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

  • Allegion US Partners with Two Colleges for Mobile Credential Technology

    Allegion US recently announced a partnership with Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and Denison College, in conjunction with Transact + CBORD, to install mobile credential technologies campus-wide, according to a news release. Implementing Mobile Student ID into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet will allow students access to campus facilities, amenities, and residence halls using just their phones.

  • Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School has been recognized with an EDS 2025 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • Designing School Spaces for A++ Performance

    In recent years, the educational world has gained greater appreciation for the ways a space’s aesthetics, just like its acoustics, can positively impact educational outcomes. Consequently, engineering, designing, and constructing a school environment demands acoustics to be equally an art and a science, requiring architects and designers to see with their ears, while acousticians must hear with their eyes.

Digital Edition