Memories of more than 500 regularly scheduled and special school board meetings came flooding back as I attended a Joplin R-8 Board of Education meeting for the first time Monday night.
I was one of about three dozen R-8 middle school teachers and staff who attended to show our interest in the Middle School Facilities Committee report. The recommendations still lean toward two middle schools, each with approximately 900 students, adopting the pod approach which would divide the schools into sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade pods to give the feel of having three smaller schools in each facility.
The questions about the property and the fear of having this many students in each middle school still provide challenges for the board if it decides to opt for this approach the next time it presents a ballot issue.
This issue, not any proposal to bring minor league hockey to Joplin, is the one which will eventually have the greater impact on the city's long-term growth and on its attractiveness to business. You might bring a few people to the city with a minor league hockey franchise, but when companies seek to relocate the quality of the school system and its facilities ranks right up at the top of the list of items that are considered.
The R-8 School District has demonstrated over the past several years that it takes improvement in curriculum seriously, achieving the "Accredited with Distinction" honor from the state the last two years. Bringing facilities up to date would give added ammunition to those arguing that Joplin is the place to be.
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After attending meetings for years that lasted well into the morning hours (some as late as 4 a.m.) it was nice to be able to listen to the presentation of the report, then go home at a reasonable hour. I always loved covering school board meetings, but I definitely do not miss the hours.
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