Orange Beach Middle School will open near Sportsplex in August of 2019

Orange Beach Middle School will open near Sportsplex in August of 2019
Decision will alleviate overcrowding at GSES, protect County as G.S. explores own system
By Fran Thompson
The Baldwin County School Board recently approved funds for a new middle school in Orange Beach that will alleviate overcrowding at Gulf Shores Elementary School while giving the county a back-up plan should Gulf Shores proceed with plans it recently initiated to start its own school system.
Beginning in August of 2019, students from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach will attend the brand spanking new Orange Beach Middle School.
According to School Superintendent Eddie Tyler, a principal at GSHS for five years, the Gulf Shores Elementary and Gulf Shores Middle School buildings will be combined, and the middle grades will move to a new middle school located adjacent to the Orange Beach Sportsplex. This will alleviate the need for portables at Gulf Shores Elementary School.
“We feel like having the Elementary School move into the Gulf Shore Middle School campus will help fully accommodate long term future growth needs with 25 additional classrooms (with the ability to expand), two gymnasiums (one small/one large competition size), and additional greenspace where the current Middle School practice field is,’’ stated John C. Wilson, Chief School Financial Officer for Baldwin County Public Schools.
“This will allow us to move the playground and create more parking, and the car and bus drop off areas will be completely reconfigured to greatly improve the traffic and congestion on the campus,’’ he added.
“We feel like that approach gives us the best situation to get the most benefit from both campuses while utilizing our current capital budget allocations.’’
Tyler said connectors and corridors between Gulf Shores Elementary and Middle schools will be enclosed.
“This is an awesome solution and much better than the previous wing expansion plans,’’ he said.
In the meantime, the school board will install air conditioned trailer restrooms, plumbed into the city system near the current portable classrooms and covered protective walkways between the portables and Gulf Shores Elementary School, according to Tyler.
“Relocating the Gulf Shores Middle School students to the new middle school campus will greatly alleviate the traffic congestion at Gulf Shores schools,’’ Tyler stated in a letter to media and parents. “Adding an additional 12 classroom wing expansion would have made the campus grounds continue to shrink and traffic would still continue be a problem,’’ Tyler said.
The new middle school, which will cost $14.9 million, will be located on land valued at $5 million donated by the City of Orange Beach.
“We could literally stack hundreds of cars into car line and have no one waiting on Canal Rd.,’’ Tyler said. “The city is also providing traffic signals to stop traffic and exit school vehicles quickly. This will be much faster than what we are dealing with now.’’
Tyler said, despite rumors to the contrary, classes such as AP, extracurricular activities and various other offerings students currently enjoy at Gulf Shores Middle School will also be offered at the new middle school. “Perhaps even more,’’ he said.
Tyler said the new middle school will be built to include plans for immediate use as a facility to accommodate grades 7 through 12 should Gulf Shores proceed with the school system split that the city’s elected officials have already voted to explore.
The Gulf Shores City Council, in August, agreed to spend up to $15,000 for a study conducted by Birmingham-based Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) to produce interactive modeling on the best way to move forward with a city school system.
Kevin Corcoran, co-chairman of the Island Task Force for Education, the group that lobbied the city to help fund that study, told the Mobile Press-Register that the school system is “out of touch” with growth projections within the Gulf Shores-Orange Beach feeder system, citing the number of four and five bedroom homes being built in Craft Farms.
“If you look at the development of Craft Farms … a significant number of those houses are four-to-five bedrooms,” Corcoran said to P-R reporter John Sharp. “I don’t believe those are empty nesters or retirees building four-to-five bedroom houses.”
Wilson does not concur, stating that he expects some growth in Gulf Shores this year, but his charts documenting the 10 year enrollment figures for all the schools in the Gulf Shores feeder pattern show that growth has stabilized in most circumstances.
“And in a few schools have moderately declined over the last few years,’’ he said.
“We are not seeing the level of growth in Gulf Shores that we are seeing in other areas. Not including Pre-K, we did see a small decline in all Gulf Shores schools last year and this was the only feeder pattern to show a year over year decline in all schools, but like I said earlier, we are expecting that trend to reverse and show some growth for this school year.’’
Wilson said projections, especially long term projections, are updated every year and change based on updated circumstances.
“That process is definitely more of an art than a science,’’ he stated. “The board is currently working with South Alabama Department Center for Real Estate and Economic Development to further enhance and improve our projection model.’’
Tyler said that while GSES has seen growth since he left in 2008, the high school has grown “a tick over 100 students” while the middle school stays relatively stable. “I don’t consider that
bursting at the seams,” he said.
The Baldwin County Board of Education passed a $60 million financing plan earlier this summer that included a middle school addition to Orange Beach Elementary for 7th & 8th grade students that included a gym, a cafetorium and major renovations at a cost of $6.34 million. A new larger gymnasium and 12 new classrooms for Gulf Shores Elementary School was priced at $3.8 million and was also part of the “pay-as-you-go” capital construction program.
In addition to using those funds, the School Board will use $2.5 million from the General Fund Reserve Balance, $2.5 million in unappropriated State of Alabama BP funds and $2 million from rolling capital expenditure surpluses to pay for the new school.
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said the School Board’s decision to build a new middle school in Orange Beach was totally unexpected.
“Mr. Tyler and I have always maintained very open dialogue in his time as Superintendent. The complete absence of communication while this plan was being engineered is perplexing,’’ Mayor Craft said in a statement.
“Approximately 75% of the children attending schools within our feeder pattern live in Gulf Shores. While I am encouraged that the Baldwin County Board of Education now has $15 million available to invest in our feeder pattern, their neglect to incorporate any input or involvement from our community into the development of a plan of this magnitude is extremely disappointing.”
The School Superintendent said the idea for a new middle school in Orange Beach was presented to his staff by Mayor Craft and Kevin Cocoran and that the presentation included a new three-mil tax increase.
“While they pursued the new tax increase idea, they asked us to not make any changes. We waited. When they decided not to move forward, I immediately put Gulf Shores on the priority list for new expansion and we rushed to get something done,’’ Tyler stated. “One week after we announced our plans, the city announced the idea to begin a city school split, which again froze everything. The word “blindsided” was mentioned at Thursday night’s Board meeting. How ironic.
“I hope Gulf Shores stays with Baldwin County Public Schools,’’ Tyler added. “I have a lot of great memories there, but we must be ready if they choose something else.’’