"I think it’s almost like we’re putting the cart ahead of the horse here."”

Fairhope Council President Jack Burrell

Last week at a work session, members of the Fairhope City Council discussed what they felt the city should do about the result of an academic audit conducted by the Akribos Consulting Group.

The $49,000 study of the Fairhope feeder pattern schools came with a recommendation of spending an additional $600,000 to create a curriculum director position to assess testing data and help oversee curriculum development aimed at making the Fairhope schools a “Top 10 system within the state of Alabama.” The study also called for $80,000 to be spent on increased professional development for the schools’ teachers and staff.

Councilwoman Diana Brewer said the potential funding to undertake the group’s recommendation could come from the millage generated by the newly-created special tax district that would allow residents in the Fairhope feeder pattern to vote at the most 3 additional mills of property tax that would go to help fund the schools.

“One mill generates about $621,000, so this new millage could be what we would need to help fund these ideas,” Brewer said.

Council President Jack Burrell said he was very concerned about the potential impact it could have on the city budget if the recommendations were passed but the new millage taxes were not.

“Let’s say we did pass it and we funded it through next year. What happens the next year if the three mills don’t pass?” Burrell asked. “Will the EAC come to the council to ask for the full $682,000 to keep this going? I think it’s almost like we’re putting the cart ahead of the horse here.”

Faron Hollinger, who led the Akribos study, told the council members they would also need to approach the idea of getting approval for an “innovation contract” with the Baldwin County School System and the state school board to allow them the flexibility to create curriculum specific to their feeder pattern.

“One size does not fit all in Baldwin County,” Hollinger said. “This is by far one of the most culturally and economically diverse school systems I’ve ever seen, so that makes it a real challenge to do a uniform program for everyone.”

Councilman Kevin Boone said he wanted to further study the proposal and speak with citizens about what they wanted to see.

“I need to think on this a lot more,” Boone said. “This is a lot of money that could be needed to establish a permanent source of funding.”

Brewer asked the other council members to at least commit to voting on a proposal that they as a council would commit to making “Fairhope a Top 10 system by 2020,” a recommendation given to them by the Fairhope Educational Advisory Committee.

“I would like for us to commit to being a ‘Top 10’ school system,” Brewer said. “To do that we have to follow the Akribos recommendation and to do that, we have to find a permanent source of funding.”

None of the other council members were willing to take up that proposal at that time, as they said further thought and study was needed before taking an action.