As my mother, who used to teach at Pine Grove Elementary School (not a High School at that time), used to say, it takes a big man to admit it when he’s wrong,
and
Fred Wetherington is a big man
because he thought it was a good idea.
He looked at the evidence; he looked at the research;
and determined it was not a good idea.
I look forward to the members of CUEE standing up and being big men and women
because the research, their own research, and the research that
we’ve heard tonight,
the research from Tennessee, and the research from Troup County:
consolidation is not a good idea.
And I’m still waiting for some CUEE big men or women….
Sam Allen offered his head as a
crystal ball.
Dr. Smith replied it wasn’t clear enough.
Everybody laughed at that as this video started, in which Allen, president of
Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS), and former
superintendent of Valdosta City Schools, asked several
questions, most of which Dr. Smith would have had to have had
a crystal ball to answer.
The questions included what will happen to certain programs,
and what will happen to Valdosta School SPLOST funds.
Lowndes County School System Attorney Warren Turner did clarify a bit of what
would happen if consolidation passes:
If consolidation occurs, there is no such thing as the Valdosta
City School System, from the date the Georgia Secretary of State approves it.
Once they certify the election, there is no
central office of the Valdosta City School System.
There is a property located on William Street that is part of the
Lowndes County School System….
The real question is where would the funds desginated for those facilities go,
and can you even spend it?
Tax Commissioner doesn’t know; Attorney General doesn’t know; and we don’t know.
What will happen to programs and SPLOST? —Sam Allen @ LCBOE 4 October 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
David Mullis, author of the most basic and comprehensive resource
on school consolidation, the
Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation,
noted that the Chamber and CUEE had tried to paint Valdosta School Supt. Dr. Cason
and Lowndes School Supt. Dr. Smith as saying school consolidation was
inevitable.
Dr. Smith replied:
I use the word “may”. It may occur.
I’m not like CUEE; I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future.
David Mullis asked for further clarification based on the data we have today.
Supt. Smith’s answer:
Now is the worst possible time to even consider consolidation
or any other education innovation that’s going to cost more money
that has possibly little or no return.
Someone (didn’t get her name; sorry) wanted to know how CUEE could say,
on their glossy flyer they mailed out,
that no teachers would lose their jobs.
Supt. Smith responded that there would be winners and losers,
and unfortunately more winners than losers.
Yes, teachers have contracts.
However, due to the economy, Lowndes County Schools already have a
Reduction in Force (RIF) policy, through which they have offered
retirement and about 80 teachers have already taken advantage of it.
What effect will this have on teachers’ jobs and salary? @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
A parent (didn’t get her name; sorry) who said her children were
in Lowndes County schools and she had gone to Valdosta City schools
wanted to know if CUEE had collected any data to compare parental
involvement between the two school systems.
Parental involvement is not as high as it should be…
and the first step will be to start in everyone’s home….
[applause]
Two attorneys brought a point into the light that CUEE doesn’t like to talk about:
bussing is a natural consequence of consolidation.
That was stated by the attorney for the Lowndes County School System,
Warren Turner, 4 October 2011.
Roy Copeland brought up some names from the past: Mrs. Copeland
or Mrs. Adams, and the newscasters Huntley and Brinkley.
He then asked about the consent decree on desegregation from back in that era:
Has anyone given any thoughts to the issues relative to the consentdecreee,
desegregation, and the realignment of school districts relative to
the Voting Rights Act 1965 preclearance, and all those other issues.
Lowndes County Schools Attorney Warren Turner answered the question,
after Roy Copeland mentioned they were neighbors.
The answer was basically that there would be a hearing before November 8th.
Hm, I wonder what happened with that?
As far as what happens if consolidation is approved by the Valdosta voters,
he said, among other things:
So the concept of a neighborhood school, where everybody stays where they are,
is not going to happen in my opinion, because the federal government is
not going to allow that to happen.
Roy Taylor said his grandson graduated from Lowndes County High.
He must be a lot older than he seems, since LCHS closed about
1968 when it was combined with Hahira High School to create
Lowndes High School.
He did have a good point, though (paraphrasing):
80% of prisoners are less than 30 years old.
$60,000 a year to keep a person in prison.
$30,000 a year to keep them in college.
His question:
Are you gonna get the parents involved?
Lowndes County Schools Supt. Smith responded that they are working
diligently through Community Partners in Education to do that.
He also talked about Valdosta and Lowndes schools already improving
their graduation rates.
And school, home, and community as three legs of a stool.
Current LCBOE member Fred Wetherington said he was on the Chamber of
Commerce Board and is still a member.
Remembering how consolidation started at the Chamber:
The whole idea was could it help us with economic development in our community.
At the same time could we increase student achievement.
And could we save the taxpayers money.
Well, I’m here to tell you tonight that I was one of the board members…
that if that theory and those ideas had held up after research and study,
I would be supporting this idea.
But he doesn’t. Because that theory and those ideas did not hold up.
Current Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE) member
Philip Poole said various members of both school boards have met
with consolidation proponents, and had asked them to involve the
whole community in any decisions.
Since that didn’t happen, there’s been less involvement lately.
And the referendum is solely about dissolving the Valdosta School System,
which would trigger the Lowndes system having to take over.
Which would result in losing federal and state funding due to
the resulting school system being larger.
Referendum is to dissolve Valdosta School District —Philip Poole @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Dan Davis suggested letting professional educators deal with education
and let the Chamber attend cocktail parties.
That got a big round of applause.
First he established his credentials in business and education:
20 year veteran of CPIE and of the Chamber of Commerce;
has businesses in many countries, but chooses to live here.
Having seen the world and many educational systems,
he thinks:
This consolidation is really a bad issue; very very bad.
As my mother, who used to teach at Pine Grove Elementary School (not a High School at that time), used to say, it takes a big man to admit it when he’s wrong,
and
Fred Wetherington is a big man
