By Gary Lloyd
Trussville City Schools is hosting a public hearing Thursday for consideration of a site for a new elementary school
.
The public hearing will be at noon in the board room of the Central Office on North Chalkville Road.
The second public hearing will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Hewitt-Trussville High School on Husky Parkway.
The two sites under consideration are the 39 acres at the Magnolia South area near the Hidden Trace neighborhood on the south end of the city and the old Hewitt-Trussville Middle School on Parkway Drive which is comprised of seven acres.
A look at the proposed school site near Magnolia South and Hidden Trace in Trussville
photo courtesy of Trussville City Schools
“We need to get the community in a fever pitch about this,” said Trussville City Councilman Alan Taylor, the council’s liaison to Trussville City Schools.
Factors in determining where the school would be located include traffic flow, parking, playground area, and general location, among others.
A steering committee considering these factors seem to favor the Magnolia South location over the old middle school. One steering committee member said at last week’s Trussville City Board of Education work session that using the old middle school for a new elementary school would be a “square peg in a round hole.”
Paine Primary School has a capacity of 774 students but currently houses 913 students. There are five portable classrooms on the site. Paine Intermediate School has a capacity of 785 students but currently houses 941 students. There are eight portable classrooms on site. Those numbers work out to 295 total students in portable classrooms at the Paine campus.
Should an elementary school be constructed in the Magnolia South area, school buses would likely not transport students via Mary Taylor Road, which is in Birmingham city limits. The buses would likely take students to the school via Watterson Parkway, up Hawk Ridge Drive and through the Hidden Trace neighborhood.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
