All good things come to an end. Summer vacation for students in the Jackson County and Commerce school systems is ending this week and next respectively as the 2010-11 school year begins.
The Jackson County School System expects a “slight increase” in enrollment when school starts Thursday. The latest projection is for 7,400 students.
Commerce students head back to school Monday, Aug. 9. As of last Friday, Commerce had 1,463 students enrolled, compared to 1,430 when school ended last May.
“Historically, we usually start off about where we ended,” noted superintendent James E. “Mac” McCoy. “We’ve enrolled a number of (new) kids, but we’ve had transition the other way as well. Until we open the doors and get the counts, it’s hard to say what we’re going to have.”
On paper, as of Friday, Commerce High School had 410 students — up from 397 when school ended last year.
At East Jackson Comprehensive High School, principal Pat Stueck said she expects about 1,000 students Thursday.
“We enrolled 30 this week,” she said last Friday. “It’s up a little bit, but not much.”
The Jackson County school calendar has four fewer school days for students, Stueck notes, while the Commerce calendar shows 170 days of classes, 10 less than in past years. Both reductions are the systems’ attempts to trim their budgets due to reduced state revenue.
Students in both systems will have a full week off at Thanksgiving this year. Commerce students will get an extra week off between semesters while officials complete the move from the old high school building into the new CHS.
While taking my child to school, I see car tags from Madison, Franklin and Banks County...and even a few from Jackson. If these students can continue to go to Commerce without paying city/county taxes, why it it such a struggle to let my child go to another school in the same county?