Here are some new ideas that might help out Lee High. The first one could be
accomplished in a couple of months. Each one after gets a little more complicated,
but could be done in time to adjust the yet-to-be-picked 2007 realignment plan
before it is implemented.
1.) Lee could play as an "independent" in all sports (similar to what Altavista is doing
right now in football), then compete in the Highlands District tourneys as the bottom seed,
and the Region IV football playoffs based on their power ratings seeding.
2.) Check with KY and TN and see if either has a Group A school that is forced to play in a
AA District, and work out a 'trade'. That school can join the Cumberland and Lee can take
their place.
3.) Get the Lee Co. School Board to reverse their buildings. Make the building at Ben Hur
a middle school & change the Jonesville & Pennington middle schools back to single-A high
schools.
(My personal favorite - I miss the Bobcats!)
4.) Get Wise Co. to consolidate Appy w/ Powell Valley, JI Burton w/ JJ Kelly,
and Coeburn w/ Pound, and Dickenson Co. to combine Ervinton, Haysi and Clintwood.
The LPD could go AA and pick up Lee. The Hogoheegee District could be moved to
Region D & pick up Va. High (then split if they wanted to), and the Highlands
leftovers could merge back into Southwest District. Then, the River Ridge could
be moved to Region IV and the Valley moved to Region III. All this would help to
re-balance the Regions.
5.) I read something recently that said Bill Gates is behind an effort to go back to small
schools by dividing up big ones into 'communities', so 3 or 4 different 'schools' might be
housed in one building or on one campus. Find a way to have a "North Lee" (top floor) &
"South Lee" (bottom floor) in the same building, and both could join the Cumberland.
(But we'd have to keep this idea out of Northern Va. A school like Gar-Field could become
a District by itself, and Prince William Co. could be home to 2 entire Regions!)