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But Doug... (this writer plants tongue firmly in cheek before continuing) Don't you think we should wait on a desion for Simeon until the HP Lottery fiasco is rectified?

David, I agree absolutely. No other issue in High Point is even worth discussing until all ninth-graders are assigned to Southwest High.

Doug,

You must have moved out of High Point because you're dead wrong on this one. My property taxes went up 30 percent last year (with a tax increase and revaluation) , they're going up again this year, and now the city is planning a $2 million upgrade of a football stadium it doesn't even own???
The big question here is for what? The city doesn't hold any events, certainly not any that involve 10,000 people in a stadium.
To me, the Mayor hasn't explained what purpose this is going to serve. If all the boosters of this idea want so badly to upgrade the stadium, I'm beyond positive that the school board would gladly accept private donations for that purpose and have the city do the work. If it's so shameful for Central to play football in a stadium with a little paint peeling, why not boost the ticket price for games by a buck or two?

Trust me, there's something fishy about this deal. Have your reporters go back and ask exactly what kind of events the city needs this stadium for. If there's a good answer, we certainly haven't had it yet.

Well, city officials say that if they had a nicer stadium, they could attract events like concerts, corporate outings, soccer tournaments, high school band competitions, etc. to High Point. But they say the quality venue has to be in place before those events will come.

Whether or not they actually could draw those types of events, I don't know. But the city isn't being coy about its goals here. They see Simeon as a multi-purpose, year-round entertainment facility.

I still live in High Point.

Norskar does raise a good point. If there's a surge of public opposition in High Point to spending money on Simeon Stadium, the mayor and council likely would back off. This is an election year, after all.

But a lot of people seem to think that a city of nearly 100,000 people should have an updated, attractive venue for large outdoor athletic and entertainment events. The current condition of facilities, including restrooms and concession areas, is not up to par. Promoters and audiences expect better these days.

The football field itself remains in good shape.

Doug and Hogg,

It's easy to joke about the HP reassignment fiasco when it doens't affect you. These words will come back and bite you in the ass eventually.

You both dissappoint me.

Remember Hogg when you wrote the hypothical story about your Jesse being reassigned? Was that a "tongue firmly implanted" story too or was that your brain firmly implanted up your ass?

z, I'm only suggesting we address this issue on its merits.

You have a not-so-funny way of addressing it.

Fair enough, z. No more joking.

To Doug and Hogg,

Must you two always be total jerks and wiseasses? Yeah, make a joke out of others' pains. You'll both want others to listen and feel your pain when your ox gets gored, but no one will care, and for very good reason.

And, Doug, I and many others could care less about your stadium in High Point. I know that is important to you, but for the presentation to say that this about putting kids first is a total joke. We have school facilities falling down from lack of maintenance and repair as well as shabby, unsafe trailers being used for class rooms for kids. No one seems to be too concerned about putting kids first there. This is about the wants and needs of the city of High Point, first and foremost, and it has nothing to do with putting kids first.

Yeah, I know that is the failings of the school system, and the city is trying to "save" the stadium, but let's talk about priorities here. What's most important, a football stadium or safe and well-maintained school facilities? To place so much concern and funds for athletic facilities over educational needs of the kids starts to place High Point on a level with Odessa Permian and its Friday Night Lights.

Why are the county criers hell bent on keeping the children of High Point out of their neighborhood schools.

Doug it's easy for you to laugh at families who are affected because the kids on your end of town get to stay right where are and want to be.

Doug nor David should make any parent give guilty or feel they are doing wrong by wanting what is best for their families.

You both are sick...nothing is humorous in this situation for the children involved. Maybe neither of you had friends in school or neighbors that are more like family. Is it wrong for us to want that stability in our lives. Many of our children do not have aunts, uncles, grandparents living near us and depend on our extended families for help.

Well guess what it's much harder now!

I'm sure the two of you are giddy over GCS not providing more buses for High Point and therefore our children will suffer some more.

Does anyone give a shit if our kids have to ride on a 3-4 hrs a day or more. Don't give me the speech that other magnet students do it. They CHOSE their school and their mode of transportation. We DID NOT.

Maybe High Point City would like to donate some funds to repair the tennis courts over at Southwest. The tennis team cannot practice or have any matches at Southwest and havn't been able to for years. The Southwest team travels to a local pool and uses their tennis courts.

David,

One more thing,

Next time you are considering a run for public office I would suggest the next democratic county commissioner seat that comes open.

You would be perfect, you seem to support all the wide eyed liberal fluff. You love to argue and tell everyone else they are wrong.

You'd win by a landslide...hookup with Skip and the two of you could takeover Guilford County

Folks, let's get something straight. I was not, and I don't think David was, laughing at anyone's pain over the High Point choice plan. We were saying you don't have to turn a discussion of a totally unrelated issue into a complaint about your child's school assignment.

Arguing that we can't debate the merits of the city's Simeon Stadium proposal as long as there are other problems unresolved just doesn't make sense. It's like saying you have no right to worry about your children's education while American soldiers are being killed in Iraq.

As to the merits: If there are schools "falling down" -- which ones? -- then I'd think the critics would be happy to see the school board relieved of the cost of Simeon Stadium maintenance so it can put the money into more important priorities. School officials say they put $135,000 into the stadium in the past 18 months. Too bad the city didn't have control already, sparing the schools of that expense.

The High Point City Council deserves the overwhelming blame for the school situation in the city. There's no subdivision they don't like. None that they won't approve. The fact that schools in North High Point are over-crowded is of absolutely no concern to them... It certainly doesn't keep them from approving every subdivision and townhouse development that comes up.

As a proud graduate of High Point Andrews, and as the son of the former band director of that institution, I spent many hours in Simeon Stadium. Luckily, I never had to tackle Greg Jeffries, but I enjoyed watching him and Darrel play ball there.

It used to be the finest non-college stadium in North Carolina, if not the Southeast. 10,000 seats, a nice bowl configuration, a real honest-to-goodness press box, and parking galore. It is now falling down. An eyesore.

I do not understand "Dean Wormer"'s comments above, objecting to the city's refurbishment and maintenance of the stadium because there are school facilities to be repaired. I think he needs to go on double-secret probation for that one, because by the city taking over maintenance, the School Board could spend its resources on the schools, not the stadium. Makes sense to me.

As for the zealots who want little Jacob and Brittany to go to school a block away with no-one not named Zachary, Joshua, Dakota, Emma, or Taylor (used as a girl's name, of course), I say only this:

Take off your blinders. The world is multi-colored and multi-talented and your perfect child just might make that school that is only two miles from your house a better place for all.

I went to Andrews High School. I'm now an attorney with a major international law firm. I've lived in Europe and Canada, I have two kids, a beautiful wife and a nice house. I've done pretty darn well.

Greg Jeffries went to Andrews High School. He then went on to UVA and the Detroit Lions. Somewhere along the way (maybe at Andrews?) he was imbued with the civic responsibility to return home and contribute to his hometown. He's done pretty darn well, too.

There are lots of Andrews graduates out there doing just fine, thank you very much.

Your kid will not be destroyed by sitting next to someone in class who doesn't dress like her.

So stop your campaign against the school system and start working with the schools to better the lives of all children. You got smoked in the last election. So, for once, put all this energy you've wasted taking potshots at Andrews and Dot Kearns and put it into making the schools a better place.

Norskar,

You raise a good point about the development in North High Point. Yet before, you were complainign about tax increases and expenditures.

Question for you: which tenet of the Republican Party would allow the City Council to block the development of private property by its owner?

Just wondering.

Burns,

It's so easy to turn to the Race Card for defense of your opinion.

That cards been dealt, re-shuffled and dealt over and over again.

The lottery in High Point is not about race. How ridiculuous. Southwest, Andrews and Central are all very diverse and if parents DID want an all lily-white school they know they can go to Northwest for that.

I'm curious though, what Mr. Jeffries-NFL has to say about the lottery. There was no lottery when he schooled at Andrews. And now that he's returned home, I wonder what he thinks of forcing kids to go to his alma mater?

I wonder if Mr. Jeffries would agree that whether your name is Lily, Tiffany, Revonda or Keiasha, you should get to go to your neighborhood school?

Maybe some good reporter will ask him.

Mr. Burns,

I congratulate you on your success and predict you would have become successful no matter where you went to school or whom you attended school with.
Success usually comes from motivation, high expectations and accountability (from self and others). Until that changes and those issues are addressed, it really doesn't matter who is sent where... no one will benefit.
I would think that the students at Dudley would be highly offended (and rightfully so) if you suggested that having a Zachary, Joshua, Dakota, Emma or female Taylor would make their school a better place.
I doubt any school in the country (much less Guilford County) needs a certain population of students in order to make it sucessful. To buy into that idea is an insult to the character and integrity of our students.

Mr. Burns,

Tell me just exactly how my "perfect" child is capable of making a school a "better place for all?"

Those were your words. Please tell me why it is up to the children to fix our schools? Isn't that a big task to require of them?

Shouldn't that be the job of the School Board?

And one more thing Mr. Burns the attorney, after my "perfect" child goes to Andrews for 4 years, as the lottery states, and it's NOT fixed. What then? Should I tell my child that he failed an entire school?

That's one big load of responsiblity that you are putting on my "Jacob."

And one last little thing that you should have picked up in law school, busing is illegal. Even if you call it a "reassignment" or a "not-so-reassignment" or a "lottery" or "a fun bus ride"--it's still illegal.

You might want to mention that to Dot when you talk to her again.

Doug,
Folks can sure manage to get off the subject faster than folks in NY getting off the subway at rush hour. Mention school and it's off to the races about who get to go where. The lottery thing is a crock but it has it's place on the subject of the same. Now on to the subject of the city taking over the stadium. I attended school in a town smaller than G'boro, much smaller in fact. Our stadium was owned by the city, well maintained, bigger than the local college stadium and was used for events other than high school football. The school system only paid a small amount to off set the cost of lights since all our games were played on Friday nite. I remember discussions when the high school was relocated to the north side of town about building a stadium on the campus there. Better heads prevailed and the school saved a ton of money. It was a city owned stadium and even at that we still had a right good football player to come out of that system too by the name of Steve Spurrier.
Perhaps folks will calm down on the off the subject things and discuss this subject rationally.
Hate to hear that SW is not in good shape. My daughter graduated from there. Guess SW was fairly new in the mid 90's and was a fine school.

Thanks, mrp, for pulling the discussion back to the intended subject. What you describe is exactly the scenario in High Point.

By the way, Simeon Stadium has seen some pretty good football players, from Andrews' Ted Brown in its first year to Ragsdale's Toney Baker recently, with plenty of stars like Greg Jeffries in between.

I hope it can become a showcase facility again and remain so far into the future.