Town Council helps Priceville Elementary furnish school
By Jean Cole
For the Enquirer
Priceville Elementary School is using a $10,000 contribution from the city to replace old furniture at the school, an official said.
Town Council members approved a $10,000 contribution to the elementary school during their meeting this week. Each year, the city gives money to the three Priceville schools, said City Clerk Shannon Weissand. The schools send letters of request regarding what they need and the city responds, she said.
“The money we give to the schools comes out of the general fund,” the clerk said. “The other schools have not sent their letters of request yet, but they will before October.”
Priceville Elementary Principal Daniel Gullion wrote a letter to the mayor and council that said when the new school was built in 2000, they had to use the old furniture from the old school instead of replacing it with new. The letter said the goal is to update two or three classrooms because many student desks that were brought over to the elementary school come from the old school, the mayor said.
“We do appropriate to each of our schools — elementary, junior high and high school — and they write us a letter on what they are going to spend the money on,” Mayor Sam Heflin said.
“Even though the state provides instructional money each year, it’s never enough to purchase the big-ticket items like student desks and furniture.”
Priceville Elementary Assistant Principal Brandy Quattlebaum said replacing furniture at the school is an ongoing project.
“Our state funding is so limited as to what we can spend our money on,” Quattlebaum said. “That is something we have been working the past couple years on — remodeling and refurbishing and purchasing needs. This previous year we bought new science tables. We received help from Traditions Bank. Now we are going to spend the money on classroom tables and chairs. This furniture won’t bring us up to date. We will still need some more at some point.”
The money won’t go to just one classroom but several, she said.
“Unfortunately, all that stuff costs a lot of money,” Quattlebaum said. “This money takes care of that; it helps make it go a long way.”
The furniture is very expensive, she said, sometimes $1,000 just for a table.
She hopes a partner in education will be able to help them in the future.
The Partners-In-Education program links area businesses and industries with schools in Decatur, Hartselle and Morgan County to provide educational opportunities for the students and increase awareness of area businesses and industries, according to the Decatur-Morgan Chamber of Commerce. The elementary school has been without a partner now for about 1.5 years, Quattlebaum said.
The school at 438 Cave Spring Road has students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade.
