By Johnna Pinholster
VALDOSTA — School consolidation has long been a topic of conversation in the community. Some are vehemently against the decision and others are passionately in support of consolidation.
At the crux of the issue are more than 20,000 students who are a part of both the Valdosta City and Lowndes County school systems.
Students who are striving to learn, succeeding in graduating and some who are struggling to comprehend and ultimately falling through the cracks.
In a two-part series, The Valdosta Daily Times will look into the issue of consolidation.
This week, we look at how the schools compare by the numbers.
Next week, we delve deeper, focusing on desegregation, the creation of the Lowndes County School System, and how the systems and the public feel about consolidation.
These numbers reflect the similarities and differences of both school systems: from annual budgets, the number of Title I schools, the ethnic demographics and graduation rate, etc.
These numbers reflect how we look as a community, to ourselves and to others.
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Budget 2009/2010
$57.9 million: Lowndes County Schools, $57,984,439
$59.2 million: Valdosta City Schools, $59,269,681
Student Population
10,133 LCS total number of students
7,501 VCS total number of students
3,244 LCS total minority population of students
6,178 VCS total minority population of students
6,889 LCS total population of white students
1,329 VCS total population of white students
Number of schools
Lowndes County Schools
7 elementary
3 middle schools
1 high school
11 schools total
Valdosta City Schools
5 elementary
2 middle schools
1 high school
8 schools total
Certified Personnel
853 Lowndes County Schools
690 Valdosta City Schools
114 LCS certified minority personnel
222 VCS certified minority personnel
739 LCS certified white personnel
419 VCS certified white personnel
Average Class Size
16.5 LCS Kindergarten
20 VCS Kindergarten
17.5 LCS Primary (1-3)
19 VCS Primary (1-3)
21 LCS Elementary (4-5)
23 VCS Elementary (4-5)
22.2 LCS Middle School (6-8)
26 VCS Middle School (6-8)
18 LCS High School (9-12)
19 VCS High School (9-12)
Number of students transported daily
Lowndes County Schools
6,500 students
151 school buses
Valdosta City Schools
4,100 students
52 school buses
Average number of meals served daily
2,260 LCS Breakfast
2,963 VCS Breakfast
7,006 LCS Lunch
6,074 VCS Lunch
