Haywood County Schools Facilities - LOCAL ISSUE

 Local education facilities have been in the news in recent months here in Haywood County. First, there is the construction underway for the new Shining Rock Classical Academy near Lake Junaluska, which will cost in the neighborhood of $15 million. And there is the recent report of the Board of Education discussing facilities needs for our public schools. 

The public school effort kicked off a few weeks ago with a brainstorming session by the Board of Education. Among the things reported on the wish list:

- A shared vocational high school, where students would be transported from their traditional schools for part of the day. This would be a new facility.

- Swapping the current middle school and high school campuses. The current Waynesville Middle School campus would house Tuscola HS, the current Tuscola campus would house Waynesville Middle School, the current Canton Middle School campus would house Pisgah HS, and the current Pisgah HS campus would house Canton Middle School.

- Artificial turf for the football field at Bethel Middle School.

- Reopening Central Elementary School in Waynesville.

- Enlargement of weight training rooms at Pisgah and Tuscola High Schools.

The current public school facilities are woefully aged. The newest elementary school, Bethel Elementary, is nearing 20 years old. The next newest, Clyde Elementary and Hazelwood Elementary, are 25 years old plus. Tuscola and Pisgah High Schools were occupied as new facilities in the mid-1960s. Canton and Waynesville Middle School campuses have buildings that are nearly a century old, and Bethel Middle houses fewer than 300 students.

My thoughts:

1. It is time to consolidate the high schools into one comprehensive high school in a brand new facility. Get over the cross-county rivalry and come together. That will probably cost $75-100 million. That would include the vocational/tech/STEM components, in one place.

2. Move the middle schools to the current high school campuses, and consolidate Bethel Middle into the other two schools. 

3. Build a new elementary school to replace the current Junaluska Elementary School, and make it large enough to accommodate students who might otherwise go to the reopened Central facility.

4. Tear down the current Canton Middle and Waynesville Middle campuses, and sell the properties for development.