Fairhope principals tell council 3-mil tax is funding teachers, intervention and testing support

Principal John Cardwell of Fairhope High School and Principal Angie Hall of Fairhope Middle School told the Fairhope City Council that the city’s 3-mil local tax has financed classroom staff, student interventions and material support that the principals say have boosted test results and student services.

The presentations focused on how the 3-mil revenue pays for additional teacher allotments, intervention teachers, social workers and direct help for families paying AP/IB and other testing fees.

The tax is local property-tax revenue approved by voters. Cardwell said the 3-mil funding added teachers and allowed the high school to expand ACT preparation and other programs. “Your 3 mil money is, is being well spent at Fairhope High School, and we’re seeing great results, and data doesn’t lie,” Cardwell said. He told council that every junior at the high school takes the ACT and that the school’s composite score rose to a 22 this year, up from 21.6 the prior year.

Cardwell described specific uses: five additional teacher positions in the local allotment, money for band instruments and music programs (he cited a $70,000 allocation to the band and noted a tuba can cost about $13,000), a $40,000 contribution to a new drum kit tied to a city arrangement for kindergarten–first grade activities, and a $55,000 allocation to subsidize student fees for AP, IB and PSAT testing.

Hall told the council that Fairhope Middle School used 3-mil funds primarily for intervention staffing, instructional aids, social work and professional development. “We scored a 95 on our ACAP scores this year,” Hall said, referring to the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program; she gave grade-level proficiency comparisons the presentation attributed to district data (for example, seventh-grade ELA proficiency of 75% at Fairhope Middle School versus 60% in the county and 51% statewide).

Hall described the middle-school staffing supported by local funds: two math intervention teachers (one for seventh grade, one for eighth), two language-arts intervention teachers (one for seventh, one for eighth), a “pirate boost” tutor to help students finish homework at school, an OCS tutor for students with behavior issues, and a social worker the school has been able to retain using the local funding.

Both principals emphasized early intervention to keep students on track academically and said local dollars are being used to supplement programs that the principals and staff believe help raise achievement. Cardwell said he had adjusted which teachers were charged to the 3-mil budget this year to place lower-paid teachers on the local-budget lines and preserve higher-paid positions on the general budget.

No formal action or vote on the schools’ budgets was taken by the council during the presentations; the sessions were informational and intended to show how the locally approved 3-mil proceeds have been allocated.

The council thanked both principals and offered brief praise for staff and the results shown in the data.

Ending: The presentations concluded with an invitation from both principals for council members and citizens to visit school events. Council members did not take a formal vote at the meeting on the schools’ allocations; the remarks were presented as status reports on program use of the 3-mil funding.