Questions About the Proposed School Consolidation Plan

As many readers know, the Commentator has published a series of articles about the Superintendent's proposed school consolidation plan. Like a mole burrowing about in the ground, we have dug up as much information as possible so that our readers will be fully informed of the facts prior to the upcoming public hearings.

After writing these seven articles (see links below), we still have questions which the proponents of the consolidation plan should answer.  Here are some of our questions:

• What are the main justifications for closing the Diana Elementary school?  
• If a main justification for closing Diana is financial, what is the financial position of the County's schools that supports closing the Diana school as the only option?
• Have all other cost cutting measures been taken, and if so, what were those measures?
• What are the justifications for sending all 7th and 8th grade students to the high school?
• If a justification for sending all 7th and 8th graders to the high school is "curriculum enrichment," then why are the 7th and 8th graders at Hacker Valley not included in this plan?
• Are there any anticipated negative consequences to sending 7th and 8th graders to the high school?
• Why does the Superintendent fear a State takeover of the Webster school system if the consolidation plan is not adopted by the Board of Education?
• What impact do the recent standardized test scores (showing the County's elementary schools perform better than the middle and high schools) have on the consolidation plan, if any?

The Commentator is respectfully requesting that readers submit their own questions so that we can keep digging for answers. Either post your question as a comment to this article or send us an email at: wvcritic@gmail.com. Comments and emails can be sent anonymously.

Here are links to our prior articles in the order they were published:

1. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/10/breaking-news-superintendent-proposes.html

2. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/10/superintendent-fears-state-takeover-if.html

3. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/11/school-consolidation-plan-hot-topic-at.html

4. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/11/school-consolidation-plan-remains.html

5. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/11/financial-reasons-for-webster-school.html

6. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/11/countys-elementary-schools-outshine.html

7. http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/11/is-state-takeover-of-webster-schools.html