Saraland City Schools Superintendent Aaron Milner will hold a series of public question-and-answer sessions this month to explain a proposed 10-year, $20 million capital improvements plan ahead of a January referendum.
The first session is scheduled for Thursday evening at Saraland High School, kicking off a round of community meetings designed to inform residents about a proposed 7.5-mill property tax increase that would fund the plan. Voters will decide on the tax increase in a referendum set for Jan. 27.
Additional sessions are planned throughout December and January, including a meeting at Saraland Elementary School, another at Saraland Middle School, a joint presentation with the Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club, and a community forum at the Civic Center. School officials are also inviting local organizations to request their own scheduled Q&A sessions by contacting the district’s central office directly.
The capital improvements plan calls for a significant expansion of Saraland High School, including new classrooms, a larger band room, an indoor athletic facility, and new track and tennis facilities. It also includes a new early education center serving kindergarten and first grade students, additional school buses, and upgraded technology across the district.
Milner described the investment as critical to the district’s long-term future, saying it would help ensure that students currently in kindergarten have access to the same opportunities as this year’s graduating seniors. If approved, the funding would mark the first major new investment in the district since it separated from Mobile County Public Schools in 2008, when the city raised its sales tax by a half-cent to help launch the standalone system.
The plan also emphasizes career and technical education, with an expanded lineup of courses at Saraland High School. Milner pointed to a growing regional need for skilled workers, noting that welding jobs tied to Mobile River industries are expected to increase substantially by 2020, and that companies like Airbus are increasingly seeking employees with engineering backgrounds.
District officials say the plan should be viewed as an economic investment as much as an educational one, arguing that better-prepared graduates will help local employers fill high-demand technical positions. Milner said community reaction so far has been largely positive once residents have had a chance to review the details, and he encouraged families to attend one of the upcoming sessions or review the full plan on the district’s website.