Are you fan of the current setup? Or would like to go back to the four class model? Or even a five class model? Explain your reasonings.
Basketball Classifications in basketball and school consolidations
- Thread starter northeastNebraska
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I like 6 classes. There are 282 schools playing basketball right now. Dividing that into 4 classes means there would be 70ish schools in each class if they were divided evenly. That is way too many. If the existing trend held in the new 4 class model where class A and B were a lot smaller than C and D it would mean A and B would have 40-50 schools in their class and C/D would be around 100. That would be horrible.
I like the 6. There are big enrollment differences from the top an bottom of every class. If you do away with that it becomes even tougher for many schools to compete. I'm not talking competing for a trip to state either. The benefits of HS sports is vital IMO on a students learning and experience in school. I truly believe there are a number of kids that will learn more through competition in high school athletics than they will in most of their classes. Being put in situations you have got to compete and work will help them way more down the road than learning how to put a yearbook together or do Trig for many kids. Allowing kids the best chance to have competitive experiences is the way to go. Dropping two classes would have a detrimental effect on this. I think the schools that don't have consistent success would see participation go way down. We already are seeing this at the high school level. Kids don't want to go out for teams they know have no chance to win.
I like 6 also but I will say other states having only 70 schools competing for a title is very very low number of schools. States as close as Iowa the bottom two classes have 96 schools and 86 schools and in Missouri 112 in smallest class so only 70 is a really good deal and not very high. BUT i still like the 6 classes
A couple of reasons why I'd support fewer classes.
1. Classes are realitively small in terms of numbers of teams.
2. Within each class, especially the smaller classes, the enrollment gap is minimal compared to other states. Iowa for example has 164 (3 year boy and girl combined enrollment) and under all in it's lowest class.
3. The talent level between the smaller classes is not that great. Look at the scores any night and you see D2s beating D1s, D1s beating C2s, C2s beating C1s, D2s beating C2s, etc. IMO many years the state champ in D2 could beat the D1, or the D1 the C2, etc... Bottom line, if a team is good they are good and jumping up a class is not a huge difference.
4. Less classes would help with PowerPoints accuracy.
5. Less classes would help alleviate some fears of schools facing cooping and/or consolidating. Many in this state are so afraid to coop or consolidate because of the fear of jumping up a class or two.
6. Because of #4 and #5, scheduling locally would become easier.
I like 6, but can we please get a shot clock for all classes….pretty please? It’s unwatchable sometimes.
Love all of this.
Here's this year's boys' enrollment numbers and class assignments:
Note once a school is in A (including opting up), the number listed is total enrollment (combined boys and girls). Here's the enrollment numbers for replacing the above values for boys only in Class A:
Here are the NSAA enrollment numbers on the boys' side:
Class A: 23,083 (55.8% of total)
Number of Teams: 33
Max: 1135 [Omaha South]
Min: 325 [estimates for Omaha Buena Vista and Omaha Westview]
Non-Opt-Up Min: 469 [North Platte]
Other Opt-Ups: Lincoln Pius X (423)
Class B: 7,359 (17.8% of total)
Number of Teams: 28
Max: 438 [South Sioux City and Hastings]
Min: 145 [McCook]
Non-Opt-Up Min: 149 [Alliance]
Other Opt-Ups: None
Class C1: 4,962 (12.0% of total)
Number of Teams: 54
Max: 148 [Aurora]
Min: 61 [Centennial]
Opt-Ups: None
Class C2: 2,680 (6.5% of total)
Number of Teams: 55
Max: 60 [Norfolk Catholic]
Min: 41 [Freeman and Nebraska Christian]
Opt-Ups: None
Class D1: 1,959 (4.7% of total)
Number of Teams: 56
Max: 41 [Ravenna and Bancroft-Rosalie]
Min: 30 [Leyton, Southwest, and Silver Lake]
Opt-Ups: None
Class D2: 1,293 (3.1% of total)
Number of Teams: 56
Max: 30 [Sumner-Eddyville-Miller]
Min: 11 [Sioux County]
SUMMARY
A: 23,083 (55.8% of total) / 33 teams
B: 7,359 (17.8% of total) / 28 teams
C1: 4,962 (12.0% of total) / 54 teams
C2: 2,680 (6.5% of total) / 55 teams
D1: 1,959 (4.7% of total) / 56 teams
D2: 1,293 (3.1% of total) / 56 teams
Total: 41,336
Many people seem to always focus on the number of teams, but often neglect to look at the number of students represented by those teams.
To your point about combining C2, D1, and D2, that would be 5,932 students (14.4% of the total boys NSAA enrollment) and 167 teams. The current difference between the top of C2 and the top of D1 is 19 students, and from the top of D1 to the top of D2 is just 11 students. This isn't a lot.
A: 23,083 (55.8% of total) / 33 teams
B: 7,359 (17.8% of total) / 28 teams
C1: 4,962 (12.0% of total) / 54 teams
C2-D2: 5,932 (14.4% of total) / 167 teams
... continued ...
[ Part 2 of 4 ]
Probably ridiculous, but I could see four classes where you take all of the teams not in Class A and then divide the rest into three classes with a few parameters in how that division is made. Something like a minimum 32 teams per class and then try to make the number of students by enrollment in each class fairly equal. Could still allow for opt-ups, whether that's non-A to A or among the lower classes.
I say minimum 32 teams to make sure the state tournament field isn't more than a quarter of the class. That being said, with the resulting super large class among the schools with low enrollment numbers, I could see a larger state tournament field, again, not larger than a quarter of the class.
Here's how that would break down:
A: 23,083 (55.8% of total) / 33 teams
No changes from current.
Remainder: 18,253 boys / 249 teams
B: Minimum 32 teams adds four teams to current class
This adds the next four teams: Aurora (148), Sidney (144), Wahoo (143), and Holdrege (133)
7,927 boys (19.2% of total)
Max: 438 [South Sioux City and Hastings]
Min: 133 [Holdrege]
Remainder: 10,326 boys (25.0% of total) / 217 teams
Splitting equally among the remaining two classes, this targets 5,163 boys in each. Getting over this number is Ogallala (129) through Superior (53). There are six schools at 53, I haven't looked at which would be in the higher of the two classes and which would be in the lower one, but four would go up and two down (Hershey, Gordon-Rushville, Omaha Nation, Superior, Hastings St. Cecilia, Hartington Cedar Catholic).
C: 5,174 boys (12.5% of total) / 64 teams
Max: 129 [Ogallala]
Min: 53 [six schools]
Expand this tournament field to 16 teams.
D would be the remainder: 5152 boys (12.5% of total) / 153 teams
Max: 53 [six schools]
Min: 11 [Sioux County]
Expand this tournament field to 16 teams, maybe even go crazy and make it 32, but the logistics would be a nightmare.
Probably ridiculous, but I could see four classes where you take all of the teams not in Class A and then divide the rest into three classes with a few parameters in how that division is made. Something like a minimum 32 teams per class and then try to make the number of students by enrollment in each class fairly equal. Could still allow for opt-ups, whether that's non-A to A or among the lower classes.
I say minimum 32 teams to make sure the state tournament field isn't more than a quarter of the class. That being said, with the resulting super large class among the schools with low enrollment numbers, I could see a larger state tournament field, again, not larger than a quarter of the class.
Here's how that would break down:
A: 23,083 (55.8% of total) / 33 teams
No changes from current.
Remainder: 18,253 boys / 249 teams
B: Minimum 32 teams adds four teams to current class
This adds the next four teams: Aurora (148), Sidney (144), Wahoo (143), and Holdrege (133)
7,927 boys (19.2% of total)
Max: 438 [South Sioux City and Hastings]
Min: 133 [Holdrege]
Remainder: 10,326 boys (25.0% of total) / 217 teams
Splitting equally among the remaining two classes, this targets 5,163 boys in each. Getting over this number is Ogallala (129) through Superior (53). There are six schools at 53, I haven't looked at which would be in the higher of the two classes and which would be in the lower one, but four would go up and two down (Hershey, Gordon-Rushville, Omaha Nation, Superior, Hastings St. Cecilia, Hartington Cedar Catholic).
C: 5,174 boys (12.5% of total) / 64 teams
Max: 129 [Ogallala]
Min: 53 [six schools]
Expand this tournament field to 16 teams.
D would be the remainder: 5152 boys (12.5% of total) / 153 teams
Max: 53 [six schools]
Min: 11 [Sioux County]
Expand this tournament field to 16 teams, maybe even go crazy and make it 32, but the logistics would be a nightmare.
[ Part 3 of 4 ]
Then here's the logistics of the state tournaments, change to T-Sat instead of W-Sat with fewer classes but expanded fields in the smaller two classes. I had some open spots in the schedule, so I added third-place games for each class.
TUESDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class D First Round
11:30am: Class D First Round
2pm: Class A Quarterfinal
4pm: Class A Quarterfinal
6:30pm: Class A Quarterfinal
8:30pm: Class A Quarterfinal
Devaney
9:30am: Class D First Round
11:30am: Class D First Round
2pm: Class D First Round
4pm: Class D First Round
6:30pm: Class D First Round
8:30pm: Class D First Round
WEDNESDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class C First Round
11:30am: Class C First Round
2pm: Class C First Round
4pm: Class C First Round
6:30pm: Class D Quarterfinal
8:30pm: Class D Quarterfinal
Devaney
9:30am: Class D Quarterfinal
11:30am: Class D Quarterfinal
2pm: Class C First Round
4pm: Class C First Round
6:30pm: Class C First Round
8:30pm: Class C First Round
THURSDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class B Quarterfinal
11:30am: Class B Quarterfinal
2pm: Class B Quarterfinal
4pm: Class B Quarterfinal
6:30pm: Class A Semifinal
8:30pm: Class A Semifinal
Devaney
9:30am: Class C Quarterfinal
11:30am: Class C Quarterfinal
2pm: Class C Quarterfinal
4pm: Class C Quarterfinal
6:30pm: Class D Semifinal
8:30pm: Class D Semifinal
FRIDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class C Semifinal
11:30am: Class C Semifinal
2pm: Class B Semifinal
4pm: Class B Semifinal
6:30pm: Class A Third Place
8:30pm: Class D Third Place
SATURDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class C Third Place
11:30am: Class B Third Place
2pm: Class D Championship
4pm: Class A Championship
6:30pm: Class C Championship
8:30pm: Class B Championship
Essentially, this is how it all breaks down by class:
Class A: 8 teams
Tuesday Afternoon/Evening: Quarterfinals all at Pinnacle
Thursday Evening: Semifinals at at Pinnacle
Friday Evening: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Afternoon: Championship at Pinnacle
This gives a day between games. We've seen from the last couple years, this has led to some great games.
Class B: 8 teams
Thursday Morning/Afternoon: Quarterfinals all at Pinnacle
Friday Afternoon: Semifinals at at Pinnacle
Saturday Morning: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Evening: Championship at Pinnacle
Class C: 16 teams
Wednesday: First Round, Morning/Afternoon at Pinnacle, Afternoon/Evening at Devaney
Thursday Morning/Afternoon: Quarterfinals at Devaney
Friday Morning: Semifinals at Pinnacle
Saturday Morning: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Evening: Championship at Pinnacle
Puts games on consecutive days.
Class D: 16 teams
Tuesday: First Round, Morning at Pinnacle, All Day at Devaney
Wednesday: Quarterfinals, Morning at Devaney, Evening at Pinnacle
Thursday Evening: Semifinals at Devaney
Friday Evening: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Afternoon: Championship at Pinnacle
Games at Pinnacle
A: 8 of 8
B: 8 of 8
C: 8 of 16
D: 8 of 16
Games at Devaney
A: 0 of 8
B: 0 of 8
C: 8 of 16
D: 8 of 16
As arranged, every class gets eight games at Pinnacle, while the extra eight games in C and D are at Devaney. Friday and Saturday all at Pinnacle, Devaney would only be used Tuesday-Thursday.
In terms of those with the most travel, B, C, and D all play on consecutive days with the exception of the two participants in the D final. A is spread out more to improve quality of play at the highest level and because it generally has the least burdensome travel.
Then here's the logistics of the state tournaments, change to T-Sat instead of W-Sat with fewer classes but expanded fields in the smaller two classes. I had some open spots in the schedule, so I added third-place games for each class.
TUESDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class D First Round
11:30am: Class D First Round
2pm: Class A Quarterfinal
4pm: Class A Quarterfinal
6:30pm: Class A Quarterfinal
8:30pm: Class A Quarterfinal
Devaney
9:30am: Class D First Round
11:30am: Class D First Round
2pm: Class D First Round
4pm: Class D First Round
6:30pm: Class D First Round
8:30pm: Class D First Round
WEDNESDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class C First Round
11:30am: Class C First Round
2pm: Class C First Round
4pm: Class C First Round
6:30pm: Class D Quarterfinal
8:30pm: Class D Quarterfinal
Devaney
9:30am: Class D Quarterfinal
11:30am: Class D Quarterfinal
2pm: Class C First Round
4pm: Class C First Round
6:30pm: Class C First Round
8:30pm: Class C First Round
THURSDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class B Quarterfinal
11:30am: Class B Quarterfinal
2pm: Class B Quarterfinal
4pm: Class B Quarterfinal
6:30pm: Class A Semifinal
8:30pm: Class A Semifinal
Devaney
9:30am: Class C Quarterfinal
11:30am: Class C Quarterfinal
2pm: Class C Quarterfinal
4pm: Class C Quarterfinal
6:30pm: Class D Semifinal
8:30pm: Class D Semifinal
FRIDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class C Semifinal
11:30am: Class C Semifinal
2pm: Class B Semifinal
4pm: Class B Semifinal
6:30pm: Class A Third Place
8:30pm: Class D Third Place
SATURDAY
Pinnacle
9:30am: Class C Third Place
11:30am: Class B Third Place
2pm: Class D Championship
4pm: Class A Championship
6:30pm: Class C Championship
8:30pm: Class B Championship
Essentially, this is how it all breaks down by class:
Class A: 8 teams
Tuesday Afternoon/Evening: Quarterfinals all at Pinnacle
Thursday Evening: Semifinals at at Pinnacle
Friday Evening: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Afternoon: Championship at Pinnacle
This gives a day between games. We've seen from the last couple years, this has led to some great games.
Class B: 8 teams
Thursday Morning/Afternoon: Quarterfinals all at Pinnacle
Friday Afternoon: Semifinals at at Pinnacle
Saturday Morning: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Evening: Championship at Pinnacle
Class C: 16 teams
Wednesday: First Round, Morning/Afternoon at Pinnacle, Afternoon/Evening at Devaney
Thursday Morning/Afternoon: Quarterfinals at Devaney
Friday Morning: Semifinals at Pinnacle
Saturday Morning: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Evening: Championship at Pinnacle
Puts games on consecutive days.
Class D: 16 teams
Tuesday: First Round, Morning at Pinnacle, All Day at Devaney
Wednesday: Quarterfinals, Morning at Devaney, Evening at Pinnacle
Thursday Evening: Semifinals at Devaney
Friday Evening: Third-Place at Pinnacle
Saturday Afternoon: Championship at Pinnacle
Games at Pinnacle
A: 8 of 8
B: 8 of 8
C: 8 of 16
D: 8 of 16
Games at Devaney
A: 0 of 8
B: 0 of 8
C: 8 of 16
D: 8 of 16
As arranged, every class gets eight games at Pinnacle, while the extra eight games in C and D are at Devaney. Friday and Saturday all at Pinnacle, Devaney would only be used Tuesday-Thursday.
In terms of those with the most travel, B, C, and D all play on consecutive days with the exception of the two participants in the D final. A is spread out more to improve quality of play at the highest level and because it generally has the least burdensome travel.
[ Part 4 of 4 ]
As @nenebskers points out, there are a lot of games between C2 through D2, and a lot of upsets when judging by by class. This is one reason I don't have a problem combining the smaller classes. The issue with wild card points would also be smoothed out, as would postseason travel with more schools assigned to subdistricts in closer proximity, as well as more opportunities for shorter district final travel.
That being said, I do think there should be a penalty for playing an opponent from a smaller class. You don't have to explicitly call it a penalty, but rather just do it like Class A where you award bonus points for playing teams within your own class.
With regard to players not going out for basketball because the classes are larger and they players feel like they have no chance of winning a title as a result, the rules for the number of regular season games don't change, and in all likelihood those opponents won't change as evidenced by the number of inter-class opponents, who will now be in their own class. It's not like teams are going ridiculously out of their way currently to play within their own class for regular season games now, and that's just as frustrating for others when those teams gain a relative advantage in the wild card. In fact, the optics overall will get better when there are fewer inter-class matchups because of geography.
As @nenebskers points out, there are a lot of games between C2 through D2, and a lot of upsets when judging by by class. This is one reason I don't have a problem combining the smaller classes. The issue with wild card points would also be smoothed out, as would postseason travel with more schools assigned to subdistricts in closer proximity, as well as more opportunities for shorter district final travel.
That being said, I do think there should be a penalty for playing an opponent from a smaller class. You don't have to explicitly call it a penalty, but rather just do it like Class A where you award bonus points for playing teams within your own class.
With regard to players not going out for basketball because the classes are larger and they players feel like they have no chance of winning a title as a result, the rules for the number of regular season games don't change, and in all likelihood those opponents won't change as evidenced by the number of inter-class opponents, who will now be in their own class. It's not like teams are going ridiculously out of their way currently to play within their own class for regular season games now, and that's just as frustrating for others when those teams gain a relative advantage in the wild card. In fact, the optics overall will get better when there are fewer inter-class matchups because of geography.
I just realized I didn't have a breakdown of where teams would move from the current six classes to the revised four classes.
A stays the same at 33.
B gains 4 from current C1 to move to 32.
C loses 4 from current C1 and gains 14 from current C2 to move to 64 teams.
D is all of the current D1 (56) and D2 (56), plus current C2 (55) minus the 14 who move to the new C for 153 teams.
EDIT: And here are the boys' enrollment ranges:
A: 469 to 1135 (not including opt ups)
B: 133 to 438
C: 53 to 129
D: 11 to 53
A stays the same at 33.
B gains 4 from current C1 to move to 32.
C loses 4 from current C1 and gains 14 from current C2 to move to 64 teams.
D is all of the current D1 (56) and D2 (56), plus current C2 (55) minus the 14 who move to the new C for 153 teams.
EDIT: And here are the boys' enrollment ranges:
A: 469 to 1135 (not including opt ups)
B: 133 to 438
C: 53 to 129
D: 11 to 53
To be honest this enrollment for classes makes more sense and I am now in favor of four classes and truthful I think this would work the same in football with a few minor adjustments but thats for another thread Now as far as your class enrollment numbers I would adjust it some
Class A largest 32 teams
Class B next 64 teams
Class C next 84 teams
Class D the rest which would be around 100
this would very comparable to most states
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153 teams in one class and 33 in another is crazy to me. Why should one team have to be better than 152 others to win a state title, but another only has to be better than 32. Hard pass on that.
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I’d like to see five classes in basketball. Make Class B larger by 15 or so schools. C1 by 20 schools, C2 by 15 schools, have one Class D. The difference between D1 and D2 is very small.
Nebraska doesn’t need 300+ schools though. That’s the major problem.
Nebraska doesn’t need 300+ schools though. That’s the major problem.
Here are the resulting boys enrollment ranges (using straight numbers, not doing opt ups):
Class A (32 teams): 438 to 1135, 22,886 total, 55.4% of all NSAA enrollment boys
Class B (64): 80 to 423, 11,180, 27.1%
Class C (84): 39 to 80, 4,417, 10.7%
Class D (100): 11 to 38, 2,853, 6.9%
Seems like an extremely wide range for Class B.
I assume this means leaving the existing Class A as is with those with 450 boys or more (30 teams), plus the three opt ups.
Class A (33 teams): 469 to 1135 (plus 325, 325, and 423 from the opt ups), 23,083 total, 55.8% of all NSAA enrollment boys
Class B (43 [+15]): 102 to 438, 9,147 [+1,788], 22.1% (+4.33% of all, 24.3% increase from current B)
Class C1 (74 [+20]): 46 to 100, 4,990 [+28], 12.1% (+0.07% of all, 0.6% increase from current C1)
Class C2 (70 [+15]): 31 to 45, 2,640 [-40], 6.4% (-0.10% of all, 1.5% DECREASE from current C2)
Class D (62 [-50]): 11 to 31, 1,476 [-1,776], 3.6% (-4.30% of all, 54.6% DECREASE from current D1 and D2)
There's not really much combining of D1 and D2 into one class, it's just adding six teams to D2 in this case (three of which have the same number of boys as the largest in the existing D1, the rest have just one more boy) and pushing the other 50 up.
The revised C2 also has fewer students in it than present despite adding 15 teams.
But yes, I agree there are too many schools and some consolidation should occur. The four-class ranges I listed above aren't unreasonable, there are just so many schools with 50 or fewer boys in their NSAA enrollment:
A: 469 to 1135 (not including opt ups)
B: 133 to 438
C: 53 to 129
D: 11 to 53
Are we ready for a thread dedicated to which ones need to go together? I am.
Everyone talking about too many small schools aren't from the small schools. How about the slim minority (A&B) of schools in Nebraska stop trying to run the vast majority of schools. Most of the schools in this state are smaller schools that play 8 or 6 man football. That is the reality of our great state. We don't need to change the classifications at all. Class A and B are relegated to metros and mid level cities. Its not hard, we are a state of small schools.
A and B accounts for 73.7% of the boys NSAA enrollment numbers. That's not a slim minority.
Everyone except me....lol. Grew up and graduated from a D2. Kids go to a C2 currently. Doesn't change my opinion that we have too many small schools in realitivly close proximity to other school districts in this state. There are small school districts all across this state next to each other who are paying 200k+ for Superintendents, 100k+ for two principles, facility expenses, bussing, etc...for a relatively small number of students.
There was a thread earlier this spring that discussed the effect the teacher shortage will have on small rural school districts. Schools are also having issues with bus drivers and other support positions. It will be interesting if the shortage continues and/or worsens if it forces schools to consolidate more.
I grew up in town of 900 and we were a C2-D1 school. There are three class C high schools within a 20 mile radius of where I grew up. I don’t think my high school should be open anymore with the low enrollment, population of the town is closer to 700 now, the amount of kids who opt out and the teaching shortage. Close the district, let the kids go to any of the neighboring schools.
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I understand what everyone is saying but you have to understanding the funding formula in the state of Nebraska, in small schools it is 80% or more local control, the state puts very little dollars into most schools. Since this is the funding the state of Nebraska uses if a small school voters want to fund thier school they can. State has little control when it comes to consolidation due to local tax revenue is funding most schools
I understand how it works. It’s a waste of local money to keep schools open when there is a nearby district that can take those kids in. Doesn’t mean those schools should still be open. Low enrollment, aging buildings, teacher shortage, support staff shortage isn’t going away because of local control.
For example. Why does St. Edward need a school? They have an enrollment of 172 students K-12. The families can choose to go to Boone or Twin River. Boone has the room. Helps with the teaching shortage.
Last year I saw three small northeast nebraska communities were all looking for a business teacher. Just silly.
They all have a school because the voters in that area want a school and are okay with the tax, do you want to take away local control and be only big government ?
I want to close schools that are near larger districts with small enrollments because of the declining enrollments, teaching shortages and decaying buildings. These schools aren’t growing. I’d love for the state to step in like in Iowa and force consolidations if schools have consistent years of declining enrollment, decaying buildings and trouble filling out their staff.
Here are some consolidations east of Kearney I’d like to see.
Scribner-Snyder and Logan View
Clarkson and Leigh
Humphrey St. Francis and Lindsay Holy Family
Pender and Bancroft-Rosalie
Dissolve Emerson-Hubbard and let kids go to Homer, SSC, Pender, Wakefield
Wakefield-Allen
Randolph-Osmond
Plainview-Creighton
Wausa-Bloomfield
Wynot-Crofton
Elgin and Neligh-Oakdale
Dissolve St. Edward and have kids go to Boone Central and Twin River
Elba and St. Paul
Ravenna and Pleasanton
Blue Hill and Red Cloud
Henderson and Hampton
Doniphan-Trumbull and Giltner
Sutton and Harvard
Close Lewiston and let the kids go to Beatrice, Freeman and JCC
While you're not wrong that there are some districts that would certainly be better off consolidating with others, one issue that I feel could arise from this are bitter rivalries that run deep within towns. I'm not using this as an excuse for all schools to use and I also acknowledge some of the success stories between former rivals coming together as a result of cooperatives and consolidations, but some of these rivalries run through the blood of the towns themselves and will exist far into the future. This is an instance where a forced consolidation would cause more harm than good, let alone how do we determine the criteria used to consolidate schools with each other?
People need to get over it. If Howells and Dodge can consolidate, anyone can.
It is up to local control, this is America not Russia
Don’t be so dramatic. Change isn’t a bad thing. Having two class D1 schools 9 miles another should come together and be more efficient.
but thats the part you dont get, if that community wants to fund their school with their tax dollars why would you care, it is their money and their vote Its as much freedom and apple pie and shotguns. To say they shouldn't be allowed is in favor of big government telling you what to do with your own money
Well, although I agree somewhat, many times the major tax payers for that district probably don't live in the district & have no voice on where the tax $$ are going.
As a historical foundation of 1 person 1 vote (which I agree with), many times this happens. There may be a person that owns 1000s of acres in a district that doesn't have a vote, but a person who has a $50,000 house has more of a say than the large land owner.
Yes, I know they could sell their land, blah, blah, blah...
I love small town schools. Using a school from the list of proposed consolidations...Lewiston. They had 2 kids rush for over 1,000 yards this year. That will be talked about in that town for a long time. There are 280ish teams that play football and only a handful have 2 kids go over 1,000 in the same season. That's a pretty big deal.
Looking at mileage from Lewiston to Adams (Freeman) or Tecumseh (JCC), it is about 25 miles. Private schools are in worse shape financially than public schools. If we are going to talk about consolidations from a financial standpoint, wouldn't it make sense to start to conversation with the private schools? Scotus and Aquinas are the same distance from each other as Lewiston is to Adams or Tecumseh. I'm not in favor of any schools shutting their doors as long as they are able to function at a reasonably productive level. Once the school goes, the town isn't far behind it.
Looking at mileage from Lewiston to Adams (Freeman) or Tecumseh (JCC), it is about 25 miles. Private schools are in worse shape financially than public schools. If we are going to talk about consolidations from a financial standpoint, wouldn't it make sense to start to conversation with the private schools? Scotus and Aquinas are the same distance from each other as Lewiston is to Adams or Tecumseh. I'm not in favor of any schools shutting their doors as long as they are able to function at a reasonably productive level. Once the school goes, the town isn't far behind it.
I love small town schools as well, I went to one, but these schools are going to continue to shrink. Some need to be proactive. The teaching shortage isn’t going to help matters either.
Lewiston may have been a bad example on my part due to their location and proximity to other schools, but there are plenty others that are closer that could consolidate and still be a small school.
Also, never been to Lewiston in my life but it’s very small now. What’s in the town now that won’t be there if the school is gone? Because it doesn’t seem like there is much there now.
I’d like this setup better than what we have now, personally.
I agree completely with you on this. Local control has allowed Nebraska to stay in the top 10 of education rankings despite being funded 48th out of 50 by the state compared to others. The benefit of larger schools could be argued I guess that kids would have opportunity to participate in a few more activity options, but it would also keep a lot of kids from participating at all. If a community wants a school, they should be able to have one. That is American as it gets. I'll take 10-15 kids per class any day over just being a number in a bigger district.
But what about 30-45 kids per class? Student to teacher ratio it probably still 16:1. Which is fine.
I know all situations are different. We did a feasibility study on the board I’m on. The cost savings were minimal long term based off of what facilities would be needed and increased transportation costs to bus further. I also looked at all the towns around us that had given up their school compared to the town that got the school. Guess which towns are dying?
I see your point but with in that point you are saying the person with the most money should get to decide Not sure thats a very good idea either
