City school set to unveil five-year priorities
Published 11:34 pm Thursday, September 4, 2014
The public will get a glimpse next week into the Selma City School Board’s long-term goals for the system.
The Selma City School Board announced Thursday, during their monthly work session, that it would be discuss the details of its five-year capital plan in its Tuesday board meeting. Required annually by the Alabama State Department of Education, the plan outlines a school system’s plan of improvements for the next five years.
“A five-year capital plan is kind of like a wish list,” said Larry DiChiara, the acting Selma Superintendent of Education. “If we had the money right now, we think we need to do the following things.”
In 2013, the board approved a capital plan that included roof repairs for Knox and Clark Elementary Schools.
DiChiara said a new plan is submitted to the Alabama Department of Education every year because the amount of income, expenses and priorities differ yearly.
He said the board would be especially selective on which projects they chose to initiate.
“We’re very limited on being able to do any major capital projects like adding a wing of classrooms or a million-dollar roof repair,” DiChiara said. “All of our public school funds, which is typically used for that, is being used to pay for debt service.”
Board member Brenda Obomanu questioned why repairs to Payne Elementary School’s plumbing issues that leave the floors damp have not been added to a capital plan, since she first joined the board five years ago.
“I have seen some places that are worse, but at the same time, I want us to have a concern for that school,” Obomanu said.
DiChiara responded to Obomanu by saying the plan is meant to focus on priority things that are the most pressing.
DiChiara said he was not aware of any plumbing issues at Payne Elementary, but he plans to speak with the school system’s maintenance crew Friday about the issue.
“If you’ll notice, this is not a maintenance plan,” DiChiara said. “It’s a capital plan. It’s typically for major things, like adding classroom additions or replacing roofs.”
The board meeting’s Tuesday will be held at the Selma High School library at 6 p.m.