Bluegrassrivals

So I heard a rumor that Breathitt and Jackson City are thinking about merging...

Anyone?

I heard the same thing!

Rumor started because Jackson City is broke and losing money. State will likely have to step in and a lot of people think they will ask them to dissolve or try to work out a merger with Breathitt.

At this point it is all just speculation though.

Rumor has been going around for a few yaers, but this will probably have to happen soon. Breathitt no longer allows county students to make a choice to go to the city school. So when Jackson lost all those students it put them in a financial hardship. They are really struggling now so it probably happen shortly.

I had heard this, but have not read anything in the papers. A lot of districts are struggling with losing students and trying to keep up with expenses. The only district that I've read and have been told from a good source will be merging is Monticello.

I wonder what would happen to this district if the merge happend?
Breathitt
Wolfe
Riverside

Not even fair. Something would have to be done.

Mountain man 14 Wrote:I wonder what would happen to this district if the merge happend?
Breathitt
Wolfe
Riverside

Not even fair. Something would have to be done.

Might be a shot for hazard or perry to move into differet districts. Then move Knott or Cordia to the 54th. Put the 53rd down to 4 teams

Isn't one of the Pike County districts still a three team one? Might be about time for the state to start realignment again.

If a Perry County team were to be placed in the 55th district it would make sense to put Buckhorn in the district instead of Perry or Hazard. I don't know if Jackson will consolidate with Breathitt but if so, I believe it would benefit Breathitt more in football than in basketball. Jackson City always has a few outstanding athletes and one of our problems the past few years with the football team is not having enough pure athletes.

Cat Daddy Wrote:I don't know if Jackson will consolidate with Breathitt but if so, I believe it would benefit Breathitt more in football than in basketball. Jackson City always has a few outstanding athletes and one of our problems the past few years with the football team is not having enough pure athletes.

The football team would benefit some but they would also most likely be moved to 4A and face tougher competition each year in the playoffs and district.

If they do merge what will it be called, will it still be Breathitt County or Breathitt Independent?

Another question, why don't Riverside merge with Breathitt or is that the school when kids are getting in trouble and they get sent to?

Cat Daddy Wrote:If a Perry County team were to be placed in the 55th district it would make sense to put Buckhorn in the district instead of Perry or Hazard. I don't know if Jackson will consolidate with Breathitt but if so, I believe it would benefit Breathitt more in football than in basketball. Jackson City always has a few outstanding athletes and one of our problems the past few years with the football team is not having enough pure athletes.

I don't see Perry and Buckhorn being split up

The fact that riverside is still in this district blows my mind.

Strikeout King Wrote:If they do merge what will it be called, will it still be Breathitt County or Breathitt Independent?

It would still be Breathitt County High School.

Mountain man 14 Wrote:The fact that riverside is still in this district blows my mind.

They actually need to be in a district with Red Bird and couple other small schools then placed in a region.

Altro Cat Wrote:It would still be Breathitt County High School.

Thanks! I wasn't for sure what they would go by.

Riverside is a Christian School and should be members of the KCSAA. They would be more competitive. But there are few schools in the association so transportation costs could be an issue.

It wouldn't be independent. It's a county district.

Why would Jackson be in a district with Red Bird? Districts are based on geography, not school size.

I bet Breathitt would rather have Buckhorn in the 55th than Perry or Hazard.

The KHSAA is supposed to be looking at another realignment. The McCracken schools are consolidating and several three-team districts need to be expanded.

HDE Wrote:It wouldn't be independent. It's a county district.

Why would Jackson be in a district with Red Bird? Districts are based on geography, not school size.

I bet Breathitt would rather have Buckhorn in the 55th than Perry or Hazard.

The KHSAA is supposed to be looking at another realignment. The McCracken schools are consolidating and several three-team districts need to be expanded.

Riverside Christian not Jackson City

Usually schools with financial issues appear on KDE's financial watch list, but I haven't found anything.

They had to borrow a LARGE sum of money recently to stay open and are getting lots of private donations too.I think it will only be a matter of time though.

I heard from a couple of retired Breathitt teachers at the Knott-Cordia game last night that this would probably be Jackson City's last year. This kind of talk springs up every so often, has for the last 25 years, but this time it looks like it may have some weight to it.
As far as Breathitt changing classes in football, I don't know how much Jackson City would effect that. I believe Jackson has around 100 high school students and Breathitt has approximately 675 students, so the consoladation would increase Breathitt to at least 750-780 range, still far off the 1,100 number they had back in the heyday of the coal boom of the 1960's.

Mergers typically take a few months to iron out finances, merge faculty, and figure out what to do with the extra (if any) school buildings. If Jackson City is considering merging, then they would have to be the one to get the ball rolling.

Mountain man 14 Wrote:I wonder what would happen to this district if the merge happend?
Breathitt
Wolfe
Riverside

Not even fair. Something would have to be done.

Here would be my recomendation for the 14th

Owsley Co.
Wolfe Co.
Buckhorn
Lee Co.

Perry Co.
Hazard
Leslie
Breathitt Co.

Letcher Central
Knott Co.
Cordia
Jenkins

Riverside
JBS
Red Bird
Oneida Baptist

That last district would be a little messed up geographically however they would be able to compete on a consistent basis.

And Perry and Buckhorn would never be seperated.

Being able to "compete" has NOTHING to do with basketball alignments.
That last district is ridiculous. It's more than a little messed up. You don't just across county lines to align teams.

Did you just separate Perry and Buckhorn after saying they would never be separated?

Also, you just left the 49th District with three teams. If you take teams away from one region, you have to replace them with someone else.

Aren't we jumping the gun a little bit with realigning the 14th? We are not even 100% sure that Jackson City has decided to consolidate.

HDE Wrote:Being able to "compete" has NOTHING to do with basketball alignments.
That last district is ridiculous. It's more than a little messed up. You don't just across county lines to align teams.

Did you just separate Perry and Buckhorn after saying they would never be separated?

Actually the last two comments were reasons why this alignment would not happen. I didnt say it was perfect just giving a possibilty.

Just for kicks, how about an alignment that looks like this

53- kcc lcc jbs jenkins

54- hazard pcc buckhorn cordia

55- riverside, leslie , wolfe, breathitt

56 - lee, owsley, powell, estill

Leslie might appreciate being out of a distrcit with the Perry County schools, it's a little bit of a drive, but so is Buckhorn to the other teams of this 55th district and this way you can keep the Perry County Schools together, take a team away from the 53rd that has 5 teams currently and move Cordia which uses Hazard as an address anyways so I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

That looks better, but does Leslie border Breathitt or Wolfe? I didn't think they did.