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Hoover city, school officials need better planning, money to handle growth, residents say

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Photo by Jon Anderson

Photo by Jon Anderson

Photo by Jon Anderson

Photo by Jon Anderson

Photo by Jon Anderson

Hoover city and school officials need to work better together to plan for the city’s growth and make sure schools can handle it, residents said Tuesday night in a meeting about school rezoning.

More than 250 people showed up at Green Valley Baptist Church for the fourth of five preliminary community meetings about school rezoning. And talk about coordination between the city and school system to prepare for growth dominated the conversation.

When schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy talked about the city’s continued residential growth and how it impacts schools, she commented that people don’t want to see a moratorium on building – a comment that was met with murmurs and moans in the crowd.

“I stand corrected,” Murphy replied.

Bluff Park resident Curt Posey, the first member of the crowd to speak, asked Murphy if she would be an advocate for residents who want city leaders to say no to more development because of the overcrowding it is causing in schools.

“I will be your advocate. I get it,” Murphy said. “I understand that growth and annexations all impact the school district.”

Posey’s wife (Emily Posey), unsatisfied with Murphy’s answer, asked if Murphy had a seat at the table at city planning and zoning meetings. Murphy said she did not.

“What do we have to do to get you in planning and zoning?” Emily Posey asked Murphy. “We need somebody from the school system in there. We need to stop building. We need to get you in that room.”

Murphy said she has been in communication with city officials about residential development plans, which very clearly will impact schools. The school system can’t afford to outgrow itself so that children aren’t fully educated, she said.

Some parents asked if school officials have considered building new schools to handle new development rather than rezoning communities to different schools.

Murphy said new construction is certainly a part of the conversation, but she first wants to make sure school officials are maximizing the use of existing facilities before building something new.

Trace Crossings Elementary School is only at 54 percent of maximum capacity and 60 percent of optimal capacity, she said. The school has 450 students and can hold 683 at optimal levels and 759 at maximum capacity, she said.

Meanwhile, Bluff Park Elementary, with 638 students, is at 108 percent of optimal capacity and 97 percent of maximum capacity, Murphy said. Deer Valley Elementary is at 107 percent of optimal capacity and 97 percent of maximum capacity, school system records show.

Document made available by Hoover City Schools for a photograph

At the high school level, Hoover High School (with 2,887 students) is at 98 percent of optimal capacity and 88 percent of maximum capacity, Murphy said. Spain Park High School (with 1,652 students) is at 88 perent of optimal capacity and 80 percent of maximum capacity, she said.

One parent said those numbers tell him that both schools will be outgrown soon and that it’s time to talk about building a third high school now. “It takes a while to build things,” the man said.

Murphy said some people have suggested turning the former Berry High School property back into a high school again, or tearing the existing buildings there down and building a new high school there.

But she's not sure how a third, smaller high school would be accepted in Hoover, she said. Parents surely would want it to be comparable to Hoover and Spain Park high schools in terms of programs and courses offered, and that could be difficult with a smaller campus and student body, she said.

Murphy said it costs $13 million a month to operate Hoover schools. Money received from a Jefferson County bond issue funded by a 1-cent sales tax increase has enabled the school system to keep growing and going without too much negative impact, but that pot of money is dwindling as the school system relies on it for operating costs, she said.

She can’t recommend to the school board that the school system continue with deficit budgets for a prolonged period, she said. Either significant cuts are going to have to be made in expenses, or additional revenue streams must be identified, she said.

She’s concerned that some of the features that make the Hoover school system unique – such as low student-teacher ratios and specialized academic programs and courses – would have to go if cuts are made.

If that’s not acceptable to Hoover residents, there is no other option than to look for additional revenue sources, she said.

Doug Cole, a Gwin Elementary School parent, said he doesn’t like additional taxes more than anyone else, but if they will help his children, he’s for them.

That’s a conversation people ought to be having with Hoover City Council members, Cole said.

“The City Council plays a big role in this,” Cole said. “I think we need to start applying some pressure to the City Council.”

Posey and some other residents said city and school officials don’t seem to be on the same page and speaking with one voice. School leaders talk about how growth is crowding schools, and city leaders continue approving new housing developments, parents said.

“This is a citywide issue, and our city leaders need to be involved,” Posey said. “We want to be behind you to stop building homes, to stop annexing property.”

Councilman John Lyda was present at tonight’s meeting and said afterward that city leaders have consulted school officials before annexing land and approving new housing developments.

Annexations that did not concern school officials typically moved forward, while some that did cause concern didn’t move forward, Lyda said.

City leaders also consult with the fire and police departments about annexations, he said.

With regard to Hoover school finances, Lyda said the city could raise property taxes for schools, but only by another 2.4 mills before hitting the cap put on property taxes by the state. That would raise property taxes by roughly $75 to $85 a year for the average home in Hoover, he said.

“Certainly that needs to be on the table,” Lyda said. “I think the council would support that.”

However, it wouldn’t solve the school system’s problem because it would only generate a few million dollars a year, he said.

Raising Hoover’s total sales tax from 9 to 10 percent has been suggested, but Lyda said he knows of only one Hoover resident who has spoken in favor of a sales tax increase.

A large portion of the crowd at Tuesday night’s meeting was from the Bluff Park Elementary School zone, but there also were strong contingents from the Gwin and Green Valley elementary school zones.

Many of the Bluff Park residents talked about how special the Bluff Park community is and that they would hate to be divided.

Murphy said she appreciates hearing their concerns but “there’s absolutely no way in this rezoning process that Bluff Park will not be affected. I’m here to tell you  -- you will be impacted.”

Both she and the U.S. Department of Justice support the concept of community schools and don't support the idea of plucking an enclave of students from the middle of a community and sending them to a school far away from where they live -- just to even out school demographics, Murphy said.

It's more likely that parts of school zones on the outskirts of a zone would be moved, she said.

Murphy doesn’t have a specific rezoning plan to present to the public yet but hopes to have one to share publicly by January. In the meantime, she has asked principals at each school to pick two or three representatives to meet with her as a smaller group to discuss rezoning further, she said.

Once she presents a plan to the public in January, she will receive more feedback and possibly tweak it before presenting it to the school board for approval, she said.

The goal is to have a rezoning plan take effect in the 2016-17 school year, she said.

The final preliminary meeting about school rezoning is set for Thursday at Metropolitan Church of God at 7 p.m.

It is designed primarily for all people in the Spain Park High School zone and zones for its feeder schools: Berry Middle School and Greystone, Riverchase, Rocky Ridge and Shades Mountain elementary schools. However, the meeting is open to the public and anyone can attend.

See reports from the previous three Hoover City Schools rezoning meetings at:

Also, see: At the limit: Rezoning is pressing need for schools at or past capacity

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