Every school can eventually become competative IMO, but it doesn't happen over night. It takes the right attitude, dedication, and often a change in the community mind set.

 

Depending on what sport you are talking about. Schools like an Augusta and Deming and Ludlow is going to find it extremely difficult to compete for a state or regional championship in basketball without unusual circumstances coming about.

Depending on what sport you are talking about. Schools like an Augusta and Deming and Ludlow is going to find it extremely difficult to compete for a state or regional championship in basketball without unusual circumstances coming about.

 

True. I was thinking more of football.

Depending on what sport you are talking about. Schools like an Augusta and Deming and Ludlow is going to find it extremely difficult to compete for a state or regional championship in basketball without unusual circumstances coming about.

 

I agree with you about Augusta, Deming and Ludlow. My reason is size based. Is that your reasoning also?

I agree with you about Augusta, Deming and Ludlow. My reason is size based. Is that your reasoning also?

 

Not just that. There is not the pool of athletes among the parents still in the city that will result in athletic classes year in and year out. To offset that, you would need a large population and they don't have that.

 

So, in essence, you need the once in a 20 year cycle outstanding class or a class that is truly committed from 1st grade on.

 

But here is the problem with that last statement. It is MUCH EASIER for a parent to just take them to Mason County/Holy Cross and have that success than it would be to stay at Augusta/Mt. Olivet/Ludlow and put in the time and effort and hope that it is good enough.

 

So, in one view, those hard working and dedicated parents at a private school, have actually taken the easy way out to develop their children and their children's teams UNLESS they have a family history of attending the private school.

Not just that. There is not the pool of athletes among the parents still in the city that will result in athletic classes year in and year out. To offset that, you would need a large population and they don't have that.

 

So, in essence, you need the once in a 20 year cycle outstanding class or a class that is truly committed from 1st grade on.

 

But here is the problem with that last statement. It is MUCH EASIER for a parent to just take them to Mason County/Holy Cross and have that success than it would be to stay at Augusta/Mt. Olivet/Ludlow and put in the time and effort and hope that it is good enough.

 

So, in one view, those hard working and dedicated parents at a private school, have actually taken the easy way out to develop their children and their children's teams UNLESS they have a family history of attending the private school.

 

Okay if there isn't a pool of athletes, then that the same as size in my opinion.

 

As for the parents taking the easier route, here's where I think the public schools are failing. The administrators need to realize the need to get out in the community and "recruit" their existing students to stay in the system (they can do that now under the amendment to the KHSAA by laws). The public schools need to show up at the Lions Club meetings, etc and talk about the need to support the community school. They need to run ads in the Bracken County Outlook espousing the value of the Augusta High School. In a nutshell, they need to convince the parents on the value of sending their kids to Augusta High School so they don't take the easy way out. The privates have been doing that for years because they needed to do that to convince parents to pay for something that they otherwise could get for free. A lot of publics to this day don't understand that and they are the biggest losers of students. Right or wrong, there is competition for students and if the have nots don't get on the stick now, it will only get worse. Frankly if the haves don't do it, they will become have nots. Its a different world than it was before the privates; before the ability of parents to take their kids to schools an hour away; before the rise in importance of high school sports; and before the almost universal need to get admitted to college to get a high paying job.

 

One final point that is sort of relevant to the above paragraph. One thing that I have noticed in my years and years of being involved in the community and civic groups is that as a general rule, and there are exceptions I'm sure, very few school administrators and teachers are involved in civic organizations. They aren't involved in the Chambers of Commerce; they don't sit on non-profit boards; and they aren't very involved in civic associations (unless its a fund raiser for the school). In all my years of being involved in the Ft. Thomas Jr. Football League, I can't recall a single teacher or administrator that has volunteered as a coach or for the concession stand or as an official, in spite of them having children in the League. We've asked superintendents to get involved in a group of Campbell County Leaders. They've said no, that they didn't have time. Heck I don't have time either but I make the time.

 

Thus they miss out on many great opportunities to "sell" their school to business and non-business types. They miss out on the opportunity to get the message out there that they have a very good school system to offer to students and their parents. I know that it takes a lot of time, but heck, I have to put a lot of time into my job (more so than my brother and sister, one who currently teaches and one who is a retired teacher, by their own admission). Yet I make time to be on numerous boards. Why don't they? If they did, perhaps a side benefit, in addition to fulfilling a social obligation, would be to sell their schools to those parents considering taking the easier route. Just a thought and observation.

Where private schools are often perceived as, effectively, getting the pick of the litter, public schools must play with the cards they are dealt. This is because of attendance zones marked by boundaries.

 

"It's an issue of the haves and have-nots," said Clint Satterfield, football coach at Trousdale County, a small public high school in Hartsville that has won five state football championships over the last 17 years.

 

This is a great point. While privates can decide who they are going to educate and who they are not, publics do not have this choice. Privates can decide to bolster their classes and programs for the "college-bound" child while having not to educate special education children. Publics cannot and actually will have to spend more money on the special education child because of the demands it takes to educate them.

 

 

 

And that is fine because privates should be able to make that call.

 

But then don't claim that there is a level playing field between the two different schools.

 

Your comment about spending more money is interesting - In Jefferson County, Every property owner pays property taxes - whether they have kids or not. A large portion of the property tax goes to the Jefferson County Public Schools. In addition, people, like myself, who choose to send their children to private school, also pay for public schools by paying property taxes. I can assure you that Public Schools have a lot more money to spend per student than privates. We all give them money.

I really don't get the whole private school advantage thing. Most private schools are smaller in the # of students and the last time I checked they are not FREE. The private schools lose hundreds of kids each year to the free public schools, and that's not just at the high school level. Highlands and the rest of the FT. Thomas school system is very tough to compete with because their academics are good. Be a better school and start getting back those private school kids. All parents would choose free if that was a choice.

NKU20, here in Louisville where the population is quite large the local Private schools will take students from 12 surrounding counties including accross the river. The publics maybe three at the most and that means its like playing against "All-Star teams"...they can dress out almost 100 Seniors/Juniors. They lose their QB to an injury and they don't miss abeat, our school Male had 52 seniors/Juniors. So we deal with it as we watch the Privates in 6A/5A win another state Championship. Thats the way it is and we have to "get better and try harder" as one Private supporter told me.

 

Level playing field for the kids.

Thats the way it is and we have to "get better and try harder"

 

Well you got one thing right.

^^^one thing? I guess I was wrong on the others, my sources come from the privates.

NKU20, here in Louisville where the population is quite large the local Private schools will take students from 12 surrounding counties including accross the river. The publics maybe three at the most and that means its like playing against "All-Star teams"...they can dress out almost 100 Seniors/Juniors. They lose their QB to an injury and they don't miss abeat, our school Male had 52 seniors/Juniors. So we deal with it as we watch the Privates in 6A/5A win another state Championship. Thats the way it is and we have to "get better and try harder" as one Private supporter told me.

 

Level playing field for the kids.

 

1. What is the enrollment at Male?

 

2. Doesn't Jefferson County have open enrollment? If so, I assume that includes Male?

1) not sure but its crowded

 

2) Traditional School have to be blind draw to get in. We just applied yesterday. A/B student, great attitude, attendance nearly perfect, we will see in May.

Realizing of course that the goal of a school system should be the best education and not winning football championships.............but if you really want to break the X and T domination have the public school systems quit building new schools in areas were growth has occurred.

 

In NKY a new school will be opened next year in Boone County because the current schools (Ryle, Boone, Conner) are all over 1600-1700 students. Now if left alone those all would easily surpass 2000 in a couple of years and become nearly as large as X and T within 5 years. But thankfully there are resources to build a new school and the correct decisions were made.

NKU20, here in Louisville where the population is quite large the local Private schools will take students from 12 surrounding counties including accross the river. The publics maybe three at the most and that means its like playing against "All-Star teams"...they can dress out almost 100 Seniors/Juniors. They lose their QB to an injury and they don't miss abeat, our school Male had 52 seniors/Juniors. So we deal with it as we watch the Privates in 6A/5A win another state Championship. Thats the way it is and we have to "get better and try harder" as one Private supporter told me.

 

Level playing field for the kids.

 

I totally understand the problem in Louisville and in Lexington for that matter, but should we change the way things are done in the entire state for 2 areas. I don't care how many divisions you make, it's going to be unfair for somebody. I don't hear of a problem in Basketball, our smaller schools in Northern Ky. can't compete very often with your big schools down there in Louisville and we can't even get two divisions for basketball. Our 9th region has only one state championship EVER.

I totally understand the problem in Louisville and in Lexington for that matter, but should we change the way things are done in the entire state for 2 areas. I don't care how many divisions you make, it's going to be unfair for somebody. I don't hear of a problem in Basketball, our smaller schools in Northern Ky. can't compete very often with your big schools down there in Louisville and we can't even get two divisions for basketball. Our 9th region has only one state championship EVER.

 

Very good point. Almost all the posts advocating the private schools have an unfair advantage on any of these topics are really aimed at THREE schools, Trinity, St. X, and in some cases LexCath. And it is only in football for the most part, because in the other sports their is parity. Volleyball is an exception, but a lot of that is because many public schools didn't begin playing the game until the last 10 years. And lets face it, not too many people care about volleyball anyway. It is all about FOOTBALL, and all about T and X. So bottom line is a whole lot of people and a whole lot of posturing is really about TWO schools in ONE sport.