Editorial: Given ACS trends, one high school makes sense

Traditions could be upended Tuesday night when the Anderson Community Schools board meets at 6 p.m. at the ACS Administration Building, 101 W. 29th St., to decide the fate of every one of its students.

There are two proposals facing board action. Each of the 9,000 students — excluding those who will graduate at the end of the current school year — in the financially troubled school district will be affected. Have no doubt about that.

For the 2010-2011 school year, older students will face the prospect of attending either of two junior-senior high schools in the current Anderson and Highland high school buildings. Or they will attend one high school in a consolidated building for grades 10-12. The latter option provides the most savings, the School Board has said, in meeting a $5 million deficit.

Change is coming.

School administrators say that by having two high schools for grades 7-12, the district would save $3.98 million annually versus the current school structure. This option would appease those who have allegiance to the Anderson Indians’ or Highland Scots’ traditions, those who are concerned that extracurricular activities and sports opportunities would be cut in half, and those who lament the long bus rides that the one-high-school option would bring.

The option of combining high schools, administrators say, would save $5.22 million annually by having students attend one high school and one middle school, among other savings.

The one-school proposal seems to be the most financially prudent. This option provides the best alternative in educating Anderson’s youth while the community endures financial constraints and the loss of nearly 200 to 300 students annually. This budget deficit arrives in part from the realizations of dwindling enrollment since 1971, the popularity of charter schools, the opening of enrollment at other districts and a state cap of property taxes.

Change is, and has been, coming.

Through this process, it has been disappointing that the school board has not answered questions thoroughly. The board has been pressed to provide specifics for transportation costs, the potential of staff reductions and the possible elimination of programs. Now, as questions still swirl, the board wants to move along with its vote.

Despite the unanswered questions, the timing is right to forge ahead with a decision. In order to see that the necessary arrangements — including contractual obligations — are dealt with in time for the school system to adjust to closing buildings (four elementary schools will close) and shifting students before next school year, it is time for the board to decide.

A vote, if conducted tonight, will come as incoming superintendent Felix Chow plans to take his post on Jan. 1. Though he has not expressed a public opinion about which option is the best, Chow helped guide the board’s evaluation of the statistics to be considered. The board, as Chow suggested in an interview with The Herald Bulletin, must focus on its financial plight, not emotions.

Based on dire budget forecasts and enrollment-loss projections, the board should approve the consolidation of the two high schools into one; the two middle schools into one and continue with what’s known as Option A, amounting to seven elementary schools (with five K-3 buildings) and two 4-6 schools at the current middle school sites.

This is not a light decision but one that addresses the most dire of financial and enrollment trends that are unlikely to be reversed.

If we stick to two high schools, it will be temporary, only delaying the inevitable. If we hold onto our two high schools, that necessary change might come too late.

Text Only