• 61°
Hartselle Enquirer

Hartselle City Schools experience growth

System plans for new school building for Crestline

To accommodate the recent growth in Hartselle, as well as to anticipate the influx of future students, Hartselle City Schools is in the early stages of planning for a new Crestline Elementary School.  

HCS Superintendent Dr. Dee Dee Jones said Hartselle could see much more growth with the building of the Toyota Mazda plant in Huntsville 

We were told (at a Regional Workforce Development Meeting) that Hartselle could gain up to 900 families – and that was on the small side,” she said.  

More than 200 homes are being built in Hartselle, and Jones said she only sees that number growing.  

Built in the late 50s, Crestline is the system’s oldest building, and Jones said there are some issues that need to addressed sooner rather than later.  

“A decision has to be made,” Jones said. Do we invest money – and we’re talking millions of dollars – into Crestline for roofing, windows, plumbing, flooring and electrical work, or do we build from the ground up?”  

The new building would remain on Crestline Drive.  

“One great thing about all of it is we won’t have the land prep we would if we were buying new,” Jones said. “There’s plenty of property there, and we already have a playgroundUtilities are there, so there is a lot in place that will save us when it comes to expenses.”  

Jones said Hartselle’s elementary schools are quickly becoming crowded, and a new school would offset that growth as well as incentivize more in the future 

People are moving to Hartselle, and that’s great, but we need to take steps now to accommodate that growth, and one way to do that would be build a new Crestline,” she said.  

As an added benefit, Jones said the current building could be repurposed to house Hartselle’s 126 Pre-K students.  

We have seven Pre-K schools in Hartselle, but they’re spread out amongst our schools,” she said. “This would put them all in one place and relieve some of the overcrowding in the other two schools.”  

The project, which Jones said she would like to see completed by 2025, could cost between $16-22 million dollars, most of which would likely come from the state if a bond is issued during this legislative session 

Bradley Colburn, chief school financial officer, said the last bond issued was in 2007. “It’ll be a bond of more than $1 billion,” he said. “They will divvy out a piece of that pie to each school system, and there’s no burden of cost to the schools, and the school system can decide which projects receive state funds.”  

“And we don’t have to pay that money back,” Jones added. “For Hartselle, it would be $8 million dollars …  and we could dump all of that into this project. A new Crestline might cost $16-22 million, and if we got $8 million, that takes care of half or nearly half of the total cost.”  

Hartselle City Schools would be responsible for the remaining balance, Jones said 

Colburn said a decision about the bond issuance should be made by April or May 

Constructing a new, modern building could also relieve some of the traffic congestion in the area, Colburn added. “We would restructure the way traffic flows to keep people off Highway 36 where it gets so bad in the afternoons,” he said.  

“We want to do what’s right for our students and give them the best and make sure they have what they need to grow and succeed,” Jones said. “There are several positive things that this would bring to the community.”  

Morgan County

20 under 40: Trey Chowning

Falkville

20 under 40: TJ Holmes

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Spencer Bell

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Shelby Keenum

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Rachel Howard

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Mary Virgina Halbrooks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Maggie McKelvey

Decatur

20 under 40: Maegan Jones

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Lindsey Tapscott

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

‘He lets us have sex’: More details emerge on Hartselle man accused of child exploitation 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Hartselle church creates Easter-themed escape rooms 

Danville

Family tradition: State livestock show legacy spans generations

Editor's picks

Baseball for Beau: More than $8k raised for scholarship named after Hartselle child  

Falkville

20 under 40: Lela Weeks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Kalleigh Thomas

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Jaime Hatcher

Hartselle

Veteran Hartselle firefighter charged with possessing child porn

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Cerrowire expansion named finalist in Business Alabama Awards  

At a Glance

Work begins on repairing two bridges over I-65 in Morgan County in coming weeks

At a Glance

Tickets for Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame banquet available

Falkville

Morgan County volunteers celebrated at annual fire department banquet 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Man jailed for stealing car from jail after earlier release 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Police: Hartselle man encouraged children to have sex inside his apartment

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Chris Rigoni

x