When it came down to it, the discussions about who was to move into the new Prices Fork Elementary School was one group of rural county residents (the Prices Fork area) who didn’t want people from another part of the county (Merrimac) in their school. There was no part of parcel of the Town of Blacksburg involved in the discussion or process, other than the students would be moved out of Kipps Elementary, which only happens to be within the town limits.

As to the Auburn battle, it was an interesting public hearing last Tuesday. About the first 15 minutes was taken up with parents and teachers from Harding Avenue Elementary who pleaded in defense of their school. All they asked was that it not be closed, citing the high test scores and tight-knit community in their small neighborhood school. The rest of the time was consumed with the parade of people from Riner who did not want their children to go to Christiansburg. The variety of reasons cited by parents and children from the county was interesting and shows that it isn’t just Blacksburg that is held in low regard. Reasons not to go to Christiansburg Middle School included: students would be bullied, they wouldn’t see or be with their friends from Auburn, they would be chosen last or not at all for sports teams, and they would be lost in the bigger school.

What it comes down to is that people need to get over themselves. Montgomery County is what it is and people choose to live where they want to live for a variety of reasons — I’m not aware of any real estate firm that forces a family to buy a home somewhere against their will just because that is where the firm says it has to live. No one part of the county is any better than any other, despite what the people in Riner may think of Christiansburg or the people in Elliston think of Blacksburg. That is the only part of your editorial that makes sense:

“Neighbors therefore must remember and embrace their shared identity and common future.”