Studer Community Institute

The Beulah boom's impact on classrooms

November 10, 2014
/ Carlton Proctor
/ community-dashboard

Escambia County voters' approval last week of a renewal of the half-cent sales tax for public schools will have a big impact on the Beulah community. School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said the 10-year renewal will trigger a "domino effect" that will start in Beulah and ripple through the entire school system. "You'll see us (the school board) in the next 60 to 90 days begin the process of buying acreage along the Nine Mile Road corridor to build a middle and elementary school for the Beulah area," Thomas said. "We've been tracking properties there for the last couple of months, and we have our eyes on some large parcels," he said. "We didn't want to approve anything until voters approved the half-cent tax." Thomas said once the properties are acquired, he expects the School Board to authorize the bonding of the half-cent tax revenues to will provide the money up front to build the two new schools. "By bonding the sales tax revenues, you get immediate use of funds for capital projects," Thomas said. "Revenue from the half-cent will give us a constant source of money to service the bond payments. "It also releases other money that can be used for capital projects, such as building gyms for the middle schools that currently do not have gyms.” Here are the highlights of Thomas' overall plan: – A Beulah middle school will be built first to accommodate about 1,100 students. The elementary school will be built soon after. Estimated construction costs for a middle school is in the $45 million to $60 million range, and for an elementary school about $25 million, Thomas said. – The current Woodham Middle School will be rezoned and a large number of those students moved to the Beulah middle school once it is complete. – Woodham will undergo a $4 million renovation and be returned to its previous status as a high school. – About 300 to 400 Ransom Middle School students will be moved to the new Beulah middle school because Ransom's student population has swelled. Thomas said he would like to get Ransom's population down to about 1,100 students "so they can have some room to grow again." – West Florida High School will be moved to the Woodham campus from its current location near George Stone Technical Center. When West Florida Tech is moved, Thomas will move Brown-Barge Middle School to the West Florida Tech campus. Brown-Barge students then will be in a better facility, Thomas said. And this plan will get on a fast track very soon. "We're hoping that shovels are in the dirt aggressively by the middle of next year," he said. "You got to allow 12 to 18 months to build the Beulah middle school, so it's going to take a while. "But we're going to get this plan started and we're going to get it done."

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The Beulah boom's impact on classrooms

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