Limestone County Schools considering opening enrollment for annexed areas

[Seth Parker]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

I know there was some talk about East Limestone incorporating into their own city......is there any serious talk still happening about that?

Still some chatter, but I personally don't see it happening any time soon.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by TN2HSV

This is neither here nor there, but I think it's silly the way HSV (and other cities) play hopscotch with annexing land, and it creates these types of situations. I know they want the tax revenue; that's understandable. But unless you have a city that borders another county anyway (like Madison city straddles both counties, Ardmore also), I don't think cities should be allowed to reach out and annex unless their city limits are contiguous. In other words, HSV shouldn't hopscotch over Madison to annex part of Limestone Co. That would be like Madison jumping over to somewhere north of Athens and annexing land. Or HSV going over past Gurley to annex land. It creates all sorts of issues, such as the school thing we're discussing.

Huntsville didn't hopscotch to annex those areas in Limestone County. By Alabama law, all municipal annexations must be contiguous with the existing city limits. The only exception is the Liberty Park area of Vestavia Hills in the Birmingham area. There was a specific bill passed in the Alabama Legislature to allow that to happen. Also, several years ago, the developer Louis Breland attempted to de-annex land he owns in Madison, to have it annexed into Huntsville. When Madison got wind of it, they put a stop to it. It got a lot of coverage in the local media at eh time. The land in question is the Town Madison development off Zeirdt Rd. The land is definitely in Madison now.

As far as the HSV areas in Limestone County, there is a continuous connection of annexations across Monrovia of areas which HSV has annexed which connect these area to Huntsville. The only area where there isn't a continuous connection of annexations is the Huntsville Airport. Back in the early 1960's when the City decided to build a new airport, they wanted it to be in the HSV City limits. In order to make that happen they had to annex a portion of Redstone Arsenal going south and then went straight west. There is a land bridge to the Airport area - The southern half of the Edgewater development is the northern part of that land bridge. A lot of folks may not realize it, but Edgewater is unique in that it is in both Madison and Huntsville. The HSV Police drive through the Madison portion to reach the Huntsville portion.

The beginning of the HSV Annexations into the Monrovia area began when land owners with property on Hwy 72 West wanted their land annexed into a municipality which had fire and sewer service as Madison County did not. At that time , Madison did not have the financial resources to provide them, so they passed. Huntsville jumped on the opportunity. Hence the Home Depot on 72 is in HSV and all of the commercial property on the north side up to Hughes Rd.

If Providence School and Columbia High had better test scores, the HSV in Limestone residents wouldn't be looking at Limestone County Schools.

[NoleFanHSV]

Well, the arsenal itself causes problems. Most cities that don't have a base can expand outward. Huntsville can expand north, south, east, and west north of the Arsenal until it runs into madison city which it had to go around.

Even if providence and columbia had better scores, its just too far really from some of these areas in Huntsville to get to those schools if students aren't bussed.

[SB_]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

They already pay Limestone County taxes. So, a portion of their property taxes goes to Limestone Cty which is used for county services, schools, etc....just like every other Limestone County resident.

IN ADDITION to what they pay Limestone County, they pay taxes to HSV city to cover city services, schools, etc.

There was a special school tax voted on over a period of two years in 2006 and 2007. This tax was voted on and passed in district 1 which is the main focal point as it involves disgruntled Hsv residents and Creekside Elementary. The tax which totals 4.5 mil was for Creekside and East Limestone schools because of over crowding issues. Go forward to 2010 and Carroll, the Superintendent of the Limestone BOE at the time told Hsv Times in an interview that Creekside was beyond capacity with 1050 students in a school built for 800. Forward to now. Huntsville residents now feel they are obligated to not be inconvenienced and want their kids to go to Creekside. The issue is the special tax voted on in 2006 and 2007. Residents of Huntsville residing in Limestone County, specifically Rock Creek, do not pay this 4.5 mil special school tax. And they will never have to pay this tax since it was voted on by Limestone residents in District 1.

Finally, nearly 9 years later Creekside is being expanded. An additional 22 rooms are being added. That sounds like a lot of new space. But you have to take into consideration that these 22 rooms are replacing 16 portable class rooms. Essentially adding 6 new rooms to a school that has been overcrowded for nearly 10 years now. And on top of that Huntsville residents want to add more children to the school yet not pay a tax that is intended to ease the overcrowding?

I think not.

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by SB_

Forward to now. Huntsville residents now feel they are obligated to not be inconvenienced and want their kids to go to Creekside. The issue is the special tax voted on in 2006 and 2007. Residents of Huntsville residing in Limestone County, specifically Rock Creek, do not pay this 4.5 mil special school tax. And they will never have to pay this tax since it was voted on by Limestone residents in District 1.

Finally, nearly 9 years later Creekside is being expanded. An additional 22 rooms are being added. That sounds like a lot of new space. But you have to take into consideration that these 22 rooms are replacing 16 portable class rooms. Essentially adding 6 new rooms to a school that has been overcrowded for nearly 10 years now. And on top of that Huntsville residents want to add more children to the school yet not pay a tax that is intended to ease the overcrowding?

I think not.

I think it is a bit presumptuous of you to determine motivations of others. The superintendent stated that they would work to assure there wasn't overcrowding. The school board policy states they may charge tuition. It sound like overcrowding is addressed.

And, honestly, how many students do you really think this will add?