HIGH SCHOOL SHOWDOWN? Destin rallies supporters (updated)

If you want to air your views on Destin having its own high school, show up to Monday’s Okaloosa County School Board meeting early, Charlie Saleeby says.

“(Speakers) have to get there before the meeting starts and sign a blue card,” Saleeby, an activist in support of a Destin High School, told The Log. “They’ll have three minutes to speak.”

Saleeby, who has already landed a spot on the agenda, said he’s been told he’ll have 10 minutes.

Although Saleeby’s children will have graduated before any school could be built, he has been outspoken at City Council meetings about the need to have a high school in Destin, rather than having Destin teens commute to Fort Walton Beach, Niceville or South Walton for school.

“A lot of people are excited about this,” Saleeby said. “I passed around fliers at the ballpark last night. Everyone seemed very positive.”

The School Board has said that Destin doesn’t have enough land for a school, and that it wouldn’t be large enough to compete in extracurricular or academic offerings with the area’s bigger schools. Saleeby says size isn’t a barrier to good performance, but he predicted the board members “will sit and listen and not really make too many comments” Monday.

Depending on the board’s reaction, the next step for Saleeby and other school boosters may be to start a local petition drive.

“You know when the last new high school was built in Okaloosa County?” Saleeby added. “Sometime between 1969 and 1971, and that was Fort Walton Beach High School.”

Since then, Saleeby said, Walton County has built three high schools.

Saleeby said he still wants a public forum in Destin on the topic of the high school. The School Board had been scheduled to send a speaker to the last council meeting, but backed out and invited residents to Monday’s board meeting instead.

“It would really be nice to have this important topic in some type of open forum,” Saleeby said. “(The board) obviously didn’t want it here — I don’t know why.”

ON THE WEB
The push for a high school has attracted support from a number of Destin residents and now boasts its own Web site, www.destinhs.com. The site discusses options for a high school and one page has an online petition for the creation of a charter high school in Destin. The site also points out potential sites for such a school and suggests the mascot could be the Destin Sea Eagles.

WANT TO GO?
The Okaloosa County School Board is scheduled to discuss Destin High School during their 6 p.m. Monday meeting at 120 Lowery Place in Fort Walton Beach.

Here is the Daily New's Rachel Kyler's take on this story

A group of parents in favor of a high school in Destin plan to attend an Okaloosa County School Board meeting Monday night.

Destin Mayor Craig Barker and some of his staff were scheduled to attend a School Board workshop Thursday. But because of the parents’ request, Barker canceled his appearance and is now scheduled to attend Monday’s meeting.

Some Destin residents are calling for a school. They cite safety and time as persistent problems for students who must travel to Fort Walton Beach High School.

But not all Destin residents believe a high school is prudent.

Speaking as a parent, Destin resident Charles Rigdon, who is vice chairman of Destin Elementary School’s School Advisory Committee, told School Board members Thursday that many parents recognize it’s not viable.

“I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said after the meeting.

He added that Destin residents have been unfairly painted as elitists.

“I don’t know why everybody thinks there’s Anglo-Saxon kids running around the city of Destin,” he said.

He said the case for a high school based on Destin residents paying more taxes is a “poor argument.” Just because the tax base moved, they shouldn’t be shortsighted, he said.

Rigdon doesn’t think Destin produces enough students to generate revenue needed to make the school successful.

“You’ve got facts on one side and you’ve got wish and emotion on the other,” he said. “I don’t think the reality of having our own high school would offset the loss of what would be available to students.”

He said involving the city in the issue has turned it into a “dog and pony show.”

This is not a citywide or countywide issue, he said.

“Back up and let (the School Board) do their job. That’s what they’re elected for.”

The School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday on Lowery Place in Fort Walton Beach.