How does building a new school help? If you have the same children/parents attending the new school as you had at the old school?
Wouldn't it be better to fix the problem BEFORE you spend a lot of money on a new school building?

The K-8 model is a great idea. There is a reason why many charter schools are adopting this model.

Keeping children in families together, with young teens attending schools with younger siblings, has shown to produce more healthy socialization among the teens. It gives them opportunities to serve the younger grades in several ways, for example, assigning a jr. high student to be a buddy to a first grader and having weekly reading sessions where the students read to each other. Of course this is just the first step in a long hard road, but a positive one.

I am quite positive it wouldn't have been taken without NCLB's effects of allowing parents to remove their children from a school. This is an example of the positive impact of NCLB as a support to parents which will certainly not get any press.

The difficult years of 7th and 8th grade are made easier for students who attend a school where the faculty all know them, and have known them for many years, as is the case in a K-8 school.

Best of luck to them all in a very difficult situation.

I went to a K-8 school and I HATED it. I was stuck with the same kids who teased me for 9 years. One of the happiest days of my life was when I graduated and was able to get away from the bullies. That would be my only concern.