Editorial: Middle school progress should continue following election

Cabell County voters have decided they like the course the Cabell County Board of Education is on. That is the simplest and probably best explanation of why two board members were re-elected on Tuesday and no challengers succeeded in unseating either of them.

The election results are not final, but the margin of victory by Suzanne Oxley and Ted Barr almost guarantees they will be declared the winners when the required vote canvass is done next week.

The present school board is in the middle of a program to revamp middle school education in Cabell County. This year, the county returned to the true middle school concept, in which groups of teachers teach the same clusters of children. This allows teachers to know students better and to better deal with problems individual students encounter.

Cabell County adopted the middle school concept in 1989 but soon drifted back to the old junior high system. Shortly after 1989, the board spent much of its time building two new consolidated high schools and altering curricula in the elementary schools. The middle schools were more or less forgotten.

But middle school is where many children soar or sink. Too many of our children sink. By the time they finish eighth grade, they have pretty much dropped out of school mentally. They wait out their remaining school days until they turn 16 and can drop out formally.

This year, the school system has spent more time on the middle schools. Not by coincidence, three new middle schools will open in the next 18 months. The new Barboursville Middle School should open in early 2009. The new Milton Middle School is scheduled for completion in spring 2009, while the new Huntington Middle School should open in December 2009.

Meanwhile, the new Martha Elementary should be ready for students this summer. The new Southside Elementary should be ready when Huntington Middle is, as they are on the same site.

With the re-election of Oxley and Barr, the burning questions about middle school education now are likely to be whether the board will attempt to consolidate Beverly Hills and Enslow middle schools so the students in those areas can enjoy facilities comparable to those elsewhere in Cabell County. Answers will not be easy. The board says it must use School Building Authority money for any major improvements to or replacement of these schools, and the SBA criteria pretty much limit the board to consolidation.

Consolidation could depend on a site that is acceptable to the community. So far, the board has not found a suitable site within city limits.

The futures of Beverly Hills and Enslow could be the biggest political question facing the board, but that should not distract the board from its goal of improving middle school education for the entire county. Consolidation or not, students at Beverly Hills and Enslow deserve the same quality of education that others receive. Buildings help, but they are not the determining factors. Teachers, administrators, curriculum, resources and opportunities are.

The middle school effort is under way. It will be evaluated at the end of this school year and changes will be made. The continuity of the board for the next two years is a good indication that Cabell County's middle school students will not be forgotten again.