Need some input from the hive mind...

[Donna]

My husband and I are considering a move.

My oldest son would be a 7th grader next year and is very serious about his wrestling so has decided that he wants to attend high school. It is really the only place he would be able to compete at the high school level. There is no way I would even consider sending him to high school where we live now...gangs, drugs, violence including recent bomb threats and guns in school, plus school scores at almost the very bottom as far as state rankings. Not to mention that their wrestling program is terrible.

My choices at this point are to either move or place him in a private school. The only close private school which has excellant academic programs and a good wrestling program is over $11000 a year which we could afford for one child but should his brother decide to attend high school (I am pretty confident he will want to because his brother is) would be completely not affordable.

So back to choice number one...moving. One of the best school districts in the state is about 40 minutes from where we live now. I am currently travelling there 2-3 times a week for dd's violin and fiddle and oldest ds's wrestling club. (Just thinking about the amount of time and gas money eliminated from moving is nearly enough to make me want to now.) The problems with moving there are that it is a very hustle-bustle town and many of the people are very fake and love to gossip (I like quiet and homey with privacy), the taxes are about 2.5 times what we pay now (but less than half the private school tuition for 2 plus my current taxes), and my husband and I love our house now. I know, a house should be an investment and we shouldn't get attached but we live on a lake and the house was a definite fixer-upper when we bought it but we have fixed it up just the way we like it. It isn't a perfect house for our family and we could use about one more room attached to it for perfection.

Anyway, is it worth it to move simply for school? I am thinking we'd only have to live there 7-8 years (I plan to homeschool my 5yo through high school so only have to wait until the boys are finished) then we could move out of state which is our ultimate goal once the kids are grown.

Any input would be appreciated.

[kaylk in tx]

some districts will allow students who live out of their district to attend if they pay "tuition". the tuition would be far less than a private school, possibly making it affordable for both your kids. the downside would be that they would not provide transportation so you'd also have the expense of gas. :auto:

[Laura in VA]

of a private school allowing him to wrestle? My son was offered a spot on a private school wrestling team even though he was homeschooled. He chose not to do it because it was too far of a drive.

I don't know what your reasons for homeschooling are, but I would advise you to carefully consider the pros and cons of sending your son to school so he can participate in sports.

HTH-

[Mrs. H.]

When I was in high school, I got special permission from the parish school board (that would be county school board for other states) to attend school in a different parish (county) than I actually lived in, because I needed Physics and French II to qualify for a scholarship, and I couldn't get it at my regular public school, and my parents couldn't afford private school.

Maybe, if you were willing to make a 40 min. drive twice a day, you could get permission for your ds to attend school in that county, because of wrestling? Lots of people drive to college every day even farther than that, or work. Then you could stay in your house.

[Donna]

I have looked into sending ds out of district and the cost is not much cheaper than private school in this state especially in the desirable school districts. The school district where we are considering moving is very homeschool-friendly and would possibly allow him to participate in things like wrestling, band/orchestra, and select classes while still allowing us to homeschool (I know of other kids who have done it in that district including my dd's violin teacher's son). The district where we live now is not at all homeschool-friendly.

In this state there are very strict restrictions on where you can wrestle including not allowing wrestlers to wrestle until a year after a move/ 6 months if a freshman in high school...to prevent recruiting.

I would be sending him to school only for the sport. It is his passion and I see no problem with him pursuing it. He wants to go to school. He wants friends and all that goes along with being a teenager. We homeschooled originally because of the poor quality of education here in our district, the huge costs of private school, and because kids were so advanced as to make most/all of school a waste of time. That would still pretty much be the case since he has been doing high school level work for the past 2 years but I am firmly against sending him to college early, except for some community college courses, so high school is not a bad idea for him. He could fill his schedule with AP classes and get a jump start on college that way.

[Mrs. H.]

Well, in that case, could you keep your current home as a rental property, if you were seriously considering moving back there some day, and make the move? A house on the lake, already fixed up nicely might make you enough money to cover the morgage payments (if any) and taxes. Then you're only expense would be the costs at the new house.

As for the sending him to high school or not, that would be totally up to you and your dh. I would probably let mine wrestle with the school, and then still homeschool, but that's just me.

It doesn't seem like the real question here is whether or not to send your ds to school, but whether or not you want to give up your house.

[Donna]

That is exactly the question.

We would not be able to afford a home in the new town without using the equity from this house. Oh, it would be wonderful if we could keep this, rent it out, and still live in the other place for awhile. I think we will definitely move out of state once the kids are grown whether or not we move now anyway. We only stay here because of the kids' activities.

[Kim in Appalachia]

If your current school district has failed the "no child left behind" standards, you might quailfy to have him sent to the other PS for free. Just a thought.