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Old 10-18-2014, 09:49 PM
 
Location: Pine Grove,AL
29,381 posts, read 16,302,939 times
Reputation: 5926

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio1803 View Post
I would avoid Spanish Fort. The schools in Spanish Fort are mediocre at best, along with the rest of Baldwin County schools. Several school administrators, including the principal, were openly trying to encourage students, and parents alike to vote yes to the penny tax, using school time to do it. If you decided to move to Spanish Fort, or anywhere in Baldwin County I would strongly urge you to put your kids in private school, or home school them. Car break ins can be a problem, even in nicer neighborhoods, but crime is not too terrible. Thing I found most annoying about living in Spanish Fort is that in my school other students would exclude you if you weren't from there. There are a lot of families in Spanish Fort, but after living there four years it did not seem like a place I would ever want to raise a child. Housing Spanish Fort is overpriced for what you get.
The people who are thinking about moving here do not know the area And while they are asking for your opinions, you are treating your ideological views as if they are facts.

Spanish Fort High is one of the highest scoring schools in the state on state test. One of the highest graduation rates as well.

They are no where near mediocre.

And as far as them telling kids and parents to vote for the sales tax increases, why shouldnt they ? The teachers are going to be paid regardless, but the extracurricular activities that students have will not. Those are the first things to go, and it is in the students best interest for the sales tax to pass.

And to be a little bit more thorough.

Map: See which Alabama school systems spend the most -- and the least -- educating your children | AL.com

Baldwin County spends the 11th least Per Student out of 67 counties.

Not sure how the excluding works in Spanish Fort. 20 years ago, that place was all woods. Most of the subdivisions are less than 10 years old.

All that being said, it is expensive to live there.

i say you should just have a home built on the northern end of 225 Highway, that way you live in the Spanish Fort school district, but outside of "the cost ring" of Spanish fort itself.

Bay Minette would be the overall cheapest to live. with 250,000 you could buy something in Canterbury(upscale community) on the southern shore of the lake and have 50,000 left over.

Or you could find a decent home on the north side of town for about 150K(or buy the land and build.).
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Old 10-19-2014, 12:48 AM
 
595 posts, read 366,317 times
Reputation: 210
When I stated that I thought the schools were mediocre I should have stated that in comparison to the rest of the country, in particular schools I went to in Maryland, or where some members of my family goes in Pennsylvania. Regarding just schools in Alabama, excluding private schools, Spanish Fort High School ranked very high.

"And as far as them telling kids and parents to vote for the sales tax increases, why shouldnt they ? The teachers are going to be paid regardless, but the extracurricular activities that students have will not. Those are the first things to go, and it is in the students best interest for the sales tax to pass." dsjj251 comment

No the tax was not in the interest of the students, and it did expand opportunities for kids in the schools. Also about the tax what they did was in violation of federal and state law. After the tax was renewed in 2012 the superintendent of Baldwin County schools got a raise and created positions for people in a PAC that helped campaign for the tax renewal. If you think that tax was primarily for the kids, or the school opportunities you are mistaken. When the tax was passed, and when it was renewed options for classes, and activites at school did not increase, they actually decreased a little. Spending more money on something is not a guarantee to make it better, so how much a school spends per student is not a measure of academic success and it should not be used as one.

What I gave was my opinion on the area, if you don't like it fine, but it is good for the OP to hear multiple opinions on an area good or bad. The OP wanted to know about Spanish Fort, and having went to the public schools and lived there I am qualified to do so, but back to the OP's question.

For commuting to Calvert from Spanish Fort living on AL 225, between the Bay Minette Creek bridge and Bromley Road is the best area with several neighborhoods, such as Stillwater, to live in that are full of families. From there I-65 is about 20 miles away to the north, and I-10 is about 5 miles to the south.

Last edited by Ohio1803; 10-19-2014 at 12:49 AM.. Reason: Clarification
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Old 10-19-2014, 08:35 AM
 
13,768 posts, read 38,058,745 times
Reputation: 10686
Sorry, but I have to disagree that what they spend per child makes a school district better. I would check how well the pupils do on test and graduation.

As to living in Spanish Fort and driving to Calvert that is an awful long drive including the wear and tear on you and your car.

You really should check out all areas and drive to where you are going to working during the hours you will be working.
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Old 10-19-2014, 08:28 PM
 
Location: Pine Grove,AL
29,381 posts, read 16,302,939 times
Reputation: 5926
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keeper View Post
Sorry, but I have to disagree that what they spend per child makes a school district better. I would check how well the pupils do on test and graduation.

As to living in Spanish Fort and driving to Calvert that is an awful long drive including the wear and tear on you and your car.

You really should check out all areas and drive to where you are going to working during the hours you will be working.
Wasnt saying that, but simply combating the argument(at least perceived argument ) that the district itself was over spending when in reality, Baldwin County spends less money per student than all but 10 counties.
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Old 10-19-2014, 08:49 PM
 
Location: Pine Grove,AL
29,381 posts, read 16,302,939 times
Reputation: 5926
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio1803 View Post

No the tax was not in the interest of the students, and it did expand opportunities for kids in the schools. Also about the tax what they did was in violation of federal and state law. After the tax was renewed in 2012 the superintendent of Baldwin County schools got a raise and created positions for people in a PAC that helped campaign for the tax renewal. If you think that tax was primarily for the kids, or the school opportunities you are mistaken. When the tax was passed, and when it was renewed options for classes, and activites at school did not increase, they actually decreased a little.
Violation of federal law is on them, but that does not mean it was not in the interest of the students. No idea if he hired people from PAC within the system, i would have to see evidence of that.

But as for the bold, you are wrong. I was secretary of 2 clubs my junior and senior years of high school (08-09,09-10) As well as being a student teaching assistant because i had already passed all my Core classes. I actually saw club and sports budgets and know for a fact that they were cut from 08-09 to 09-10, and after the tax vote in April, they were allowed to remain parallel for 2010-11.

I never claimed they were going to increase, the tax vote was to sustain the system as it was.

Quote:
Spending more money on something is not a guarantee to make it better, so how much a school spends per student is not a measure of academic success and it should not be used as one
Never claimed either was true or that either happened, I was just pointing out that Baldwin County is one of the biggest counties in the states, 2nd or 3rd largest school system in the state and yet they continue to have some of the lowest per pupil spending in the state.

It means they werent hemorrhaging money and spending like crazy as some have claimed.



Quote:
What I gave was my opinion on the area, if you don't like it fine, but it is good for the OP to hear multiple opinions on an area good or bad.
but see, thats just it. You are posting your opinion based on an ideological belief(tax and spend being key words in your post) Instead of if the students are able to meet standards or not which you clearly have said they are.
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Old 10-21-2014, 11:07 PM
 
595 posts, read 366,317 times
Reputation: 210
At the school I was at when the original tax was passed, and after renewal choices for classes did not go up. May be different at your school, I don't know which one you were in, or are in. The only word of tax and spend I stated in the original post was tax. Spend only was mentioned by me in the second statement in response to yours with the link to article about school spending. About posting your opinion on an ideological belief. Everyone does that, especially when talking politics, taxes, and education. That includes you dsjj251. Since this a relocation question, if you want why don't we establish a discussion on the Mobile City Data forum about the tax. I'd love to debate you about it. I'll let you decide if you want to do it or not.

Don't think it has been mentioned, but Spanish Fort has plenty of retail in it, far more than Bay Minette has if that is essential. The beach at Gulf Shores is about a little under an hour, and Florida Panhandle beaches are an hour to two hours depending on which one a person decides to go to. In my opinion the Florida beaches are better, but plenty of people prefer Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
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Old 10-22-2014, 01:32 AM
 
Location: Pine Grove,AL
29,381 posts, read 16,302,939 times
Reputation: 5926
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio1803 View Post
At the school I was at when the original tax was passed, and after renewal choices for classes did not go up. May be different at your school, I don't know which one you were in, or are in.
Again, the tax was made to SUSTAIN the system as it was, not explained it.



Quote:
since this a relocation question, if you want why don't we establish a discussion on the Mobile City Data forum about the tax. I'd love to debate you about it. I'll let you decide if you want to do it or not.
Not really.

Quote:
Don't think it has been mentioned, but Spanish Fort has plenty of retail in it, far more than Bay Minette has if that is essential. The beach at Gulf Shores is about a little under an hour, and Florida Panhandle beaches are an hour to two hours depending on which one a person decides to go to. In my opinion the Florida beaches are better, but plenty of people prefer Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
250K was the limit. Anything in Spanish Fort close enough to the retail district is going to be above that limit.
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Old 10-23-2014, 04:28 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,005 times
Reputation: 10
We have narrowed down our community search, based off a visit to the area recently. First, let me say, the people are incredibly friendly and we had a wonderful time checking out the different communities surrounding Mobile.

Our top choice would be Daphne - good schools, shopping, beautiful area, low crime - #1 for sure. Any feedback on neighborhoods, flooding, builders, etc.?
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Old 10-26-2014, 10:20 PM
 
5 posts, read 6,653 times
Reputation: 16
I live in Daphne. Check out the subdivision French Settlement off of county road 13. It's fairly new and has bigger houses in the front and smaller more affordable ones in the back. It has a nice new neighborhood pool/clubhouse and it is literally less than a mile from the high school, middle school, and elementary school. Truland builders own most of the lots in the neighborhood but a few other lots were bought by other builders, all are good to my knowledge. Oh and there has been no flooding in this neighborhood, or area really. I know there are some areas off of highway 181 that flood and areas west of highway 98 for being so close to the water.
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