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Discussion: 2nd High School
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mattshaw93 |
2nd High School
Sep 23 2007, 11:46 AM EDT
Walla Walla is not big enough for two high schools -- not even with College Place attached. Two high schools would mean 1000 students per school -- I know people think smaller is better, but that's not always true. A 2000-student high school runs more efficiently and thus gets more for its money than two 1000-student high schools. If you suddenly got 2 or 3 new people in your already full house, would you build another house for them? Of course not! However, it might make sense to build an addition or make other improvements as well as install other procedures to make the house you have work for all of you. That's what Walla Walla needs to do -- make improvements to the existing high school to bring it into the 21st century and help create a reasonable learning environment, and then adopt programs like smaller learning communities to make the bigger high school seem smaller. And those who say they won't vote for schools, especially those who say it's because they are older and don't have kids in them, need to look up the definition of "community" -- I'm pretty sure it's not "I got mine, you get yours." 6 out of 48 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
1. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 26 2007, 6:29 PM EDT
I lived in a town that had 4,000 people and the HS had a population of 800 students. Pendleton remodeled the HS by adding SECOND STORIES to all the buildings to accommodate freshmen. Pendleton has about 16,000 people, the HS has about 1,200 students and they are the largest HS east of Portland. If Wa-Hi actually serviced ALL the high school aged youth in WW and CP, there should be about 4,000 students attending Wa-Hi.
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Posted Anonymously |
2. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 26 2007, 11:06 PM EDT
This particular administration and the School board will never seriously entertain having two high schools. A division of the student body would mean a division in power among the high school administrators and the power players within the teaching staff. Moreover this same group of people tend to believe that they are a force to be reckoned with in the athletic arenas. Of course many of your deciscion makers are either coaches, spouses of coaches or blood relatives of coaches or played ball in Walla Walla 25 years ago. Obviously the win loss records alone speak to the absurdity of this notion. Hence you should not worry about the idea of two high schools as long as Rich Carter and the the present School board is in place, they will keep the status qou. They will protect and secure thier interest by self promotion and spinning the facts until the last penny of the bond money is spent. In the end we will have a new Edison and the high school will remain over crowded and unsafe for any student not involved in sports. Nothing will change until we have new leadership that puts our kids ahead of tech toys, trainning trips, or programs that have been established specifically to hire the relatives of principles, school board members, coaches and drinking buddies.
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Posted Anonymously |
3. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 27 2007, 3:16 PM EDT
We should not overlook the kids who are not attending Wa-Hi and their needs. Frankly, they are the ones hanging out downtown smoking with nothing to do other than maybe getting into trouble. There is nothing available for TEENAGERS to do that is FREE. A lot of the families struggling in Walla Walla are the poor families that have kids with issues. If a single mom has to work 2 minimum wage jobs to feed/house/clothe her 3 kids and her teenager is experimenting with drugs, got kicked out of Wa-Hi for being truant, then we are failing her as a community. After 30 consecutive days, the school district just kicks kids out and expect everyone else to serve that child. Juvenile Justice Center is for short-term offenses, but now the average stay is 15 days? Plus the facility is FULL all the time!I am tired of "those" kids mentality. Some of "those" kids have rich parents who get all kinds of services and resources, but the poor kids are left high and dry. I am so disappointed with the County Department of Human Services wasting 2 years of a grant to do NOTHING for kids. And why does DHS have child mental health in the same building as adult mental health??? Child predators are "adult mental health" and have access to children and moms, they have an outlet to victimize children. 32 out of 32 found this valuable. Do you? |
thedman67 |
4. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 27 2007, 6:56 PM EDT
I am amazed at how accurate your description is! It is certanly what I have personally observed and experanced. They will stop at nothing and hid behind "we are doing it for the children!" And teacher involved with the sports program gets several Get Out Of Jail cards and a pass in any discipline they are due. Some of the worst bullies at Wa-Hi are at the blackboard.
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Posted Anonymously |
5. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 27 2007, 9:59 PM EDT
I think this has become a bigger problem in the last few years. If a group of hispanic kids gathered around and made lude comments and disturbing gestures that were suggestively violent the school district would get a grant and or spend thousands of dollars trainning their staff on how to create a gang task force on campus. But if the same thing is done by a group of athletes with blue devil shirts it is ignored. It is not only ignored the coaches will often laugh with them and throw in a comment or two in the locker room before or after practrice to fuel the fire. The reality is that many of todays coaches were yesterdays bullies and they go right back to the environment that protected them when they were kids the public school system. Given that WaHi just hired a former coach as their principal and the varsity basketball coach's mother is on the school board don't expect any light bulbs to go on in the superintendents office
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Posted Anonymously |
6. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 27 2007, 10:26 PM EDT
The blantant truth is that the high school does not want these kids on their campus. They want the easy kids the ones that look good on their web page and monthly mailing reports, the ones that play three sports and get A's and B's. Have you not read the letters from the superintendent, because he has reported that the district is doing good things for the community and trying to what is best for all kids. Surely you don't think he is lying?
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Posted Anonymously |
7. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 28 2007, 12:45 AM EDT
I grew up in a town of about 20,000 people in Oregon and we had THREE high schools. It worked very well. Teachers knew the students, and students knew each other. The education was good, we were not lacking in facilities or programs. When I moved here 15 years ago I could not believe that Walla Walla only had one high school for all of these kids! I think it is absurd that we are supposed to have this small town way of life but we have this mammoth sized high school! Just because this is is the way it has always been done here!
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Posted Anonymously |
8. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 28 2007, 5:04 PM EDT
I agree with all the comments. I thought Wa-Hi was too big in the late 80's. Maybe we have an athletic high school, so the precious sports programs do not have to split up and maybe have a arts and tech school for everyone else. I don't want to send my children to Wa-Hi.
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evanderson |
9. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 29 2007, 3:35 AM EDT
Our Childrens' acidemic success should be over the power of sports. Who cares if you're a football star when you're 30 and trying to make a living for your family.
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evanderson |
10. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 29 2007, 3:47 AM EDT
I think the people have spoken. I also came from a town of about 20,000 and there are 3 high schools there. It is much better community in a smaller high school. I walked around WA-HI at an open house for art. I was appalled at the condition of the school. Most of it was the clutter in the class rooms and stuff had been there for a long time (full of dust). The windows were dirty and the grounds were littered. the brick had graffiti painted on it. What do you expect if you don't keep up the maintenance on the school. It really isn't that old that we should have to replace it. I challenge others to go walk the campus.
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evanderson |
11. RE: 2nd High School
Sep 29 2007, 3:56 AM EDT
I think it is time for parents to take responsibility for there children. Yes, we can best parents in the world and have a kid make wrong choices, but on the whole good parenting produces good children. My daughter is a single parent, works 2 jobs, and parents 3 children.; She may not be perfect but she has 3 good kids with no drugs, no street walking, & no alcohol
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Posted Anonymously |
12. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 1 2007, 3:52 AM EDT
Walla Walla is MORE than big enough for two High Schools. The big push from the 1980's to create "city schools" with populations 2,000-4,000 was lauded... and in the 1990's we learned than schools larger than 1,400 students allowed for students to get completely "lost". That is, a student could go through High School completely Anonymously. While that's bad for some kids (they won't socialize as they should)... it's at those larger schools where "lost" kids bring guns. Look at the school shootings... excepting mental illness... all the shootings occur at 1,400+ student populations. The schools are TOO BIG. The ECONOMY OF SCALE has a human cost.And expand your thinking just a bit... What if your kid likes sports and would like to play football? What if his skills are very good but not really, really good. Do you think, honestly, that he'd play for Wa-Hi? No. With 1,400+ students only the elite play. Now expand your thinking a bit further... would he play if he were at a school of say 800 (the size of my High School)? Odds are, if he tried hard enough and didn't quit, he's get some game time. High School sports is much more than Win/Loss... it's about participating... feeling that you made a difference... a sense that you belong to something bigger than just yourself. I'm proud I lettered in 3 sports. I would never have made the team at the Wa-Hi 2,000+ student juggernaut. Or made the debate team... I Love Wa-Hi... but it's size is *hurting* our kids. 17 out of 17 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
13. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 2 2007, 1:17 PM EDT
I am still perplexed that the school board continues to entertain the idea of remodeling a school that does not accept EVERYONE. There should seriously be a school on the north end of town and develop the poorer neighborhoods. If I came from Edith, why would I care about a HS where all the rich kids go to? I would have no one to identify with. I'd want to go to Lincoln High because I would feel more accepted. Competition between the schools would be a good thing especially when you compare who wants to go to which school and why. Just like why Pioneer is full of "I'm better than you attitude" would not survive at Garrison.If you think about it, we have 4 high schools in one town (Walla Walla Academy, DeSales, Lincoln, and Wa-Hi). It's just that the district doesn't know how to spend money appropriately. WHY in the heck is Sharpstein NEEDING another remodel? Didn't they get all those glorious awards for architecture in 2002???? Why does the district need another NEW administration building? Their current one is pretty spiffy compared to what College Place School District utilizes. We have way too many elite-upper-crust people running everything, it's all for THEIR kids while screwing all the OTHER kids who are hispanic, or working poor, or have ONLY a high school diploma. 9 out of 9 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
14. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 3 2007, 10:15 PM EDT
They, as in the superintendents district office administrators, don't need another building and they do not need to make any renovations on the majority of the buildings and projects they have suggested "need' to be done. The issue is they just want to do it. There are no checks and balances in place for the district administration. As a former employee with many friends who still work in the district we know that if you are a voice of decent you will never again be asked for your opinion. Rich Carter and Bill Jordan have hired and surrounded themselve with people who endorse their ideas and plans when they know it is not in the best interest of our community or our children. Take a look at the people who have moved up the ladder in the last couple of years and you will find that they are tireless cheerleaders and many are being promoted into positions that did not even exist a year ago. We are now weighted down with Deans and a variety of "Specialist" and retired teachers being rehired in different capacities. The Walla Walla school district has become a grotesque display of nepotism and favoritism that is not just screwing the poor it isscrewing the whole community. Our school district has become a large contingency of relatives and friends that are canibalizing a system that our constitution has put in place for all of us. I do feel bad for those of you who currently have children attending the public schools because they are not the object of this administrations pursuits.
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Posted Anonymously |
15. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 4 2007, 9:59 PM EDT
This by far is the most commented string. Do you think there will be a story on "wiki contributers say clean up school admin before we pass more taxes" Not holding my breath!
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Posted Anonymously |
16. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 5 2007, 5:14 PM EDT
Probably not. If a reporter tries to interview someone about an issue that should be brought to the attention of the community they will respond by saying public or school policies prevent them from commenting, however the school district takes these issues (what ever they may be) very seriously. And that is the end of that. The only thing that is printed by the paper about the district is the information that the district wants the paper to have. Last year an athlete was convicted of a felony for sexually assaulting a team mate and nothing happened to the kid or the coaches. Unless you have a kid playing sports or know a teacher you never going to hear about this stuff from the district. I had a teacher friend tell me that last year during this time that she recieved an email from the district office ordering anybody who was confronted by a reporter was to say nothing and refer them to Bill Jordan. From my perspective the big wigs are probably not the kind of people who should be working with kids. But they are apparently doing exactly what the school board wants...go figure
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Posted Anonymously |
17. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 6 2007, 4:39 PM EDT
I am a second generation Walla Wallian and this type of misconduct goes all the way back to when Bill Jordan was a principal at one of the middle schools and had an affair with a PE teachers wife. I believe it was a PE teacher from Pioneer middle school. I know I laughed when I found out he was back in Walla Walla working for the school district again. The high school did an incident at a football camp in the mid nineties that involve a sexual assault but I have not heard anything about a recent assault where somebody was convicted of a felony. I find it hard to believe that this would go unpunished. You would have to be living under a rock not to know about all the hanky panky that has gone on over the past decade with athletic directors and principals but I still think that if a student was convicted of violent crime this would be hard to cover up. And why would you want to? Anybody?
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Posted Anonymously |
18. RE: 2nd High School
Oct 8 2007, 6:18 PM EDT
Don't forget that the high school is loaded with drugs. Kids can make a drug deal within 15 minutes arriving on campus every day, yet the administration says the school is a "clean" school. Are they kidding? The bomb scare helped the police department to get a handle on some of the drug issues. Why is the school district paying for a sheriff deputy to be on school grounds, yet, doesn't really do anything. I am amazed that kids can get high on campus but there is not a supposed drug culture in Walla Walla. Come on.
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Posted Anonymously |
19. RE: 2nd High School
Nov 10 2007, 3:37 AM EST
Hey everyone. High school senior here. Suffice to say, I'm very surprised by this thread. Everything being said is very true. I don't really know how other administrations have handled Wa-Hi but, Mr. Weisner seems to be doing a TERRIBLE job this year. There is a massive problem with the parking for one. This may seem like a minor thing, but, it's definitely not. They've reserved about half the parking just for teachers, parking in the gym lot takes about 5 minutes to get in, which guarantees a tardy to class. Parking in a teacher lot gets you a $10 ticket basically immediately. That's why the sheriff is there. Not to catch drugs, but to give parking tickets. That seems to be all that he does.As for how money is being spent, go to the school and ask to have a meeting with Mr. Weisner. You'll see a nice big 37 inch Sony plasma TV that he uses as his computer monitor. The official explanation is that it's for our 36 new security cameras, but, that's never what's displayed on there. As for drugs, as someone was saying, it's really bad. I mean really bad. It's kind of a problem all over town. Our student body president smokes his fair share of the marijuana. The Blueprint project is more of a disaster. Over the years I collected all of the pieces of work that I was supposed to. And this year, they basically threw away the requirements saying that you only had to do a presentation. Last year they changed them to by making us scan all of our physical documents into a digital form. It's a big confusing mess, and they didn't even tell us what we were doing this year until about 3 weeks ago, and our graduation DEPENDS on this. If there's anything that I wish this town could do, it's to find something for it's teenagers to do to help stop the drug problem, and to fix our high school. I've heard some terrible stories about teachers and administrators. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
