Go to the homepage for the Sylva Herald and Ruralite

Editorials - 08/03/00

School board faced with difficult choice
It goes with the territory. Elected officials must make difficult, and often unpopular, choices.

We've all heard it said: "You can't please all the people all of the time." Our local school officials probably have days when they think they can't please any of the people any of the time.

Despite our past differences, we do sympathize. And we wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now as they wrestle with the request for out-of-district transportation for Cashiers-area students who plan to attend high school in Sylva.

Because, in their hearts, school board members surely believe that students in the Blue Ridge district are entitled to just as good an education as are children in the Smoky Mountain district.

And, in their minds, these same school board members surely know that there is no way to offer comparable programs when one high school is 10 times larger than the other.

Providing one bus to bring some students down the mountain is not the answer, and it's time this county faced it.

We wrote here some 18 months ago that it was time to consolidate the two high schools. At that time we were a little angry over remarks made at a meeting at Blue Ridge. We were somewhat indignant that parents up there were complaining about having one gym for some 350 students when SMHS has one for almost 1,000.

We're not angry now, but we still feel that combining the schools is the only fair solution. Every high school student in this county deserves an equal chance. And they're not getting one now.

Precious resources are being spent to continue a less than adequate program at Blue Ridge. School officials are poised to spend some $1.8 million more on a classroom addition that will house fewer than 100 students.

All our mountain roads can be treacherous. N.C. 107 up and down the mountain is no more risky than N.C. 281, and buses travel that highway every day. It's a long way from Lovesfield to Bull Pen, as our neighbors to the south often remind us. It's almost as far from SMHS to Soco, and it's just as long, if not longer, out Charleys Creek to Pinhook, yet buses navigate those distances on a daily basis.

We don't believe bigger is always better. Often, it's not. In this case, however, scarce funds are being used to perpetuate a substandard curriculum at Blue Ridge. The school up the mountain is separate, but it's not equal.

We watched and listened to the bitterness when Canada Elementary was closed, and when Sylva-Webster and Cullowhee High were combined. Yet there were no incidents once the decisions were made. And we don't hear anyone asking to turn back the clock.

With consolidation of the two high schools, the Cashiers community would still have a K-8 school, and their teenagers would finally have equal educational opportunity.

Editorial policy

The opinions expressed on this page are those of the Sylva Herald Editorial Committee. Opinions are derived independently and owe no allegiance to any group, organization or political party. We welcome opposing views.

Back to Archive: 08/03/00.