Wanted to see if any Giles fans have heard the rumor they will be dropping down to 1A next year due to reduced enrollment? Just heard that over the weekend.
Giles Rumor
- Thread starter NewSpartan
- Start date
Wouldn't be next year as this is 1st year of 2 year cycle
I haven't heard anything but we have been heading that way for awhile. I imagine our attendance is projected to be below the cutoff for 2A next year. Didn't VHSL adopt a 4 year cycle plan? We can still petition to drop to 1A, either way.
They will drop in 2 years from what I understand...at least then they will be under the threshold.. They have negative enrollment for the next 10 years as projected from primary schools. That 614 includes 8th grade.
Whatever happened to the talk of consolidation of Narrows and Giles. I know it was once discussed but I haven't heard anything in years. I'm sure that the two proud fan bases would not be in support of it, but that would give them a very large 2A school that would be a force in many sports. Obviously there are many, many more factors that would take priority over athletics(transportation, academics, logistics), but just for discussion sake......
Being from Giles I support it 100%....but the other end of the county is dead set against it
If it's anything like when Union, Central and Eastside were formed during Wise Co's consolidation, any excuse you can think of OR can't think of will be used. I never heard a legitimate one. And all the talking points made against consolidation were all proven false after the fact.
Both school buildings were built in 1961 and have been in reasonably good shape, so there hasn't been a pressing need to consolidate. But now, I'm sure they are showing their age. It's probably time to talk about consolidating. There really isn't that much animosity between Narz and Giles. Most all of us who went to one has close family and friends that went to the other. It's fun to mess with our neighbors from west Celco and cheer against them, but in the end, I support them everywhere else.
Financially, would it benefit the taxpayers of Giles County by consolidating? I'm not sure if it would or wouldn't, but I would think that has a part in it.
As long as students didn't leave the county to attend another school, without question it would save money. Money follows the student.
Typically, consolidation doesn't happen overnight. It takes a few years for all of the studies, planning and the construction of the building. There is a sufficient number of turnover each year in public education that the time before the new building is open can be spent planning for that turnover so that any position losses are through attrition and not actual layoffs.
The vast majority of spending on public education goes to salaries, so if you take the Giles/Narrows situation, you have at least 2 principals, 2 asst principals, 2 secretaries, 2 book keepers, 2 librarians, 2 custodial staffs, 2 kitchen staffs that you will only need 1 of for a single school. Teacher positions would be determined by the exact number of students, VA limits on student/teacher ratios on any give subject area and student interest in those subject areas.
One example that came up in Wise Co, were required courses that had 6 teachers at 6 different schools teaching 10 kids each. One HS in particular had as few as 5 students in their classes. Think about that for a minute. You're paying multiple teachers $50K plus, including benefits, to teach the same number of kids that 1 teacher could cover. And this was going on in 6 HSs, not just 2.
Giles needs a middle school! So financially, would it save money? Probably not. Would the educational experience be better for students to have a 6-8 separate middle school? The research is overwhelming that it would be. 8th graders in the same building with seniors is a ridiculous notion that should have gone away long ago.
Bland County has 7th graders with Seniors , yes, a ridiculous notion. I'm not sure why they didn't do a K-5, 6-8, & 9-12 set up when they consolidated. They could have put 9-12 at Bland and with two separate buildings at Rocky Gap put K-5 in one & 6-8 in the other. The gym at Rocky Gap (current BCHS ) doesn't even meet the standards for volleyball. The ceilings are too low and it leaked so bad last year games had to be stopped. They should really play their volleyball and basketball games at BCES (former Bland High School). With all that said, if Giles County School Board is anything like Bland Counry's the most reasonable and best decision for kids won't happen.
I thought the decision to put the high school at Rocky Gap (where my dad taught for many years) was odd to say the least.
When you've got three board members , two of whom would rather die figuratively speaking (graduates of the big RG) than have high school at Bland...stupid decisions are made. The majority of county, parents, teachers, etc. wanted high school at Bland. Those board members no longer serve.
The "facilities assessment" has been done by the state BOE within the last couple of years. They had 3 recommendations. All 3 involved consolidation with Giles High becoming the 1 HS. The issue that many people are forgetting is the money. About 20 years ago, the County took on a bunch of debt to update every school in the county. Asbetos abatement, HVAC, Disability codes, etc. The county is still millions away from paying that debt off. In no way could it afford any massive consolidation right now with severe financial risks and raising taxes an amount that would piss off the whole county citizenry.
Money is always the bottom line and people don't want taxes to go up. Bland wants to build a new school. Both existing buildings are outdated and will continue to need "Band-Aids" . Giles like Bland will have to make due because there's not the tax base or willingness to levy heavier tax burden on citizens. Meanwhile wealthier areas of Virginia have state of the art facilities and more $$$$ than SWVA could ever dream of.
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