Home Schooling as a Very Real Possibility

I always enjoy reading about home schooling. Some people look at me oddly and ask if we have an older child when the subject comes up. I admit it may be a bit early to be deciding, she isn’t even two yet. That gives us quite a few years since preschool is not happening and kindergarten is questionable. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, I train it’s what I do, be it horses or my child. Is there any difference really? I always say that she will be going to public school only as long as the Hay Springs school is open. If our dear government ever does manage get it closed then that’s it we’re home schooling.

The rumors have circulated for decades that it will close. Recently when Mirage Flats School was closed for budgetary reasons they started up again as strong as ever. On the other side of the fence is the superintendent who quickly squashes any rumors as silly and says they are here to stay. There are also those who believe we are positioned far enough away from any larger town that the trip for a child to reach another school would be far too long. I am not saying that there is any chance of closing now, but…

It always amazes me just how hard our caring legislature back east in Lincoln tries to get ride of all schools in this part of the state. They managed to have all the rural schools closed. No more little one room school houses, bus those kids to town. I suppose I can see the sense of that, from a strictly budgetary point of view. This latest bill they are trying to pass isn’t necessarily closing any schools, yet. What it is doing simply doesn’t make any sense at all. Unless of course they are easing us into it. Please do read it here. We have a gentleman named Jim Scheer to thank for this piece of brilliance, not surprisingly he is from back east.

They feel that small schools, under 650 students, should have to group together until they reach a district size of  1,300. They don’t all have to share schools, just have the same calender and superintendent. Why? What possible purpose can that serve if not to ease us into more consolidation? If I could get a logical reasonable explanation of what they are hoping to accomplish here I might be all for it. But I haven’t found one, just a list of rule changes as though they are playing a board game and got tired of the old rules.

In my quick look upon the internets, Chadron appears to be safe. Gordon-Rushville also sneaks past, they have already combined. I haven’t heard how that is working for them. I have heard, completely unsubstantiated, rumors of knife fights in the city park between high school kids, yeah that’s enough for me, she’s not going there. Plus it is a good forty five minute drive. Would they want to join up ( to quote Monty Roberts 😉 ) with us? What is going to be in this for them? For any of us for that matter? And where are we supposed to find enough children to meet their 1,300 required? Hemingford is close and together we could top 650 but that only counted if you started with that many. Then, what the heck, we could throw in Crawford, with their two hundred some students, they are only and hour away. Wait that only brings us to ruffly 900. Okay, the entire panhandle, minus larger cities, will join together for one properly sized district. This is going to be great.

I have not been able to find any discussion on this although I know it must be out there. I would like someone to please tell me why? What is the purpose of this? All I know for sure is that it is one more step towards homeschooling.