Baldwin County Schools is close to completing $341.4 million in new construction projects in an astonishing reversal of fortunes nearly eight years after a previous school construction program was overwhelmingly rejected by voters.

The current program, called “Pay As You Go,” will finance an additional $94 million in projects that could be under construction by fall.

It’s a program paid for largely with cash and without long-term bonding and no new taxes. It has added around 1.5 million new square feet in school construction, also a remarkable feat when considering no new construction occurred within the county school system between 2009-2015.

The program was praised on Tuesday during a school board meeting while the newest slate of projects was unveiled. The school system is expected, by later this spring, to unveil a separate list of projects that include new athletic fields and fine arts venues.

“I don’t think people really understand how blessed this system is,” said Eddie Tyler, the superintendent of the Baldwin County School System that is Alabama’s 3rd largest school district behind Mobile and Jefferson County schools.

A better solution

The system is also fortunate voters shot down a property tax increase that school officials sought in 2015.

That year, an 8-mill property tax increase was overwhelmingly defeated by voters during a special election that was almost financially disastrous to the county. In addition to the new mills, voters did a rarity: They also voted down the renewal of existing mills, which meant the school system was staring at less revenue and few solutions to address rapid growth.

The property tax increase was expected to generate $350 million in new taxes that would finance a long-term bond. With interest, school officials say that program would have ultimately cost around $500 million.

It was a tough defeat at the time because the county’s schools were filling up fast. Officials scrambled to bring in trailers to house the overflow of students, and up to 130 portables were spread throughout the county’s four-dozen school buildings.

“It allowed us to get back to the drawing board, and allowed us to rethink everything,” said John Wilson, the school system’s chief financial officer, about the 2015 election defeat. “We cut expenses, prioritized everything and came back with a cash aggressive financing program.”

He added, “It was devastating at the time. But in hindsight, it allowed us to get creative and figure out a much better solution in the long-term.”

Pay As You Go was bolstered in 2017 with the permanent extension of a one-cent sales tax that brings in $60 million.

“Once we stabilized that sales tax, we were off to the races,” Wilson said.

Growing phases

The program started relatively small – the first two phases, which began in 2015, financed around $40 million in projects.

Phase 3 was $116 million, followed by Phase 4 at $101.3 million. Parts of Phase 4 are currently under construction or are set to be under construction this year. A new $27.2 million elementary school in Silverhill is expected to be under construction this year.

The only major project underway that is not financed through Pay As You Go is a $82.7 million career-tech school that is under construction on Alabama State Route 59 north of Loxley. That 196,340-square-foot school, which could cost up to $92 million once its furnished, is financed through a long-term bond.

The Phase 5 projects, set to be under construction by fall, include:

• $30 million for a new 118,000-square-foot middle school in Elberta that will include 25 classrooms, four labs, four self-contained classrooms for special education, a band suite, chorus room and a competition track.
• $26 million elementary school in Loxley
• $10 million for a new cafeteria accommodating 750 people at Daphne High School, additional classrooms, a new parking lot at the current softball field and the relocation of the softball field to nearby property that will be deeded from the city of Daphne to the school system.
• $10 million to expand Elberta Elementary School by converting a gymnasium into 12-13 classrooms, and the construction of a new gym and cafeteria.
• $9 million to replace aging buildings at Daphne Elementary School with a 20-classroom addition and reconfigure the facility into a K-6 school (the elementary school is currently a K-3 school).
• $8 million to add new classrooms at Magnolia Elementary School in Foley.

Additional projects loom. Wilson said conversations are underway on how to address expansions or reconfiguration at Foley High School. Also under consideration is the construction of a new high school in the Eastern Shore. Additional rezoning of school boundaries is expected to accommodate the new growth and to alleviate schools that are approaching or are near capacity. For instance, Belforest Elementary School — opened in the 2020-2021 school year — is at its capacity.

“What is coming are families with young children and our elementary schools are getting overrun,” Tyler said. “We are holding on and we’ll rezone. Will it happen between Stapleton and Loxley? Is it going to happen in Daphne around Belforest? We don’t know yet, but it’s coming.”

In addition, the arrival of a $2 billion Novelius plant north of Bay Minette could lead to more demands in the northern portions of the county. Wilson said the massive project could bring in $18 million to $20 million in new sales taxes.

The school’s finance were also boosted with last year’s split by Orange Beach. As part of the breakaway agreement, the Baldwin County School System received over $35 million in cash. That money will go toward the new athletic fields and fine arts venues that will be announced later this year.

The expansion projects in Baldwin County do not include other school projects that are also ongoing within the county. In Gulf Shores, the city school system is undergoing the “Next Wave,” a 10-year construction program that is estimated at $200 million and includes the construction of a new high school.

Gulf Shores split away from the Baldwin County School System in 2019.