From WRIL
As we told you in an earlier report, Tuesday night January 15, 2019 the Bell County School Board had a vote in favor of not approving the non-resident contract with Pineville Independent Schools.
We reached out to both schools today and received at least one response. It was from the Pineville School Board.
It reads: "At Pineville Independent School District we believe in school choice and respect the right of all parents and students to choose which school is best for them. By their vote, three members of the Bell County Board at the recommendation of superintendent Gilliam have signaled their intention to attempt to force 198 of the 268 county-resident children now attending Pineville Independent to withdraw and enroll in a Bell County School. Bell County Schools cannot benefit financially unless these withdrawals occur.
In spite of that, and regardless of any contract, at this time Pineville Independent will continue to educate all students who wish to attend regardless of their residence. The net impact is that all of our students will retain their choice of going to Pineville, but Bell County School Board will have deprived both districts of thousands of dollars that would otherwise be used to educate the children of our communities. That funding will stay in Frankfort.
We hope that Bell County School Board will re-consider this decision, and we stand ready to work with them to reach a common understanding that will allow both districts to thrive. We will attempt to negotiate with Bell County, but if that fails we are fully prepared to begin the appeal process."
Pineville Independent School Board