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Scott County Schools Future


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On 5/12/2022 at 3:24 PM, Queue said:

Any chance we'll ever see serious consolidation talk around these parts??

 

 

I will never say never but probably not in the next 20 years. To much politics from the GC sector, and not enough interest from the RC or TS side.

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1 hour ago, SXSW said:

It has talked about since 1985 and they are no closer today than they were in 1985.

When the right people are in position that can initiate the process it will not take long. Ask the folks in Wise and Buchanan counties.

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19 hours ago, PV8 said:

When the right people are in position that can initiate the process it will not take long. Ask the folks in Wise and Buchanan counties.

You are talking about Scott County, evidently you have never lived there, The Good Ole Boys network goes on and on and on!

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22 hours ago, SXSW said:

You are talking about Scott County, evidently you have never lived there, The Good Ole Boys network goes on and on and on!

On topic but different location.  Is it the same type of thing with Giles and Narrows?  Never have seen a solid explanation of why Narrows wasn't rolled into Giles.  Only 10 more minutes away after all.

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My thirty-mile-view of the Narrows/Giles situation mirrors Covington/Alleghany. Insular communities with generational rivalry and political hurdles. It took a lot of financial hardship, lost revenue, increased taxes and lost population to get Covington and Alleghany to the point of consolidation. They eventually got so beat down fighting to stay separate, they gave up and let nature take its course. After that, the process went pretty quickly. I don't see Narrows and Giles at that point yet.

Granted, I don't know as much about Scott County politics but I don't believe Gate City has ever been rivals of Twin Springs and Rye Cove. It might not be as difficult to get all parties on the same page not having to negotiate across a rivalry divide going back generations. 

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26 minutes ago, sixcat said:

My thirty-mile-view of the Narrows/Giles situation mirrors Covington/Alleghany. Insular communities with generational rivalry and political hurdles. It took a lot of financial hardship, lost revenue, increased taxes and lost population to get Covington and Alleghany to the point of consolidation. They eventually got so beat down fighting to stay separate, they gave up and let nature take its course. After that, the process went pretty quickly. I don't see Narrows and Giles at that point yet.

Granted, I don't know as much about Scott County politics but I don't believe Gate City has ever been rivals of Twin Springs and Rye Cove. It might not be as difficult to get all parties on the same page not having to negotiate across a rivalry divide going back generations. 

I think the hurdles were even higher for the Covington - Alleghany consolidation since Covington is an independent city and two separate governments had to come to an agreement.

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8 minutes ago, Bluefield researcher said:

I think the hurdles were even higher for the Covington - Alleghany consolidation since Covington is an independent city and two separate governments had to come to an agreement.

I failed to mention it specifically but you are correct. The financial hardship and lost revenue were largely driven by loss in population and two separate governments fighting for years for the same table scraps. Working together really became a necessity if they were both going to survive. They were often caught having to compete against one another for the same opportunities. Truthfully, Covington may not survive yet as an independent city.

Galax has had to work hand in hand with Carroll and Grayson for decades to remain viable. A lot of locals complain about the cooperation but without it, all three would suffer. 

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1 hour ago, sixcat said:

My thirty-mile-view of the Narrows/Giles situation mirrors Covington/Alleghany. Insular communities with generational rivalry and political hurdles. It took a lot of financial hardship, lost revenue, increased taxes and lost population to get Covington and Alleghany to the point of consolidation. They eventually got so beat down fighting to stay separate, they gave up and let nature take its course. After that, the process went pretty quickly. I don't see Narrows and Giles at that point yet.

Granted, I don't know as much about Scott County politics but I don't believe Gate City has ever been rivals of Twin Springs and Rye Cove. It might not be as difficult to get all parties on the same page not having to negotiate across a rivalry divide going back generations. 

Nailed it with Giles/Narrows. With Covington/Alleghany, I don't know enough about it to comment. The take with Giles and Narrows is spot on.

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Infrastructure is the single biggest hurdle in Scott County.  Bringing all the kids to one location will be quite interesting given the roads in the county.  Fort Blackmore may be a central point but no 4 lane getting there from any direction.  Some argue Midway as 72 will run by it.  I think if it ever happens the school needs to be placed either near the golf course with 72/71 intersection or near the quarry pond on 65.  

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23 hours ago, Bluefield researcher said:

I think the hurdles were even higher for the Covington - Alleghany consolidation since Covington is an independent city and two separate governments had to come to an agreement.

How long til the same ordeal with city or Norton?  I don't know the politics outside of Taz, Bland and Smythe Co

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9 minutes ago, stu_bean said:

How long til the same ordeal with city or Norton?  I don't know the politics outside of Taz, Bland and Smythe Co

Norton really blew the consolidation with Wise Co. in 2011. They could have locked in a low LCI, and gained 30 million free dollars from the state over 15 years. Norton wanted Central to be located in Norton City limits. That was their nonnegotiable demand, and it was a big one. Wise Co refused, and Norton backed out. At the time, the then City manager said that Norton could only survive for 5 more years unless they found a new revenue stream. It's been 11 years and they're still going. Guess they found money somewhere. And absolutely no clue on how much longer Burton can stay open.

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Wal Mart is within Norton city limits, I know that with almost certainty. Knowing the JIB side of the story, the seats on the new school board were the problem. They would not approve anything that did not allow Norton city a majority or atleast half of the votes on the new school board, I can see why the county rejected that offer. 

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Haven't posted in many a year, but have enjoyed the repartee. The real reasons Norton did not come in with the county were the reluctance of the county to assume Norton's school debt, plus the belief in some quarters in Norton that the county did not have the money to build the schools without significant tax increases which would be passed on to Norton. The LCI money would have gone entirely to the county. In fact Norton would have not had a financial benefit from a merger.

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1 hour ago, sixcat said:

Wise County GIS suggests Central is not in Norton. Walmart is but Central is not.

Norton GIS show the entire school parcel, minus the tennis courts, being in Norton. Wise County GIS shows the property being in Wise County. Both Norton and Wise County show a tax identification number for the property.

Given this is in my professional wheelhouse, I would suspect Wise County bought the property from Norton prior to the school being built. Wise County has updated their tax map records as well as GIS. Norton has never removed the parcel from their tax map records and GIS was never updated. 

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1 hour ago, swvacsas2 said:

Wise County paid theNorton IDA $400,000 for the Central site.

Thats right!  Wise Co gave/cheaply sold the property to Norton so Walmart could move up there, then Norton sold the property back to Wise Co for them to build Central

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1 hour ago, sixcat said:

Norton GIS show the entire school parcel, minus the tennis courts, being in Norton. Wise County GIS shows the property being in Wise County. Both Norton and Wise County show a tax identification number for the property.

Given this is in my professional wheelhouse, I would suspect Wise County bought the property from Norton prior to the school being built. Wise County has updated their tax map records as well as GIS. Norton has never removed the parcel from their tax map records and GIS was never updated. 

This exactly.

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2 hours ago, swvacsas2 said:

Haven't posted in many a year, but have enjoyed the repartee. The real reasons Norton did not come in with the county were the reluctance of the county to assume Norton's school debt, plus the belief in some quarters in Norton that the county did not have the money to build the schools without significant tax increases which would be passed on to Norton. The LCI money would have gone entirely to the county. In fact Norton would have not had a financial benefit from a merger.

Not entirely. The money would have gone to the newly merged school district. Not the county, nor the city. The financial benefit for Norton would have been taking the sole cost of their school system off their backs. Since Wise Co's LCI was lower, this would have reduced the tax burden on Norton's citizens if the council so chose, or they could have used the additional tax revenue that was no longer going towards the schools to fund other projects. 

I think the real reason Norton didn't want to consolidate was the fear of eventually losing their City status due to a declining population from not have a HS, and all the associated money that comes with that.

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