School Daze for Fun & Profit

First, we keep reading comments in various places that say "they're tearing down Coffee High School." No, "they're" not. A school is a group of individuals that come together to learn. It belongs in the same grouping as a hospital or church. It's not the building, it's the people.

The Florence Board of Education did away with Coffee High School years ago. Is the old building worth saving just for sentiment? The original building which morphed into Appleby Junior High was destroyed by fire many years ago. No, not much is left of Coffee but memories. Neither Coffee nor Bradshaw grads have an extant alma mater.

If it were up to us? We'd keep it...probably. It's a money pit at this point and not suited to the needs of today's classrooms. Could the building be used for something else as is Burrell-Slater? Come up with some ideas, and we'll publish them.

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Let's now travel east to Brooks. A parent has filed charges against a teacher, accusing her of physically assaulting a young girl. DHR is investigating, but we don't know the status of any police inquiries. The investigation may take quite a while. We do understand the parents' concern, there is a lot of he said/she said at this point. If any new relevant information is reported, we will publish it.

It's good for all parents to remember that teachers are human and make mistakes, lose their temper, etc. If you suspect abuse, follow your instincts, and above all, let the proper authorities handle it. (That means if you deck a teacher, you will go to jail.)

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Ah, now to the sunny south side of the river and a trip to Muscle Shoals Middle School. Late this afternoon, parents met with officials in an attempt to sort out the sudden termination of coach Jonathan Knight. The few reports we've had so far indicate that Coach Josh Fowler was taking 100% of the blame. More tomorrow in all probability.

In the mean time, from a concerned Muscle Shoals Parent (edited to remove identify of teacher):

The excuse for firing Coach Knight was that ONE parent complained to Boss Basden who immediately called his people in a private meeting on who was allowed to work for him. Wonder who the ONE parent is? Could it be another coach that is threatened by Coach Knight's success - or maybe even Basden who has 3 sons in the MSCS?

On a long running issue that goes un-addressed by MSCS & the High School: Countless parents and students have complained for YEARS about a high school xxxxx teacher that struggles with instruction techniques. The teacher has been sent for remedial training with no avail while most students have to hire a tutor. With so many honor students FAILING that course - perhaps the problem isn't the students and their preparation by other teachers for the class - it might be the person employed in the role of "teacher".

Yet ONE parent complained about a winning coach and it was an instant firing. The 3 men have revealed yet again what the future holds for Muscle Shoals. Athletics rules.

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We'll finish up at Sheffield High. We've said before that the best way to handle dress code problems in most instances is simply to "agree" with them. There are exceptions, but a simple tee-shirt is not worth fighting over, at least to us. You/Your child will not have to deal with this for a lengthy period of time, and some things are extremely hard to prove. Go on, say "Yes, sir, and thank you," graduate, then write a blog about them. How does that sound?

Shoalanda