Free Daily Headlines

News

Set your text size: A A A

School Board 
stands by plan that maintains
 Stillwell core


In a letter it sent to the Board of Commissioners last week seeking clarification of commissioners’ direction on use of the Hendersonville High School, the Henderson County School Board expressed support for a full renovation of the core classroom building and opposition to joint use of the facility by school administration and students.


The letter, sent the day after last week’s School Board meeting, opens by thanking the commissioners for their “continued support” of the schools and goes on to ask for “clear parameters for our cooperative efforts to serve the students of Henderson County and the mission of the school system.”
The letter reflects comments School Board members made and the positions the board arrived at by consensus during the regular Sept. 12 meeting. Specifically, the School Board reiterated that its school construction priority list had placed an Edneyville Elementary School replacement ahead of the HHS project.
“To begin, the Henderson County Board of Public Education maintains that its first construction priority, as stated in previous correspondence provided to the Board of County Commissioners, is and continues to be a new Edneyville Elementary School,” School Board Chair Ervin Bazzle wrote on the board’s behalf. “What is the status of this construction request?”
As for the conflict over the future of HHS, School Board members reacted to a letter from County Commission Chair Tommy Thompson that they thought limited the scope of core building work to outside wall repair, new fire escapes, a new roof and auditorium moisture remediation. Last Monday night, School Board members said they favored a full renovation of the historic Stillwell building and use of that space as an integral part of a combined renovation-new construction option. The board members expressed doubts about whether commissioners were committed to funding a major renovation.
“… With respect to the Hendersonville High School construction project, to what degree is the Board of County Commissioners willing to consider a full renovation and integration of the historic Stillwell building into the design of the future Hendersonville High School campus?” the letter asks. “The Henderson County Board of Public Education does not support the dual use of the historic Stillwell building by students and school system administrative staff, nor do we believe that a basic preservation of the building for student use will effectively serve future generations of Henderson County students.”
Bazzle wrapped up the letter by restating the three major questions the School Board wanted answered:
“In summary, we appreciate your response to the following questions:
“1. What is the status of the Edneyville Elementary construction request?
“2. Is the Board of County Commissioners willing to consider a full renovation and integration of the historic Stillwell building into the design of the future Hendersonville 
High School campus?
“3. Is additional funding available for the preservation of the historic Stillwell building should 
the Board of Public Education recommend to proceed with an entirely new Hendersonville High School campus?”
“There will be a response,” County Manager Steve Wyatt said. “It’s really a letter to Tommy Thompson as the chair. The board members have a copy of the letter and I know that Tommy wanted to talk about a response with his board members basically individually and wanted to put together a thoughtful response.”
The letter and HHS construction plan were not on the agenda for the Board of Commissioners meeting on Wednesday morning.