JCM possibly holds last football game depending on Vision 2020 decision
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DYERSBURG, Tenn. — Friday night could have been one local high school’s final game, depending on decisions by the Jackson-Madison County School Board. Jackson Central-Merry High School is one of five schools potentially on the school board’s chopping block for the Vision 2020 plan. “We really love JCM. We’ve spent all of our high school years here and we feel like it’s our school and we should be saved,” JCM student Naja Brooks said. According to the school’s history, the former Merry High was the first school in the area for African American children, and in 1970, Merry High integrated with Jackson High. “It’s a big thing, and I don’t know if people really realize that. It is a big thing and it is a major influence into the city,” JCM alumnus and parent Reginald Davis said. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want a high school in the central part of a city with all the development that’s going on.” But through the trials of not knowing their future, Davis said the students are still growing. “The kids and the students that I’ve spoken with say this has taught them perseverance, strengthened their faith because they have to rely on something,” Davis said. The school board said they will not be making a decision on which schools will be closed or merged until December.
