Bills introduced during the current session of the Alabama Legislature could affect how cities create independent school systems, but those changes would not affect Baldwin County, local officials said.

Senate Bill 8, introduced by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, and House Bill 268, introduced by Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Birmingham, would each increase the population requirement for cities seeking to form a separate school system. Currently, a city with 5,000 residents can attempt to form a school system separate from the county system.

Under the proposed acts, a city would have to have 15,000 people.

That population requirement would have prevented Gulf Shores from splitting off from Baldwin County to form a municipal school system. Gulf Shores had a population of 9,741 in the 2010 Census and an estimated population of 11,809 in 2017.

In Orange Beach, supporters had proposed a separate school system in 2014. City voters, however, rejected a property tax that would have funded the city system. Orange Beach, with a 2017 population of 6,029 would also be ineligible for a city system under the proposed act.

Orange Beach City Councilman Jerry Johnson said municipal officials do not intend to make another attempt at a split and any change in population requirements would not affect their schools.

“Orange Beach did attempt it, but the voters expressed their opinion and that was that,” he said. “We’ve never thought about going back.”

Johnson said that the population increase proposed by the bill is not necessary.

The bills would also require the Alabama Department of Education to “determine the financial capability of a city to sustain a school system before the city can establish a city school system.”

Johnson said the choice of creating a separate system should be in the hands of local officials and voters and not the state.

“The Constitution of Alabama gives the right of any municipality that reaches 5,000 the choice of forming its own school system,” he said. “Whenever you pass a bill that limits the choice of the people and their elected officials, that’s bad.”

Both bills have been awaiting committee approval since being introduced in March. Johnson said he did not feel that the bills will pass, but if either comes up for a vote, he would asked the Baldwin County delegation to oppose the measures.

In Fairhope, a separate school system has also been discussed in the past. Fairhope topped the 15,000 resident threshold set in the bills in the 2010 Census with a count of 15,326.

Fairhope City Councilman Robert Brown, the council representative on the municipality’s Education Advisory Committee, said Fairhope is now looking at an alternative to splitting off from the Baldwin County School System.

The city is seeking a referendum on creating a separate tax district that would provide more funding for schools in the Fairhope attendance zones. The Board of Education approved the request for a vote on a three-mill tax within the district. The request now goes to the Baldwin County Commission.

Brown said that if voters approve the measure, the tax would raise about $2 million a year for Fairhope area schools in addition to current county funding. This would provide more local support without requiring the creation of a separate system and administration.

“We felt that this is a beter way to go,” Brown said.

Spanish Fort has also requested the creation of a new funding district with a three-mill tax in that city’s feeder pattern. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal Monday. If approved, the request will be presented to the Baldwin County Board of Education on May 19.