The St. Clair County School System will be home to more students this upcoming year than ever before. When the bell rings to start class Aug. 7, Superintendent Jenny Seals said, close to 8,500 students would fill the halls and classrooms of schools in the area.
With St. Clair County now the fastest growing county in the state, school officials have to look at ways of alleviating the overcrowding problem at schools.
One solution the Board of Education is seriously considering is the construction of two new schools — a kindergarten through fifth-grade school in Margaret and a fourth- through sixth-grade school in Moody.
Lee Bryant, vice-president of Lathan Associates Architects, presented an architectural drawing of the two schools Monday at a work session. Bryant said the two schools would have the exact same floor plan, which in the long run, would save the school system a lot of money and time.
Each school would be 70,000 square feet and cost about $10 million to build. Both buildings would be built where additional classrooms could be added to the back wings as growth continues.
The new Moody Middle School would be built on the right side of High School Drive across from Bill Morris Stadium on the way to the Moody Jr. High School campus. An access road to Kerr Road would also be built.
Seals said this school would house between 500 to 600 students in grades four through six.
“I think this is a good location,” Bryant said. “Two ways in and two ways out and you can expand.”
There are a total of 36 classrooms at each school.
The new Margaret Elementary School would be built near the intersection of St. Clair County 12 and St. Clair County 6.
Seals said this additional school would help with overcrowding at Odenville Elementary School, Odenville Intermediate School and Springville Elementary School.
“Currently, we have 8,300 students in our school system, but I anticipate having close to 8,500 students by the time school starts in August,” Seals said. “We are excited about the possibility. This school would be home to about 650 students initially.”
Board member Terry Green wanted to know if it was reasonable for the BOE to think it could build two schools for $20 million.
“It’s doable, but my concern is not today, it is six months from now,” Bryant said. “We will have to make some decisions. It’s a challenge but it is doable. But at the same time, I do not want to back myself into a corner. I’m just the architect. We have to make good decisions. I would recommend bidding these as two separate projects. We are up for the challenge and we would really like to design these two projects for you. It’s about as economical as you can get. We have a good plan.”
