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Results from feasibility study delivered to Chelsea City Council

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Photo courtesy of Wayne Morris

After discussions earlier this year about forming its own school system, the Chelsea City Council held a special called work session on Nov. 18 to hear the results of a feasibility study, along with a breakdown of the costs associated with starting a new city school system and construction of a new high school. 

“Please understand this is an early step in a marathon,” Mayor Tony Picklesimer said. “There will be public hearings, there will be lots of opportunities for all of our citizens to address the council and offer questions they may have. Tonight is just for us, the city council, to hear the results of this study directly from Criterion as you will be hearing it.”

Picklesimer added that the decision to form a school system will be a vote of Chelsea citizens and the meeting was to begin the process of learning what that vote will be about and what the requirements to accomplish that would be. 

“The citizens of Chelsea will make the decisions whether or not we move forward with the recommendation,” Picklesimer said. 

The work session was open to the public, although no public comments were taken, and was also live streamed on the city’s Facebook page. Copies of the study were available at the meeting and also posted on the city’s website.

The Criterion K-12 Consulting Group was commissioned in June to handle the study, which was not to make a recommendation for or against a new school system, but to provide the necessary data that would be required to do so. 

The architecture firm of Goodwyn Mills and Cawood was tasked with completing an assessment of the current Chelsea High School and providing information regarding a new high school. 

Photo courtesy of Wayne Morris

Representing The Criterion Group were Dr. Phil Hammonds, a lifelong educator that has served in many capacities in school systems all around the state of Alabama and also as superintendent of Jefferson County Schools; Kim McPherson, CPA with Criterion and Dr. Frank Costanzo, a retired school superintendent.

Gary Owen, vice president and Birmingham office leader for Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, presented a report regarding the state of the current Chelsea High School and the costs associated with building a new one and also created a program for potential new school to accommodate between 850-900 students. The total budget for a new high school was projected at $82,140,000.

Presented during the meeting was an overview of funding for K-12 schools in Alabama, student transportation, pro forma budgets, additional revenues that would be necessary to support a new school system, transportation costs, long-term debt service and revenue streams needed to maintain a one-month operative reserve.

Of the two proposed plans, one included only students living in the Chelsea city limits and the other included those zoned for the town of Westover, should they vote to be annexed into Chelsea. 

Castanzo’s presented information on transportation. In the Chelsea student attendance zone, the average number of students transported daily is 1,263, which would require 38 buses, (30 regular, 3 for special education, 4 spare buses and 1 spare special education bus.) It would require 40 transportations positions, including 33 bus drivers. 

Photo courtesy of Wayne Morris

McPherson created the pro forma budgets and said she believed in conservative budgeting. Revenue for a new school system would total 55% from the state, 41% from local sources and 4% from federal funds. 

Local tax revenues within the Chelsea city limits only would total $10.7 million dollars and $11.7 million when the town of Westover was included. Federal revenues within the Chelsea city limits only would total $1.2 million dollars and $1.4 million when the town of Westover was included.

328 educators would be needed for those students within the Chelsea city limits, and the number would increase to 353 when combined with the town of Westover. 

Along with a one month operating reserve of $1.8 million, which is required by the state of Alabama, the city would also have to take on the debt of what is currently owed on the schools.

“You would be pulling $20 million total debt that applies to the schools currently in the Chelsea area,” McPherson said. “This is pretty heavy debt to take on, but it’s typical.”

So how much would city residents have to pay for the new system and new high school? 11 mills of taxation would be required just to reach one month of operating reserve along with another 11 mills to fund a new high school for a total of 22 mills.

Three scenarios were shared by Dr. Costanzo for different options ranging from 22 mills to 33 mills. 

The costs for the taxpayers would be determined by the property value’s home value. Based on the above scenarios of 33, 29 and 22 mils respectively.

At the end of the presentation, Hammonds gave a summary stating that “the data and information throughout the feasibility study was presented to assist Chelsea's city officials in making an informed decision regarding the formation of a new municipal school system. If a decision is made to move forward, a possible time frame would be approximately two years for all necessary steps to be completed before the new system begins operating. If a new high school is constructed, it would be two years of planning followed by two years of construction. 

It is hoped that the scope and contents of this feasibility study will be invaluable to city leaders and the community as decisions are considered that will best meet the needs of students and their families both now and for many years into the future.” 

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