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Fairhope principals tell council 3-mil tax funds expanded staff, test support and student services
Summary
Principals from Fairhope High School and Fairhope Middle School reported to the City Council work session that local 3-mil tax revenue has funded additional teachers, intervention programs, arts and testing assistance and that standardized test scores and proficiency rates have risen since the levy was enacted.
Principal John Cardwell of Fairhope High School and Angie Hall, principal at Fairhope Middle School, briefed the Fairhope City Council work session on how the city’s 3-mil education tax has been used and on recent assessment results.
Cardwell said the local revenue allowed the high school to add teachers and to fund expanded ACT preparation. “Money is being well spent at Fairhope High School, and we’re seeing great results, and data doesn’t lie,” he told the council. He described budget choices the school made to stretch the dollars, such as assigning lower‑paid teachers to the 3‑mil allotment and using the tax to pay testing fees and arts equipment.
Hall said Fairhope Middle School used 3‑mil funds to retain intervention teachers, add instructional aides, maintain a social worker and expand programs that support students who are behind academically. “We scored a 95 on our ACAP scores this year,” Hall said, referring to the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program, and added that the school placed in the top four in the state on some measures.
Both principals described targeted uses of funds: additional language‑arts and math intervention teachers at the middle school; a planned intervention teacher at the high school focused on ninth‑grade students; school social worker and nursing support; and funding for band, choir, piano and other arts programs at the high school. Cardwell said the high school allocated $70,000 to the band program and that the school set aside $55,000 to help families cover AP/IB/PSAT exam fees.
Council members asked a small number of clarifying questions and thanked the principals for the presentations. No formal action or change to the tax was proposed at the meeting.
Looking ahead, both principals flagged areas for further work: subgroup achievement gaps by ethnicity and earlier interventions to keep students on track as they move from middle to high school.
