By Hannah Curran, Editor
SPRINGVILLE — Springville and Odenville could vote on a new ad valorem tax in November after St. Clair County Board of Education members approved two separate resolutions.
Superintendent Justin Burns said that the Springville community brought a petition for a resolution that asks for a 15-millage vote, this would go strictly towards a new Springville Middle School (SMS).
Burns said that this is an extreme need as Springville continues to grow as a community, and its school buildings have become extremely overcrowded.
“If the ad valorem tax is passed, we plan to build a new school in Springville,” SMS Principal James Talton said. “We hope to build a new middle/immediate high school.”
The Odenville community brought a petition for a resolution asking for a 10-millage vote, which would go towards a new cafeteria for Odenville Intermediate School (OIS) and Odenville Middle School (OMS) to use.
“Odenville Elementary School (OES), OMS, and OIS all share one lunchroom that is quite inconvenient for OIS to use as they have to walk outside for a considerable amount of time,” Burns said.
According to St. Clair County Boardmember Mike Hobbs, St. Clair County has not had a millage increase in 47 years.
“Our resources and budget are based on 1974 money,” Hobbs said. “Now, there’s been other tax increases from the county, and the state but not that goes specifically to St. Clair County Schools, and even more directly to capital campaign, which are buildings and things that last more than 30 years.”
Anytime you have a millage or ad valorem, it has to go to things with a life of approximately 30 years or longer.
Moody passed their ad valorem tax on Tuesday, November 23, 2022, and citizens are already seeing the benefits of the vote taking shape in Moody. However, in Springville, the measure ultimately failed by 40 votes due to those voting against it.
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Hobbs said there are 137 publicly funded school systems in the state of Alabama, and St. Clair County Schools is ranked 130 in funding for students.
“St. Clair County just a few years ago was in the top five fastest-growing counties in the state of Alabama, and funding for students in St. Clair County is ranked 130 out of 137,” Hobbs said.
St. Clair County does not have money to build facilities, and the ad valorem tax allows them to purchase bonds that will enable you to build facilities.
Hobbs said that Springville, specifically, is the fastest-growing community in the state, and they only have an elementary, middle, and high school. Most 6A schools like Springville High School have a feeder pattern of four schools such as elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school.
“We’re still using the high school from the 30s and 40s as our middle school,” Hobbs said. “So Trussville has three elementary and one middle school, and Springville’s sitting there with a three-school system as a 6A school.
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“We have got to do something, or we’re going to have to put students in trailers; we’re remodeling a building that was built more than 60 years ago just to put students in it because we don’t have anywhere to put all of them,” Hobbs said. “We really, really need this ad valorem tax to pass.”
In November 2021, Springville was also limited on space and classrooms at all their schools, Springville Elementary School (SES), SMS, and Springville High School (SHS). If the tax referendum had passed, they would receive a new school for SMS, which would house the seventh and eighth-graders, a new Performing Arts Center, and a new turf football field.
However, this ad valorem tax is strictly for a new middle school to help alleviate the overcrowding in the schools.
“We’re gonna try to do as much as we can, the performing arts center (PAC) is probably on the chopping block because if it had passed last year, we could have afforded it, but we can’t afford that this year,” Hobbs said. “But now we’re just talking about volumes of students.”
Hobbs said Springville has students who eat their lunch at their desks because there’s not enough room for them in the lunch room. After all, Springville was originally a 2A school.
If the new ad valorem tax passes in Springville, they would remodel SMS, turn it into an intermediate school, and then build a new middle school by the current SHS.
Burns said they would have multiple town hall meetings in each community to ensure they continually work to provide what the communities feel they need to help their students succeed.
The Trussville Tribune reached out to Springville High School Principal Gregory Moore, but efforts to receive a comment were unsuccessful.