Out-of-district residents can now pay a fee to attend Tallapoosa County Schools, an attempt to boost enrollment in what school board vice president Michael Carter described as "a recruiting game."
The Tallapoosa County Board of Education voted to approve the new out-of-district policy recommended by Superintendent Ray Porter Monday, which sets a $500 per semester tuition fee, or $750 per semester for families enrolling more than one child.
Horseshoe Bend School's long-awaited renovation project is a go as the Tallapoosa County Board of Education accepted a $1,496,000 contract bid Monday, about $250,0000 higher than what they originally budgeted.
The contract includes a new roof, exterior renovations, and new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, including overhead units in the elementary and high school gyms.
Upon receiving bids for the project last week, Superintendent Ray Porter warned school board members even the lowest quoted price — the one they ended up approving Monday — came out higher than planned.
"If we want to go ahead and do that project, then we may need to put more money into it than we had anticipated," Porter said at a work session Tuesday. "Now, that's several months old when we budgeted that money, and the construction market has completely changed in those months."
According to Porter, the market timing is especially bad for HVAC, which came out nearly double in price and with a 16-24-week lead time on getting it installed.
"We are not going to get that building built any time in the foreseeable future for what we would've gotten it built for 18 months ago," he said.
Ultimately, the board decided against waiting out the market Monday with little discussion.
"Motion carries, and happy to get that done," board president Carla Talton said.
Horseshoe Bend's $1.5 million renovation will come out of Tallapoosa County Schools' capital project funding.
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