ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — “Where am I going to live and what school are my kids going to attend?”

Those are the two most common questions people ask themselves when locating to a new area. Finding the right house and the right school district is a must for most families and go hand in hand with each other.

For this reason, Dr. Alan T. Lee, Superintendent of Baldwin County Schools, spoke to Baldwin County Association of Realtors at their meeting on Thursday morning in Robertsdale.

“There is a real connection between real estate and schools. If you find a realtor who takes a personal interest in your life and tries to find a house to suit your needs and wants, that is the person you want to do business with. It’s the same way with a teacher, if they take a personal interest in your child and go above and beyond to help them achieve their goals, then you are happy with them,” Lee said.

In real estate and in the school system, Lee pointed out there is a need for relationships (between students and teachers), rigor (discipline in attitude and academics) and relevance (Is what we are teaching important?) and if those things are achieved, you will have success.

“I have found in my experience in different schools over the years there are four things every school needs to be successful, service, substance, decision-making and reputation,” Lee said.

-Service: Schools should be service-oriented and make students and parents feel welcome when they start a new year. Do all they can to give the students and parents the tools for success and reaching their goals.

-Substance: There needs to be relevant instruction going on in the classroom at all times and students need to have the resources to keep them engaged and learning.

-Decision-making: We want to conduct our business openly and honestly and not let the public think we are making back-door deals or keeping things from them.

-Reputation: We need to have a good reputation and maintain it within the community so parents will want to continue to send their kids to our schools.

Lee stressed to the crowd these principles could also apply to the real estate market as well and also said they are going to be getting an external audit this year to see how well the school system is functioning and what areas need work. “Good schools bring good business.”

“I am proud of our schools and our students and the fact our seniors were offered $4.1 million in scholarships this year. That says something of the quality of talent we have in our teachers and students. We are the largest county in the state and have 28,000 students in our schools. We want to be first rate and have schools for the 21st century,” Lee said.

Other business conducted at the meeting included:

-Starke Irvine, chairman of the governmental affairs committee, reported there were 13 insurance bills on the table to be voted on in the last state legislative session and two of them were approved. There will be a special called session to deal with some of them at a later date.

“Some changes are going to have to happen if we want to see improvement. We are in a mess and it takes money to get bills passed and that is why all of you need to give to ARPAC (Alabama Realtor Political Action Committee). They raised our dues by $40 this year but if you would continue to pay them , it would help so much. It would give us proper funding to conduct our business. Whether you realize it or not, politics is important to our business and we need to be informed about what is going on. Giving $3 to ARPAC a month pays for our resources and saves you from having to pay for them."

-Gumbo cook-off winners from the May 5 event were named: First place: Prudential Nichols (Daphne), 2nd place: Coldwell Banker United, 3rd place: Coastal Signature Titles and RBC Bank.

-Realtor of the Year nominations are due in the BCAR office by July 8 and is the highest achievement a realtor can receive on the local level.

-Ritchie Irvine was named “Realtor Emeritus” for his 55 years in the real estate business. Irvine developed 50 to 60 subdivisions in Mobile and Baldwin County and began his career in 1956. “I want to thank all of you for this award. I appreciate it and value it very much. I’m thankful for a long and eventful career and hope to get in a few more years before I’m done. It hasn’t all been fun and games, especially after Hurricane Frederic , but most of it has been.”

The next BCAR meeting will be on August 11 at the BCAR office in Robertsdale.