementary population. Per pupil figures for the other four schools ranged from $4,819 to $5,360.

Calculations were based on the number of students at each at the close of school last year: Blue Ridge High, 84; Blue Ridge K-12, 274; and SMHS, 897.

Preliminary numbers for the current school year, based on attendance the third day of school, show Blue Ridge with 74 students in grades 9-12 and 257 in grades K-12, a drop of 10 high school students and 17 overall. SMHS opened with 997, a gain of 100 pupils.

School system records indicate that 16 students from the Blue Ridge district are currently enrolled at SMHS, and that 24 have requested transfers since 1997.

School board members called Tuesday's meeting after a July 31 decision that they lacked information to rule on a request for out-of-district transportation for about a dozen Cashiers-area students to Smoky Mountain High. Queen said then that her feeling was to grant the request because the school system cannot offer the courses at Blue Ridge that are offered at SMHS.

Current board policy allows students to attend school out of district as long as parents provide transportation.

Blue Ridge Principal Lib Balcerek has said her school's curriculum is not as comprehensive as Smoky Mountain's. Blue Ridge offers only the "traditional" vocational course of business, home economics and industrial education, Balcerek said, while SMHS offers course sequences in health occupations, automotive mechanics, building trades, agriculture and horticulture.

Students from the Blue Ridge district have routinely attended SMHS, said Principal Kenny Nicholson, but have always been responsible for their own transportation.

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