Metro Roundup: Chelsea residents to vote on school system July 12

It has been over a year since the Chelsea City Council commissioned a feasibility study to consider a potential new city school system and the 12.5-mill property tax that would be put in place along with it.

From discussions at council meetings and town hall meetings with those for and against the idea, Chelsea residents will now have the opportunity to vote on the matter July 12 in a special election.

Mayor Tony Picklesimer has said that it’s his desire to find a way to build a new high school and offer better facilities to Chelsea students. His original intent was to include all areas and all 4,500 students that are currently enrolled in Chelsea schools, but the citizens in some areas, such as Dunnavant Valley and Highland Lakes, made it clear they did not want to be included in the new school system.

Picklesimer said at the first public hearing Jan. 27 that these things don't happen overnight, and creating a new school system would be several years in the making.

“Without moving forward in some direction, we will be stuck where we are now,” Picklesimer said. “I promise you as your mayor, I'm listening regardless of how I feel about it personally. My job on this board is to represent you, and that's my full intention.”

According to estimates from the feasibility study, the total budget for a new high school was projected at $82 million. It would also need a one-month operating reserve of $1.8 million, as required by the state. The city would also have to take on the current debt owed on the current school facilities.

Picklesimer and council members Tiffany Bittner, Chris Grace and Scott Weygand are proponents of the new school system. Council members Cody Sumners and Casey Morris are against it and created an alternative plan.

Morris and Sumners’ plan would not require any additional taxes and would allow the city to partner with the Shelby County Board of Education to address the immediate needs of the schools.

“The citizens of Chelsea deserve to know that the taxation option being presented by the mayor is not the only option, nor is it the best option for the city of Chelsea,” Sumners said.

Morris added that he does not feel comfortable asking hard-working citizens for more of their paycheck through property taxes.

Their plan would utilize available funds from the current 1-cent education sales tax (bringing in a yearly revenue equivalent to 10 mills of property tax or approximately $2.2 million per year) and from city bonds issued in October 2021 in order to make improvements and renovations at the schools in Chelsea city limits.

Under the mayor’s plan, this 1-cent sales tax would no longer be available to fund its current projects, like the Nick Grant program, which has been funding exclusively teacher grants since its inception. The revenue generated by the 1-cent sales tax would be dedicated to funding school overhead and capital items.

As for whether or not the Shelby County Board of Education would assist in needed upgrades and renovations, Morris said, “Dr. Brooks has never once said to that group, or to this council, or to this city, nor to anyone else in Shelby County that he is not willing to work with said municipalities.”

In a 4-2 vote, an ordinance to hold a special election was approved during the May 3 Chelsea City Council meeting.

On May 6, the Shelby County Board of Education unanimously approved a rezoning plan to shift students zoned for the Mt Laurel Elementary attendance zone from Chelsea to Oak Mountain schools.

Brooks said there is no choice but to do this for students who are in unincorporated areas because of the comments from the mayor that the schools in Chelsea are overcrowded, while there are currently empty classrooms at Oak Mountain middle and high schools.

Beginning in the fall of 2022, students in grades K-5 will continue to attend Mt Laurel Elementary. Students entering grades 6-12 have the option to enroll in Oak Mountain's middle or high school, but parents must commit to providing transportation for the entire school year. Students continuing to attend Chelsea Middle School or Chelsea High School will have daily bus transportation for that school year.

There will be only two options on the special election ballot: for or against the levy and collection of additional property tax, at the rate of 1.25% (12.5 mills), exclusively for public school purposes. If approved, this new tax would be due for the first time on Oct. 1, 2023, along with other municipal taxes.

The special municipal election will take place at Chelsea City Hall on July 12 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A sample ballot and absentee ballots are available on the city’s website, cityofchelsea.com. Ballots may be hand-delivered to the absentee election manager's office by 4 p.m. on July 11, and ballots must be returned by mail to the absentee election manager's office by noon on the day of the election.