Moving middle schools onto high school campuses is still closing schools. 
*We are aware the image has typos-it is an AI image-thanks!*

-Middle schoolers require access to science labs, art classrooms, restrooms, locker rooms and more. To think that they could be sequestered in one area of a high school is a logistical impossibility. It is simply not the way our high schools are built. 

-How would sports teams at the middle school and high school level share facilities? It is a logistical impossibility.

-Some middle schoolers come in at 4 feet tall and 11 years old. Placing these children on a high school campus with seniors who can be 18 and 19 years old would be terrifying for them. It is a logistical impossibility to sequester them on a high school campus.

-Middle schoolers lack higher order reasoning skills as governed by the frontal lobe which is just beginning to develop at this age. This leads to impulsive behavior and poor decision making, placing them in a vulnerable position to be influenced by much older peers. 

-They require a specialized environment with behavior programs and incentive systems that are not available or appropriate at the high school level. How will high school teachers and administrators address the discipline and behavioral issues unique to middle schoolers?  

-Operating a middle school as a school-within-a-school is a logistical impossibility, as students would have to have different bell schedules with different period lengths, while sharing the same facilities. 

-While some elementary school parents may feel this is a good solution right now, how will they feel when it is time to send their newly graduated sixth grader off to a high school of 2000 students? 

-How will the parents in our feeder districts feel about sending their still young children to a high school campus? This will result in  an unprecedented level of flight from the district which will ultimately negatively impact high schools as well, in the long run. In a few years time we will be back in this position needing to close a highschool.

-In a K-8 system, how would parents feel about having 8th graders who can be as old as 15, on the same campus with 4 year old TK students? 

-Elementary schools lack locker rooms, science labs and other facilities required by middle schoolers. They, like our high schools, are not built to accommodate middle school students, or the school-within-a-school model.

-Some middle and high schools are at capacity. They can not be combined. Combining some and not others would leave the district with programs that are not standardized or equitable, making the stand-alone middle schools more desirable than those on a high school campus. This creates inequity, where some 7th and 8th grade students are learning in a specialized, tailored environment, and others are making do on high school campuses not designed with them in mind. 

-Please don't throw the middle schoolers out with the bath water in an attempt to pacify elementary and high school parents. 

-Middle school can be magical, it is a safe transitional space where kids can enjoy the last years of their childhood. Please don't take that away from them.