Baldwin County school leaders laid out an ambitious, long-term construction wish list this week, unveiling a $350 million capital needs plan meant to address crowding and rapid enrollment growth across the district’s seven feeder patterns. Interim Superintendent Robbie Owen presented the plan alongside Assistant Superintendent Russ Moore during the Baldwin County Education Summit, walking attendees through proposed projects community by community.
To pay for the sweeping list of upgrades, school officials are eyeing a proposed 8-mill property tax increase. The Baldwin County Board of Education passed a resolution asking the Baldwin County Commission to schedule a public referendum on the tax increase for late March, setting up a decision that would ultimately rest with voters.
The plan touches nearly every corner of the county. In Bay Minette, officials want to build a new K-6 elementary school within three years and add a 10-room classroom wing at Perdido Elementary. In Daphne, where crowding at Daphne East Elementary has become a persistent issue, the plan calls for a new K-6 school in the Belforest area along with an addition and upgrades at Daphne High School, which currently enrolls more than 1,200 students and could grow by as many as 1,700 over the next nine years.
In Fairhope, the plan proposes renovating the long-shuttered K-1 Center downtown, a project Owen said was a direct response to community wishes, drawing applause from the audience at the summit. Additional classroom space is also planned at Fairhope High and Fairhope Middle schools. Foley, home to the county’s largest and fastest-growing high school, could see enrollment climb from roughly 1,800 students to nearly 2,500 within nine years under district projections. The plan calls for property acquisition and an addition at Foley Intermediate, along with an expansion of Elberta Middle School into a full high school, a proposal that drew the loudest applause of the night.
Gulf Shores schools would get a new elementary school and additional classroom space at Orange Beach Elementary to accommodate seventh and eighth graders, addressing overcrowding severe enough that portable classrooms have begun eating into parking space at Gulf Shores Elementary. In Robertsdale, the plan proposes new classroom wings at Elsanor Elementary and Central Baldwin Middle School, plus renovations at Robertsdale High School, including a larger cafeteria, more athletic practice fields and additional parking.
Perhaps no area faces faster growth than Spanish Fort, where officials project a 71 percent enrollment increase, or roughly 1,465 additional students, over the next nine years. The district recently added 20 classrooms at Rockwell Elementary, but Moore said 43 more classrooms are still needed between Rockwell and Spanish Fort Elementary. The plan calls for a new elementary school on Highway 31, along with cafeteria expansion, added classrooms and a remodeled gym at Spanish Fort High School.
School officials said the scale of the plan reflects just how quickly Baldwin County’s population has grown in recent years, and warned that without significant new investment, crowding at several schools would only worsen. The March referendum will give voters the final say on whether to fund the sweeping construction program.