The city of Daphne will move forward in its efforts to look at starting its own city school system, after the city council decided to move forward with funding a feasibility study after a divided vote on July 5.

The council voted 5-2 to add $35,000 to the budget for the study, bringing the total up to $65,000 for the study with the previous $30,000 the council had already budgeted.

Councilmembers Tommie Conaway and Ron Scott were the nay votes for increasing the funding, and Conaway explained her vote later in the meeting.

“About five years ago, I would have gone along with the feasibility study,” Conaway said. “Now, I see that they are doing a better job. We have a good school system that is trying to work with us to make things even better. That’s my reason for voting nay.”

Councilman Joe Davis, who admitted he was not originally a yes vote for the study, said he changed his mind because he wanted the people of Daphne to have the most information possible before a decision was made.

“The reason I voted for the study is that the more information you have, the better decision you should be able to make,” Davis said. “The more information we can get, even though it costs some money, enables us to make the best decision short term and long term. We need all the facts we can get.”

The city had received two bids to conduct the feasibility study and will now negotiate with those bidders and make the final decision at an upcoming council meeting.