State Superintendent Eric Mackey has given a preliminary proposal for attendance for the 2019-2020 school year for the Orange Beach and newly formed Gulf Shores systems.
Under the proposal handed down from the state:
- Upcoming juniors and seniors will remain in their existing feeder pattern and attend Gulf Shores High School.
- Upcoming kindergarten through ninth grade students who live outside of the Gulf Shores city limits will attend Orange Beach schools.
- Upcoming sophomores will be given a choice of which school to attend next year.
“Any students outside the municipal limits, Baldwin County is responsible for, unless an upcoming tenth grader elects to attend Gulf Shores,” Baldwin County Superintendent Eddie Tyler said, which includes students in Fort Morgan and other non-city residential areas currently part of the Gulf Shores feeder pattern.
Seventh through tenth grade students in Orange Beach will be housed in a temporary portable classroom campus for the 2019-2020 school year, as the new Orange Beach middle/high school is not due to be completed until June 2020.
Tyler said from Baldwin County’s perspective, Mackey’s proposal was solid.
“I think it works for both systems,” Tyler said. “I think it’s in the best interest of the children, and it’s standard for what you’ve seen from previous city separations, which is normally a gradual transition plan.”
Gulf Shores City Schools officials were similarly pleased and said they felt a final separation agreement could soon be close at hand.
“We discussed several items yesterday,” Gulf Shores School Board President Kevin Corcoran said. “I believe we are very close. With cooperation from Baldwin County, we can solve this very soon.”
When asked if the Gulf Shores system would be creating an out-of-district tuition policy for non-resident students wishing to attend the system, Corcoran said it would be something the city’s school board would look at and discuss.
“Once we understand the financial ramifications of Dr. Mackey’s proposal, that will be something discussed,” Corcoran said. “We’re going to have to take that one step at a time.”
Other hangups in the negotiation process, such as personnel, tax revenues, start dates and startup expenses, are still being discussed. Tyler said it would be likely that Mackey and the state would issue similar proposals on those issues in the near future.
“Regardless of how other systems may have broken off, this is new to Baldwin County, new to both sides here,” Tyler said. “We’re trying to navigate that in a way that both systems can have integrity in going forward from here. Gulf Shores wants to get started in a manner that would be successful for them, but I think both sides certainly agree that the first thing we’re all doing is what’s best for these students.”
