The City of Satsuma just north of Saraland says no to transfer of students to former Shaw High School and the Mobile County school board at its Tuesday night meeting approved possibly cutting 54 positions -- ranging from carpenter to social worker to assistant superintendent -- in the system's central office as a result of an expected budget crunch.
Satsuma City Councilman E.L. Phillips said that if their middle school students from his community are bused to Shaw High in northwest Mobile next year, his city may follow Saraland in splitting from the system at last night meeting. "We're going to keep our kids, with or without you," Phillips told the school board members last evening in Satsuma at Robert E. Lee Elementary School. Phillips said he also believes the system is being punished. Satsuma Mayor Billy Bush also spoke against busing. The mayor urged the board not to bus kids to former Shaw High School as well.
School Board member Hazel Fournier said that she was offended by a Satsuma resident comment, that the City of Satsuma would change if their kids were bused to Shaw High School. All of this comes when the system needs unity the most with an unbalanced budget. The system needs to come together and balance the budget that will provide a decent education to our children and provide them with the resources they needed to do so. Hazel Fournier have represented the Satsuma area and northwest Mobile County on the Mobile County School Board for about 18 years, Saraland which was also a part of Ms. Fournier district before they split from the Mobile County School System in 2006 has started its owns local city school system. Is Ms. Fournier doing enough on the School Board and at Central Office to represent her district? The school board has $51 Million dollars sitting waiting to be allocated to district for new school construction, which means she should seek funding for a new middle school for that area and its students do that they would remain in their communities. Saraland broke away because they felt their area students were being left out.
Supt. Nichols is doing good job in my sense by starting to eliminate some of those positions at the Central Office, most of positions are not needed, and some of those duties needs to be put on those do nothing that is sitting there collecting tax payers dollars and hindering our children educational process. But I do disagree with the plan to cut administrators and teachers position we need them in our schools. I strongly believe that the school board and Dr. Nichols need to sit down and examine all the non-sense spending and not to overlook it, but take action on it and I believe it will save the system millions of dollars. The board needs to speak up and stop protecting the wasteful spending and expose the wasteful spending.
The system could have made repairs to the former Blount High School to house those students in North Mobile County area instead of leasing it to another source, just temporarily at least. That would be closer that busing those students all the way out to Shaw High School campus. Time will speak for itself on the board decision on effective leadership. Every school board candidate this year is touting change, new ideas and effective leadership for our system and children, the question is will they really deliver on that promise.
