FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The process of separating from the Baldwin County Public School System and moving to an independent city school system will be a long and complicated process.

Thats what a recently formed Fairhope committee, which will aid and evaluate a $25,000 feasibility study conducted by Ira Harvey, found out at its first meeting Monday afternoon.

The committee was formed after the Fairhope City Council voted to engage Harvey’s services as a consultant. The idea of the study was spawned when a dozen Fairhope residents became concerned last fall when the county school board announced a major budget shortfall.

“I’ve been very concerned,” Council member Debbie Quinn said. “Bob (Callahan, Board of Education District 6 representative) gave us facts and figures that are not good, and I just don’t want to become a skeleton system, and how do we ever dig our way out of it?"

Harvey explained to the committee — comprised of the mayor and City Council, education board member Bob Callahan, several city officials and five city residents — that he will need a slew of information to successfully assess the situation and make a recommendation.

“I think it’s very important to get the right information out there so (we) can make an informed decision,” Mayor Tim Kant said.

And part of that is collecting information such as the municipal boundaries, attendance records, what percentage of students live either inside or outside of the municipal boundaries and more.

“There’s an awful lot to consider,” Harvey said. “There are no hard and fast answers.”

And many of these logistics have serious ramifications. While Baldwin County, as the rest of Alabama, is not divided into school districts, rather tax districts, the city would be charged with creating attendance zones.

Kant brought up that by creating an independent city school system, school enrollment could possibly be cut in half, rendering several of the school buildings in the area useless with no students to fill them.

“Will you be responsible for the personnel attached to those buildings? Yes,” Harvey said.

“Will there be the opportunity that Baldwin County will want to keep some (students)? Yes.”

Those issues would have to be hammered out ultimately between the city and the school board if there were to be a separation.

However, a separation between the two entities would not have to be set in stone. There would be the opportunity for the county to reabsorb the city system, should the city become unhappy with its decision.

What Harvey said he wanted to know from the committee is why Fairhope is considering creating an independent school system, if they had aspirations to be a greater school system and if so, compared to whom?

Kant said he wanted to have a top school system in the state and have overall improvement.

Harvey, of Vestavia Hills, said to be a top-rated school like the many in Jefferson County, requires money, first of all. School systems operate off ad valorem, or property, taxes. In Jefferson County, the ad valorem is 30.1 mills. Vestavia has 52 mills.

The Baldwin County Board of Education operates off 12 mills. Fairhope contributes 3.

Essentially, Harvey said raising the millage would be a viable option for either sustaining an independent school system or beefing up the countywide system.

“You folks don’t take kindly to folks messing with your property tax,” he said. “That might be a very difficult thing, but it might be something you might want to consider doing.”

Any millage raises would require a referendum voted on by the public.

Another means by which an independent Fairhope school system could increase its revenue is through annexation. By bringing in more property, such as commercial and industrial and avoiding residential properties, the city will be adding sales tax revenue to its coffers.

“Get tax revenues, but don’t get more kids. And that’s a cold, hard truth,” Harvey said. “The more kids you bring in, you have a diminution of your resources.”

Finally, if it elects to separate from the county system, the city would have to create its own school board administration with at least a superintendent and a chief financial officer. Harvey said looking over salary and overhead estimates for a city school board administration is something to consider as well. The organization structure would also require a five-member board appointed by the City Council.

After hitting the high points, Harvey said it would be a long process. If the city decides to create its own school system, he said it could take up to three years, and it will be at least three months before the feasibility study is complete and presented to the committee.