Map courtesy of city of Hoover
The Hoover Board of Education is contemplating whether to build 10 new classrooms at Bluff Park Elementary School.
Bluff Park Elementary School Principal Ami Weems came to Tuesday night’s Hoover school board meeting hoping to see the board approve a contract to build a 10-classroom addition at her school, but the board wasn’t ready to give the OK.
The school board held up a decision on the matter, instead seeking more information to determine if it’s really the best decision to move forward with a $6.4 million construction project.
School board member Amy Tosney said she remembers being told by previous Superintendent Kathy Murphy more than six years ago that they had to build more classrooms at Berry Middle School. The board spent $7 million to build a 14-classroom addition at Berry. Now, that addition is not really being utilized anymore, she said.
“$6.3 million is a lot of money. I just want to make sure we’ve thought through that this is where we need to be spending that money right now,” Tosney said. “I just want to make sure that fiscally we’re being really responsible.”
Rezoning some students may be another option, she said.
School board Vice President Alan Paquette noted that the school board just in October voted to hire a facilities planner to do an in-depth analysis of the Hoover school system’s buildings and develop options for handling growth and enrollment patterns. They’re still not done with the first phase of a three-part study, and he’s wondering if the results of that study might indicate another path for dealing with growth, he said.
Superintendent Kevin Maddox it could be near the end of the school year before that study produces any recommendations regarding facilities.
Board members asked if they could have more time to analyze options and asked how long the current bids for the construction contract were good. Matt Wilson, the school system’s operations director, said the bids are only good until Thursday of this week.
School board members said they’d rather try to get back together by Thursday to more thoroughly review options instead of voting Tuesday night, so Maddox said he would set up another meeting for them.
The $6.4 million construction contract that Maddox was recommending for Bluff Park Elementary included a 10-classroom addition at the front of the school, upgrades to some existing restrooms, a new monument sign and reworking a courtyard and common area that would connect to the library.
The $6.4 million price tag from Blalock Building Co. was about $200,000 more than the estimated budget from the architect, Wilson said. However, Blalock was the lowest responsible bidder, and he was pleased with that amount because he thought the price might come in higher, he said.
Costs have risen considerably from when the project was redesigned about 2½ years ago, Wilson said. At that time, the estimated construction cost was $4.6 million, he said.
The school board ended up postponing the project then because some people thought they may be able to address enrollment growth at Bluff Park by rezoning some students elsewhere, Tosney said.
Weems said her school is already at capacity, with “not a classroom, not a closet” to spare. They have four “classrooms” taking place in the library now, she said.
“It’s been hard, but you would not hear a single complaint out of our staff,” Weems said. “They have been really more than flexible.”
Maddox said he is accustomed to reviewing school buildings to find ways to more efficiently utilize space or rearrange schedules, and he hasn’t come up with any ways to do so at Bluff Park. Neither did former Chief Administrative Officer Terry Lamar before he left to go to Birmingham City Schools, Maddox said. Lamar formerly served as principal at Bluff Park, too.
“They are utilizing every square foot of that building currently,” Maddox said. “This addition would provide a great deal of room for them to expand.”
Nevertheless, he wants the board to feel comfortable with their decision and will give them more time to study the situation, he said.
