It is now and always has been that way too much priority is put on athletics, cheerleading, and drill team. It is the academic subjects that get one through life. All the other does in cause injuries and make one old before their time. I know, I live it daily.

Plus the people have to realize that the zone lines aren't set in stone. If a racial/ethnic imbalance rears it's ugly head in the future,theschool officials will just move the attendance zones to compensate.

Plus the HEB's are a north-south division. Exactly what VISD wanted to get away from with the VHS-Stroman. The east-west split is the best. Let's give it a fighting chance. Titans, Warriors, whichever but we need to back VISD for trying to make progress in the right direction for once. And 3 BIG CHEERS for improved TAKS scores, unless you have been in the trenches, con't criticize the soldiers (or wounded).

Comparing the two HEBs in town and the two new high schools in town is not even close.

Had HEB chosen to build two HEB Plus stores, one on each side of town, then I would say you have point.

Again, the two schools should be equal. What will influence differences will be the zoning. This will direct certain parts of town to a particular school. This may cause unequal distribution of lower and upper class students or may cause uneven distribution of ethic backgrounds. These conditions may cause the quality of education to change between the schools. It shouldn't, but listen to how people describe the two HEB stores in Victoria and you can get an idea of what is going to happen.

This is only going to affect children that have been split by these schools. After a few years pass, the younger children will go through the system with their friends on the east or west side and will not have ever had to go through a "split". We are talking about kids that want to be with their friends. Most of us had the "normal" school experience where we were never split up from our classmates. I don't understand the motivation of getting involved in this and uncovering the "scandalous" attempts from families that are merely trying to get their kids to not have to separate from their current friends/classmates.

Yes. Especially to be on a certain Drill Team. I know of some using business addresses;even church addresses. Pretty Crazy!!!

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I did learn from VISD about rules regarding all this. Because the rules are complex, I will leave the full explanation for my story, which is slated to publish Monday. That story will answer all your questions. On an interesting note: VISD already visited with three families, each that apparently broke the rules when enrolling their teens in a certain high school. Thanks -- Gabe

myvu,

There is an article in todays paper talking about how VISD TAKS scores have improved. What are you going to complain about now?

Why do people always blame their kids failures on VISD? VISD is not a babysitter! It's a 2 way street! Parents need to be involved too.

I haven't heard what DJ is calling her Dance and Drill team, but I do think the East's Golden Sabres sounds very nice. Go Missy!

you all cry about E/W schools but its about getting an education. Its not who hollers the loudest or posts the most on blogs but getting your kid seen. Of course this is just about athletics not not the other uil events that is happening mind you.

You stop all the Daddy/Momma coaching teams and you will see teams advancing. Local LL are dismal once they leave Victoria zone. Because Juan is not pitching or Billy is not on first--why?- dad is coaching the team and his kid plays no matter what. Been there done that I've seen it first hand. Recently, I have seen local teams with all hispanic kids or all anglo kids--what?!?--there is already seperation and it comes from the parents (coach). Play the best and I bet you can even find a black kid that is good. I know several that don't play. hmmm, wonder why!

From what I have seen the last few years is the females get scholarships. Play and coach your teams with no hidden agendas and for the best of local recruitment and the boys/girls would not have to play in SA, CC, Hou or any other place. But, first your kid has to have the grades and morals to be picked up. The colleges are NOT making their decisions if you go to W/E high school but if you can represent their school as a young adult. see ya inside the lines. . . . . . . .

One thing, about good old Stroman, merit based on your own brains and skill; not how you can cheat, through stacking the odds in your favor. I guess, that was why, we produced quality people; “who, when the going got tough, we were tough enough”.

Like before though, there are those who prepare their children to live in the real world and those who don’t live in it themselves, lol!

I agree with two of the comments made. First, you will be able to achieve an equally poor education at either high school, and second, you can't help your kids with homework when there isn't any. Right now, West may be best, and East may be least , but in a year or so it will be funny to see the people who are boasting and bragging right now about coaches, campuses, blah, blah, blah, turn on them after a couple losses and failed VISD promises.

Weak, I hear sheep do the same thing?

Weak.

tstorm, there's no denying that the DFW is the best area for HS football :)

And DJ will be at West.

All I know is what I heard someone say in my home in January:
WEST IS BEST and EAST IS LEAST
Ans so it starts.
Whare will the D.J. Jaynes and the "Dance and Drill Team" be?

There's a certain program about 28 miles northwest of Victoria that has seemed to have a lot of talented transfers over the past few decades.

I knew tstorm would know.

Thanks-

i wasn't suggesting you said anything, just asking. thanks for clearing that up.

Not what I said, holein1.

I don't recall the exact wording, but there is supposedly some kind of UIL rule for sports about changing districts...I am not sure if it applied within a district, or if it only applied to players moving into a district. Seems there was a 'waiting period' to become eligible or something.

I haven't had kids in VISD since we had Stroman and Victoria High, so lots could have changed, but it is Gabe Semenza who wrote, "This afternoon, I will visit with VISD to understand the rules that pertain to such moves."

If there is some rules about it, Gabe will tell us.

Or tstorm and RedRageNDallas can share what they might know. They are all Victoria football, all the time. I bet they know.

uh oh edith, touchy subject. are you saying you heard that one school will have UIL issues and one won't?

Good point VBB--I believe Bob Moore promised us that the schools would be completely identical in every way. So it should not matter.

Unless you play sports...

I think there is something about eligibility in UIL or something. Perhaps Gabe can enlighten us.

How can people think one is better than the other when the schools haven't even opened yet?

Why would VISD have rules pertaining to people moving? If someone is renting/living in one district but has been on the market to buy & they do in another district, will they have to have special permission? Are Victorians with kids in VISD not allowed to freely move about the city?

I didn't remove my comment so why does it say "removed by user"

I think it is true that kids are being babied too much now days. They aren't allowed to fail or the school has to pay the price. Their minds are not being challanged in HS because the teachers have to teach the tests and don't have time for much else. Students get used to having their hands held through HS and then when college comes up, where teachers don't care if they pass or not (figure of speech), and things move much faster, it is hard to some to keep up at first.
It kind of changes from, "the teachers teach me", to "it's up to me to learn". Big difference.

For those who asked. My kids took higher level classes in high school. Some were dual credit classes. They did very well and never studied at home or had homework. I remember I had tons of homework when I attended VHS is the 70's. The kids themselves told me that after they left Juan Linn Elementry, school was a joke. Next, while I said VC was an overwhelming challange, I did not say they were not making it. They are and they are taking classes such as chemistry and calculus. It has just been much harder because they never had to study in high school. The problem is not just VISD, it is the whole US public school system. Kids are not prepared for the real world. Men in their upper 20's break down in tears because their employer said they didn't do a good job. The new generation is always told they are a winner even when they fail. VISD supports this type of education. The only thing that matters is the school system gets the state education bucks. As far as how your kiddo turns out, so what. Who knows, maybe with new buildings the education will be better. It always helps to throw money at a problem.

All I know is that when I moved to Victoria 6 years ago there were very few children in my neighborhood.
For the last 9 months or so, when a house in the development sells, it seems to bring in HS/middle school aged kids.
FWIW, I'm in the West zone.

butwiser, did you kids take the advanced courses in HS, or did they take just what it took to graduate?

From personal experiences with my kids, and myself many years ago, going from HS mentality to college mentality is a big change and kids don't always adjust right away. In my first semester I had a C average, when I was straight A's in HS. I finally got up to speed by the middle of the second semester. Kids will do what they need to do if they have the self-discipline that they need to succeed.

kids would violate the eligibility for 1 reason. TO BE WITH FRIENDS.

grades, teams, teachers, the drive , it dont matter. But if you have a teacher knownly giving false hope then that employee should be reassigned or fired. You jeoparized the whole district for greed.

Hey but,

How often did you sit down with your kids and go over their homework? Did you do anything at home to improve their intelligence?

Also, Victoria College is consistantly ranks high as one of the toughest community colleges in the nation and state. Maybe your kids should have gone to Wharton County Junior College. I hear a lot of students that can't cut it at VC go there.

This comment was removed by the user.

With both schools being new, it really doesn't matter. You can get an equally poor education either place. Neither of my Memorial High graduates were prepared for college. While they aced high school, even Victoria College presented an overwhelming challange. So if you are really worried about your kid's education, save the money a move would cost and send them to a private school that doesn't have to dumb down the education to keep from hurting the self-esteem of the not so bright.

I lied about my address for a couple of years in HS so that I could go to VHS. I used my sisters address and would just pick up my report card from her :)

I see more of that happening than actually moving. I had a friend who had like 5+ friends using their address.

I think actually moving is a bit far-fetched. That would be kind of expensive.

But I bet there are a lot of kids who now 'live' with Grandma or Aunt Linda or Cousin Bob.

That has always taken place.

Until consolidation, that is.

So, with 'separate, but equal', I'm sure it's back in fashion.