Wake up and Realize what is happening before it is too late!!!!

So in the most recent edition of the Dickenson Star residents from Haysi voiced their opinion that the new elementary school be placed in Haysi. I strongly agree with this position but everyone needs to understand we do not have a say in this. The deal is done, the goose has been cooked for a long while now. This WHOLE consolidaton plan was never about doing what was right or what was best it was about doing what a select group of "leaders" deemed to be the best option. I am sure as these leaders read this they are saying, proof you need proof of these accusations. Well it so happens that I was handed some proof recently, proof that will prove without a shadow of a doubt that we are about to be screwed yet again.

Go back in time just a few short years ago before the consolidation process happened in this county. The whole time we were told by Mrs. Robinson that every school would close at the same time and no school would close before another. She boldly spoke in public about bringing all of the kids together at one time, it is not fair to force them to move multiple times. She also assured her staff of this same thing, right up until the time that Clinchco Elementary School was closed. The thing about this gigantic lie is that behind the scenes the Board of Supervisors and School Board had already struck a deal. The BOS agreed to fund the school system an extra $500,000 to keep the doors of Clinchco open until the ink dried on the core contract. This information was given to me by a previous BOS member and confirmed by someone in the school system, it is not fake. So the whole time Mrs. Robinson was promising that no schools would be closed she had already struck a deal behind everyone's back. Was it wrong for her to look out for the best interest of the county? No, it was wrong for her to lie to everyone about it.

Now moving forward is there any doubt in my mind that this kind of deal has already been made? Rocky Barton would bark at the moon if she told him to, that is one vote. Ginger Senter is part of the team making decisions and will tell her "son" Rick Mullins to vote for it, that only leaves Dr. Lyle. She knows that he is a decent man and when the alternatives are placed in front of him he will choose the best one, which is to put it all in one place. This is done folks, wrap it up. The problem with all of this is the dishonesty involved in it. Come out and say you are going to close a school and move them all together. Have enough decency about you to do so! The thing about it, just like Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Robinson operates above the rest of us and we are all to naive to realize it.

Now what can we do about this? Call her and tell her that your 5 year old children and grandchildren are not riding a bus that long and you will explore other options. This county cannot afford a significant drop in enrollment or a consolidated school does not make sense.