County schools to buy land
Thursday, July 24, 2008
By KENNETH KESNER
Times Staff Writer
kenneth.kesner@htimes.com
Rising propertycosts, availabilityreason for move
Money isn't available for a new school to relieve overcrowding at Sparkman High, but the Madison County Board of Education is planning to go ahead and buy property for a new campus now.
"Because land prices are going up quickly," said Superintendent Terry Davis, "we are trying to secure land in the Sparkman High district for a future high school."
Davis could not say when, if the land is bought, construction might begin.
"The need is now," he said, adding that "it is the big-ticket item" in the district's capital plan.
A high school will cost a minimum of $40 million and probably more, he said. Construction prices are rising and money for the project is not available in the near future.
Voters turned down a countywide half-cent sales tax increase that would have provided some building money for all three local school systems, and the Madison County district is at the limits of its borrowing capacity.
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