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Hoover School Community
Information Network (HSCIN) Contact HSCIN@HSCIN.org |
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School
Building History Parent Feedback E-Mail Address Growth of Hoover City Schools The City of Hoover has grown by leaps and bounds since inception of its school system in 1988. The following are enrollment numbers for the years since Hoover City Schools were born:
Source: Hoover City Schools, 2005, 2006, 2007. School Building History of Hoover City Schools Hoover City Schools was carved from the Jefferson County School System in 1988. The buildings that were bought from Jefferson County include: Bluff Park Elementary 5243 students were educated at those buildings that first year. As Hoover continued to grow, the following buildings were built and/or converted or closed: Trace Crossings Elementary - 1993 Building Capacity of Hoover Schools
The building capacity number is for reference and planning in general terms only. This number was derived by using an average for the following grade levels:
There are several factors that can and often does change this capacity number at various schools. Those factors are: grade level breakdown (elementary), special education/instructional support space needs (all), course offerings (middle and high) and classroom counts. SOURCE: All information other than current enrollment numbers were taken from information provided to the Hoover City Council by Hoover City Schools, November 2005. Current enrollment numbers are from The Birmingham News' article in August 2007. With rezoning once again in the forefront to address the continued growth in Hoover City Schools, please take a moment to catch up on the history of the last rezoning, including the Board of Education's use of a Community Planning Process. Documents from the 2004 Rezoning Process: Original Presentation to Board of Education by McCauley and Associates Values Developed by the Focus Groups and Telephone Surveys Community Planning Team Selection Process Adopted Zoning Plan February 2005 In addition, the HSCIN has posted a number of informative articles outlining the history of the most recent rezoning process on THE Hoover Forum. Click here to go to these articles. It is imperative to understand how we got where we are before we can move forward. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," - George Santayana, Philosopher, Reason in Common Sense Possible Zoning Plans Presented by Superintendent Craig We outline these plans here only to refresh the memories of those who attended the series of community meetings Mr. Craig held during February. It is extremely important to note that these plans are not "set in stone", rather they were presented to the community to gather input on what the different zoning scenarios meant to our Hoover school community. Mr. Craig indicated that much study is still necessary to determine which path will result in the best use of finances and best fits our school community. Scenario #1 - presented at Simmons Middle School February 4 Scenario #2 - presented at Simmons Middle School February 4 was deemed not feasible. It included removing the 6th grade from the Bumpus Middle School campus and housing them in Elementary School #11, which will be built south of Regions Park. Mr. Craig presented a new series of zoning considerations at the Bumpus Middle School meeting on February 12. It included implementing zoning changes in two phases. Timelines for implementation were not given. Phase I - presented at Bumpus Middle School February 12 Phase II, Option 1 - presented at Bumpus Middle School February 12 Phase II, Option 2 - presented at Bumpus Middle School, February 12 Phase II, Option 3 - presented at Bumpus Middle School, February 12 Other options were given that included having Trace Crossings Elementary attend Simmons Middle School for a period of time before opening the Freshman Campus as the fourth middle school, making Trace Crossings a K-6 school, and moving Trace Crossings 7th and 8th graders to the Freshman Campus. No detailed numbers were given for those options. Phase I, Option 2 - presented at the Hoover Parent Teacher Council Meeting, February 14 Discussion of the Third High School, 2000-2008 - posted 05/01/08 Sources include The Birmingham News, City Council minutes, and Board of Education minutes. Hoover City Schools Capital Plan States the 11th Elementary Will Be Funded in 2009 - posted 08/28/08 Here's the link to the page on the Alabama State Department of Education web site with this information: http://schools.alsde.edu/CapitalPlan/CapitalPlanReport.asp. Choose "Hoover City" as the system you wish to view. The Capital Plan that our school system has filed with the State Department clearly indicates that Elementary School #11 will be built in 2009 at a projected cost of $13,000,000. However, Mr. Craig, in an article from The Birmingham News indicated that no concrete plans had yet been made with respect to Capital Planning. Here is a link to that article. From the article: "In a long-range planning committee meeting in January, Superintendent Andy Craig floated the idea of reopening Berry as a third middle school feeding Hoover High. It was one of several possible scenarios for meeting future growth in the school system. In February, Craig took his ideas on the road, collecting input in a series of community meetings. Since then, the planning committee has not reconvened. In an interview last week, Craig said the group would resume its work 'sometime after school starts.'" Apparently a decision has been made. The HSCIN is committed to keeping our community informed of the decisions that have been made on our community's behalf by the leaders of our school system. HSCIN Surveys Related to Zoning and Facilities The HSCIN has conducted surveys to gauge public sentiment regarding facility usage and thoughts about rezoning: Survey #16 - Financial Soundness - January 11 through 25, 2008. These results will be given to Superintendent Andy Craig. One question asks if those in charge of planning for our school district have performed those duties well. Survey #11 - Thoughts on the Third High School - May 3 through May 17, 2007. These results were presented to the Board of Education at the June 11 Meeting. Survey #8 - What to Do with the Old Berry Campus? - March 16 through April 5, 2007. These results were given to Superintendent Andy Craig at the Monday, April 9, School Board meeting. Survey #3 - Jefferson County 1% Sales Tax Revenue - November 29, 2006, through January 5, 2007. Of the 132 respondents who participated, they ranked "Building a third high school" as their number 2 priority behind "adding technology to classrooms". Hoover Parents Hear Latest on Growth in System - February 20, The Birmingham News Speak Out - Look at Old Berry Campus for Charter School - February 13, The Birmingham News Board Gets Peek at Two Growth Plans - February 8, The Birmingham News Parents Critique School Growth Plans - February 5, The Birmingham News Work on Old Berry Could Begin Next Year - February 1, The Birmingham News Superintendent Craig Sets Community Meetings - January 30, The Birmingham News Hoover May Revive Berry Campus as Middle School - January 18, The Birmingham News Superintendent's Letter Came Too Late - January 16, The Birmingham News Berry School Offer Likely to Expire - December 21, The Birmingham News Letter Regarding Berry Property - December 14, The Birmingham News Is Hoover Willing to Pay for Berry Campus? - December 12, The Birmingham News Hoover Seeks to Keep Using Berry Fields - December 8, The Birmingham News Schools, City Eye Berry Field Use - December 7, The Birmingham News Two Hoover Elementary Schools to Expand - December 6, The Birmingham News Offer for Old Berry Includes May Deadline - November 22, The Birmingham News Committee Forms to Address Growth - November 14, The Birmingham News Joint Offer Made for Berry Site - November 9, The Birmingham News Hoover to Buy Land to Block Apartments - November 6, The Birmingham News
Long-Range Planning Policy from Hoover City Schools Click here to view Hoover City Schools Board of Education policy regarding long-range planning. The Policy states the the Board and Superintendent will involve the community in long-range planning for building and zoning for the district.
The most recent rezoning came about during the 2004 school year as a new middle school was set to open near Spain Park High School in August 2005. The Rezoning Plan proposed by Central Office Administration was met with strong community opposition. A series of four public hearings were conducted, where community members were allowed to voice their concerns. Members of the community recommended using a Task Force composed of community members as well as school personnel to determine the best zoning plan for the community. Mr. Tim Aho, an engineer for McCauley and Associates proposed a detailed plan that included phone surveys, focus groups, and the use of a Community Planning Team to determine which zoning plan best suited the values of the community. A copy of Mr. Aho's presentation to the Board of Education can be viewed by clicking here. The Board of Education accepted Mr. Aho's proposal with one change: the Community Planning Team would be randomly selected, not chosen as Mr. Aho originally proposed. The process began in Fall of 2004 with focus groups of parents randomly selected, but balanced demographically. Those focus groups' input was used to compile a list of values related to education. Telephone surveys of 309 households of persons with children in Hoover schools were then conducted to actually rate the Values developed by the focus groups. Those Values can be seen by clicking here. At that point, a Community Planning Team was nominated. Click here to see how the Nomination Process was conducted. Names were literally drawn from a hat on December 1, 2004, at the Central Office, and members were notified they had been selected. The complete list of names is available here. The Team met on eight separate occasions to develop a Plan that would meet the Values obtained from the Phone Surveys and Focus Groups. The Team was charged with staying within the framework of the Values set forth by the community. The entire Work Process can be seen by clicking here. The Team made their recommendation to the Superintendent, who accepted their recommendation. The Superintendent made the recommendation to the Board and it was unanimously approved on February 28, 2005. That Plan can be viewed by clicking here. The comments at the end of the Approved Plan are as follows: "While this is certainly not the 'perfect solution', it is responsive to the 'voice of the community' in terms of the desire for students to remain on their current track in regard to middle school and high school attendance zones. It is our belief that the benefits outweigh the costs in fulfilling the wishes of the majority of the parents of our school district." This was the first time any Community group was given a formal path for input when a Rezoning Plan was considered. The Community Planning Team, in recommending the existing Berry campus be vacated, did not advocate selling the campus. In fact, they recommended that another group be convened to discuss what to do with the existing Berry campus. To see the working documents of the Community Planning Team, click here (not yet available). It contains the matrices and other information the Team used to make their Recommendation to the Superintendent. That was never done by the District. In May 2006, the Superintendent recommended that the Board of Education sell the Berry campus (on Columbiana Road) to Oxford Management for $13.3 million to allow them to lease the property to Shades Mountain Christian School. The Board voted 3-2 to allow the sale. Pursuant to complications with ownership, Shades Mountain Christian School attempted to buy the campus outright. Their option to buy the property expired without Shades Mountain Christian School being able to raise enough money to purchase the property. The property currently belongs to the Hoover Board of Education. The Hoover School Community Information Network believes that community input is vital to the success of any school system. Our hope is that whatever the Board of Education decides to do at this point, it will adhere to the current Long-Range Planning Policy and consult the Community in a formal way to allow for input. |
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Quick Links 2004 Presentation to Board of Education by McCauley and Associates 2004 Values Developed by the Focus Groups and Telephone Surveys 2004 Community Planning Team Selection Process 2004-2005 Newspaper Articles Related to Rezoning (in reverse chronological order) 2005 Adopted Zoning Plan February 2005 2007-2008 Newspaper Articles Related to Current Rezoning/Capital Plans
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This website is not affiliated with Hoover City Schools or the Hoover City Board of Education. HSCIN is solely responsible for its content. Links to outside sources of information are not endorsed by the HSCIN, rather are included for informational purposes only. |