Transfer rules should tell students what matters, and push principals to round out their
programs.Knox Middle School fans jumped to
their feet on a recent fall afternoon as young Theo Allen charged down the field to score
a touchdown for the seventh grade team.
My heart leaped, and then sank. Better not get my
hopes up about seeing Theo play at Salisbury High in a few years. If current trends
continued, Theo might transfer to North Rowan or some other school instead. He'd be
following in the footsteps of a lot of other promising athletes in the Rowan-Salisbury
system who have changed schools to get the coach and the position they wanted.
But that trend may be coming to an end. Finally.
The Rowan-Salisbury School Board will soon take
under consideration a change in its student transfer policy to block maneuvers like that.
Students will still be able to transfer for academic reasons, but they'd forever have to
play sports for their home team.
"The Michael Blount rule," someone in
our office dubbed it.
That may not be fair. Salisbury High's Michael
Blount and East Rowan's Brian Hatley are just the latest-- and most vocal--Êin a string
of high school football and baseball players who have switched schools and teams in recent
years. (Not to mention track stars and basketball players, male and female.)
But Michael happens also to be the son of a county
commissioner, Steve Blount. When Michael and his brother Boo applied for and got a
transfer from Salisbury High School to North Rowan, they pushed some tolerance meter over
at school board headquarters into the red zone. A revamped policy was soon in the works.
Now that they have actually had the nerve to
transfer back to Salisbury, the revised policy is looking wiser and wiser.
For his part, Michael says he sought the transfer
to North because he was looking for better opportunities. "In all honesty, a lot of
it was athletics," he says. He'd been attending Salisbury schools nearly all his
life, but the football team at Salisbury High has had a dismal record for the past three
years--my words, not Michael's. The last-minute exit of head coach GlennPadgett threw the
team back into transition as the '99 season neared.
"I've never been the type of person to quit
something," Michael says, "but I'd been quarterback on that team for three
years. And for three years I was slapped around. I was ready to make a change."
The fact that Michael would transfer was loaded
with irony. His stepfather has been a vocal critic of the school system's transfer policy,
and Michael acknowledges that he himself was unhappy with the impact transfers were
making.
"It has caused a lot of problems with
Salisbury High's athletic program," Michael says. Countless athletes who have become
stars at other schools like A.L. Brown and East Rowan High School had started out
in the Salisbury system. Looking for a chance to join a winning tradition--Êand be
noticed by college scouts--Êthey transferred out, usually under the cover of academic
reasons.
When Michael decided to transfer, he didn't have
to cite a course particular to North Rowan. He had been living with his mother and
stepfather, Rosemary and Bryce Beard, in Salisbury. But his father, Steve Blount, lives in
Spencer, in the North district. Where he actually laid his head to sleep at night I don't
know and don't really care. When parents exercise any kind of joint custody, the school
system can hardly get into the business of monitoring where kids spend the night.
So Michael enrolled at North. "They treated
me great," he says of his new teammates and coaches. "I loved playing for
North." But after a while he got the feeling that it was "not where I
belong."Being part of a victorious team didn't make as much difference as he thought
it would. He missed the things he had enjoyed about Salisbury--friends, academics.
"It was more of a personal thing. Ihad a little bit of change in priority."
So how did the Salisbury team members treat him
upon his return?There was some conflict, he says, and questions about loyalty. "But
I've been playing so long with them that they forgave me."
As he's saying this, it's Friday morning, about
nine hours before Salisbury and North play each other in football. A fierce if somewhat
lopsided rivalry will have extra tension in it for Michael.
He shakes it off and says he's sure everything
will be OK. His focus appears to be further down the road than this night's football game.
He's not so sure the proposed revision in the
transfer policy is the best approach. He'd rather see transfer students sit out a year of
sports, as they do in Charlotte-Meckenburg, than be forever tied to their home school.
Either way, he would not have bothered to transfer
this year if the new policy had been in effect. But he knows some student athletes are
still hoping for some maneuvering room in the policy. Being on a winning team could help
them win a scholarship-- getting them a college education that otherwise would be
financially impossible.
"I still think a person should be able to go
to the school that will offer them the best chance to succeed," Michael says--whether
that's through academics or athletics. "It's going to do the job of cutting down
athletic transfers, but I think it should push the schools to improve athletically as well
as academically."
That's the other unspoken part of the story: the
schools' responsibility to offer students a well-rounded program.
I've always been the one pushing academics. But
following our children through high school and seeing the way sporting events pull a
student body together, I've gained appreciation for the importance of sports, band and all
the non-academic elements that help make a vibrant high school tick.
Not everyone is an honors scholar. Not everyone is
a football phenom or a band impresario. But all those types of students and many more
should feel at home and productive at the high school in their home district.
n
Elizabeth G. Cook is editor of the Salisbury Post.
They may not be holding hands in a circle and singing "That's what friends are
for," but the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education is at least publicly acting like
there's peace in the valley.
After a rocky start in deciding who would be the
new chairman-- or chairwoman, as it turned out-- and hitting several hot issues,
school board members found "ground rules" posted in the board's Long
Street meeting room.
On this list appeared: "Listen as an ally.
One person speaks at a time. Respect each other."
And for the first five months, the public
witnessed anything but civil conversations among the newly elected board.
However, the tide may have changed.
For the last three months, board members have
managed civil meetings.
And at the board's annual retreat Monday, tough
topics came up, including redistricting at Morgan Elementary.
No one yelled. No one criticized.
After the meeting, Chairwoman Dr. Bettie Starr
said, "Things have seemed to improve. I hope it continues." And under her
breath, she added, "We're going to get along if it kills us."
n
The old map of Rowan County on Jim Dunn's office
wall has turned yellow--except in one spot.
Dunn, a planner with the state's Division of
Community Assistance, explains.
The 1930 map belonged to his father, Judge J.A.
Dunn Sr., who was the most loyal of Democrats. "Yellow dog" would not be too
strong a term.
The 1930 map, which even lists individual
landowners, was drawn up at a time when the Rowan County Commissioners were all
Republicans--E.A. Goodman, chairman; J.M. Holshouser, R.M. Miller, R.L. Moore and H.S.
Bostian. Their names are listed in large print on the map.
Judge Dunn kept the map on his office wall, but to
make it more pleasant to his eye he covered the names of the commissioners with an
envelope that stayed in place for a long time--hence the white spot on the otherwise
yellowed map.
n
Who's speaking to whom, here?
Two Columbine High School teens came to speak to
East Rowan High students one recent morning. Students at East have never been so
good. They barely even moved during the talk.
Afterwards, one reporter went up to two girls and
began asking them what they thought of the talk. Soon, the reporter looked up and more
kids had joined the impromptu Q&A. They all wanted to talk about how what the
Columbine kids had said affected them. They couldn't stop.
Finally, when the reporter couldn't see the
auditorium anymore because students had circled her three people deep, she finally had to
say: "Ok, guys. Don't get me in trouble. Head on back to class."
n
Quote of the week, from city employee Tamara
Earnhardt, upon learning that either she or her husband is going to have to leave the
Salisbury Fire Department:
"How are we going to do that? Am I going to
fire my husband, or is he going to fire me?"
Hurricane Floyd left Salisbury with some new
friends. Archie Burkel and her husband, John, found Salisbury during their evacuation from
the Charleston area.
In tribute to their wonderful stay, Archie penned
a poem about Salisbury. She called it "Not Just Any Port in the Storm." Here it
is:
Who brought us to town?
"Floyd" was his name.
One stop in Salisbury,
Then our plans changed.
The winds of fate blew us
To enchanting Rowan Oak.
In this wondrous town
With its wonderful folk.
We wanted to explore,
We knew that, for sure,
So off to the Visitor Center
For its special walking tour.
All edifices on the block--
We simply had to seem 'em.
Topping off our day
With a stop at the Museum.
Restaurants were plentiful
Wherever we'd go;
Attractions thrilled us
From our heads to our toes.
We enjoyed your town:
Its present and its history;
Signature shops filled with temptation;
Cemeteries shrouded in mystery.
Salisbury was an oasis,
Just like Brigadoon.
We plan to come back
And hope that it's soon.
--Archie Burkel
Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
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