Church of Christ announces one-year 'hiatus' for HCCS, citing poor economy and improved Hillsboro City Schools

To the editor:

For the past 15 years, the Highland County Christian School (HCCS) has been operating as a ministry of the Hillsboro Church of Christ.  

Last week, the leadership of the church met with the HCCS board to inform them that at the end of this school year the church will take at least a one year break from its sponsorship of the school. For the past few years, the school has been experiencing declining enrollment as well as cash-flow problems which has prompted the church's decision to take a break from this ministry.

In its letter to the the school board, the church leadership said, "We feel that there are several uncontrollable elements contributing to the declining support for the Christian School which are unrelated to how much value the school provides to its students. One is the public school’s new facilities and recent “excellent” school rating which has made the option of public school more attractive to families who chose the Christian school in the past... Another is the high unemployment rate in the area which has forced people to make some hard financial decisions, and many have found they can no longer afford to pay for a Christian education.  

"Rather than continue to prop up a costly ministry that a declining number of people are willing or able to contribute to, we have decided that at the end of the current school year the Highland County Christian School will be on a 'hiatus' for at least the 2010-2011 school year. This has not been an easy decision, but after prayerful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that our resources would be better utilized for God's glory in other areas of ministry."

The school board and the church leadership have previously discussed the option of making the school an independent entity.  During their recent meeting both groups agreed that the school board should explore this and any other options that might be available to them for the 2010-2011 school year.

If the school board finds a viable alternative, they may decide to operate the school independent of the church.

Sincerely,

Pat King

Hillsboro