Council Eyes Next Steps In Starting Northport City School System

NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport City Council is set to vote on the next big step in forming its own city school system.

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More specifically, the Council on Monday will consider hiring a law firm to give feedback on topics such as tax referendums and potential annexation of unincorporated areas of the county, Council President Jeff Hogg told Patch on Thursday.

The Chelsea-based law practice — Boardman, Carr, Petelos, Watkins & Ogle, P.C. — would also provide insight on what would happen to the students who currently attend schools within the city limits but do not reside in the city, Hogg said.

The council president then pointed out that the firm serves as legal counsel for 16 other school districts across the state.

District 4 Councilwoman Jamie Dykes, along with District 2's Woodrow Washington III, has been a central voice in the discussions and expressed her excitement for the next step in the process coming to fruition.

"This firm has handled other school separations and are currently handling Chelsea's separation from Shelby County," she told Patch on Thursday. "We are really looking forward to working with them to get all of our questions answered."

If the city is indeed successful in breaking away from the Tuscaloosa County School System, the Northport school system would be made up of 10 schools: Crestmont Elementary, Echols Middle School, Faucett-Vestavia Elementary, Flatwoods Elementary, Huntington Place Elementary, Northport Elementary, Northport Intermediate School, Tuscaloosa County High School and the Sprayberry Regional Education Center.

The Tuscaloosa County School System has mostly stayed out of the public debate as city leaders determine Northport's own course. But it's important to note that TCSS would stand to lose not only its largest high school — and the only 7A high school in the county — but also the brand new, $24 million Northport Intermediate School, which opened its doors to students in August near the TCHS and Northport Elementary campuses.

Patch reported in June when the Council heard the findings of a feasibility study that showed it would cost the city roughly $600,000 just to establish the administrative functions of a new school system. In the four or so summer months that would follow leading up to the hypothetical first year of the new Northport city school system, another $1.6 million would be needed for upgrades, maintenance, utilities and salaries.

ALSO READ: Takeaways From Northport City School System Feasibility Study

The feasibility study said, once up and running, the estimated budget for a Northport city school system would come out just short of $54 million for the first year. Of that total, $2.5 million would be allocated from the city's ad valorem tax, while another $6.4 million represents the Tuscaloosa County School System's portion of the county's 3 cent sales tax for public schools.

The remainder, and largest portion of the budget, would come primarily from state and federal funding sources.

While the endeavor will no doubt be a costly one, the study did conclude that Northport has the ability to financially support its own school district.

As Patch reported over the summer, Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon said the possibility for pushback from the public would likely come if and when talk turns to raising property taxes to partially fund the proposed city school system. Apart from that seemingly inevitable debate, a unanimous consensus on the Council is clear in favor of a Northport city school system. It will be the process in getting to that point, though, that could produce the most friction.

While each of the five council members and the mayor have expressed their support of the push in some form or another, it remains unclear if the final decision will eventually be made via unilateral vote of the Council or put to a public referendum vote.

"Within the next two years, Tuscaloosa County is going to be requesting for ad valorem taxes be raised," Herndon said in June. "There's going to be talk and there may be discussion about raising ad valorem taxes. But right now, Tuscaloosa County pays the lowest ad valorem taxes that you can pay in the state. Our high school is the poorest 7A school in the state. We don't even have an auditorium."

Another argument in favor of a Northport city school system focuses on certain TCSS schools within the city limits, which are some of the oldest in the county and concentrated mostly in District 2 — the only predominantly Black council district in the city.

These schools include Matthews Elementary, Collins-Riverside Middle School, Crestmont Elementary and the Sprayberry Center — all of which are showing their age and in serious need of improvements.

The Northport City Council's next regular meeting is set for Monday at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.

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