Separate and unequal high schools

Can the Wilson County Board of Education get away with leaving two high schools overcrowded while the third county high school has vacant space? Perhaps it can.

The board voted this week to leave high school attendance zones alone. Those current attendance lines, along with explosive growth in the north and west of the county have left Fike and Hunt high schools overcrowded while Beddingfield, in the southeastern part of the county, dwindles in enrollment. Because of these disparities, Hunt and Fike will remain 3-A schools for athletic competition while Beddingfield drops to 2-A. The Beddingfield supporters who have long complained that their school is treated like a despised stepchild are seeing their complaints validified. Beddingfield will be second-class in enrollment and athletic standing regardless of its academic and other achievements.

The biggest problem with the board's refusal to shift attendance lines to even up high school populations is the waste of taxpayer money. At Beddingfield, where space is under-utilized, money is wasted on space (brick and mortar) that is not being adequately used. At Fike and Hunt, temporary classrooms and overcrowded buildings will cost taxpayers money. Rather than making optimal use of space at all three high schools, the school board has decided it's better and politically safer to waste space here and add space there. Only Eunice Lindsey voted against keeping the current high school lines.

Unless Wilson County voters rise up indignantly over this poor stewardship of the public's money, the lines will not change. And since most parents seem to prefer keeping the Fike and Hunt lines as they are, the waste of tax money doesn't seem to bother them.

Change on this board requires four votes

The "change" mantra of the 2008 election didn't extend all the way through the Wilson County Board of Education election. One change was inevitable: Will Winslow was stepping down, choosing not to run for another term. But the other two seats at issue were retained by the incumbents. Marvin Sessoms had no opposition, and Henry Mercer turned back James Brake's challenge in District 4.

Gary Farmer, running a high-profile campaign, took District 6 by a landslide against two opponents. Joe Testino got his name out but still lost his first bid against the better-known Farmer, a former Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf and Wilson County Schools teacher and administrator. Gale Shafer fell short again in his third bid to win a seat on the board. Shafer had been encouraged four years ago when he came close to toppling Winslow, but that close finish was largely the result of Winslow's not taking the challenge seriously and making little effort to attract votes. Will Shafer, an affable mechanic and small-business owner, give up on his quest or will he become the Harold Stassen of Wilson County politics?

Many supporters of Farmer, Testino and Brake had hoped the "change" mantra would sweep a new majority onto the Board of Education, one that would challenge the administration, listen more to parents and teachers and open up the decision-making process. To achieve anything on a seven-member board, you need four votes. With the re-election of  Mercer, a former school principal, the change candidates may have trouble finding a fourth vote. Mercer has not been one to buck the administration. Farmer and incumbents Robin Flinn and Wiley Boyette need a fourth vote. If they can't bring Mercer on board, perhaps Eunice Lindsey, who has shown sparks of independence, or Christine Fitch can be brought around.

Farmer promises to question the status quo and is unlikely to be silenced easily. The question is whether he can bring three other board members to his way of thinking.