Proposed Relief for Sun Valley Schools (Monroe, Sanford: transplants, real estate, 2011)

[MMPC123]

We are parents of a child that would be affected by the proposed relief for the Sun Valley Middle and High Schools. I can only hint at just how upset we are to be selected for this. Can anyone out there offer me any advice on keeping our child in her school and not being moved to a VERY undesirable new school. They are talking of re-assigning us to Monroe Middle.
We (her father and I) both plan on attending the public hearing on 10/ 21. Has anyone out there had to fight something like this? PLEASE help

[indraman]

Originally Posted by MMPC123

We are parents of a child that would be affected by the proposed relief for the Sun Valley Middle and High Schools. I can only hint at just how upset we are to be selected for this. Can anyone out there offer me any advice on keeping our child in her school and not being moved to a VERY undesirable new school. They are talking of re-assigning us to Monroe Middle.
We (her father and I) both plan on attending the public hearing on 10/ 21. Has anyone out there had to fight something like this? PLEASE help

I can't even tell you how sorry I am to hear this. Here is my advice. First, if you are adament about not being sent to Monroe (and I would visit) then you need to put in a transfer request to the district. You may not request Sun Valley as it is being cut off, but you may request to be placed in the new Cuthbertson cluster scheduled to open next year. Our principal told us that Cutherbertson is scheduled to open at far below capacity and that they will not be sending the Sun Valley overflow there. They will be staying at Weddington and Monroe next year. I am sorry for this but I do encourage you to visit Monroe and if you find it unacceptable to apply for the transfer. The little known secret is that they are almost always granted out here in UC. Good luck.

[mullman]

Originally Posted by MMPC123

Can anyone out there offer me any advice on keeping our child in her school and not being moved to a VERY undesirable new school. PLEASE help

There are plenty of great private schools in the area.

[MMPC123]

Thank you very much for the advice. I will look into the transfer request. I will visit Monroe Middle first but have heard nothing but horror stories from area people and test scores are at the bottom of all middle schools here in UC.
We are starting to look into private schools and would even home school for a year or two if needed but have always been able to use the public schools with no problems. We would feel the impact if we had to pay for private school and I feel stressed enough with paying taxes to support the schools. I am also concerned that our property values will be affected by the "relief effort". We did much research into the area before purchasing our home here and can not afford to move yet again so soon.
Thank you again for the advice. I turn to this forum often for info but rarely post.

[catonc]

How old is your child? Depending on where you live and the age of your child, it may end up not affecting you at all when the new middle and high schools open off of Sanford Rd in 2010. If it does affect you, I would look into the transfer. I read that in conjunction with the reassignment SVMS is going to lift the enrollment cap. If that is true then you might be able to request a transfer to stay at SVMS.

[mullman]

Unfortunately Union County has been a time bomb waiting to happen.

There was a lot of flight from Meck to Union for lower taxes, not to mention transplants moving to the area for the same reason. I am ALL for lower taxes, but Union County has not kept up with their growth and now has a critical water and sewer situation that will require serious dollars (taxes) to overcome. Perfect timing...

[berryjuice4life]

true but like all growing towns and or counties, there will be growth issues and we live in Union County and not too many complaints...not saying that there arent issues here because there certainly is....but with sun valley being such an old school, and with such high enrollment over the years, the zoning is quite odd for certain parts of Union anyhow, I would call Union County and find out if you can do a transfer, they do it on a case by case situtation as long as the school u want them transfered too is under 85% capacity chances are u might not have a problem....Did u not reserach this when before you bought your home?

[indraman]

Originally Posted by MMPC123

We are parents of a child that would be affected by the proposed relief for the Sun Valley Middle and High Schools. I can only hint at just how upset we are to be selected for this. Can anyone out there offer me any advice on keeping our child in her school and not being moved to a VERY undesirable new school. They are talking of re-assigning us to Monroe Middle.
We (her father and I) both plan on attending the public hearing on 10/ 21. Has anyone out there had to fight something like this? PLEASE help

Please let us know how the hearing goes. And good luck. There is power in numbers....so bring neighbors.

[joanchris2000]

Originally Posted by catonc

How old is your child? Depending on where you live and the age of your child, it may end up not affecting you at all when the new middle and high schools open off of Sanford Rd in 2010.

Construction update, MS/HS D to open 2010 off Indian Trail Fairview Rd, near Hemby Bridge.
http://fpc.ucps.k12.nc.us/documents/...tember2008.pdf



Possible Sanford Road location would open 2011
http://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/communicat...n_11-19-07.pdf

[marvinnative]

A link to the school website's page on the Sun Valley Reassignment Plan:
Student Assignment Plan for Sun Valley Middle, High

Reassignments are difficult. No doubt about it. I do feel for students being shuffled around (been there, done that numerous times).

But, I wonder...

What if having this large influx of Sun Valley students move into the newly remodeled Monroe High (complete with astro-turfed stadium), actually turned out to be a good thing. In my generation, Monroe was considered an elite school. It was located in the county seat and had the backing of the local business community. When the newer county schools seemed to be the latest and greatest thing, a lot of the movers-and-shakers moved out of Monroe and left it to be a lower income/minority (read-ESL) school cluster. Once it developed that "label," it has been hard to turn it around.

But, just what IF...

What if now is actually the time for folks to move back into Monroe again. What if moving all these Sun Valley students back into Monroe (yes, that's where they used to go years ago), what if that would change the "statistics" for Monroe High. What if that would send people grabbing up real estate to get into Monroe and Monroe turned into the new IT place...

IT COULD HAPPEN.

(P.S. Back in those days, the folks in Monroe laughed at us folks over here in the far-outreaches of Marvin...the boonies, a bunch of country bumpkins. Growth and change, a blessing and a curse sometimes, but one thing is for sure...don't get too comfortable in thinking you can hang on to being the new IT place very long.)

MMPC123, I'm sorry for the distress this has brought onto your household. I pray this will work out for your family. I'll be watching to see how this plays out for you...Monroe MS/High cluster...and the Union County taxpayers.