Tom Stargell

I mean, it blew everybody away.  It went downtown.  Couldn’t tell anybody why it was being closed.  They said, “Well, it’s got to be because there weren’t enough classes being offered.”  Then they came back and said, “Well, no, it’s not that, but we don’t know what it is.”  And then they came back and said, “Well, okay, so now they’re saying that there were some teachers that were not certified to teach the subjects,” and the subject that they talk about is PE.  Well, talk about reaching out there for something.  PE?  I mean, I taught PE in Portsmouth, and I know it’s a hard course to do and all that, but that’s a stretch to say that, “Uncertified teachers are teaching PE, so we’re going to close a whole high school now.”  That’s a farfetched reason to do it.  And to my knowledge, they’ve never listed the names of teachers and the courses that they weren’t certified for.  I’ve never seen it.  And you can go to the school board records.  You’ve been to the school board records.  I mean, when it is alluded to or mentioned or whatever, it’s just not really discussed.  It just happened, and I could be wrong on this because it’s been a long time since I looked at the school board records, but I don’t think I could find but one time it was addressed in a school board meeting and anyone had a chance to say anything.  And honestly, what was said was woefully, poorly done.  I mean, there was no fight.  There was no real discussion of, “Tell us why this is happening.”  It was more than anything just an acceptance.  I mean, I have my theories and I firmly believe I have an idea of how it all and why it all happened, but everybody that’s involved is dead, and they can’t prove me wrong and I can’t prove me right.  So I don’t know, but it just stunk.  It didn’t make any sense at all, and you’re talking about Dr. Moody?  Dr. Moody was our school board representative, and when the vote came, Dr. Moody voted no on the — how was it?  I’m sorry.  When the vote came, Dr. Moody seconded the motion to close Scottsville High School.  Then when the vote came, Dr. Moody voted against closing Scottsville High School.  So politics-wise, I mean, he was crossing both bases on there.  He could say he voted to not have it any longer, but he could go back to Scottsville and say, “Oh, I voted against it.”