Shaw High School’s Future

By News 5

Published: Tue, March 13, 2007 - 1:03 pm

Mobile County School Officials have revealed two proposed plans for turning Shaw High School into a middle school.

Both would mean moving all of the students from Hillsdale Middle School to Shaw.

Under both proposed plans, students attending the new Shaw Middle School would come from three other middle schools: Hillsdale, Causey and Semmes.

The two options have different boundary lines, but under each, Hillsdale would lose all of its students.

Andrea Barbour, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services, said, "We're looking at pulling all of the current Hillsdale students, all of those students who are zoned to go to Hillsdale, and moving them to the new Shaw Middle School and then pulling some students from Semmes Middle School and a few students from Causey Middle School."

School officials say the move would relieve overcrowding at Causey and Semmes Middle Schools.

But why use the Shaw school building instead of the Hillsdale campus-

Barbour said, "That facility is a larger facility than the Hillsdale campus and as far as the condition of the facility, the Shaw campus is in better condition than Hillsdale."

But school officials say they have plans for Hillsdale.

Barbour said, "With the Hillsdale campus, we're not going to abandon that facility. We have several options that we are looking at, one that I think the Hillsdale community would be very much in favor of, but I'm just really not at liberty to discuss that."

School Board Member Ken Megginson represents the district including Hillsdale Middle School.

Megginson said, "Hillsdale and Shaw are good schools, but Shaw has the better facility as far as the building itself, has a lot more land, a lot more opportunity, a lot more for growth as far as the number of students as a whole."

The Mobile County School board voted Tuesday night to hold public hearings at Hillsdale, Causey and Semmes to hear what people have to say.

Barbour said, "A decision is not already made. Wereally want to hear the public and get their input into the decision."

Don't mark your calendars just yet, though.

School board officials have not set dates for the proposed public hearings right now.

They say they will in the near future.

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