The last time that a new public school opened in Alabama's fastest-growing county was three superintendents ago.
The year was 2009, the superintendent was Faron Hollinger, and Baldwin County was happily welcoming two schools in Fairhope and Foley.
These days, 26,000 more people make their home in Baldwin, and 6,000 more students are packing school classrooms. And, at long last, the school board believes that all the pieces have fallen into place to build again.
At a board work session Tuesday night, the school system administration unveiled a so-called "pay-as-you-go" program funding seven construction projects costing a total $60 million.
'Proud' process
Anchoring the program is a new $15.4 million elementary school that will be built in one of the Eastern Shore cities of Daphne, Spanish Fort or Fairhope.
Other projects, which will be included in a financing package the board is scheduled to vote on Thursday, are as follows:
- A $15.5 million elementary school addition in Foley that will accommodate 1,200 students aimed at alleviating overcrowding at the largest elementary school in Alabama.
- A $9.4 million K-6 expansion in Bay Minette that includes 35 classrooms, a new cafetorium, administration and media center.
- A $4 million expansion project for a K-6 school in Fairhope where the Intermediate School is located. The project will add 14 new classrooms and a new gymnasium.
- A $6.3 million K-8 school addition and renovation project in Orange Beach that includes a new gymnasium and cafeteria.
- A $3.8 million classroom addition and new gymnasium at Gulf Shores Elementary. The project also includes moving 121 students to Orange Beach.
- A $2.75 million addition of 14 classrooms and additional parking at Daphne Middle School.
The program was made possible after the Baldwin County Commission, with the board's backing, made permanent a 1 percent sales tax that was set to expire in 2018. The tax brings $40 million a year into school coffers. Had it not been renewed, the school system was staring at deep layoffs of teachers and other staff.
With the tax stabilized, the school system plans to dedicate $15 million a year to repay a four-year loan - a $60 million infusion that would allow it to rapidly deal with multiple needs.
The program requires no long-term debt and no new taxes. It's been likened to "pay-as-you-go on steroids," and could conceivably be expanded every few years with further $60 million loans.
"I'm really proud of what we've done," said Eddie Tyler, the school system's present superintendent.
It's a sharp reversal of fortune for the school system that, in 2015, witnessed county voters overwhelmingly reject new property taxes that were supposed to underpin a 10-year, $350 million capital campaign.
Concerns expressed
All in all, most school board members seemed impressed with what they saw Tuesday evening.
The school projects would be under construction in 2018, with completion dates set for 2018 and 2019.
"I'm thankful for it," said board member Cecil Christenberry. "I think this will make a lot of people really excited."
But not everyone embraced the rollout. Two board members, David Cox and Angie Swiger, wondered why the Eastern Shore deserves a brand-new school rather than their communities.
Swiger represents Gulf Shores, where the elementary school is surrounded by busy traffic and relies on a cluster of trailer classrooms to cope with overcrowding.
"We haven't had a new school built in Gulf Shores since 1999," said Swiger. "We are cramming a lot of wings and gyms into the same small space."
She praised the design concept of the new Eastern Shore school, but said, "We don't have anything like that in Gulf Shores. I know at some point, we are going to need a high school and another elementary school. We are going to need something."
Tyler said that in the administration's "professional opinion," the proposed $3.8 million addition at Gulf Shores Elementary will "accommodate" the school's immediate needs.
Cox, meanwhile, who represents the Bay Minette area, among others, suggested that the program is too focused on Baldwin's boom cities. He argued that a new Bay Minette Elementary School is a critical need.
Cox said that the cost of building new -- once estimated at $12 million - isn't much more than the $9.4 million expansion project that's in the plans. He noted that Bay Minette Elementary is among the oldest schools in the county.
Bay Minette, in the more rural north part of the county, has grown 11.9 percent since the 2010 U.S. Census count. Still, that's far behind the six-year growth of Daphne (20.1 percent), Spanish Fort (20.7 percent) and Fairhope (26.6 percent).
The growth issue sparked a debate between Cox and board president Shannon Cauley, who is from Spanish Fort.
"We have to look at areas of growth where it's exploding," said Cauley. "Bay Minette just isn't."
Cox said, "One thing we have to consider when we are making decisions based solely on growth is that you have buildings falling down around students ... We have to be cautious when we make growth the only priority."
Responded Tyler: "I would hope the board doesn't think we'll put students into schools that are falling down. As superintendent, I'm not going to put children into schools that are visibly falling down."
Lingering questions
Questions exist on where the new Eastern Shore school would be located. Tyler said it's too early to tell, and noted that the estimated project cost doesn't include a land purchase. "Land is a problem. We've been meeting people about land. There are some moving parts we won't commit to," he said.
Tyler added, "We felt like we needed to put something in place due to the explosion on the Eastern Shore corridor from Spanish Fort to Fairhope."
City politics could also come into play. In Daphne, the City Council endorsed Monday a contract to study the financial feasibility of an independent city school system.
The total Daphne contract is broken into phases, with the initial $38,500 phase aimed at analyzing the costs of a city school system. After that, if city leaders want to pursue more analysis, the price tag would be $68,500.
Daphne City Councilman Joe Davis, who was the only Daphne councilman at the school board meeting, said the timeline for the initial study will be short, around four to six weeks.
After that, he said, if the costs come back too high, he doubts that the majority of the council will want to pay for further study of the matter.
A decade ago, Daphne's council abandoned consideration of independent schools after learning that the initial outlay would be $1.5 million.
"It's time for us to look at the numbers and make decisions based on realities," said Davis, adding that he believes "we have a good system in the county."
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