One big question I have is why single Corbin out and sign agreements with every other school district? They lose more kids to Barbourville Independent than to Corbin, so if not signing the reciprocal is because of the loss of funding for the kids leaving the system, as the Knox Superintendent stated, it makes no sense to sign with Barbourville.

 

This whole thing has really caused a lot of hard feelings between the Corbin and Knox Co. people, which will not be soothed for years to come.

 

 

Your statement concerning Barbourville Schools is not accurate. The number of Knox students attending Corbin (somewhere aroung 160) far exceeds the number attending Barbourville. Plus, Knox recieves many students from the city schools seeking services that Barbourville can't provide. The systems share a variety of academic programs and even contracts with the County to service their buses. Bell, Pineville, Whitley, etc. are pretty much a wash with a few parents crossing lines simply as a convenience matter primarily concerning their jobs. One must also consider that losing the reciprocal agreement with the County would essentially be a death sentence for the already shakey Barbourville district. However, I would assume that Corbin will survive.

 

As for hard feelings, things have never been that warm and fuzzy to begin with.

 

Moving will not be much of an option unless they are willing to take a big loss on their houses because there will not be much of a market for these homes. I would estimate a 10-20% drop off in the market value of these homes and most people can't afford to take a loss of $25,000-50,000.

 

Maybe I'm being dense, but if they can put a 25K to 50K value on being in the Corbin system, why would they move to an area where they can not even vote for Corbin school board members?

 

Another item not being mentioned is that Knox County has offered to allow the Corbin kids already in Knox schools to continue tuition free.

You are saddly wrong my friend that agreement has never been made !!!

Maybe I'm being dense, but if they can put a 25K to 50K value on being in the Corbin system, why would they move to an area where they can not even vote for Corbin school board members?

 

Another item not being mentioned is that Knox County has offered to allow the Corbin kids already in Knox schools to continue tuition free.

 

I'm not saying that there is that much value on being in the system, only that it is supply and demand that will drive the values down. I don't foresee a mass exodus from this area as the parents will either cough up the money, transfer to Knox or come up with another creative way to keep them in Corbin without moving.

 

School board elections in Corbin are not hotly contested races at all like you see in the area county schools.

 

I don't see how Knox County can afford not to charge these kids if they truly are in a financial bind as they stated. The money that Knox will gain will be virtually zero if they do not charge for the 30+ kids who live in the Corbin district because I seriously doubt they will get many more than that, if that many from the Corbin system. The Corbin system would be the only one losing money and Knox would not be gaining any because neither would receive the SEEK funding for the kids going out of their district , so what is the purpose of not signing? I don't know what the real reasons are for sure, even though I have my own opinion, but it comes across as only trying to harm the Corbin system, although that is not my theory.

1.) It seems that there have always been issues with Knox County and Corbin. The feelings have not been anywhere near soothed for decades. Everything from the current school situation, occupational taxes and everything in between has been a constant wedge. To think that a complete comprimise would make everyone warm and fuzzy is a dream. (I do favor a "grandfather" compromise. If the kids were IN the Corbin district the wed. before the vote, they should be allowed to stay. The ones that were not would have to pay. Maybe even let a sibling/legacy clause be added. Bottom line: IF they were in the Corbin system before the vote, they are ok. Afterwards, let them pay. Fair compromise.)

 

 

2.) How could anyone promise anyone that the school board would or would not do this when they bought/built? Can anyone predict what the school board/county government will do in 6 months? 12 months? 10 years? They were hearing what they wanted to hear and were told what they wanted to hear. They should have checked to see what the atmosphere was within the agreement before the big investment, and even then nothing is 100%. This is a bad argument. None of us can know right now what the powers that be will do or what situations could come up to change plans. It is ridiculous to promise these things and even more ridiculous to believe them 100%.

 

 

3.) Annexation is a little more complicated than just saying "Hey, we're part of the city now!" Before doing this, something like 75% of the affected community has to vote yes. I don't see this situation concerning enough of the unaffected people to get this kind of percentage. I would vote no if I lived there. I have no kids involved and see no reason to pay county AND city taxes to assist these neighbors. I would feel for these neighbors, but not near enough to pay more and more to the government just to make them happy. I do not see many people that are unaffected by the situation voting to get themselves poorer by the annexation.

 

Knox County taxes will still exist. County property taxes for the county of residence will still exist. City taxes and city property taxes will be add ons.

 

What would the new taxes add up to over the years? Would it off set the tuition that you would pay for a few school years? Remember, if you get these taxes because of this, you pay them forever, not just as long as the kids are in school. Plus, the city is usually more than happy to annex and less than thrilled to provide services to the new areas.

 

I think you should run for Knox Co. school board. The grandfather clause would have been the best scenario for all involved in my opinion, but I think that the current Superintendent needed some kind of change or diversion now. It's hard to take a child out of the school that most have always attended with their friends, so that would have seemed to be fairest option.

 

The annexation talk is not an annexation into the City of Corbin, only into the Corbin School District. The property tax dollars would then go to Corbin schools instead of Knox County schools. This is what happened about 20 years ago when the state school board allowed Corbin to annex most of the area on the outskirts of the school's boundaries. I have been told that approximately 20-25% of Corbin's student population comes from this area that use to be part of the Whitley Co. School System.

 

You are right about the people who moved into the Knox district, they did so at their own risk, but because the agreement had been in place for so long they assumed it would not be a problem.

I think you should run for Knox Co. school board. The grandfather clause would have been the best scenario for all involved in my opinion, but I think that the current Superintendent needed some kind of change or diversion now. It's hard to take a child out of the school that most have always attended with their friends, so that would have seemed to be fairest option.

 

The annexation talk is not an annexation into the City of Corbin, only into the Corbin School District. The property tax dollars would then go to Corbin schools instead of Knox County schools. This is what happened about 20 years ago when the state school board allowed Corbin to annex most of the area on the outskirts of the school's boundaries. I have been told that approximately 20-25% of Corbin's student population comes from this area that use to be part of the Whitley Co. School System.

 

You are right about the people who moved into the Knox district, they did so at their own risk, but because the agreement had been in place for so long they assumed it would not be a problem.

 

When a school system wants to annex land it must be put up to a voter approval by the people. If the people approve, it goes to the Board of Education. The big thing with this is that it must be put to a vote and I think approved by both boards. If they don't come into an agreement then it goes to KDE. There have been several cases that have gone to the KDE.This issue between Corbin and Knox county seems to be similar to the one between Jackson Independent and the Breathitt County a few years ago.

Edited January 28, 201016 yr by AHSPanther23

You know what they say about "assume" 4chs.... It is dangerous to play the game by what is/has always been without any written guarantee.

 

 

(I have thought about running for school board before. I don't know if I could get the support here in this end of the county.)

You are saddly wrong my friend that agreement has never been made !!!

 

To whom or what are you referring?

They will not be able to sell these homes because there will not be people from the area willing to buy them if they are outside the Corbin school district, so a realtor told me he expected these home values to drop drastically. Homeowners are already calling the Knox PVA office asking for their houses to be reappraised.

 

I understand you're just quoting others but why would the PVA reassess homes based on a school board decision? A few of these home would have to be sold before a new fair market value could be established. After all, these homes never changed districts.

 

I'm betting that the market value will not change much beyond what could be attributed to the general housing downturn.

You are right about the people who moved into the Knox district, they did so at their own risk, but because the agreement had been in place for so long they assumed it would not be a problem.

 

Would it not be a better assumption that if you bought a home within the county district that your kids would be required to attend the county school?

 

I'm going to blunt here about my real dessention on this issue. If Corbin City Schools did decide to annex a portion of the Knox County district, would they take the nearby areas where the poorer children live also or would their annexation be limited to two or three of the more affluent subdivisions?

Would it not be a better assumption that if you bought a home within the county district that your kids would be required to attend the county school?

 

I'm going to blunt here about my real dessention on this issue. If Corbin City Schools did decide to annex a portion of the Knox County district, would they take the nearby areas where the poorer children live also or would their annexation be limited to two or three of the more affluent subdivisions?

 

As a Corbin school teacher I resent your insinuation that we only want the more affluent kids. Corbin has been at the top because we offer ALL kids a quality education regardless of socio-economic status. In fact, if you were to do the research you will find that our free and reduced lunch population performs on par with our more affluent kids and better in some cases so----if the school district does annex we will welcome any student who comes through our doors. We always have and always will. This thing is far from over and what it boils down to is that the Knox County school system does not care about what kids suffer from this decision but only the almighty dollar. IMHO it is going to hurt both districts in the long run and perhaps Knox County the most. Time will tell. The real losers will be the kids.

As a Corbin school teacher I resent your insinuation that we only want the more affluent kids. Corbin has been at the top because we offer ALL kids a quality education regardless of socio-economic status. In fact, if you were to do the research you will find that our free and reduced lunch population performs on par with our more affluent kids and better in some cases so----if the school district does annex we will welcome any student who comes through our doors. We always have and always will. This thing is far from over and what it boils down to is that the Knox County school system does not care about what kids suffer from this decision but only the almighty dollar. IMHO it is going to hurt both districts in the long run and perhaps Knox County the most. Time will tell. The real losers will be the kids.

 

IMHO a very arrogant statement...

IMHO a very arrogant statement...

Knox County the most. Time will tell. The real losers will be the kids.

How is that statement arrogant? Knox County in all probability will not get the money they are after if the parents decide to pay the tuition to send their kids to Corbin. According to them that is the reason why they did it so if they don't get the money then they are hurt more than Corbin because they lost both the student and the money. Thus they are hurt more than Corbin because Corbin gets the tuition and the kid ---- so I guess I am not following your logic. :confused:

Would it not be a better assumption that if you bought a home within the county district that your kids would be required to attend the county school?

 

I'm going to blunt here about my real dessention on this issue. If Corbin City Schools did decide to annex a portion of the Knox County district, would they take the nearby areas where the poorer children live also or would their annexation be limited to two or three of the more affluent subdivisions?

 

What areas that are annexed, if any, will be the areas where a certain majority of the homeowners sign a petition which states they want to be annexed. It will be up to the state school board to draw the lines for the actual boundaries. I went through this several years back when Corbin was awarded the Whitley Co. area and it was not determined by economic status, but by geography.

 

I hope it does not come to this, but the precedent is there and the situations educationally, at least statistically speaking, are eerily similar. This would hurt the Knox system economically, but it could also serve as a wake up call, as it seemed to do with Whitley Co.

As a Corbin school teacher I resent your insinuation that we only want the more affluent kids. Corbin has been at the top because we offer ALL kids a quality education regardless of socio-economic status. In fact, if you were to do the research you will find that our free and reduced lunch population performs on par with our more affluent kids and better in some cases so----if the school district does annex we will welcome any student who comes through our doors. We always have and always will. This thing is far from over and what it boils down to is that the Knox County school system does not care about what kids suffer from this decision but only the almighty dollar. IMHO it is going to hurt both districts in the long run and perhaps Knox County the most. Time will tell. The real losers will be the kids.

 

People who don't really understand Corbin have a bad misconception about Corbin, which is shown by Pepper II's post.

 

Corbin does push their students hard to be the best that they can possibly be, which applies to all students from all backgrounds and environments. I'm sure that is not the school for everybody, but they are the school for anybody.