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| Saturday, July 31, 2010 |
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Speak your mind and ask questions
Published January 26, 2010
Thursday night when I arrived at the teacher resource center for the Jackson County Board of Education meeting, I saw something quite out of the ordinary.
People.
Lots of them—ranging in age from three and four years old to sixty and beyond.
And each was waiting to be let inside the board room for a meeting that evening.
I knew why everyone was there, but it was still a small shock to the system to see around 100 people at a board of education meeting. There are usually fewer than 15 people in the audience at the county board's meeting.
All those people came Thursday to ask the board to support Paint Rock Valley High School, which has again been subject of talk that it will be closed sometime in the near future because of its small enrollment figures and funding problems. Note: I say again because each time I've talked with someone in Jackson County about this in the past week, they've said some variation of this sentence: "Oh, that's come up again? They've been talking about closing that school for years."
A representative for the Paint Rock Valley delegation spoke to the board members, telling them about the school's history and why they should consider keeping it open.
The smallest of the county system's 17 schools, Paint Rock Valley High, located in Princeton, was built in the 1930s by residents of the area and workers from the federal Works Progress Administration and classes began in the new building in 1935.
The school has now an enrollment of approximately 95 students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. Only 18 students graduated in the 2009 class.
Ultimately, no action was taken at the meeting—Board President Brenda Brown said before the spokesman began that there would be no decision made that night.
Any choice the board makes is going to be unpopular. The Alabama State Department of Education is recommending it be closed, and after speaking with people after the meeting Thursday, it's obvious why they want to keep the school.
Either way the issue comes down, the people of Paint Rock should be commended for coming out and expressing how they feel to their elected officials.
Everyone at that meeting was obviously passionate about their sense of community pride, cheering for their spokesman when he finished talking about what the school means to each of them.
It's a shame more people don't come to every meeting.
Each regular meeting and work session of the Jackson County Commission, the Scottsboro City Council, the Scottsboro City and Jackson County Boards of Education and every town council within the county is open to the public.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: the people in those seats are elected by you and are paid with your tax dollars. If you don't agree with something that's going on in your area or if you're just looking to get more involved with what's happening around you, attend meetings.
Let your elected officials know what you think — they work for you.
If you think they're doing something good for your area, let them know.
If you don't think they have the sense the Lord gave a hunk of beef jerky, say it.
If you have questions about why they voted certain ways, ask. And keep asking.
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