Boston parents cite safety as main concern of merged middle, high school grades
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Monday, April 26, 2021 — About 75 parents and community members attended the Boston Community Meeting to listen — and ask questions — about the Nelson County Schools proposed plan to eventually merge the middle school grades into the two high schools.
Superintendent Wes Bradley’s presentation provided parents with the reasoning behind the change, noting that student safety and culture will continue to be the main concerns moving forward.
Bradley made it clear that any consolidation will mean long-term discussions along the way with parents and the community.
Bringing the middle school grades onto the high school campuses will offer advantages to the middle school students academically and in leadership opportunities.
Sports teams and clubs are an important part of the school community, he told the crowd in the Boston School gym
Bradley offered details that were missing from his presentation at Tuesday’s board of education meeting.
For example, Bradley said he anticipated a school resource officer would be stationed at each of the two expanded high schools. And both high schools will have new middle school wings added to them.
The anticipated population shifts in Nelson County — including the population growth in the KY 245 / US31E North / US150 East corridors — mean that changes are necessary in the school system. Moving the middle schools to high school campuses will improve the efficiency of providing those middle school students greater opportunity.
The move will also improve services to those students who need additional help, and to special needs students, he said.
Following Bradley’s 45-minute presentation, the parents and community members broke into smaller groups to discuss the move and ask questions. Following the small group discussion, the parents gathered back in the gym for additional questions.
Most questions focused on the safety of the middle school students on a high school campus, with parents wanting to keep those students away from the high schoolers.
Parent James DeWeese asked Bradley for specific instances or research that shows how a grade 6-12 school can be superior to the current school structure.
Bradley’s examples included the Marion C. Moore School on Outer Loop in Louisville; South Warren in Bowling Green, which has a high school and middle school on the same campus; and the K-12 J. Graham Brown School in Louisville, and Eminence High School with includes grades 6-12.
Success in the future will be measured by the same standards as in the district’s existing schools, Bradley said — by creating powerful academic and leadership experiences for students.
DeWeese echoed other parents’ concerns regarding mixing middle school students with high school students.
“We feel like its unsafe to mingle the middle school and high school students,” he told the crowd.
Bradley emphasized that the community campus model — grades 6-12 — will improve the ability of students to have access to clubs, academic and leadership opportunities.
UPCOMING MEEETINGS. Bradley will be speaking at Community Meetings at the following schools (all meetings begin at 5:30 p.m.):
- Wednesday, April 28 – Bloomfield Elementary School
- Thursday, April 29 – New Haven School
- Monday, May 3 – Cox’s Creek Elementary School
- Wednesday, May 5 – Foster Heights Elementary School
- Monday, May 10 – Nelson County High School
- Wednesday, May 12 – Thomas Nelson High School
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