# data[].attributes.headline
Small class sizes, lots of one on one aftention for students. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Small class sizes, lots of one on one aftention for students. 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.B0DzpGuk
Leave our small comminity schools alone.

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
Central office coming up with stupid ideas for consolidating our schools. 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.B0DzpGuk
If something is not broken , you don’t have to worry about fixing it. It is a very good school with good teachers. It has been here for many years. We hope to keep it for many more years!!!

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
We love our small school with smaller classes and each student gets more attention and help when needed.

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
Nothing. Our Yorkville school has great support from the community and parents. We make enough money from our harvest festival to not send our kids out selling things. 

# data[].attributes.headline
We need to keep schools as they are in small individual amounts. Bigger is not always better 

# data[].attributes.subject
We need to keep schools as they are in small individual amounts. Bigger is not always better 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.B0DzpGuk
All schools should have the same benefits.   No matter the size.  I am sure the large ag corporations might be willing help in agriculture.     The kids need to. be taught the real life skills.   

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
Small class sizes  . The teachers know all the students and their needs.  If you at research it shows small is better 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
In Yorkville nothing seems to be out of place 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
Education - GCSSD routinely has schools do well in state testing, If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, the basics are still important. Middle school is not the place for a heavy emphasis on CTE at anything more than an introduction to a variety of areas to work towards. If a child can’t read and understand directions, perform basic math, or think critically about what a task involves, then it doesn’t do the child or their future employer any good to push them forward into that without a firm foundation. As a farmer, I use algebra everytime I fill a sprayer and figure how much chemical to include. Nobody thinks of it as that, but it is. Everytime I read a label on something or look at a parts diagram, it requires critical thinking and reading comprehension. These and similar skills are required in every trade and vocation. I’ve employed kids who didn’t have a firm grasp of some of these and it’s difficult as an employer to find tasks you trust them to do well. At the same time; I’ve employed kids who understood “You walk before you run” and if you understand the basic foundation of something your abilities and what you’re able to grasp and do can grow exponentially.

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
Communication between leadership and the community / transparency. Used to be, and I assume is still so, you could go to the county website and view each year’s budget and see where your tax dollars are allocated. It’s reported on in the paper, budget meetings are well advertised; the information is not hard to find for someone who wants to find it.  The school system receives a larger portion of my tax burden and where is the transparency? The answer is nowhere on the district website. I tried to find it and the best you can do is visit the comptroller’s website and find it an an audit report from year’s prior.  As a taxpayer, the community outside of the schools should have access to how much of our money is spent at each school, at the district level, on athletics and extracurriculars vs. academics. Simply saying “The district is in a strong position and has a good fund balance” raises more doubts than it answers. As to communication and the study, it’s disingenuous to say these meetings were without an undertone of investigating consolidation of the north middle and elementary schools from the district’s side. If it’s strictly about improvement and community engagements, When was the meeting for the high school parent community? Why have the south Gibson schools not had meetings for parents and community to have a forum for what’s going well and what’s not? I really believe the community meetings would answer many of the same questions you’re spending $150k+ on a study for if they were held annually or biannually (every other year) in an honest attempt to engage each school’s community (including parents, staff, and student input as well) without the background of the idea of consolidation but in an attempt to grow and engage. 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.B0DzpGuk
Don’t raise taxes! Spend money wisely and if you’re sitting on a pile of money, loosen the purse strings and make repairs, add the programs needed for all schools and keep going as you are. It seems to be working!

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
Small classes are beneficial, test scores for most schools are excellent so what they’re doing is working. 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
Possibly raising tax rates is a terrible idea in today’s economy, especially for farmers and land/property  owners who pay the most. There would be no way to build a new school without it, so just drop the idea of consolidation.  Why the push to put CTE classes in middle school? They need to focus on core subjects at that level and save CTE for high school. Just because a larger district is able to offer it, doesn’t mean we need to follow and put another strain on our money/providing it for all.  

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
The closeness of school and community. The way students are recognized for achievements.  

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.B0DzpGuk
If the school board wants to improve something, take the massive amount of money that they are wanting to spend on a feasibility study and give the teachers and staff raises. Or use the money to implement the programs that are currently being funded by grants and hire the staff needed to offer these programs to other that may not being getting the opportunity.

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
Yorkville teachers care about theirs students as if they were their own kids. They get more one on one time with their teachers. This gives them a better chance of success as they go through their educational career and better prepare them for the future. 

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
Getting the school board to listen to the will of the people. We are against consolidation!

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.B0DzpGuk
Leave all schools as is.  Focus on the basics.  I was not exposed to CTE classes until high school, and I don’t believe they are necessary at the middle school level.  Take that out of the equation.  Focus on what is truly needed at this level.  If there are problems in a certain school, solve them there.  Don’t punish the other schools for the shortcomings of one or two.  Allocate funding for the same programs at all schools.  If you can’t afford it for all, don’t do it at any schools.  Bring the sports teams back to the individual schools.  There are students who don’t try out bc it is consolidated.  Local teams create school pride and give the communities something to celebrate and support.  Stop chasing some big idea and focus on what this district does well…educate the youth of rural communities in their communities!

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.Q4mSf89Y
Yorkville teachers and staff are top notch.  They genuinely care for each student and go the extra mile to ensure success.  Students are known by name, and their needs (such as a food allergy) are known throughout the school.  Community backs the school 100%.

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.ShE3iTeg
School board does not understand that the feasibility study is not wanted.  If the goal is to truly inspect the needs of each school, there are other ways to do so.  Local contractors and companies typically provide free quotes for repairs/upgrades.  Also, when the work to be done benefits students or a school, contractors are likely to donate/discount the project, especially when it is in their own community or county.  There are other ways to go about this, unless the end goal is to push consolidation, which is the general consensus.  Consolidation is not wanted!!