By Hannah Curran, Editor
TRUSSVILLE — The Trussville City Schools (TCS) Board of Education (BOE) discussed changes to the Trussville Springs neighborhood bus route and the new Hewitt-Trussville High School (HTHS) addition.
TCS Superintendent Dr. Patti Neill said to make the new bus route work, there needed to be some changes. The first change was some boulders that needed to be removed on a “tight turn” going into Trussville Springs. Second, a “hold harmless agreement” was required so that if the bus went over the curb and damaged the grass or curb, TCS is not held responsible for those damages. Third, TCS asks that people in the neighborhood not park on the street where “on-street parking” is not designated.
Neill said this particular route would go from the entrance to the clubhouse and include a new pick-up point located at the sideyard of 6563 Spring Street. There are reportedly 18 students in the Trussville Springs neighborhood who ride the bus.
“We currently have three buses going in [Trussville Spring],” Neill said. “One for elementary, one for middle, and one for high school.”
Upon the approval of the “hold harmless agreement” at the board meeting, steps will be made to give a letter to every student that exits the bus on Friday, August 26, explaining the new pick-up point and a new time for the morning pick-up and afternoon drop-off. Parents will also receive a Blackboard reminder about the new information.
Transportation Coordinator Dale Posey explained that the elementary bus’s current pick-up time is 7:22 a.m., which will change to 6:55 a.m., and the afternoon drop-off will stay at 3:55 p.m. The middle school bus pick-up time will change from 7:11 a.m. to 6:45 a.m., and the afternoon drop-off will be 3:45 p.m. The high school pick-up time will change from 7:30 a.m. to 6:40 a.m., and the drop-off time will change from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Posey said the time changes are to accommodate if a train is blocking the tracks.
“That’s putting Trussville Springs kids first on and then last off,” Posey said. “So if we get in the neighborhood and get stuck, then it’s only the Trussville Springs kids, and our bus driver stuck in there.”
TCS liaison, Councilmember Lisa Bright, said that if the times do not accommodate the families impacted by the change, then they have the choice to take the children to school.
“Being on Highway 11 is dangerous, to load and unload on a U.S. Highway where people are going 70 miles per hour, and [students] have to cross the street assuming people are going to stop,” Bright said. “[Trussville Springs] is highly motivated to be on that bus, but if the time becomes a problem, then they have that right to make that choice to take the students to school.”
Neill also discussed during the work session the addition of the C-Wing at HTHS.
“We have 1,570 students at the high school right now,” Neill said. “Last year, we topped 1,600, and we probably will top 1,600 this year. So the maximum capacity for the common areas is 2,400 students. Those are the library spaces that all the students use, the capacity of the gymnasiums that all the students use, and your kitchen; how many students can you feed? And how many students can you seat? Well, at three or four or five or six lunch waves, we should be able to eventually feed 2,400 students but no more.”
Neill explained that HTHS can hold 1,600 students, and they have room for about 30 more students this year as they come in.
“So there is ample space in our common areas, but the classroom space is almost full,” Neill said. “Phase one for growth is to finish out the basement, and that will yield eight classroom labs. That could be completed in one year, if we’re lucky, from the time construction starts because it’s mostly finished. So the maximum was 28 students per class, so by the end of the year, we will have eight classroom labs in the basement that will be able to hold 224 students.”
Phase two for growth, HTHS is planning for three floors on C-Wing.
“Adding two floors on C-Wing will give us the space for 448 more students, and that is 16 classrooms, times 28 students per class,” Neill said. “So ironically, the basement holds eight classrooms, and each floor holds eight classrooms. So two floors would hold 16 classrooms and 28 students per class.”
Currently, with 1,570 students at HTHS and the addition of phase one to yield 1,794 for the 2023-2024 school year. Phase two is for two floors of C-Wing, which will yield 448 more students and gives HTHS 2,242 students.
“If we have an alternate for the third floor, which we will, and we can afford the alternate, immediately, we will build out three floors,” Neill said. “That adds 224 more students, and the final capacity for phase one and phase two is 2,466 students. So that will make our common areas full as well.”
During the board meeting, TCS BOE also tabled the first reading of the Board Policy 6.13.1 Mental Health for 30 days.
Additionally, Chief School Financial Officer, Jim Kirkland, did the second reading of the Public Budget Hearing.
In other news, the board:
- Approve Accounts Payable for: July 2022;
- Approve Payroll for: July 2022;
- Approval Financials for: July 2022;
- Approve Work Session Record and Board Minutes for July 28, 2022;
- Approve decline of I, II, IID-EETT Formula funds, and Title III Federal Funds;
- Approve Bid Statement for FY23;
- Approve Resolution and funding package issuance of Capital Pool Outlay Warrant Series, 2022;
- Approve the following contact/agreements with:
- Child’s Play Therapy Center agreement;
- Occupational Therapy agreement;
- Approve the following field trips:
- HTMS Cheer to Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN;
- HTMS Cheer to Sevierville, TN;
- HTMS Dance to UDA Regional in Memphis, TN;
- HTMS Theater Class to Atlanta, GA;
- Approve the FY23 Budget;
- Approve Memorandum of Agreement with University of Alabama at Birmingham for Affiliation for Clinical Education – Counseling Program;
- Approve Facility Usage Agreement for:
- Park & Rec Basketball for Cahaba Elementary Gym November 2022 through March 2023 practices and games (calendar submitted);
- Park & Rec Youth Basketball for Magnolia Elementary November 22 – March 2023 (calendar submitted);
- Park & Rec Lacrosse practices and games for HTMS Fields Saturdays September 11 – December 11, 2022;
- Approve the following students for Early High School Graduation:
- 08-25-22-01 and 08-25-22-02;
- Approve EDF 08-25-22-01 through 08-25-22-02;
- Approve Agreement for New Outdoor Classroom at Cahaba Elementary. This is a PTO Project and will be funded by the PTO;
- Approve FY 22/23 Capital Plan;
- Approve Trussville Springs HOA Agreement;
- Approve agreement/contract for C-Wing at Hewitt-Trussville High School;
- Approve ATBE agreement for renewal of automobile fund participation and renewal of ATBE General Liability/Errors and Omissions Liability participation;
- Approve Texthelp Subscription;
- Approve Trussville City Schools to enter the Joint Purchasing Agreement with Sand Mountain CNP Cooperative for the 2022-23 school year;
- Approve Trussville City Schools to join the Central Alabama CNP Consortium for produce for the 22-23 school year;
- Approve service agreement with Simplified Behavioral Health;
- Approve survey proposal for construction of wing with Arrington Engineering; and
- Approval of superintendents recommendations regarding changes in personnel, contracts, extra services, and supplements
The September Monthly Board Meeting will be on September 19, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of Central Office. There will be a Work Session at 5:00 p.m. before the Board Meeting. Both the Work Session and Board Meeting will be live streamed. A link to the live stream will be posted on the TCS website at 4:45 p.m. on September 19, 2022.