WESTOVER -- More than 150 people -- most of them protesting a proposal to consolidate Crisfield and Washington high schools -- packed into the Board of Education meeting room and overflowed into the hallway during a special meeting Tuesday night.
"It's not as many here as some people thought," said Billie Jo Chandler, who was passing out anti-merger stickers at the door to some of the more than 500 followers of a new Facebook group titled Occupy Crisfield High.
Many of those who spoke cited the advantages of small schools, such as Crisfield High School, and asked board members to seek another way to restructure it after it failed to meet its Adequate Yearly Progress --or AYP -- targets set by the federal government for four years in a row.
"If we lose the high school in Crisfield, we lose the heart and soul of the town," said Bob Evans, owner of a local seafood business.
Evans and others expressed concerns about teen drivers traveling 12 miles to Westover along the two-lane Route 413 twice a day, while other speakers said the merger would be hardest on students from Smith Island who already face 40-minute boat rides to and from Crisfield each day.
Pat Carson, a teacher at Crisfield High School for 40 years, said islanders would be traveling across Tangier Sound in the dark.
"That's not a very safe and secure feeling," she said.
Others questioned whether consolidation would improve the quality of education at the high school level.
Gretna Willis, a retired principal and school administrator from Marion Station, said she looked for information about the benefits of merging schools.
"I could not find one body of research that shows consolidation of schools improves student achievement," she said.
Instead, Willis said she found numerous studies showing that students excel in smaller school settings.
John Phoebus, a Crisfield attorney and opponent of the plan, also presented board members with a petition that has been circulating in Crisfield since last week
Board members were presented with three options for restructuring Crisfield High: replacing all or most of the staff, contracting with a private management firm or reopening Crisfield High as a charter school, which are all listed in the state's Alternative Governance for School Improvement Proposal.
Board of Education Chairman Warner Sumpter said recently that high school consolidation also falls in the same category and Maryland Department of Education officials are aware of the county's proposal.
School officials have said they are concerned Washington High in Princess Anne may not meet AYP this year and will be forced to undergo mandatory restructuring as well.
Consolidation of Crisfield and Washington high schools would allow the small school system to pool its resources and staff in one location, Sumpter said.
If a plan is approved, Grades 10-12 would be moved to the Somerset Intermediate School building in Westover.
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