Another New Plan For Shaw High School

By Steve Alexander Reporter

There's a proposal for a year lease to train Thyssenkrupp workers. Another New Plan For Shaw High School

Published: Tue, July 22, 2008 - 6:17 pm

Steve Alexander

Mobile school officials have announced another new plan for Shaw High School.
Administrators are proposing the building be used to train new employees of ThyssenKrupp while the steel mill is being built in north Mobile County.
On Thursday night, the school board is set to consider approving a 12 month lease with Alabama Industrial Development Training.
Administrators say that company would pay the school system $1,600 a month and would train new ThyssenKrupp workers at Shaw while the steel mill is being built.
Tommy Sheffield, facilities manager for the Mobile County School System, said, "Their plan is to lease the building from July of '08 through July of '09."
Administrators said they like the deal because they'd like to develop a good relationship with Thyssenkrupp, but also, Sheffield said, "This was the last graduating class of Shaw, so therefore the building will be left vacant, and that scares me because unoccupied buildings normally get vandalized with the recent rash of copper thefts."
Brian Brown lives right next door to Shaw and has heard a lot of plans for the campus.
He said, "We went through, 'Its going to be a junior high school now.' You're saying its going to be a training center for the steel mill? Okay, well good luck. Keep the neighborhood safe and so far, its been safe."
But what happens to Shaw after the year lease is up?
Sheffield said, "We're working now with the superintendent and the board to put together a package that will probably come out in August that will maybe have some hope for the future of Shaw."
Also at Thursday night's meeting the school board is set to consider a change to its drug testing program beginning this coming school year.
Administrators want to drop the two middle schools from the program and add a third high school.
Citronelle High School would join Vigor and Theodore High Schools in the drug-free school program.