Gardendale City Schools

Gardendale City Schools is an independent school system, established by taking over operation of four former Jefferson County Schools facilities located in the city of Gardendale.

Previous feasibility studies had shown that the town's population of 14,000 would provide an insufficient tax base for construction of a needed high school. In 2012, two years after the county system opened a new Gardendale High School a group called "FOCUS Gardendale" launched a new public campaign to lobby for an independent system.

Residents of Gardendale voted in 2014 to establish an independent school system. The Gardendale Board of Education was organized that year with Chris Segroves as president, and Patrick Martin was hired as superintendent. Early negotiations with the county stalled on the issue of assuming the outstanding debt on the $46 million cost of the recently-built Gardendale High School. State Superintendent Tommy Bice mediated discussion of the issue, ultimately ruling that no immediate payment would be required, but that Gardendale would assume debts on other schools.

Under the requirements of the 1972 decision in Stout v. Jefferson County Board of Education, "splinter systems" must participate in the county's court-ordered desegregation plan. Where many earlier secessions had been allowed without serious review, the implications of Gardendale's proposed split raised more notice. A group of African American residents represented by the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit to stop the split, and their case was eventually joined by retired judge U. W. Clemon. The case was heard before Judge Madeline Haikala at the Hugo L. Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham. In her ruling, Haikala found, "that race was a motivating factor in Gardendale’s decision to separate from the Jefferson County public school system." However, rather than exercise her authority to deny the split altogether, she outlined a way for Gardendale and Jefferson County to work together to create a plan for the new system that would not threaten the ruling in the Stout case.

Under the proposal negotiated with the county and submitted by the Gardendale Board of Education to Gardendale would appoint an African-American to its school board, would permanently accept students in the North Smithfield and Greenleaf Heights communities, and would accept students matriculating from Mount Olive Elementary School and Brookside Elementary School for at least 13 years. The city would also receive ad valorum taxes from those communities paid to the county, and Gardendale students would have access to the county's Burkett Learning Center for special needs students, and its International Baccalaureate programs for advanced placement. In addition, Gardendale would either surrender the high school back to the county or reimburse the county $33 million toward the cost of its construction. The plaintiffs have appealed Haikala's decision.

Board

The Gardendale Board of Education has five members, appointed by the Gardendale City Council effective April 1, 2014. The members of the inaugural board were appointed to varying terms of office (One year for Place 1, two years for Place 2, and so on.) All subsequent appointees serve five-year terms.

• Chris Lucas, Place 1, reappointed to five-year term in 2015
• Karen White, Place 2, not reappointed in 2016
• Michael Hogue, Place 3, President
• Chris Segroves, Place 4
• Dick Lee, Place 5

Schools

• Gardendale Elementary School
• Snow Rogers Elementary School
• Bragg Middle School
• Gardendale High School

References

• Underwood, Madison (March 3, 2015) "Gardendale schools decision does not require payment to JeffCo, but county's fight not over." The Birmingham News
• Faulk, Kent (November 25, 2015) "Federal judge sets legal road map for Gardendale schools split." The Birmingham News
• Faulk, Kent (December 17, 2015) "Gardendale's new school system would include North Smithfield students outside the city." The Birmingham News
• Hannah-Jones, Nikole (September 6, 2017) "The Resegregation of Jefferson County" The New York Times magazine
• Faulk, Kent (September 17, 2017) "Gardendale Board of Education responds to news reports, gets help in court fight from 2 groups." The Birmingham News

External links

• Gardendale City Schools website