We, the editorial board of The Kentucky Standard, would like to make a request of the general public and the Nelson County Schools system.
Just strike the word “merger” from your vocabulary.
That one word has led to an uproar amongst the community — borne out with school board meetings that feature up to three hours of public comments, many of those protesting an idea that just isn’t really going to happen. In fact, it’s not even something the board is considering, so much so that the idea of the two high schools “merging” back together wasn’t even addressed by the board and school administrators following those comments last week.
Here’s where we are so far:
Ten years ago Thomas Nelson High School opened, splitting Nelson County High School. About five years prior to that, NCHS was one of the larger high schools in the state, but in that five years leading up to the TNHS opening, Nelson County High School’s enrollment numbers began to drop, leaving some to wonder whether the new high school was needed in the first place. That line of thinking has persisted on to this day among some, but it reignited into a full-on blaze in the past year.
Along the campaign trail last year, two candidates poised to be thorns in the side of NCS administration prevailed over candidates seen as generally supportive of what the school board and administration is trying to accomplish — mainly a redesign of New Haven School, Cox’s Creek Elementary, Nelson County High School and Thomas Nelson High School.
In addition to questioning the costs affiliated with this new construction, many other community stakeholders are objecting to the idea of “merging” the middle school students in the county with the existing secondary school students at NCHS and TNHS. This opposition has been simmering and at times boiling for going on two years.
Therein lies the rub. One “merger” is being confused by the public with a different kind of “merger.” A stray comment during a public debate for the District 4 school board by Amanda Deaton wondering if the two high schools could be recombined — “merged” together — has taken on a life of its own. Deaton, along with David Norman (District 1), won their respective elections, and those among the community who have the Nelson County School system in their crosshairs are now even more emboldened to cry foul.
Now we have people calling and emailing our office, or posting on Facebook, worried that “the board is going to vote to ‘merge’ Thomas Nelson back in with Nelson County High School.”
It’s not going to happen. To repeat: It’s not going to happen. Especially not now, as Nelson County is poised for population growth because of increased industrial employment offerings coming to our area. While Thomas Nelson may not totally have been needed, space-wise, 15 or 10 years ago, it for sure is now.
What may indeed ultimately happen, however, is middle school students being relocated to high school campuses. Nelson County Schools’ whole latest plan hinges around it with regard to new construction at the campuses. It remains to be seen if Norman and Deaton can state their cases to the rest of the board — Damon Jackey, Diane Berry and Tracy Bowling — and convince one of them to join their cause in bringing these construction plans to a halt.
Regardless of how that plays out, there is a serious communication problem with all parties involved. We’re speaking English, but it’s not the same language, as everyone seems to hear what they want to hear.
While it is highly unlikely this editorial fixes these problems, we hope it will provoke some self-examination by all parties in terms of goals and how those will be accomplished. A lot of listening would be extremely helpful as well.
In the meantime, we request that the term “merger” be eliminated in any and all discussion about Nelson County Schools’ plans. It’s a loaded term and only serves to confuse everyone involved in the discussion.
So, hopefully can we agree going forward that:
• When speaking about the microscopically slim possibility of Thomas Nelson closing, let’s call it “recombining” the high schools.
• When speaking about the far more possible event of middle school students being moved to the high school campuses, let’s call that “relocating.”
• Listen more and try to come up with consensuses, and that goes for members of the community and those operating Nelson County Schools.
Let’s not let this mess devolve any more than it already has.