The West Bolivar School District School Board has set into motion their plan to close West Bolivar High School in Rosedale, Mississippi! The school board president has refused on several occasions to clear up this matter! This move will be devastating to Rosedale community, but, more importantly, it will be devastating to our children!

The West Bolivar Consolidated School District was created about 3 years ago through a state-mandated administrative consolidation including the formers West Bolivar School District, the Shaw School District, and the Benoit School District.  The State claimed that the forced consolidation would SAVE money at the administrative level and provide more resources in the classrooms.  At the time, all three school districts were struggling academically, and the Benoit and Shaw School Districts were struggling financially. 

 

A consolidated School Board was formed consisting of two members primarily from the Shaw School District, 1 member from the Benoit School District, and 2 members from the West Bolivar School District.  Although the Consolidated Board was charged with providing for the needs of the unified school district, the former West Bolivar School District has gotten the LEAST from the consolidation even though it brought the MOST to it. 

 

All students deserve good schools and good teachers; they deserve good facilities; they deserve competent leaders and support staff who have a passion for excellence; they deserve to be the number one focus of every professional and paraprofessionals in the system! They deserve QUALITY that will prepare them for colleges and careers!

 

The WBCSD Board has fallen short in providing our students what they deserve! For the past two and half years, the focus has been on everything but the children! The Board has raised administrative salaries, yet make excuses for not having books and supplies in the classrooms!  The Board can fly the themselves on national conferences, but can't send teachers to an in-state reading conference, yet they say there is a reading problem in the district!

 

The Board has put incompetent people in leadership positions and can't hold them accountable because they lack the skill and knowledge to do what's needed! The Board has doubled the attorney's retainer and even brought on a second attorney to do the job of a clerk in most districts! The Board is leasing 16th section land under the going rate to friendships and partnerships!

 

The Board has raised the millage rate in Rosedale and even taken out a tax anticipation loan indebting the district! The Board has been frivolous in spending on adults and other non-essentials, yet has no plan for addressing student needs! The Board has brought in consultants -- friends and partners-- and have nothing to show in student results! The Board has taken qualified staff from Rosedale and moved  them to other locations! The Board and it's Superintendent are unable to recruit or retain qualified staff due to their negative reputation and the testimonies of those who couldn't wait to leave the chaos evident in the district! 

The West Bolivar Schools are all D's, and the one B school we had is now a D! In two and a half years, the former West Bolivar School District has moved the West Bolivar School Community backwards rather than forwards!

Now the Board wants to make the case through a so-called "State of the District Report" that there is no money to do what is best for children! The School Board created the mess they are in through selfish, unfocused, unwise decisions at the expense of children!  Now the Board is proposing to get out of this mess they created at the expense of children!  This makes NO SENSE!

Rosedale is the largest community in the WBCSD! Rosedale has an industrial park and thriving businesses trying to do better! Rosedale has more students at its high school than the other two schools combined! It makes no sense to move Rosedale students or close West Bolivar High School!

The school board created whatever they are trying to convey in their State of the District Report, and they need to find a way to undo the harm they caused through their decisions!  CLOSING WEST BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL IS NOT THE ANSWER! YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS PETITION IS NEEDED TO SAVE WEST BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL!

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. John B. King, Jr. said recently that we must advance opportunity and success in education in the United States.  This includes the students in Rosedale, Mississippi, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta Region.  Dr. King said that  "In America, opportunity can never be rationed. It cannot be a perk set aside for some and denied to others. Opportunity must be available to all. Opportunity and education are not only the foundation of our economy, they are also the foundation of our democracy and the American way of life."

The West Bolivar Consolidated School Board should take a note of Dr. King's vision for American Education, and do what they can to make that a reality for the students in Rosedale, Mississippi!

Through this petition, we are demanding that the West Bolivar Consolidated School Board to confirm the following:  (1) The Board will not close  West Bolivar High School (2) The Board will commit the resources needed to repair and restore West Bolivar High School, (3) The Board will provide a safe environment for all students in the West Bolivar Community; and (4) The Board will provide the resources, support and services all students need to be prepared for colleges and careers.

PLEASE SHARE THIS PETITION WITH ALL WEST BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, BOTH FORMER AND PRESENT; ALL PARENTS; ALL COMMUNITY LEADERS AND STAKEHOLDERS; ALL COMMUNITY PASTORS; ALL FORMER GRADUATES AND ALUMNI; AND ANYONE CONCERNED ABOUT QUALITY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION.