Consolidation plan OK'd

MOULTON - The Lawrence County school board approved a proposal by a

3-2 vote Friday that would have the cash-strapped district consolidate its seven high schools into four and still remain in compliance with a federal court order to keep the district desegregated.

School board attorney Jerome Thompson said he will submit the plan Monday to U.S. Judge David Proctor, who will decide how to proceed.

Board members Gary Bradford and Wendell Logan voted against the proposal, and after the vote, several opponents yelled out in disgust.

Hundreds of residents attended the school board meeting at the A.W. Todd Coliseum in Moulton. Supporters wore white and held "Unity in Our Community" signs. Opponents wore green, representing the color for Speake High School. Under the plan, Speake would effectively lose its high school. Others wore purple, the Mount Hope color.

Officials answered questions about the consolidation plan, chosen by board chairwoman Beth Vinson from 570 pages of e-mails.

Questions included whether stimulus funds could be used to bolster the school district and funding for transportation.

The proposal recommends combining ninth through 12th grades at Hazlewood High School with R.A. Hubbard, Mount Hope with Hatton High School and Speake with Lawrence County High School.

The school system lost $6 million from budget cuts in the past two years and expects to lose at least 49 teachers and 13 support personnel in the 2009-10 school year.

Federal stimulus money could reduce the number of reduced teachers to 20, but the 13 support personnel are expected to be terminated, school officials said.

The school board will not be able to purchase new buses, but proposed a bus transfer system that would mean schools would start at different times, said Harold Pirtle, transportation supervisor.

School officials said the merger will save the county $1.8 million annually plus an additional $850,000 to $900,000 in savings by the elimination of locally funded teacher units.

The school district realignment plan must comply with a 1966 federal desegregation court order that stated any consolidation must be approved by a federal judge.

Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had expressed concern about how the proposed merger would affect the racial makeup of the school system, and after negotiations, school officials said that the NAACP had agreed with the terms of the proposed plan.

Several other proposals have been discussed throughout the affected communities, including consolidating schools and building a new school, but officials said the estimated $20 million for a new building was not feasible.

"This is all about money," board member Gary Bradford said.

Trevor Stokes can be reached at (256) 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.