Fight for a Destin High School goes on

A Destin High School with 750 students could still be one of the best schools in the country, Destin resident Charlie Saleeby says.

“A community can have the quality of education it demands,” Saleeby told Destin City Council Monday night, “and Destin has always demanded quality education.”

Saleeby encouraged the council members to attend an upcoming meeting with the Okaloosa County School Board on the subject. The meeting had been scheduled for Monday, rescheduled for Thursday morning, and is now set for 6 p.m. Monday, May 12.

A number of Destin residents support building a Destin High School. The reasons include the long commute to Fort Walton Beach High School and back every day; that it would be a fair return on the property and sales taxes Destin generates for the county; and that it will boost Destin’s economy.

“Many people research Destin as a nice place to live and get away from the inter-city ‘low hanging pants’ crowd,” one recent e-mail to The Log said. “Think how the property values and desirability would go up if we had a real Destin High School.”

Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts has said there’s not enough land in town to build a high school and that the student body would be too small to support challenging academic courses and a wide range of electives. Saleeby said Monday night that those arguments don’t hold water:

•Destin Middle School could be moved to where DMS’ athletic and track fields are now, then the high school could be built on the DMS site — which would also draw high-school students from Bluewater Bay.

•Many Panhandle schools have smaller student bodies than he estimates Destin High School would: Baker has 438, Laurel Hill has 128, Chipley 650, South Walton 570.

•Eleven of the top 20 high schools, as identified by U.S. News and World Report, are as small as Destin. The number five high school has 410 students, and a 100 percent “college readiness index.” One small school on the list offers 16 AP courses, two less than Fort Walton Beach High School.

•Okaloosa County’s big high schools aren’t in the top 100, which must mean they fall below the 52 percent college readiness of the 100th-place school.

•A Destin school would be safer for students than the Fort Walton Beach commute: “I’ve had parents tell me they have to give their child a surge drink to keep them awake when they drive to school.”

•There would be less risk of violence: “We moved here because this is a Christian community — I’d feel much safer with my child in neighborhood schools than somewhere else.”

•Destin High School bands and sports teams might not be equal to those of Niceville or Fort Walton Beach high schools, but more Destin students would be able to play and participate than at the bigger schools, and they wouldn’t have to sacrifice as much time and gas commuting to activities.

Former council member Larry Williges said he’d come to speak on the same issue, but didn’t feel there was any need: “Take a bow, Charlie.”

Former council member Cyron Marler said putting middle-school and high-school students next to each other, as Saleeby proposed, was a bad mix that would encourage bullying and misbehavior. Marler said he’d also heard very little from the students about whether they’d prefer a Destin school.

Marler added that if students had to get up early, their parents needed to do as his had done and put the kids to bed early.

Terry Eisler, another high-school proponent, replied that U.S. 98 was a lot busier than it had been when he and Marler were in school.
Saleeby said that in addition to attending the May 12 meeting, he’d like the council to schedule a public forum in Destin, and to invite the School Board, State Rep. Ray Sansom and State Sen. Don Gaetz to attend. The council took no action on that proposal.

FOR MORE FROM CITY HALL

Reporter Fraser Sherman offers live updates from City Hall during Monday's council meeting. Click on http://frasersmind.freedomblogging.com/ for a play by play of the meeting.