Hoover school board approves $275 million budget for 2027

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Schools

The Hoover school board recently approved a $275 million budget for fiscal 2027, representing an 1% increase from the 2026 budget approved a year ago.

That includes $225 million in spending from the general fund, up from $205 million in 2026, and $20 million in projected capital projects. Even though the district’s enrollment is declining slightly, the number of personnel is increasing as student needs increase, district officials say.

The school district this year has added 12 more exceptional education aides, six more exceptional education teachers, four enrichment teachers, two part-time interventionists and one office secretary, Chief School Financial Officer Melynda Buck said.

Also, personnel costs have increased with the 2% raise for school system employees mandated by the state Legislature, step raises and increased costs for health insurance and retiree benefits, Buck said. About 73% of the district’s general fund expenditures are for salaries and benefits, she said.

CAPITAL PROJECTS

Capital project funding included in the 2027 budget include:

  • $2.75 million for roofing projects at multiple schools
  • $2.5 million for heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements
  • $2.2 million for new kitchen hoods at Hoover and Spain Park high schools
  • $2.3 million for various athletic upgrades at Greystone Elementary, Berry and Simmons middle schools and Spain Park High
  • $1.28 million for Spain Park High School soccer field upgrades
  • $1 million for renovations to the central office boardroom
  • $1 million for bathroom renovations, flooring upgrades and disability accommodations at Berry Middle School
  • $1 million for Hoover High School turf replacement and track resurfacing
  • $900,000 for six new buses
  • $700,000 for playground upgrades at Bluff Park, South Shades Crest and Trace Crossings elementary schools
  • $600,000 for parking lot improvement at Rocky Ridge Elementary

Between fall 2024 and fall 2025, the Hoover school system’s enrollment dropped by 33 students to 13,289, records show.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

But the number of students with physical, cognitive and learning disabilities continues to increase, and so does the cost for those services, Buck said. This year, the district has 1,869 students with disabilities, up by 137 students from last year, Buck said. The school district expects to spend $46 million on special education services this year, up from $36.2 million last year, $30 million two years ago and $25.2 million three years ago, she said.

Forty-nine years ago, the federal government pledged to cover 40% of the total cost of special education services, but the highest it has ever funded for Hoover is 18% in 2005, Buck said. For 2027, the percentage is 12%, she said.

“It is a hot topic across all districts,” Buck said.

Claire Jones-Moore, the district’s exceptional education director, this year was able to obtain $726,600 in grants to supplement the cost of outside professional services, Buck said.

Hoover now has seven Title 1 schools, which means those schools have at least 40% of their students qualify for free or reduced-price meals due to low family income, Buck said. Those schools are Green Valley, Gwin, Rocky Ridge, Shades Mountain, Trace Crossings and Riverchase elementary schools and Simmons Middle School.

Districtwide, Hoover has 4,274 students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, which represent 32% of the total student population — down from 4,526 students (or 34%) last year, Buck said.

The school district plans to spend $13.1 million for its child nutrition program this year, up from $11.8 million in the 2026 budget. Food costs continue to increase. The revenue to support that will include almost $4 million from the federal government, $5.2 million from food sales and $3.9 million from other sources, school system records show.

The Hoover school district plans to spend $9.9 million for transportation in fiscal 2027, up from $8.1 million the year before. The school system has 98 drivers driving 320 bus routes with 5,309 stops this year, Buck said. Nineteen of those drivers are also teachers, she said.

SCHOOL SYSTEM DEBT

The school board’s debt payments drop this year from $13.3 million to $10.1 million, including $6 million toward principal and $4.1 million in interest. The school district’s remaining principal debt at the end of the fiscal year is estimated to be $105.6 million, but principal and interest payments total $143.9 million through 2040.

Superintendent Kevin Maddox, who came to Hoover three years ago, has said he is very impressed that the Hoover school board has been able to fund so many capital projects without taking on any new debt since 2007.

Those projects have included a 32-classroom addition at Hoover High School in 2011, a new Hoover High band room in 2017, turf and track renovations at both high schools, various HVAC and roofing projects, the renovation of the former Riverchase Middle School to become the Riverchase Career Connection Center in 2019, a 13-classroom addition at Berry Middle School in 2021, renovation of part of the old Bluff Park Elementary School to become a student services building, a performing arts center at Hoover High, athletic field upgrades at Hoover and Spain high schools, 69 new buses from 2020 to 2024, numerous playground and elevator upgrades, the purchase and renovation of a new operations building in the Riverchase Office Park,  renovations of the theaters at both high schools, and new athletic storage areas and restrooms at Berry and Bumpus middle schools.

REVENUES

Total revenues for 2027 are expected to be $267 million, including $237 million in the general fund, $21.4 million in the special revenue fund, $5.1 million in the capital projects fund and $3.6 million in non-public school funds taken in by individual schools.

Of that $267 million, $142 million comes from county and city sources while $109 million comes from the state, $15 million comes from the federal government and $430,000 comes from other sources. Hoover employs and pays 100% of the salaries and benefits for 265 of its certified employees because the district wants to increase its staffing levels beyond the state-approved amount. That includes 237 teachers, 13.5 counselors, 10.5 assistant principals, one librarian and three additional positions, records show.

Buck noted that the Legislature since 2018 has been distributing “advancement in technology” funding to school systems that can be used for capital projects, but the Legislature may be phasing that money out in the near future. Hoover schools received $13.2 million in “advancement in technology” funds for fiscal 2025, $14.7 million for fiscal 2026 and $10.4 million for fiscal 2027, she said.

Hoover school officials expect to begin fiscal 2027 with $143 million in the general fund and end the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2027, with $140 million in the general fund, which represents almost seven months worth of expenses. Buck said the desired general fund minimum typically is about five months of expenses, or $100.6 million, so the district should easily maintain that, she said.

However, if the school district were to build a new elementary school, that likely would cost an estimated $55 million, which would leave the district with only three or four months’ worth of reserves, Buck said.

LOOKING FORWARD

Buck said it’s important to share with state legislators the importance of keeping public funds in public schools and increased costs that schools are facing in regard to special education programs, mental health and school nurses.

She also encouraged the school board to share with legislators the difficulty of recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees and to consider making financial allocations for nurses based on enrollment and allocations for custodians based on the size of facilities. It also would be helpful to have the Legislature fund a math interventionist for every school, she said.

Buck said she hopes school officials can next year look at increasing compensation for school support staff.

School board President Alan Paquette said the school district is responsible for about $3 billion worth of real estate.

He thinks the school district does a really good job of maintaining those properties, but he thinks there is a lot of savings that can be found when it comes to utility costs, whether by using photo cells, continued conversion to LED lights, implementing more energy management systems or better identifying water leaks and repairing them more quickly.

“I think there is hundreds of thousands of dollars that we can find in savings,” he said.