Staff Writer
LENOIR, NC — Senior citizens in Lenoir School District worry that a proposal for year-round schooling might hit them in the pocketbook.
School board candidates took opposing stands on the proposal at the Lenoir center Tuesday night.
Some believe the plan for a 12-month school schedule could eliminate the need for trailers that now house the overflow of students. Candidate Henry Lane argued that year-round schooling would help decrease overcrowding and would reduce daily student attendance by 25 percent.
Candidate and Board President Elton Fay argued that the new schedule would be costlier than adding permanent buildings. Paying faculty and utilities year-round would cost more than putting up new buildings.
“What Mr. Lane fails to tell you is that if we are to avoid erecting additional buildings, to save on construction costs, the cost of educating our children would go up substantially.”
Fay added that the plan would put schools on different schedules. And no one in the community, he says, wants the schools to be on different schedules.
Incumbent Kerry Corino put the argument into perspective saying that the battle between a growing population and cost of education is a difficult one.
Corino stated that it wasn’t fair to compare private schools to public schools after comments about private education doing a better job at maintaining the balance.
“Private schools can pick who they want; public schools cannot…”
Another important issue discussed was problems of teacher unionization.
Responding to one senior’s question, Fay said teachers cannot, by law, bargain collectively. Corino added to Fay’s statement saying, “The teachers are anti-union. That tells you a lot of things about how this city operates.”
Audio courtesy of Colin Hart.
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Further Reading exploring Lenoir School District:
Lenoir School District: click here
Profile of Lenoir County Public Schools: click here
Reader responses welcome!
I do think that we should implement year-round schooling whatever the initial cost.
ReplyDeleteWe’re behind the times and students across the globe are studying longer and harder than those in our hometowns.
Yes, it might be difficult to make this change but it’s one that must be done to maintain our competitive edge in a global marketplace and to keep our own school systems from failing entirely.