Mobile County Public Schools reviews dozens of contracts, pulls Irby Street property transfer and Topgolf venue request for separate consideration
Summary
Board reviewed a long list of action and consent items including a $2.86 million professional development contract, multiple roofing and facilities bids, flow‑through funding for private schools, and a timber sale; items C30 (Irby Street transfer) and D13 (Topgolf) were pulled for later consideration.
The Mobile County Public Schools board met in a work session to review a wide slate of action and consent items, including a proposed $2,856,700 contract for teacher professional development and multiple facilities contracts and subscriptions, and pulled two items — the Irby Street property transfer (C30) and a Topgolf venue request (consent item D13) — for separate consideration.
District staff summarized the agenda items for the board. A staff presenter listed a series of contracts and purchases the district is proposing, from an education‑vendor contract described as “to provide professional development for teacher effectiveness in English language arts and math” (C1) to software and subscription renewals (IXL, Renaissance, BrainPOP) and multiple construction awards funded from PSCA and local funds. On facilities, staff reported awarding roofing contracts, including a $2,997,000 contract for Pilling’s roof and a $2,057,000 award for Scarborough, plus HVAC work at Murphy High School ($756,900). The presenter also described a timber sale on Salco Road that would yield $193,193 in revenue and noted a termination of the Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama lease at the Scott Shire property.
Board member Mister Stringfellow, who led the meeting’s prayer and pledge, reflected on a recent school visit and recounted an anecdote about first‑grade students asking for new phones: “I want an iPhone 16,” he said, underscoring the board’s attention to students’ day‑to‑day experiences. Later in the meeting, a board member asked staff about plans for the Scott Shire property after the Girl Scouts vacate; staff said the district will need to renovate and perform upkeep before re‑renting and that the Girl Scouts had occupied the property since 2011.
The board also considered operational and event items: an agreement with the convention center to host a district teacher fair, a district communications arrangement to film the Mobile New Year’s Eve event with $10,000 projected financial impact, and multiple school‑level event and subscription purchases funded from Title I, Title II, state and local funds. Several flow‑through items were announced to send federal and state Title funds to private and parochial schools.
Student discipline matters were noted as listed under separate cover; district staff said expulsions (items 1–15) were included and that most parents waived their rights to a board hearing, with “only two or three” cases involving special education issues that could change recommendations. The district attorney told the board that deployment agreements had been sent to members on several dates.
Procedurally, the chair called for routine business and scheduling. Near the close of the transcript a procedural motion to join a remote participant or join the meeting was moved and seconded and the chair said the board was "joined"; the transcript does not record a roll‑call vote or final approval of the action and consent items. No formal vote tallies or final outcomes for the agenda items are recorded in the provided transcript.
What’s next: two items were explicitly pulled from the agenda for later consideration (Irby Street property transfer and the Topgolf venue consent item). The transcript does not include a recorded vote on the consent or action items during the captured portion of the work session.
