CCBOE cuts ribbon, breaks ground on new additions at Hanceville, Good Hope
CULLMAN, Ala. – Thursday was a busy day for the Cullman County Board of Education (CCBOE), representing “significant and historic improvements in public education in Cullman County,” according to Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman.
First, members and other leaders made their way to Hanceville to cut the ribbon on the newly remodeled Hanceville Elementary School.
The school was built during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and is the oldest building in the school system. Remodeling classrooms and renovating the existing Hanceville Elementary building, which has been vacant, will allow it to reopen and also alleviate stresses from the fast-growing area’s high student enrollment. It will also allow Hanceville to offer Alabama’s award-winning “First Class” Pre-K program, which has long been a model that other states have sought to emulate, said Gudger.
Cullman County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shane Barnette said he is happy they were able to not only preserve the facility, but also give it some modern enhancements.
“I just want to thank everybody for their support of this project. We invited a lot of the guys that did the work and Timmy Smith with our maintenance department kind of led this remodel along with several other guys that have been working every day for the last three or four months. As many of you know, just a couple of years ago we were thinking that we may never be able to use this building again, so we came in six months ago and they’ve turned it into something absolutely incredible,” Barnette said. “We’re really proud of it and I feel like we’ve created something that we’ll be able to use for the next hundred years. As you may or may not know, this building is 89 years old, but when you go into the classrooms they are just as modern as any classroom that we’ve built over the last few years.”
After celebrating the completion of a project in Hanceville, CCBOE members and other guests headed over to Good Hope to break ground on a new one.
Sparked by an increasing student population, construction of the new Good Hope Elementary is estimated to cost around $9 million, and officials announced in March that the old facility will be converted into a “ninth grade academy” that will ease crowding at the high school, Gudger said.
Barnette said he believes the new facility, which will be built adjacent to Good Hope Primary, will be a great help as Good Hope’s population increases.
“As you may know, a lot of growth is expected in Good Hope over the next few years, and this is not the complete answer to that growth because this is going to fill up pretty quick. But what this allows us to do is we can add onto this much easier than what we can add onto across the road over there,” Barnette said. “The ultimate plan to address the need for expansion at the high school as well is to remodel the elementary school after they move out and move in a ninth-grade academy. So, we’ve got plans and someone told me they’re expecting another 300 homes in a couple of years here in Good Hope, so we have a plan for that. It’s great to be working in a school system that’s financially sound and we can plan for the future instead of just reacting to it.”
Added Gudger, “Providing our schoolchildren with modern, safe and comfortable facilities that allow them to learn at their fullest potential ranks among the most important duties that legislators hold, and I am proud to have helped secure state funding for these much-needed capital projects. Cullman County is the sixth fastest growing out of Alabama’s 67 counties, and it is important for our schools and the opportunities we offer to grow along with the population.”
He added, “The goals are simple — to give every child in Cullman County access to a quality education and prepare them to fill 21st century jobs that promise a bright future. Hanceville and Good Hope are in the spotlight today, but I remain focused on giving every public school in every city, town and crossroad in my district the tools, resources and facilities that they need to succeed.”
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