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East Tennessee high school football has gone down in the last 25 to 30 years. A good example is Science Hill. They have a great basketball program but the football program has fallen to pieces. Science Hill was a state powerhouse until the mid70's. If Gate City played them the last 30 years Gate City would have dominated. While Alcoa and Maryville stand out- they are exceptions to the rule. The Nashville area is coming to dominate the various levels of Tennessee football. A natural event when you consider that most recent growth has been there. The larger rural consolidated schools in East Tennessee have not fared well in athletics- unless they have a decent sized town at their core.

Remember Gate City played DB for one cycle in the early 70s- had a close first game- second time around Gate City walloped them- 40 to 6 or 7- as I best remember. DB has never played them since.

Norton and Wise County will have trouble working out any merger. In order for Wise County to absorb the Norton school district- make it worthwhile for Wise County to do it- Norton would have to give up part or all of its city status. City status keeps the tax rate low in Norton- most homeowners would have their property taxes all but double if they were part of the county. Norton is in pretty good shape financially- should be for some time to come. Far from losing significant enrollment- Norton has seen pretty big increases in enrollment the last few years- probably will continue to do so. Tenure was supposedly not taken into account in the recent Wise County moves. They kept almost everybody. If you have the right connections you are taken care of in Wise County.

Final: Hazard 32 Clintwood 7

May include JV. Am told several of the players are actually connected to the baseball program. The St. Paul baseball coach went to Coeburn.

The Coalfield article probably referred to athletes not total transfers. Castlewood has gained about a 100+ kids. About 50 or 60 Russell County kids attended St. Paul. Some of the St. Paul kids are going to other schools (besides Castlewood)- have heard Lebanon and Abingdon mentioned. It appears that about 20 to 25 St. Paul kids are going to Coeburn. A high percentage of the St. Paul and Pound athletes are going to sit out this season.

The majority of St. Paul students are in Wise County. An urban legend that the majority are from Russell. The town of St. Paul is in both counties. The Russell students attending St. Paul could be eligible at Castlewood in view of the fact that they are Russell residents. It appears that Coeburn will end up with 10 to 20 St. Paul students. Some St. Paul parents have taken steps to move to the Russell side for eligibility reasons.

ESG was the county school in the Powell Valley area, BSG was a town system. The original name of Carnes was Bland High School. I recall the colors as blue and white and the mascot as a tiger. Played in a scrimmage game against St, Charles in '67 - remember they wore Carolina blue and white. Blackwater closed in"66 or '67 and the kids went to Jonesville- I recall their colors were orange and black and their nickname Crusaders. I think Sugar Grove closed about the same time- think their colors were either green and gold or green and white.

I believe Giles had 5 or 6 high schools at one time. Most of the early high schools were called colleges. Gladeville College in Wise County and Russell College in Russell County come to mind. There was a high school at Burkes Garden at one time. I have handled one of their annuals. The colors were either maroon and white or Maroon and grey- can't remember a nickname. I think Washington and Lee Counties had more high schools than any other localities in this section of Virginia.

What is different in the St. Paul situation is that they would be attending school in another division. The FC-LP closure was within Henry County.

St. Paul students who start the 9th grade at Castlewood would be eligible. The upper class kids would be snared by the district residency requirement. There is no longer an exemption for closings and consolidations. Suppose they could apply for hardship.

All of the consolidation opponents I know will not support one or two schools. The consideration is strictly financial. This concept is being used more in urban areas than rural ones. Wise County is having problems putting the money together. If you have the same food preparation area, medical staff, library staff, etc. you can save money. Administrative staff would not be significantly increased by the proposal. In a two school scenario only one additional principal would be needed- in a three or four the assistant principals would be eliminated. In order to transfer between the school for sports a waiver by the superintendent would be needed- otherwise they would have to set out a year. This problem is bedeviling the St. Paul swap with Russell. I am told that VHSL rules changed about 15 years ago in cases of consolidation or closing bring those instances under the general eligibility rules. VHSL will probably end up with some lawsuits.

Wise County would go with the school within a school concept- two or more schools would be located on the same campus and would share all the big ticket facilities- athletic,library, and etc.- they would technically be separate high schools. They seem to feel the VHSL will buy the concept. The Superintendent has stated that a Wise school (in the two separate schools scenario) would be given a Lee style hardship waiver to play down. Would be very surprised if this happened. In that scenario the Big Stone school would have single A numbers. It does not appear at this time that Norton is coming in with Wise County. If Norton does- I feel a lot of Appalachia kids will head to Rye Cove. Many Pound kids will want to go to Dickenson County regardless of their consolidation plans. Did not think Haysi high etc. has ever been flooded.

Combination of both. There is so much anger in Appalachia that there is going to be a major effort to keep kids out of a Big Stone or Wise school. Several people in Appalachia have been working on transportation issues to get the kids to other schools. Burton can hold several more kids- but I am not certain that it can take all who will want to go there. Wise County is already in talks with Russell to take the St. Paul kids- doubt they will do the same with Norton.

Region D- BDD: Grundy, Haysi, Honaker, Hurley, Twin Valley, Council CMD: Tazewell, Richlands, Lebanon, John Battle, Virginia, Abingdon LPD: Gate City, Lee, Clintwood, Appy/PV, Pound/Kelly, St. Paul/Coeburn CD: J.I. Burton, Castlewood, Ervinton, Rye Cove, Twin Springs, Thomas Walker As a Wise County resident I think this is a good idea. Would hate to think the SWD and LPD would just go up in smoke. The recent Wise County schools consolidation has altered considerably in the last three months. It does not appear that the money is around for three schools. The school board is looking at a two school scenario- doing away with Coeburn. I attended a meeting at St. Paul last Thursday and it was obvious that very few if any SPHS students would go to Coeburn or to a school at Wise. Appalachia will probably send 75%- 90% of its kids to Burton- though some have mentioned Rye Cove and even Gate City as possibilities. Pound will probably go about 60% to Clintwood- some going to Burton and Jenkins, Ky.- a couple even to Ervinton and Haysi- with the remainder to Wise. Coeburn would probably split as well losing students to Ervinton, Burton, and Castlewood, possibly Twin Springs. I feel Burton would stay in the LPD with a big boost in enrollment. Dickenson County is also looking at consolidation- depending on finances. I might add that there is some consideration of one high school in Wise County based on the school within a school concept (two,three, or four schools on the same campus sharing some facilities).