The Rock Hall Middle School Dragons could soon be a thing of the past.
At the Kent Commissioner’s meeting on Tuesday, Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Wheeler raised the possibility of consolidating the county’s middle schools.
Rock Hall students would be split between Chestertown and Galena middle schools. The central administrative staff offices would then move from Chestertown to the Rock Hall school.
With the state facing a huge budget deficit and making drastic cuts, Wheeler indicated, it no longer seems possible to keep middle school classes in Rock Hall.
Wheeler said, “The biggest savings will be closing Washington Avenue,” where the current central office is located, “but (consolidation) will allow us to have a much better program for the kids.”
There are currently 141 students enrolled at RHMS, but according to Wheeler the consolidation would only affect 72 of them. “There are classes there with as few as six children,” she said. As for the staff, of the 22 current positions at the school 16 will be retained and moved to other locations.
The alternative school, which is housed in the middle school building, would stay put and possibly expand. Hopefully, Wheeler said, this would allow the state to still recognize the space as a school and the county wouldn’t have to pay the state back for repairs that were made to the building a year ago. Another reason for consolidation is to build up the programs currently offered at the middle school level and bring some classes back that have been cut due to budget constraints.
“Currently our middle school programs are not compliant with the law because we don’t offer foreign language or health, because we don’t have the money,” Wheeler said. “The consolidation is going to mean much better programs for the children.”
The curtain has not fallen on RHMS yet. Three public hearings on the possible closure will be held in January with a final decision made in April. If the consolidation goes through, however, the changes will be implemented in September of the 2010-2011 school year.
Brooke says
Put all of the kids in private school. It would be less expensive and provide for a better education. The public school systems are a joke now anyway. Maybe one day we will realize that you don’t fix a problem by dumping money on it. The public school system gets more money now than it did 10 years ago, and it 10 years before that, and it 20 years before that. My Grandfather had great penmanship, mathmatical skills and could read better than kids today and that was before pre-K and 12th grade. He went on to own 3 businesses and two homes plus other properties before he passed away in the early 70’s.
The schools don’t need more of our tax dollar and they don’t need the students shipped from one part of the county to another. They need a better model or to become privatized.
Missy says
In what already is a disappointing time for most with the economy these type of decisions become hard choices! True – the budget needs to be cut to be balanced, although does it have to be done at the expense of the children – AGAIN? By again I mean, the constant unstable environment that they’ve been subjected over the past few years, with continously changing superintendents, principals, teachers, and now school buildings! No-one has a chance to get used to anything and see if “IT” will work for a while or if it needs to be made better, rather instead drastic changes are made on what seems to be a never ending basis. Most of the teachers at Rock Hall Middle just arrived last year and will now be out of a job. There are many questions/options that still need to be answered or addressed. I certainly hope the BOE will be curteous enough to listen to the people and spend time answering their questions – AND Not rush through this decision, even though time is not on anyones side – with April just around the corner! Hopefully the Commissioners are looking at the total picture of all county employees or programs and where else cuts may be made to amicably balance the budget. The classes at RHMS may be small but it seems that the children, teachers and parents like it that way. Small classes allow for more personal service and isn’t that what is good for the children rather than getting lost in the crowd or falling through the cracks.