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December 8, 2009

Quintin Harlan: Change not coming: It's here

Apparently 'change' is the single scariest word in the English language

By Quintin Harlan, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer

Change.

Apparently it’s the single scariest word in the English language these days. At least as it pertains to the future of Anderson’s schools.

The future/fate of Anderson Community Schools is going to be laid out soon.

The biggest item on tonight’s agenda is the discussion of whether to go to one high school or stay with two high schools. And there are all kinds of emotions involved, as is always the case.

For those not on Facebook, there are two groups that have a vested interest in the future of Anderson and Highland high schools. One group calls itself “Save Highland High School.” The other is called “Save Anderson High School.”

Parents are, apparently, threatening to pull their kids out of ACS and take them, and the funds that each child represents, elsewhere.

Scots don’t want to become Indians, and Indians don’t want to become Scots.

And any die-hard Madison Heights Pirate should be kicked back enjoying the chaos.

The solutions to maintain the status quo seem pretty obvious, to me at any rate. Should the future of this city’s schools include two high schools, all I’m going to need is an iron-clad guarantee that parents will move here to raise their children and keep them in an Anderson Community Schools building from kindergarten through their senior year of high school.

Maybe this could be put in writing? You know, a contract that will ensure higher numbers, and there should be a clause in there that each and every student will have a 4.0 GPA and be raised by a family that rivals any Norman Rockwell ideal.

And then maybe we’ll get chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and they’ll be declared the healthiest food ever.

In other words, I’m not holding my breath for an easy answer to the problems facing ACS these days.

Sad but true, numbers do not lie.

The students currently enrolled in Anderson Community Schools are nowhere near what it used to be. Buildings are going to be closed, and consolidation is a fact of life at the elementary school level.

Why then is there outrage that consolidation might be the future at the high school level?

Is it time for the community to “come together and be united under one mascot” as many have said? Maybe.

Or should we keep the two high schools and try to find another solution? I don’t think there’s time enough to do that.

It’s either one high school with grades 9 through 12 or two schools with grades 7 through 12.

Either way, no one will be happy. That’s the cold, hard truth.

Another cold, hard truth: Change is inevitable. And nothing lasts forever.

I don’t want to see kids lose opportunities to participate in athletics. But I think the competition for the top spots would be good.

One thing is certain though, a change is going to come.

Contact Quintin Harlan: 640-4835, quintin.harlan@heraldbulletin.com.





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