The culmination of six months of discussion by the school board has yielded a response to the question of opening a new high school. The board decided that a new school would not be in the district’s best interests.

It is wise for the board to hold off on opening a new school, despite a growing high school population. A new school will not guarantee student’s success; it may actually harm students more. There are currently approximately 1700 Paly students and 1900 Gunn students with a prediction by Assistant Superintendent Laurence of 1000 more students in high school by the year 2018.

Some may complain that are schools are becoming overcrowded and the teachers cannot give the students the attention they need. So why don’t we just hire more teachers? Most people would respond that that costs too much money. But wouldn’t we need to hire many more new teachers if we open a new high school? We will need to spend money on more school supplies and facilities if more students come to the high schools. But if a new comprehensive high school is opened, we will spend that plus costs for renovation and construction of a new facility. It is economically sounder to not open a third high school. Also, the idea of being overcrowded is totally subjective. There is no magic number of students that will be the right size as opposed to overcrowded.

A third school will mean fewer students in the high schools. Fewer students in a school entails fewer electives and classes. With fewer students there will be less interest in a varying amount of classes and it will be inevitable there would be many cuts in the language and English departments along with cuts of electives in all departments.

Superintendent Skelly has moved the boards focus to finding a way to increase personalization of student’s education. This approach, if successful, will solve the main problems of larger populations of students.

Although the board has temporarily dropped the idea of opening a new comprehensive high school, the board is still considering opening a specialized school such as a performing arts or vocational school. Although I oppose starting a new comprehensive high school, a specialized school could be beneficial for some students.

If there is enough interest in a field of study that Paly and Gunn do not address, then certainly a specialized school should be considered. The surveys the district sent to district families during the summer should be used to determine the feasibility of a specialized school. Some may argue that a specialized school could steer students away from going to a traditional college. But not all students are meant to go to a traditional college. If a student has an interest in acting or wants to be a car mechanic, they should have the opportunity to follow those interests. They would still meet the graduation requirements except there would be more of a focus on students’ particular interests.

It can also be argued that students don’t know what they want to do when they grow up and that they may change their minds. The specialized school could possibly be for juniors and seniors only, students who are more likely to know what they are leaning towards.

But the reality is, no matter if they go to art school, a technology school, or a regular high school, everyone needs to decide what they want to do, and just because they graduate from Paly and follow the norm by going to college, does not mean they will be making the best life choice or will be adequately prepared for their desired careers.

The school board is making the right decision in not opening a third high school equivalent to Paly or Gunn. Although they should not drop the idea forever, it is currently not feasible or reasonable to open a new high school.