James Graham

Apples and Oranges. BCHS is a County school system and a districted County system at that, which has four high schools. Please tell me you agree that in a county system with multiple high schools it’s not fair to direct 90% of your free and reduced lunch kids to one school when the other three are nowhere near that. All of the examples you give are independent districts with one high school. Those independent districts cannot change their boundaries. If you live there you go there. BCHS’ problems are totally self inflicted.

A book could literally be written about this. So, really the only youth league now (besides Ft. Thomas) is the NKYFL. This is where the idea of feeders and districts tied to certain high schools come in. However, many of us remember the old BCPWFL. It is still around and fields teams for Boone County (the Little Rebels) and Cooper (the little Jags). Cooper was trying to get out of that arrangement from what I heard but I am out of the loop. BCPWFL holds one major asset from its glory days... the BCPWFL field off Hopeful Church. When your son/daughter plays/practices there the rental fee goes to BCPWFL. Its possible that a kid who came up through the Little Rebels program actually lives on a street that is districted to Cooper and vice-versa. Add in the exceptions (like a parent who works in the district and can go anywhere) or moves from a rental house on a BCHS districted street to one on Cooper districted street or purchases a house in a Cooper districted street and therein lies part of the mess. Boone County Public Schools have districting... but like anything there are a lot of gray areas with that.

Well... BCHS has the best coach they are ever going to get now or anytime in the next 25 years. No one cares more about the school, those kids and the history of BCHS football more than Bryson Warner. If he can't win there, then turn out the lights because no one will.

Good question. I think they possibly could. Ryle and Cooper were built in a way that it is easier to add "wings" to the school. Conner is the outlier there. My personal opinion is that you could target 2100 to 2200 per high school with three. But, let's also take into account future growth. A fourth high school should be built further out in the County, but still shudder Boone. BCHS is the problem. And, don't take this as a slight on BCHS. None of this is their fault. The concentration of free and reduced lunch is nearly all in Florence. The only way to equitably deal with that is to disperse that population among other schools, not concentrate it into one. It is truly untenable with no good option. Open enrollment would basically kill BCHS and re-districting is a non-starter for anyone not currently districted to BCHS.

This topic has kind of jumped the shark... but, technically speaking, every public school district is required to have a non-resident student enrollment policy. Obviously, there are issues with this. 1. If the school district or specific school you are trying to enroll in is full then they don't have to take you and 2. Any transfer must still separately meet the requirements of the KHSAA. Back to Boone County specifically... the current system is untenable. You have one high school whose feeders and the high school itself are probably at 90% free and reduced lunch (and that figure might be low). Huge issue right there. And no one in any of the better Boone County neighborhoods wants anything to do with re-districting. More is not always better. I think the ideal balance would be three high schools... Conner, Cooper and Ryle. Shutter Boone and distribute those students accordingly. It would create three 6A schools, but from an education and sports scenario this is probably what's best for the county. The problem is they have dumped so much money into Boone they just can't abandon that facility.

Not every sport. Ryle men's basketball has struggled mightily. Cooper girls hoops are also on a run. The other sports on the list are probably accurate though mainly because of Ryle's huge numbers advantage.

Guru is right. Four High Schools is way too many for football dominance. Only two Boone County High Schools would create two LEGIT 6a contenders every year. Facts. The districting hasn't worked because everyone tries to avoid Boone which is sad, but now they can't go "open enrollment" either because no one would go to Boone. So you are correct that its a Mess !!!

Funny... and Ryle and Cooper would smoke you this year and usually every year. No one cares about Middle School Football up here. We care about high school football. As long as the kids are playing in middle school that's all that matters. The Boone County middle school teams are technically "club" teams. They are not affiliated with any specific middle school. You play for the high school they are supposed to feed into and even then the amount of kids who will play for a feeder and then go to a different high school is pretty common. Ryle and Cooper and even Conner have had multiple D1 kids and great teams the last 20 years. The only team that has fallen off is the actual Boone County High School and that is whole other can of worms.

Will play (and contribute) on varsity this year... but I wouldn't get used to it long term... kid will have an MLB draft grade on him at some point... not sure playing football lines up with that.

And let's not forget its Boone County. Four high schools... all of which are 5A or 6A... the current demographics just don't allow for a year in year out dominant program. You are going to have windows of time that are better than others. Cooper is currently in one of those windows. When this group filters through they will still be good but maybe not as good as their current makeup. The only other county in the state that I think is comparable to Boone in this regard is Warren. Would you imagine how dominant Boone County schools would be at 6A with only two high schools like, say, Scott County ??

This is 100% correct. Ohio football is better for one reason. Population. Ohio has 11 million citizens. Kentucky has 4.5 million. Big time football at the high school level is 100% driven by population and if we are being even more honest, its driven by African-American population. Boone, Campbell and Kenton have between them roughly 380,000 people... maybe a little more. Hamilton County alone is more than double that. With more population, comes more talent and more talented kids mean more colleges come calling. But, does anyone think Michael Mayer couldn't have played at any GCL or GMC school of his choosing? Better yet, does anyone think that Trinity, X and Male couldn't compete in Ohio? Of course not... and why?? Population and, specifically, access to African-American population. Anyway, Cooper is going to be dang good this year. They will finally end the Battle of Union losing streak and Austin Alexander and Cam O'Hara could both play for any school in Southwest Ohio.

Baker is top five easily. She has double digit college offers for a reason. And, while that is just one metric, she averaged 11 and 7 on a team where she was the third and sometimes fourth option... not by her choice, of course.

Wins: Hughes, Boone, Scott Toss-Up: Conner Rest of the schedule looking a little "rough" for the Red Colonels.

I'm thinking Ryle is better than Simon next year, correct? At some point soon, those Ryle middle school teams that were lights out a couple years ago will be varsity starters.

Good news: Great assistant coach everywhere he has been who is youthful and will coach with a lot of spirit. He will be able to lean on Hergott and Berger for the Beechwood way to get his sea legs underneath him Bad news: There are like three legitimate teams in Kentucky 2A. So if he doesn't win state, it will be an issue... but that goes for whoever Beechwood hired.

If Ohio's season start date mirrors Kentucky again this year, then I think you are right. GCL play is normally weeks 5, 6, and 7. This schedule now takes CCH into week 5.

NWO 4 Life !!

Chances "Hollywood Hogan" is the third man?? Who is the third man in the Moeller interview process??

He's a TMU guy... I could see him driving down the street and Coordinating their defense every day.

If he wants less stress to focus on wellness at this stage in his life, not sure BigMoe is it. I think he could win there. Heck, I think he would be a great hire. But, if he's going to stay teaching at Beechwood its almost impossible to make that work 30 minutes North everyday.

Every school in the state not a P5 could have had this kid !!! Quit with the analytics and measurables all the dang time. Some kids are just winners. He's one of them.

Noel was well regarded during his assistant stint at Moeller some 25 years ago. If he was interested I am sure he would garner serious consideration. The problem is he ain't (1) taking a pay-cut, (2) leaving KTRS, (3) entering a job at this stage in his life with exponentially greater expectations and pressure and (4) leave a program that I think the majority of fans and people in the area consider his. I could be wrong here, but it just doesn't make good sense. These GCL jobs are brutal. You are fighting for the same handful of kids and some of the public options these days are just as good.

Then close BC high school down build another new high school "out in the County" and re-district BC kids to one of the four county high schools. But, they won't do that either because the board has poured millions into the BC campus. So, its a circular problem with Boone County High School being left to "figure it out."

A couple of things. If Bryson Warner can't win at Boone County then they need to close up the football program. He's a grad. He knows the alumni. He is deeply involved in all aspects of his program. He is constantly selling the program in the community, and, oh, he's a proven winner at another program. Boone County will never attract another coach with his background and credentials. It will just be someone looking for a one year miracle to get a better job somewhere else. I give that background because when Bryson recommends something like this it should carry weight. He's a no-nonsense, no excuse guy. The county could re-district, but they won't. That's a whole different thread, and too many people refusing to do something unpopular. So what do you do? Right now Boone County has ZERO in common with any of the other county schools. Its free lunch numbers, minority population and population living in rented housing is so far out of whack to the other county schools it is embarrassing. Why does rented housing matter? Because those kids tend to participate one day and then be gone the next because the family unit moved somewhere else. Boone County has more in common with Holmes than it does, say Conner or Scott. So why not create a district of similar schools ? It would be competitive for the kids and they would have a goal of something to play for. Putting Boone in this 5A district is relegating them to four years of trying to beat Scott for a district win and not finishing last. A district win, mind you, that would be their first in like five years. But hey, let's continue to blame the kids trying to find out where their dinner is coming from and make them play all the schools who have 75 kids just standing on the sidelines. That makes sense.

You will notice that I didn't say they should opt out of district play. I am simply giving a possible reason as to why they would consider it. And honestly, who can blame them? Look, the BCHS people have been begging, pleading, for years to just equal the playing field even a little bit. They have a "program building" coach who's an alum, their facilities match at least the other Boone County high schools, but they are locked into an area with zero new home starts. So I guess you are correct, they have a chance to make the playoffs by beating Scott, but they aren't beating Conner or Cooper anytime soon. Conner has everyone back next year and should be decent to above average the next few years. Cooper will have its sights set on deep 5A playoff runs for the next two or three years.