Arclue or Vancadia?
Let me set the scene for you.
The “Wedding March” is playing in the background.
The minister steps up to the assembled crowd.
“Do you Vanlue take Arcadia to be your partner in consolidation? In sickness and in health, in this bad financial climate of Ohio schools, for as long as you both shall stay solvent?”
“We do.”
OK will it be Arclue or Vancadia School?
That was the headline on the front page of Wednesday’s Fostoria Review Times.
OK so the RT may have jumped the gun just a little bit. There’s no movement afoot to consolidate the two small Hancock County schools. Just some talk from area residents that maybe it should be considered.
Here’s a story from today’s Courier…
VANLUE — Vanlue school board will host a community meeting to discuss a proposed building issue that is expected to appear on the May ballot. The forum will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 in the school cafeteria.
Vanlue Superintendent Tim Kruse said the forum will give district residents a chance to speak to many concerns, including rumors of a consolidation with Arcadia.
The proposed tax issue, a combination of a property tax levy and an income tax, has already been defeated at the polls once, in November. Money from the tax would help pay for a new kindergarten through 12th-grade building.
Both Kruse, and Arcadia Superintendent Laurie Walles said consolidation rumors circulate in the school districts every few years, especially during levy campaigns. There has been no formal talk of consolidation, however.
“We hear talk about consolidation in the background, but no one has ever come to one of the school board meetings and said it. Consolidation could be a topic. We want to hear what the community has to say,” Kruse said.
Walles, who did have an Arcadia resident address her board earlier this week encouraging a merger, said she will attend the Vanlue meeting as an observer.
She said the consolidation rumors are “always out there somewhere. ...”
All of this consolidation talk, or in reality rumor, has given me ideas.
As an outsider with no stake in the matter it would probably be a good idea for the two schools to consolidate. It would seem to save costs by combining to operate one building and maybe buidling a completely new modern school building for both schools. There would be fewer administration costs and more academic offerings to students of both schools if they would combine.
Heck, maybe even Arclue or Vancadia could even win a BVC football title since they are the only schools that haven’t won a league championship on the gridiron in the history of the conference.
I did a little homework. Vanlue, with 303 students in the entire school, is the fifth smallest school district in the entire state. OK throw out three school districts right off the bat, let’s not count Kelleys Island, Put-In-Bay and College Corner (a school district in Preble County that sends its kids to HS in Union County, Indiana). Now Vanlue is the second smallest school district behind only Bettsville.
For what its worth, I looked up some enrollment figures for the BVC and MAL schools dating back to 1977...
OK Blogger won't let me line up tabs I can't even move them over with the space bar but if you open a word file dump the text in and tab them over you will be able to see a better table.
BVC Numbers are total students in the school district K-12
1977 1986 1996 2005
Arcadia 715 627 672 645
Arlington 595 624 705 633
Cory-Rawson 881 799 843 705
Liberty-Benton 802 783 1145 1236
McComb 908 808 886 784
Van Buren 945 832 866 905
Vanlue 404 348 331 304
Hardin Northern 730 647 583 474
Leipsic 978 756 828 684
Pandora-Gilboa 752 630 688 600
For the MAL I put the # of HS students in parentheses to compare the Catholic schools
MAL (HS numbers) 1977 1986 1996 2005
Bettsville 305 (89) 358 (95) 360 (105) 220 (83)
Hopewell-Loudon 1037 (365) 819 (275) 948 (292) 870 (265)
New Riegel 576 (206) 480 (150) 487 (144) 434 (149)
Old Fort 607 (181) 538 (163) 661 (225) 540 (203)
Seneca East 1322 (402) 1215 (369) 1183 (404) 989 (325)
North Baltimore 913 (282) 905 (257) 830 (249) 823 (255)
Mohawk 1439 (489) 1237 (371) 1196 (401) 1041 (346)
Carey 1157 (399) 1005 (372) 969 (381) 877 (343)
Calvert (387) (243) (283) (235)
St. Wendelin (295) (218) (247) (167)
St. Joseph (385) (401) (339) (274)
Feeder Schools 1977 1986 1996 2005
Tif. St. Mary 341 234 278 231
Tif. St. Joe 439 445 382 309
Fos. St. Wendelin 625 551 441 321
Fin. St. Michael 404 436 587 514
Fre. St. Joe 408 NA 354 232
Fre. Sacred Heart 376 289 294 290
Fre. St. Ann 295 212 146 116
What do these numbers mean? Not much except for pretty much enrollment has declined a little everywhere over the years. But they are interesting to look at.
If Arcadia and Vanlue, the Small School that’s Big on Learning (and seriously that’s the greatest slogan for a school I have seen) would combine, it would make them the second largest school in the BVC, only slightly larger than Van Buren.
In the end though they won’t combine. A. It makes too much sense. B. Community pride and loyalty runs much, much too deep in both communities for it to happen. Both communities love their schools and as long as they are willing to pay the taxes for their upkeep and to make sure the kids get an excellent education. they will remain separate entities. Wounds of consolidation still cut into school communities like Riverdale, Seneca East, Patrick Henry to this very day and their consolidations took place more than 40 years ago.
It probably won’t happen. But it sure is fun to talk about and it gets people fired up!
What do you think ? Is it a good thing?
The “Wedding March” is playing in the background.
The minister steps up to the assembled crowd.
“Do you Vanlue take Arcadia to be your partner in consolidation? In sickness and in health, in this bad financial climate of Ohio schools, for as long as you both shall stay solvent?”
“We do.”
OK will it be Arclue or Vancadia School?
That was the headline on the front page of Wednesday’s Fostoria Review Times.
OK so the RT may have jumped the gun just a little bit. There’s no movement afoot to consolidate the two small Hancock County schools. Just some talk from area residents that maybe it should be considered.
Here’s a story from today’s Courier…
VANLUE — Vanlue school board will host a community meeting to discuss a proposed building issue that is expected to appear on the May ballot. The forum will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 in the school cafeteria.
Vanlue Superintendent Tim Kruse said the forum will give district residents a chance to speak to many concerns, including rumors of a consolidation with Arcadia.
The proposed tax issue, a combination of a property tax levy and an income tax, has already been defeated at the polls once, in November. Money from the tax would help pay for a new kindergarten through 12th-grade building.
Both Kruse, and Arcadia Superintendent Laurie Walles said consolidation rumors circulate in the school districts every few years, especially during levy campaigns. There has been no formal talk of consolidation, however.
“We hear talk about consolidation in the background, but no one has ever come to one of the school board meetings and said it. Consolidation could be a topic. We want to hear what the community has to say,” Kruse said.
Walles, who did have an Arcadia resident address her board earlier this week encouraging a merger, said she will attend the Vanlue meeting as an observer.
She said the consolidation rumors are “always out there somewhere. ...”
All of this consolidation talk, or in reality rumor, has given me ideas.
As an outsider with no stake in the matter it would probably be a good idea for the two schools to consolidate. It would seem to save costs by combining to operate one building and maybe buidling a completely new modern school building for both schools. There would be fewer administration costs and more academic offerings to students of both schools if they would combine.
Heck, maybe even Arclue or Vancadia could even win a BVC football title since they are the only schools that haven’t won a league championship on the gridiron in the history of the conference.
I did a little homework. Vanlue, with 303 students in the entire school, is the fifth smallest school district in the entire state. OK throw out three school districts right off the bat, let’s not count Kelleys Island, Put-In-Bay and College Corner (a school district in Preble County that sends its kids to HS in Union County, Indiana). Now Vanlue is the second smallest school district behind only Bettsville.
For what its worth, I looked up some enrollment figures for the BVC and MAL schools dating back to 1977...
OK Blogger won't let me line up tabs I can't even move them over with the space bar but if you open a word file dump the text in and tab them over you will be able to see a better table.
BVC Numbers are total students in the school district K-12
1977 1986 1996 2005
Arcadia 715 627 672 645
Arlington 595 624 705 633
Cory-Rawson 881 799 843 705
Liberty-Benton 802 783 1145 1236
McComb 908 808 886 784
Van Buren 945 832 866 905
Vanlue 404 348 331 304
Hardin Northern 730 647 583 474
Leipsic 978 756 828 684
Pandora-Gilboa 752 630 688 600
For the MAL I put the # of HS students in parentheses to compare the Catholic schools
MAL (HS numbers) 1977 1986 1996 2005
Bettsville 305 (89) 358 (95) 360 (105) 220 (83)
Hopewell-Loudon 1037 (365) 819 (275) 948 (292) 870 (265)
New Riegel 576 (206) 480 (150) 487 (144) 434 (149)
Old Fort 607 (181) 538 (163) 661 (225) 540 (203)
Seneca East 1322 (402) 1215 (369) 1183 (404) 989 (325)
North Baltimore 913 (282) 905 (257) 830 (249) 823 (255)
Mohawk 1439 (489) 1237 (371) 1196 (401) 1041 (346)
Carey 1157 (399) 1005 (372) 969 (381) 877 (343)
Calvert (387) (243) (283) (235)
St. Wendelin (295) (218) (247) (167)
St. Joseph (385) (401) (339) (274)
Feeder Schools 1977 1986 1996 2005
Tif. St. Mary 341 234 278 231
Tif. St. Joe 439 445 382 309
Fos. St. Wendelin 625 551 441 321
Fin. St. Michael 404 436 587 514
Fre. St. Joe 408 NA 354 232
Fre. Sacred Heart 376 289 294 290
Fre. St. Ann 295 212 146 116
What do these numbers mean? Not much except for pretty much enrollment has declined a little everywhere over the years. But they are interesting to look at.
If Arcadia and Vanlue, the Small School that’s Big on Learning (and seriously that’s the greatest slogan for a school I have seen) would combine, it would make them the second largest school in the BVC, only slightly larger than Van Buren.
In the end though they won’t combine. A. It makes too much sense. B. Community pride and loyalty runs much, much too deep in both communities for it to happen. Both communities love their schools and as long as they are willing to pay the taxes for their upkeep and to make sure the kids get an excellent education. they will remain separate entities. Wounds of consolidation still cut into school communities like Riverdale, Seneca East, Patrick Henry to this very day and their consolidations took place more than 40 years ago.
It probably won’t happen. But it sure is fun to talk about and it gets people fired up!
What do you think ? Is it a good thing?
posted by --J-- @ 6:10 AM
7 Comments:
At 11:03 AM,
Anonymous said…
Should it be called John Hancock High?
At 11:41 AM,
Anonymous said…
I agree that loyalty runs very deep in each community. However; if the parents really wanted what was best for thier kids, they would merge. Aside from the opportunities they would gain in sports, it makes the most sense educationaly, and financialy
At 4:52 PM,
Anonymous said…
Mount Cory and Rawson went together years ago. Why can't it happen now
At 11:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
It's great that these small towns have pride in their communities, but the bigger issue is what is best for the kids. Now you have a situation with two schools, one of which is in horrendous financial straights, who want their cake and eat it too. They want to keep their school but won't pony up the money to build a new one. Who is supposed to build it for them? The state?
I'm from a consolidated school and the kids sure never had a problem with it. Just a bunch of adults who treasured pride more than progress. I'm guessing the kids from Arcadia and Vanlue would get along just fine, and would enjoy going to a new school, with better oppurtunites edcuationally and in extra curriculars. It's supposed to be about the kids, isn't it?
At 5:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
Why does everyone always seem to think bigger is better as far as education is concerned?
Ain't gonna happen unless the State holds a loaded gun to the heads of the Vanlue folks, just my opinion.
At 6:45 PM,
Anonymous said…
i graduated from vanlue a few years ago, students and atheletes consider arcadia to be an equivilant of ohio state/michigan. even though the two schools are small and arent the greatest at sports. it is a great rivalry to be a part of, and i personally would never want to see the rivalry die.
At 5:52 AM,
Anonymous said…
i like the vancadia redcats as the school name and nick names. maybe there sports programs would be better. then maybe riverdale could join the bvc as the 10th team. how great would that be.
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