Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Ala. School Board Plans $98M in Capital Projects

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/03/21

Members of the Hoover school board in Hoover, Ala., met this week to discuss a series of upcoming capital projects totaling $98 million. Expenses over the next seven years are projected to include two new elementary schools, a 10-classroom addition to an existing elementary school, athletic and theater upgrades, 24 new school buses, and other maintenance projects.

These expenses, however, would cost the school system’s reserves more than $50 million by 2028. The board’s chief financial officer, Michele McCay, said this would leave the school system with enough cash to cover three months’ worth of emergency expenses—the bare minimum recommended by the state. However, the school system is already projected to have less than five months’ worth of reserve funds by 2024.

“We’re coming to the point where we have to make some pretty tough decisions,” McCay said. “We need to come up with additional sources of revenue in order to maintain the infrastructure that we have and provide the services that our citizens and our students deserve.”

USS Real Estate is in talks with the district to donate 100 acres of land to the Hoover Board of Education. School officials would still be responsible for construction and operation costs of the facilities built there. The exact plan for the land is still being decided, but the approved capital plan does call for two new elementary schools within the district.

“I don’t think there’s any question: If we take on two new elementary schools over the next few years, we’re going to have to have additional revenue to offset the loss of revenue that’s coming up sales taxes,” said school board member Craig Kelley.

Capital expenses planned during the next seven years include an upgrade to the Hoover High theater (2022), bathroom upgrades (2022), twelve new 72-passenger buses (2022), athletic upgrades at two middle schools (2023), flooring projects at three elementary schools (2023), an addition to the transportation building (2023), HVAC projects (2024), roofing and paving projects (2025), and other maintenance costs.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.

  • Big Horn Academy

    Big Horn Academy

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Big Horn Academy has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • KWK Architects Announces Full Transition to Lawrence Group Branding

    KWK Architects recently announced that it will complete its transition to the Lawrence Group brand effective July 1, according to a news release. The merger marks the end of a three-year strategic integration process that began in March 2023 to unite the firms.

  • USC Launches Major AI Initiative After $200M Gift

    The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif., recently announced that it has launched a “transformational” new AI initiative thanks to a $200M gift, according to a news release. The project will leverage AI toward breakthroughs and innovations in subjects like the health sciences, business, security, and the arts.