Letter to the Editor:

Re: Response to the Article regarding the sale of Palmersville School and the reason for its closure

Let us reflect on the REAL REASONS why Palmersville School was closed. Recall the heated debate in our county that occurred approximately seven years ago over the “consolidation” issue. You could argue that over half of the county’s population was opposed to this; even so, ONE out of SIX schools was targeted – Palmersville High School. A great effort was put forth; a vast majority of the people wanted to put this issue to the vote but this was not allowed. A group was formed from several towns in our county who stood to lose their schools in the consolidation effort. This group suddenly disbanded due to threats made to various individuals and their own communities. People may not want to speak out about what went on during that time; at this point, our community has nothing to lose, so why NOT tell the truth.

Prior to this, bus routes were slowly shortened over a period of 20-30 years in the Palmersville area. There are those who would deny this; however, reliable people who know the truth say otherwise. Then, the high school was closed under the guise of “consolidation.” Yes, enrollment has declined since we lost the high school. Shortened bus routes had an impact. After the high school was closed, many parents decided to send smaller siblings to Dresden after their older children went to give them a “head start” in different surroundings. Parents also felt closure was imminent and started sending children to Dresden as well.

Money has been spent to “expand” the facility at Dresden and pay teachers there who could have taught here at Palmersville. Re-routing bus routes at little to no cost was “not an option.” Our school, which was reportedly worth around ten million, plus the million spent on the Dresden facility should cause Weakley county citizens to be concerned about the waste of our tax dollars.

It is shameful that minor repairs and maintenance money was not spent on Palmersville School over the last several years. People from our community have done everything from painting the building to constructing the shop to providing bull-dozer work at no cost; yet the school board’s budget could never find the funds to do needed repairs and may have deliberately let the building go down, in my opinion.

Let’s not forget to mention the sudden “dissolution” of our school board member’s position and the lack of fair representation by someone who was duly elected and appointed by the people of our area.

The final insult came when the School Board decided to put our building up on the “auction block”. Our community had less than 2 weeks notice about this. It would have been “nice” if the school board had offered to let us lease the building for a community center for maintenance as they have in other communities of our county; or, even given our Alumni Association enough notice to make appropriate plans for the future of our building. Even the surveyor was not given adequate time to properly assess the plots; the back yard of a church building was accidentally included until the surveyor was shown the deed the day before the auction and corrected this blunder.

It is a sad day when a handful of politicians at both the state and local levels can make decisions that impact and eventually destroy a small rural community even when the majority of the people were opposed to this ultimate end. No wonder people seem to have “given up” and don’t even try to oppose what the “politicians” do (right or wrong, good or bad).

Sincerely,

Hubert Smethwick

Palmersville, TN 38241