Gearing up for growth: Shelby County Schools plan for next five years

Each year, Shelby County Schools is required to update its five-year capital plan for each school in the district. Its purpose is to meet the needs of the school community based on the student population, including building necessities both inside and out.

In September, the Shelby County Board of Education approved the latest capital plan that includes projects going from fiscal 2023 until fiscal 2027. Projects that are estimated at $50,000 or more have to be included in the plan.

“The timelines are a little bit vague, but it’s designed where you know what you plan to do for at least the next two years,” said David Calhoun, assistant superintendent of operations. “These are planned projects, but they do not take into account when pipes burst or a tornado touches down. It's a best-guess estimate based on the data you have in your hands.”

Calhoun said schools where there are space constraints are deliberately chosen for the plan. When the student population grows in a particular community to the point where there are more kids than available space, those needs are pushed up on the priority list.

“The state requires the five-year plan to go in front of the school board at least once annually,” Calhoun said. “It is constantly being added to, and as projects get completed, they are being checked off, but the plan is ever changing and evolving in a living document.”

Projects are based on the funding year. The current capital plan starts with item 20 because the first 19 items’ funding sources were either in fiscal 2021 or 2022 and are still ongoing. The funding year tells how urgent of a need that particular project is perceived to be.

When the board approved the current capital plan, it recognized the projects were all needed, Calhoun said. Each project will go to bid and come back to the board for final approval once bids are received.

The funding comes from the capital projects budget and a variety of other sources. All of the fiscal 2023 projects have had the source identified, but ones for future years will be categorized closer to when they are set to begin.

Every year, the capital plan will include heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades, improvements and roofing projects, which are budgeted at $1 million to $1.5 million for reroofing portions of various buildings throughout the county. Other items that are almost always on the list are canopy projects, classroom makeovers and lighting upgrades in classrooms and hallways.

“Those are just maintenance-type things, but doing so much of it, the cost is over $50,000,” Calhoun said. “In our seven-community school system, Chelsea, Helena and Calera are three communities where the growth is taking place right now.”

Calhoun said there are more than 30 large projects he hopes will be completed in fiscal 2023. The following projects in the 280 Living coverage area are in the current five-year capital plan through 2026.

Funding year 2023

Chelsea Park Elementary School: Eight-classroom addition, with alternate bids for an auxiliary gym and two additional classrooms ($3 million). This would eliminate the outdoor portable classrooms. An alternate project that will be included in the bid is for a second gym similar to the one at Forest Oaks Elementary. This was added at the city of Chelsea’s request.

“That's something they have expressed interest in and are wanting to test the waters and see what that bid comes in at and being involved in that project,” Calhoun said.

Chelsea Park Elementary Principal Mary Anderson said she and her staff are very excited the district is moving forward with the capital project for their school.

“We look forward to having new classrooms, so we can have all of our students and staff inside the main building,” she said. “We are also excited about the possibility of getting a bigger gym. This will enhance our physical education program by allowing more space for students to have P.E. class. Our current gym was built for smaller-age children when the school only served grades K-3, and we have really outgrown that space. Our P.E. coaches will be able to do so much more if they have a bigger gym.”

Chelsea High School: Upgrade of heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls ($165,000)

Chelsea High School: Roofing 57,300 square feet ($500,000)

Chelsea High School: Upgrade all existing common areas. Complete cosmetic renovation to all hallways and common areas throughout the original building. Install new bleachers and redo the gym floor ($750,000)

Facilities Coordinator Barbary Snyder said the bleachers are the original ones from when the school was built. They had hoped to replace the bottom ones and do some cosmetic fixes to the upper ones, but all of those items to do so are discontinued.

“We will replace the upper and lower deck bleachers, sand down the gym floor to the original wood, then rebrand it to include the Chelsea logo in the center,” Snyder said. “It will then be restriped, repainted and refinished hopefully over the summer so when the students walk in in August, it will look like a new facility.”

Inverness Elementary School: Renovate the restrooms and do vinyl composition tile, lighting and ceiling grid in next wing ($100,000)

Oak Mountain Elementary School: Demolish the red iron awning and add a barrel canopy section ($100,000)

Oak Mountain Elementary School: Reroof the classroom wing and gym area ($250,000)

Oak Mountain Middle School: Addition of a canopy to the front of the school ($100,000)

Oak Mountain High School: Replace chair lift ($75,000)

Oak Mountain High School: Upgrade ceiling and lights in main gym ($75,000)

Oak Mountain High School: Roofing 45,200 square feet ($100,000)

Funding year 2024

Oak Mountain High School: Phase two renovation of the old fine arts areas to accommodate locker rooms, drivers education, athletics and physical education ($1.98 million)

Oak Mountain Middle School: Renovate/add space for the fine arts programs ($500,000)

Chelsea Middle School: Redo auxiliary gym floor, lighting, paint and ceiling grid/tile upgrade ($100,000)

Chelsea High School: Tennis courts, expanded parking ($500,000)

Funding year 2025

Chelsea High School: Classroom addition and auxiliary gym ($6 million)

Funding year 2026

Forest Oaks Elementary School: Classroom addition ($3 million)

Funding year 2027

Chelsea High School: Add a new entrance/facade ($1 million)

Other projects outside the 280 Living coverage area include:

Funding year 2023

Calera Elementary School: Roofing 21,400 square feet ($10,000)

Calera Elementary School: Gym floor replacement ($60,000)

Calera Middle School: Enclose breezeway ($300,000)

Calera High School: Ductwork ($200,000)

Calera High School: Create a surgical classroom ($150,000)

Columbiana Middle School: Renovate next set of restrooms, vinyl composition tile, equipment, ceiling grid and lights in the next hallway ($100,000)

Helena Elementary School: Reroof existing gym ($100,000)

Helena Elementary School: Replace chair lift ($75,000)

Montevallo Middle School: Renovation of office space to provide a barrier in the front office to reduce the opportunity for visitors to gain access to the administrative suite and the school ($100,000)

Montevallo High School: Roofing 14,800 square feet ($10,000)

Shelby County High School: Americans with Disability Act upgrades to stadium ($150,000)

Shelby County High School: Gym floor replacement ($125,000)

Shelby Elementary School: Restroom renovation, vinyl composition tile, ceiling grid and light upgrades in next wing ($100,000)

Shelby County Board of Education: Renovate another set of restrooms at central office, lighting, ceiling grid, fixtures, partitions, floors, countertop moisture barrier and encapsulation in the crawl space below the Board of Education office ($75,000)

Shelby County Schools: paving back parking area at Wilsonville Elementary Schools, entire loop at Career Technical Education Center, seal and coat and restripe Shelby County High School, Chelsea Middle School track, Chelsea Middle School cafeteria parking, bus shop and restriping ($500,000)

Shelby County Schools: Renovate/upgrade restrooms in the community education section and back hallway of Shelby County Instructional Services Center — epoxy, paint, new partitions, ceiling grid and lighting ($100,000)

Vincent Elementary School: Convert existing locker rooms to support and storage areas ($125,000)

Vincent Elementary School: Renovate another section of the media center — lighting, ceiling grade and painting ($100,000)

Vincent Middle High School: Replace/add canopy ($60,000)

Vincent Middle High School: Renovate and update the art room ($75,000)

Wilsonville Elementary School: Create a dedicated entrance with Americans with Disabilites Act ramping and canopy ($200,000)

Funding year 2024

Calera Intermediate School: Replace damaged wood at lobby entrance of gymnasium and sand wood, restripe, paint, brand, poly ($60,000)

Calera Middle School: Four classroom additions ($3.96 million)

Helena Elementary School: Renovation of pod areas, replace ceiling tile and grid in classrooms on main hallway, renovate all existing restrooms ($250,000)

Shelby County High School: Renovate teacher workroom ($500,000)

Shelby County Schools: Renovate space at the bus shop to provide a larger parts department  ($75,000)

Funding year 2025

Calera High School: Auxiliary gym ($4 million)

Career Technical Education Center: Enclose the breezeway and add restrooms in that area. Possibly renovate existing restrooms and replace existing ceilings in the main building ($1 million)

Shelby County Schools: Reroof main area of the warehouse ($150,000)

Funding year 2026

Helena High School: Classroom addition/auxiliary gym ($6 million)

Linda Nolen Learning Center: Replace rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning units ($50,000)

Shelby County Schools: Upgrade remaining summit tracer systems to summit cloud — next four areas — Career Technical Education Center, Montevallo High School, Elvin Hill Elementary School and Montevallo Middle School ($1 million)