FAIRHOPE, Alabama—The City Council voted unanimously this week to approve “in principle” an appropriation of $350,000 to enhance education at the five public schools in Fairhope. This action is contingent upon the presentation of a satisfactory contract between the council and the schools.

Forty to 50 visitors attended Monday’s council meeting to hear the Fairhope Education Advisory Committee present its proposal to the council and witness council members’ responses. The local grassroots group, Good2Great, which advocates for improving Fairhope schools and possibly creating a separate city school system, had urged public attendance in an email campaign.

The EAC gave a brief PowerPoint introduction, naming the five schools to be funded: Fairhope Elementary, Fairhope Intermediate, Fairhope Middle, Fairhope High, and J. Larry Newton. EAC co-chairs Henry Clark and Gretchen Schapker both spoke, thanking the council for its support and interest, and inviting questions based on the written material given previously to all council members.

All five principals, in consultation with teachers, have collaborated on plans for spending the funds. They propose to share a common focus in making improvements called LEADS (Literacy, Engineering, Arts Development, and Science), with money going toward purchase of computers, robotic kits, math and science software, iPads, supplies for starting a new Biotechnology course, Promethean Boards, and other equipment.

Council questions focused heavily on one concern: Will the Baldwin County Board of Education cut back on their funding for Fairhope schools when they see the city providing money?

“We have an assurance from (Superintendent) Dr. (Alan) Lee that this won’t happen, but we don’t have it in writing,” said Jim Kellen, an EAC member. “We need his cooperation. We all need to come together and collaborate, and this is a first step.”

Another EAC member, Julia Summerlin, a former Baldwin County School Board member, said that the council could look at the history of the school board and be assured that “they have not cut funds in the past.”

Other questions were posed by Council President Jack Burrell:

Who will own educational equipment to be purchased, such as the iPads requested by Fairhope Elementary? (EAC answer: “The school will own them.”) 

Can the return on our money be measured and demonstrated? (EAC answer: “We are committed to having pre-tests and post-tests to show benefits, but the semester is short now and we can’t base our findings on this short time period.”)

Bob Riggs, another EAC member, pointed out that future spending should not be confined to equipment.

“We can’t teach math without math teachers,” Riggs said. “BCBE will need to put in matching funds, if we want this to be successful.”

Before a vote was taken, Councilman Mike Ford raised the issue of whether Lee had been consulted, and whether he was under the impression that city funding would lead to the creation of a separate Fairhope school system.

Clark responded, “Dr. Lee is supportive of our effort. If we improve our five schools, it will inspire others in the county to better their schools. We let Dr. Lee know that we did not form this committee to start a new system. We tried to stay true to our goal.”

Council member Diana Brewer added, “The mayor and Jack Burrell and I met with Dr. Lee last week. He was very supportive, and hopes that other communities will do similar things--form their own identities. He approved our plans.”

The $350,000 approved by the council will be divided equally among the five Fairhope schools. “Things evolve,” Brewer, who has been a leader with the Good2Great group, said after the meeting. “Let’s see if we can invest in our schools and work a partnership with the Baldwin County Board of Education, and allow Fairhope to have its own niche in the system.”

Ford said that Mayor Kant had told him that “he would like to make it clear this is not an entitlement, and not the start of (an independent) Fairhope school system.”