Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
Davie Schools Considering Grade Realignments
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Send seventh, eighth and ninth graders to the three middle schools - with a ninth grade academy at each.
Alleviate overcrowding at Davie High School by making it grades 10-12.
And at the same time, renovate Davie High into a school everyone can be proud of.
That’s the plan a member of the Davie County Board of Education presented at a special meeting Friday, one that received support from fellow board members.
“We have the property,” said Rick Ellis, referring to the Smith Grove site the county purchased for school needs. “We could redistrict to rebalance and move forward.
“If we do this, we will be able to get Davie High School to a manageable situation. We can clean up, and do targeted renovations. We can make a real difference on our high school campus for the next 10 to 12 years.”
Ellis reminded fellow board members they don’t have a blank slate. Although a second high school is in the short and long range plans for the system, that isn’t going to happen after a bond referendum failed for that purpose - the second to fail in just over three years.
“I think it has countywide support,” Ellis said of his plan. “Feedback has been positive. It is not a divisive plan. It can take us forward. It’s an alignment that fits our needs.
“It is actually our lowest cost option and it does so many good things. It makes sense for us.”
It made sense to fellow board member Carl Lambert, who had similar ideas to alleviate overcrowding at Davie High School and at Shady Grove and Pinebrook elementary schools.
Terry Renegar said he didn’t oppose the plan, but asked why only three other school systems in North Carolina use that grade alignment. “There are reasons why very few schools are doing this,” Renegar said.
Ellis said school systems have varying pressures. After touring a ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.