By Allen Hamrick
It’s been an intense time in Clay County as swirls of talk about the potential closure of Clay Middle School have surfaced ahead of the most recent meeting of the Clay County Board of Education. Rumors and theories on social media amongst parents and other members of the public have led to passionate outcries both for and against the idea. It was time to set the record straight so the Clay Board of Education held their bi-monthly summit and had their first round of peace talks and fact based presentations on the proposal to shut it down.
After a rousing pledge of allegiance from the people at the meeting, the BOE got down to the immediate business at hand, approving minutes and agenda items. Angela Brown was up to the podium first and gave the MOU and budget presentation for Clay County Health Department’s joint initiative with Clay County Schools.
After Brown’s presentation, CCMS Vice Principal Jocelyn Kiser stood for her allotted five minutes of passionate exhortation, fighting to keep CCMS as a school. She presented a slate of facts comparing other schools that have formed the same type of educational system that may be in store for Clay, elementary and high school while skipping the middle school all together. None of the schools profiled looked like they were prospering academically.
Superintendant Phil Dobbins was up next with the student and staff attendance report, and once he finished, he turned his remaining time to his presentation as to why closing the middle school would be advantageous for Clay County.
The proposal would close the CCMS at or near the 2026-2027 school year, the consequences of which would cause the 6th grade to revert back to add one more year to elementary school and for 7th and 8th grade students to be absorbed into the high school. Superintendant Dobbins made many points as to why the school closing would be under consideration due to the fact that student population continues to spiral down. When the student population dwindles, that means less funding the county gets to operate the schools efficiently.
The new proposal states that new classrooms and other improvements to CCHS would be completed in order to accommodate the 7th and 8th grades. The middle school would be turned into the new and improved board office with the existing one demolished and made into extra parking as well as extending the playground for Clay Elementary. The oldest part of the middle school would also be demolished and also converted into a parking area. All these plans hinge on whether or not the School Building Authority, the SBA, approves the funds to bankroll 85 percent of the project.
Once the presentation was over, the board proceeded with its typical business of whether to approve or disapprove extracurricular trips, volunteer applications, policies, personnel changes, discipline actions and paying the bills. The meeting was adjourned until the next regular meeting scheduled on Oct, 15 at 6 p.m. at the Clay County High School.
With a packed room of teachers, administrators, politicians and media, the very air in the room felt as if it was in distress as a type of shock set in and questions began to rise and fall. People began talking in the shadows with quiet lips and listening with estimation. Superintendant Phil Dobbins addressed many of the “why” questions people were reportedly asking. The main reason for considering the closure, according to the slideshow presented, was that Clay County Schools is losing funding based on student population. Something has to be done because of it; at the end of the day, you either have the money to keep the lights on or they will be turned off anyway.
On the other side of the coin, most of those uncomfortable with the idea agree that something has to be done but just wish it would be approached with all options on the table instead of just one, perhaps go with a PreK-8 school instead of K-6 and 7th-12th. Questions swirl about this new proposal costing more in the end than it would to just rearrange things at the schools. What about the levy money, how is it going to be used? Why not use the SBA money to expand the elementary schools instead? Why not renovate Clay Middle School if it’s that bad? Why not expand Big Otter and Clay Elementary into K-8 schools? What’s going to happen to the excess teachers? How will this destroy what is a part of the county’s DNA? There was many more questions as to the why, where, what, and how of the new proposal, with each having opinions and answers. Bottom line, according to the presentation, if there’s not enough money to support the youth that is left in the schools efficiently, cuts and a reshuffle has to be made.
Is it a done deal? This question was also asked, and there are a lot of passageways for the concept to navigate before its official. There will be five summit meetings on the proposal in which the public can attend and make known their opinions and concerns about the closing.
In the final meeting, the BOE will make a final judgment on the proposal based on what’s best for the school system and public input. Some say the meetings are just a formality, but at the same time, people can come to the meetings and ask questions and voice their opinions.
The meetings are scheduled as follows: at CCMS on Nov. 6 at 6 p.m., at CCHS on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m., at Big Otter Elementary School on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m., and at Clay Elementary School on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. The last meeting will be held at the CCHS on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m.
Clay County High School, Clay Junior High, and Clay Middle School has been a part of the Clay County landscape since the early 1900’s with a fire in 1969 that moved Clay County High School down the road to Bradley Field, the opening of Clay Junior High in 1974 and Clay Middle coming onto the scene in 1991. The school has served the public for many years and has brought through it some of the greatest teachers and minds to come out of this county. Our students have become doctors, lawyers, politicians, homemakers, veterans, science visionaries, engineers, masons, carpenters, welders and more. Change is inevitable and, unfortunately, all good things seem to come to an end, whether it is understood or not.
The public is welcome to attend and submit statements and questions to the BOE for consideration, and they urge you to do so. Come to a meeting or to all of them and decide for yourself. Get the answers you seek, and don’t be caught between the paradox of what’s real and what’s not.
