Daphne City Schools?

Council approves $35,000 for independent school study

By Crystal Cole
Posted 11/10/16

ncluded in the city of Daphne’s budget this year is a request for a study about the possibility of Daphne breaking away and forming its own school system.

During the budget process, Councilman …

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Daphne City Schools?

Council approves $35,000 for independent school study

Posted

ncluded in the city of Daphne’s budget this year is a request for a study about the possibility of Daphne breaking away and forming its own school system.

During the budget process, Councilman Robin LeJeune requested a budget amendment that added $35,000 for a school study that would assess the feasibility of the city undertaking its own city school system.

“I think this is just a way for us to see what our options are,” Councilman Ron Scott said. “We just want to be able to get information and see what we could possibly do.”

The council voted in favor of the measure and city leaders said they’ve been reaching out in discussions with other cities that have undertaken similar moves.

This is not the first time Daphne city leaders have commissioned a study to pull away from the Baldwin County system.

In 2006, the city contracted with Ira Harvey of Vestavia Hills to conduct a study on the viability of a Daphne City Schools system.

In that report, Harvey had several conclusions that pointed to the conclusion that the city might be better off staying with the county school system.

“System will in total generate a slightly reduced amount of local tax revenue per student at $2,878.14 when compared to the Baldwin County School System at $3,003.45,” Harvey wrote. “The financial picture of the residual Baldwin County school system will actually improve to $3,017.71 per student. This is because the value of a mill Daphne on a per student basis is less than that for the county overall.”

In another section, Harvey postulates that Daphne leaving the county would actually up the county system’s funds.

“Daphne forming an independent city school system, because it is a less wealthy area, makes the residual county school system slightly wealthier,” Harvey wrote.

At the time, Harvey gave the city a D+ rating in millage because the city’s millage potential was much lower than the state’s average.

If Daphne did pull away and form its own system, it would inherit the debt associated with the schools in its city system.

Baldwin County Schools officials estimate that debt to be at least $29.1 million in principal payments and additional $14.5 million in interest payments – a total of a little over $43.7 million total.

BCSS officials also said that students in Timber Creek and historic Malbis that currently attend Spanish Fort schools would have to be folded into any Daphne City Schools system, which could cause a large influx of students immediately into that system.

Based on current numbers, Timber Creek would add 192 K-5 students, 106 6-8 grade students and 147 9-12 graders. Historic Malbis would add approximately 58 K-5 students, 21 6-8 graders and 24 9-12 grade students.

Daphne officials said the city has not planned to move forward with any split at this time and that a study, if conducted, would give city leaders much to discuss before even considering to undertake any action.