Fairhope, Alabama thefairhopetimes.blogspot.com
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| H4FCS Facebook page. |
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| Current Fairhope feeder pattern. |
CALLED 'HOPE FOR FAIRHOPE CITY SCHOOLS'
With a series of public meeting scheduled to begin this week (Tuesday), a group that first formed in 2023 (click) to investigate starting a city school system has become active again.
Local realtor Carrie Mackey (Mobile Bay Realty) is the organizer according to state records; she is also a former FEEF President and a current member of the Fairhope Public School Commission which distributes the special 3 mil school tax to local schools.
H4FCS financed the PARCA feasibility study now available from the city's website; a new Facebook Page by the same name has been established as well (click).
Their study concluded there would be no additional cost, if only students within city limits participated.
The city's own $20K study (by Criterion Consulting) authorized only as a "demographic study" by the city council in June 2025 is there as well; it concluded more revenue would be needed depending on level of participation and services wanted.
See both studies here (click).
CITY LEADERS WEIGH IN
Mayor Sullivan said recently the upcoming meetings were triggered by a "very persistent group of parents" and added she is personally neutral on the issue: it will be entirely up to citizens to decide. It may be possible to hold a non-binding voter referendum to gauge interest at some point.
When asked by a Times reporter, Councilman Robinson agreed with the mayor (citizens must decide); but councilman Burrell is quoted in earlier interviews he would not support any tax increase.
ANNEXATION A SOLUTION?
One key issue is how to handle students in the current school feeder pattern outside city limits: more students means higher cost. Annexation into city limits would be the best solution but charging some level of tuition could be an alternative as well for those outside who wanted to attend city schools. If all current feeder pattern students participated, a new middle and elementary school would likely be needed, the mayor said.
Large-scale annexation voter referendums could be held in neighborhoods outside city limits if it ever got to that point, according to the mayor. She envisioned a two year time frame -- if it moved ahead at all
During a recent radio interview State Senator Elliot, a longtime proponent of city schools, said he thought Choose Act money might be utilized for the tuition; but current students might be grandfathered in by the city to continue on until graduation.
Elliot added he thought residents of the city of Daphne were considering a city system again too.
EARLIER EFFORTS FAILED
Sixteen years ago, another citizens' group called 'Good 2 Great' formed to advocate for a city system and the city council at the time hired consultant Ira Harvey to do a feasibility study but that effort ultimately failed. See an interesting FT report from the time here (click).