Piedmont District should be dissolved!

[Bulldog 82 11]

The piedmont district used to have ten teams and now it's down to six. Magna Vista and Bassett now have about 1200 students each and the rest of the district; Martinsville, Tunstall, Dan River, Patrick Co. all have between 500 to 800 students. Magna Vista and Bassett need to move up to the Western Valley District which includes GW Danville,Franklin Co., Halifax, EC Glass and maybe a few more teams I can't remember. This would be a good fit for Magna Vista as they already play GW Dan. and Franklin Co. Plus the geographical locations of all these teams would be a good fit as well. What about the rest of the Piedmont District? Martinsville, Patrick Co., Tunstall,Dan River could move to the Dogwood District which includes Gretna,Chatham to name a few. The Dogwood District would be a good fit both for enrollments and locations of the smaller Piedmont District teams.

[pdfootballguy 10]

I wouldn't say dissolve the PD just yet but something needs to be done to even out Region 4 with the rest of the other regions. Both Magna Vista and Bassett still fall into the middle section of enrollment figures so they are in their assigned categories, but as you pointed out, there is a pretty good size advantage at Magna Vista and Bassett now compared to the rest of the district. Who knows, God help us if Henry Co. loses any more jobs, the population may continue the steady decrease as it has in the past few years in the county and the student population will drop at the newly consolidated schools. I wouldn't say dissolve it just yet, the Regions need to get fixed first and if that involves dissolving the district then have at it if you ask me.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

I see where Martinsville only has an enrollment of 774 in grades 9-12 according to the VHSL. Am I wrong in thinking that Martinsville, a short time ago, had well over a 1,000 enrolled?

[Bulldog 82 11]

Your right that Martinsville used to have over a thousand students. I graduated in 82 and we had around 270 in our class. Their enrollment has declined along with all the job losses. Martinsville and Henry Co. has lost probably 15,000 jobs in past 20 years. Martinsville's population has gone from 25,000 down to 16,000 last I checked. I'm not sure about Henry Co. population statistics.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

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Their enrollment has declined along with all the job losses. Martinsville and Henry Co. has lost probably 15,000 jobs in past 20 years. Martinsville's population has gone from 25,000 down to 16,000 last I checked. I'm not sure about Henry Co. population statistics.

 

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The same sad song for much of this region. Maybe one day things will turn around to where declining populations and job losses aren't the norm. At least Martinsville has a chance since it's located in Virginia.