GoBigRed

I guess you're right, I never thought of it that way. This is really impossible to control because a county like Grayson could, for example, get a new Car Manufacturing plant and several thousands of new citizens would come into the area, thus bringing in several new students. This happens in Ft. Campbell, the war is on now, the economy down in Clarksville TN is booming and so is the base and now you see Ft. Campbell really doing well in football.

Yeah, I can see where it would seem unfair when there are so many schools to choose from in the Louisville Metro area. But in most counties you have 2 schools to choose from tops, it is crazy to tell us that we should have to move to Louisville if we don't like it.

Obviously you know more about the open enrollment than I, but you have helped me understand how it works and you have answered several of my questions. I guess we just have to agree to disagree on this, I just had to get this topic off my chest and see what people thought about it. Christian County is a huge football school, if you put a school like that or a school like Grayson county in Louisville, it would help them out. It is just an advantage that the metro schools have and there should be some way to control it, thats all I'm saying.

I am not talking about myself, I would like my child to play sports but it will be choice, I won't force it upon him. I am talking about all the other schools, I am sorry about my lack of knowledge about 3A in Louisville, for that I apologize, I just never hear about any of those schools, maybe fairdale.

Any of those private?

Good points, without em Mayfield wouldn't even have a chance. But where is the tradition in a school like Holy Cross, doesn't look like they have been around very long.

Don't know about those two teams, I am sure they both have tuition paying students, they are 3A however, Louisville don't have a team to compete in 3A against them and that is what I have been talking about. But I would think that both of those schools have more parity between them.

All that stuff is great, but this is a football forum, not an academics forum. I do have a problem that some schools are that much greater in football than other ones and I was just trying to figure out some reasons why and it is tough to get an unbiased answer so far cause everyone on here has been from "the 'ville" except the ladiesbasketball coach. I have seen both sides, rural and urban so I have a different perspective than a lot of you.

No, I chose to move out of Louisville, for family reasons. I don't complain that my child doesn't have the options he would have in Louisville, I really don't value a Magnet school that much, some do, that is fine. I have a problem with a team getting all the way to state only to get blown out by another team, not even close.

Yep, I was talking about the academics primarily. Everyone has said that athletics are just a by-product, a nice one. Louisvillle owns 4A and eventually 1A, unless something is done about it.

Yeah, you said it, there would probably be more parity but I don't see open enrollment going away, too many benefits. The only thing us rural schools can do is work harder and improve year after year, push our kids to the limit.

Yeah, exactly. In Mayfield HS, we pretty much make do with what the community provides us, with the occasional transfer here and there. I think that it is way more cool to win with a team that had a lot of heart from a small community where expectations are high, it makes those state championships that much more special. With open enrollment in Louisville, it just seems like it would take away from that.

Yeah, you said after 8th grade, before high school, the options are open. I am only stating what I am seeing and I think that people are reinforcing what I thought. How long has Louisville Holy Cross been in existence? I have noticed that in just a short amount of time they have been right up there with the big dogs in Class A. I am not whining about it, just stating what I am noticing. Are they benefiting from open enrollment?

You can divide it any way you want, the fact of the matter is the kids can go to any school they choose, for any reason.

FYI I lived in Louisville for 2 years and I loved it, no complaints. I had to move back because I had a baby boy and we wanted to move back so he could see his grandparents. I don't think that open enrollment was intended for athletic reasons, I never said that, there are just benefits that lie there that most other schools in the state can't take advantage of, that is all.

Thats what I am talking about, we have a county school (Graves County) which is 4A, can only draw from 40,000 people.

How do you expect a county of 40,000 peolple to be able to compete with a county of 500,000 people? The best schools get the best athletes, you said it was an advantage, so it looks like pretty much everyone on here is admitting that it is. Take a school like Mayfield HS, if you allow them to have open enrollment, it doesn't help them at all, no population to draw from. This is a rule that the JCPS created that isn't fair athletically, maybe it creates opportunities academically, which is great, give the students the ability to succeed, I wish I would have had that kind of opportunity. All that I am saying is that athletically it should be regulated somehow.

Exactly, there is an advantage and it is only fair becuase the schools are conforming to rules they made up.

I think this is the key point. The decision must be made when entering the ninth grade or the student risk the penalty of sitting out a year. Not a problem, you're a good football player, you know where you want to go. What if Danville HS was near Lexington, I know they are close but what if they were in the Metro area? They would be unstoppable, IMO.

And I think you are right. I am sure that the people that created the open enrollment idea's original intention was to benefit academics. But there should be regulations on the athletic side of it, the rest of the state's districts are regulated in some fashion, why shouldn't athletics be regulated in Louisville? I don't see the difference in an advantage and being fair, rockmom. It is an advantage and it isn't fair.

Yeah, or in other words, "The optional choice to apply to a school where football is a huge factor". It may not have anything to do with sports, but it is an advantage, there is no denying it. If it was only about academics you wouldn't see these powerhouse athelic programs like you do today.

This was brought up in another thread so I thought I would try to help myself understand it. Apparently the City of Louisville was broken up into districts in the past and now a student can just enroll in any school he chooses without any kind of penalty. Why was the districts removed and how is this fair to rural schools in the state that don't have the population to pull from? The example that I have is Christian County, how can they ever compete with Male, St. X or Trinity when they don't even have 1/8 of the students to draw from?