Published: March 21, 2008 04:11 pm            

Pocahontas is a model school

I have the greatest respect for the Tazewell County School Board and total confidence that the board has the ability to effectively operate the county’s school system.

Schools at every level in Tazewell County are excelling in all aspects of school life from academics, to sports, and to extracurricular activities that run the gamut from A to Z. New problems rear their heads practically every day, and the school board, together with the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors and the citizens of Tazewell County, are working together effectively to solve them.

This is no easy job, and the school board, the supervisors, and the citizens should be commended for the outstanding jobs they’re doing for the school children of the county.

But I cannot understand the school board’s desire to close Pocahontas High School. Mr. David Woodard, who is a member of the school board, is against closing the school, and he has publicly said so. Apparently, the other members of the board favor closing the school. Why?

On local television news of Feb. 25, Mr. Woodard was quoted as saying that “We really won’t save money by closing the school. It’s actually going to cost more in the long run to close the school.” l assume that Mr. Woodard has an objective cost/benefit analysis to support his conclusion.

If Mr. Woodard’s statement is correct, then I suggest that the question of closing the school should be a dead issue, since there seem to be no other reasons, other than monetary, to consider in deciding whether or not to close the school. But Mr. Woodard appears to have already shut down the consideration of monetary savings as a viable reason for closure, and no one in his or her right mind should vote to close the school if the closure is going to “cost more in the long run,” unless there are other overriding (non-monetary) reasons to do so.

So why is the school board “Hades bent” on closing the school? I am not aware of any other reasons that would justify closing the school. The school board will have to answer that question.

The February 27 edition of the Tazewell County Free Press published a letter from Mr. Woodard, which, in my opinion, made a highly convincing, articulate case in support of keeping the school open — reasons ranging from the superior condition of the building itself, to the outstanding quality of education the children are receiving, to the personal qualities of the students, and to many other reasons.

Mr. Woodard’s position and courage in his defense of keeping the school open, in the face of an otherwise-minded school board, is worthy of the greatest respect. I stand with so many others in saluting Mr. Woodard for standing up for his convictions in keeping Pocahontas High School open. Congratulations, also, to Mr. Rasnick, the Chairman of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, for expressing his public support for keeping Pocahontas High School open (February 26 edition of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph).

Pocahontas High School has excelled in many ways during the last 100 years. The school deserves to be saved. The Tazewell County School Board should drive a stake through the heart of their desire to close the school, put this issue aside (which never should have been brought up as a serious proposal in the first place) and let the school operate for another century and beyond. The school fully deserves to remain open.

Indeed, from that which I know of Pocahontas High School, it is a model in many ways for other schools, both inside and outside of Tazewell County. It does not logically follow that a low enrollment translates to less than desired academic or other standards, or even of economic issues. Low enrollment schools quite often serve as models of how other schools should operate.

As I have said, Pocahontas High School one example of a model school; let it continue to operate. The school board should work to correct problems which Pocahontas High School may have, as they’re doing with other schools in Tazewell County. We’ll all be better off for the effort.

Let Pocahontas High School remain open rather than ripping the heart and soul from the Pocahontas community and destroying one of Tazewell County’s best high schools.

Samuel E. Lester is a resident of Tazewell, Va.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.