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Hoover school board to vote on rezoning plan for western Hoover Tuesday night

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Images from Signature Homes and Hoover City Schools websites

The Hoover school board on Tuesday night is scheduled to vote on a recommendation to seek federal court approval to redraw some school attendance zones in western Hoover.

The first request would be to rezone the planned Everlee community between Lake Cyrus and Ross Bridge from the Deer Valley Elementary School zone to South Shades Crest Elementary School (K-2) and Brock’s Gap Intermediate School (grades 3-5) zones.

There are no homes in Everlee yet, but Signature Homes already has received approval on preliminary plans for 249 home sites in Everlee.

The second part of the rezoning request would be to, at some point in the future, make South Shades Crest Elementary and Brock’s Gap Intermediate School both K-5 schools.

South Shades Crest Elementary previously was a K-4 school until August 2018, and Brock’s Gap Intermediate previously was for grades 5-6 from three elementary school zones, but that changed with federal court approval of a rezoning plan five years ago.

Hoover schools Superintendent Dee Fowler, through the school system’s spokeswoman, declined to answer questions about the rezoning proposal prior to Tuesday’s school board meeting, but school board President Amy Tosney on Monday night described it as a two-step rezoning process that would occur over time.

The first step would send any children from Everlee to South Shades Crest Elementary or Brock’s Gap Intermediate instead of Deer Valley Elementary because South Shades Crest and Brock’s Gap have more room, Tosney said.

However, school officials at some point believe they could better accommodate the numbers of children if both South Shades Crest and Brock’s Gap were turned into complete K-5 elementary schools, Tosney said.

One issue is that younger children don’t need to be on the second floor of South Shades Crest Elementary, Tosney said.

School officials don’t know how long it might be before the second change would be needed, Tosney said.

There are a lot of factors that play into that, Tosney said. First, it depends on how many children move into Everlee and how quickly, as well as how many children move into other new communities being built in the South Shades Crest and Brock’s Gap Intermediate school zones, such as Lake Wilborn, she said.

Everlee is slated to have 2,344 housing units. However, 600 of those homes will be restricted to people age 55 or older and people without children under the age of 18 living in the home, leaving 1,744 potential homes with children.

Another factor is that enrollment in many Hoover schools has tapered off since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Tosney said. School officials aren’t sure why that is — whether it’s a change in the number of families with school-age children or more children being homeschooled or attending private schools, or both, she said.

Nevertheless, the slowdown in enrollment growth has given schools a little more breathing room, Tosney said.

Tosney said she wasn't sure where the school zone lines would be drawn for the South Shades Crest and Brock's Gap schools if both were made K-5 schools.

This past summer, the school board approved a five-year capital plan that anticipated the need for a new elementary school to open in the fall of 2029. Signature Homes last year agreed to donate 25 prepared acres of land in Everlee for an elementary school site and another 20 acres of unprepared land if school officials decide they need more land for a different kind of school instead, such as a middle school.

However, Tosney said school officials now don’t know whether they will need a new school in Everlee. They think they have the capacity at South Shades Crest and Brock’s Gap to handle elementary needs for some time, but they will have to monitor enrollment growth and make adjustments as necessary, she said.

“We’re hoping we don’t have to do that for a while,” she said.

Before any zoning change can take effect, the school board first must seek approval from the federal court.

COSMETOLOGY/BARBERING CLASSES

In other business Tuesday night, the Hoover school board is scheduled to consider approving renovation work at the Riverchase Career Connection Center (RC3) to create room for cosmetology or barbering classes.

School officials recently surveyed middle and high school students and determined that there likely is enough interest in cosmetology and/or barbering classes to begin offering some, Tosney said.

There is room at RC3 to accommodate such classrooms, but some classrooms need renovation, and some equipment will need to be ordered, she said. If the board approves the renovations Tuesday night, she believes RC3 may be ready to begin offering the cosmetology or barbering classes in the 2023-24 school year, she said.

Other items on Tuesday night’s agenda include:

The Hoover Board of Education's meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Farr Administration Building at 2810 Metropolitan Way.

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