Recommendation: R.A. Long and Mark Morris should be combined

A Facilities Planning Committee charged with how to respond to shrinking enrollment likely will recommend to the Longview School District that R.A. Long and Mark Morris high schools be combined into one school, The Longview Daily News reported.

“We’re not saying that tomorrow we’re closing a school,” committee facilitator Scott Rose of the told the community members who came to listen Thursday night. “We’re going to start to look at one plan, and we’ll look at variations.”

In other words, any plan could take years to implement.

Still, Thursday’s announcement is sure to cause a stir from community members and alumni from both schools.

R.A. Long High School, named for Longview city founder Robert A. Long, opened in 1927 and has a student enrollment of about 1,000 students.

Mark Morris, named for a president of a local lumber company, opened in 1957 and has an enrollment of about 1,200 students.

From an athletic standout, both schools play in the 2A classification and both are members of the 2A Greater St. Helens League. A school with a combined enrollment would become a 4A school in size.

For more on the potential move, see the story in The Daily News.