Mt Laurel Elementary rezoned for Oak Mountain schools

The Shelby County Board of Education unanimously approved a rezoning plan to shift students zoned for the Mt Laurel Elementary attendance zone from Chelsea to Oak Mountain schools. 

After spending time in an executive session during the May 5 board meeting, board president Aubrey Miller called for the vote in which all board members voted yes.

“This is an extremely complex issue,” Miller said. “The information and the feelings brought forth tonight by parents and grandparents in this district were important to us. We have approved this rezoning, but I want to let you know that because of the complexity of the matter, it is an issue that is going to continue under discussion. Superintendent Brooks has agreed to have a meeting sometime beyond tonight with those affected by this decision and we will be hearing more about that."

Under the new plan, which will be implemented in two phases over the next two years, students in grades K-5 will continue to attend Mt Laurel Elementary but then will transition to Oak Mountain Middle and Oak Mountain High. The rezoning plan will be implemented in two phases over the next two years. 

Beginning in the fall of 2022, students in grades K-5 will continue to attend Mt Laurel Elementary. Students entering grades 6-12 have the option to enroll in Oak Mountain Middle and Oak Mountain High School, but parents must commit to providing transportation for the entire school year. Students continuing to attend Chelsea Middle and Chelsea High will have daily bus transportation for that school year. 

An exception for students currently enrolled at Chelsea Middle and Chelsea High School will be made for them to continue there until they graduate. Those who choose to continue in the Chelsea school attendance zone must commit to that option and will be required to provide their own transportation starting with the 2023-2024 school year. 

For the 2023-2024 school year, students in grades 6-11 will transition to Oak Mountain schools and the district will begin to provide bus transportation. Students in grades 7-1 that choose to stay in Chelsea schools will have to provide their own transportation from that point forward. 

Four people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. Victoria King, a Highland Lakes resident who has an eighth grader at Chelsea Middle School said that she moved there for Shelby County Schools. 

“My daughter has experienced so much anxiety with the back and forth about where she will go to high school,” she said. She should be excited for high school to start, but she can’t due to this uncertainty. It took me an extra 10 minutes to get to [Oak Mountain] the high school. Ten minutes to have my child at Oak Mountain, which is ranked ninth in the state, to me it will be worth those extra ten minutes. 

Johnnie Atkins, a Dunnavant Valley resident, has a grandson at Chelsea Middle School, but said her only issue was with transportation. She said she made the drive and going there was not a problem, but she said coming back down U.S. 119 “was amazingly hard.”

Highland Lakes resident Josh McCandless has a son graduating from fifth grade at Mt Laurel and said he is 

looking forward to the transition but said it would be a challenge to their younger daughter to preschool and their son to Oak Mountain Middle School. 

“The biggest thing for me would be a plea to allow the opportunity for transportation for bus service, even if it’s one centralized stop, that would be very convenient and very helpful for myself and many others we’ve spoken to in our community.  

KK Swartz, a Dunnavant Valley Resident with a fifth grader about to graduate Mt Laurel Elementary said she was fully in support of the rezoning to Oak Mountain schools, specifically because the Chelsea situation continues to wear on the community. 

“It just would seem to relieve that stress to go ahead and send our children to Oak Mountain, a lot of the community is in support of sending our kids to Oak Mountain,” she said. 

During the meeting, the board also approved:

A renewal of bid for substitute staffing services for Kelly Services through June 30, 2023

Approving Molly Parks as assistant principal for Linda Nolen Learning Center. 

Approval for other personnel actions

The next SCBOE meeting will be held May 19, 2022 at 5 p.m. Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster.