SUMMERDALE — The Baldwin County Board of Education held the first of its three redistricting meetings Nov. 4, where Assistant Superintendent Joe Sharp reviewed proposed changes and guidelines for the rezoning of Summerdale School.

A little more than 50 people were in attendance at the public input meeting, and five questions were asked during a Q&A period.

Summerdale School currently holds kindergarten through eighth grade and is nearing capacity with 458 students currently enrolled. The rezoning mostly removes the Marlow community, which spans approximately between County Road 55 and County Road 9 just west of the school.

Sharp said the streets affected by the proposed rezoning plan include County Road 55 to Ted Lysek Road, Linger Longer Lane, Newman Road, 32 South Vic Mikkelsen Lane, Catesby Drive, Lillie Lane, Brook Way, Red Star Drive, Dry Branch Road, Long Road, Indigo Loop, Annie Cooper Lane, Resort Way, Honey Road, Groves Road, Sweeney Road, River Road, Shell Lane, Howard Lane, Harry Jones, Raber Road and Country Living Lane.

An estimated 93 elementary students and 25 middle school students would be rezoned under this plan, relieving Summerdale School of some of its strains and "giving her a little room to breathe."

Current kindergarten through fifth-grade students impacted will be relocated to Silverhill Elementary. Sixth- and seventh-grade students will attend Central Baldwin Middle School as seventh- and eighth-graders next year.

Silverhill Elementary is one of the district's newest buildings. Opening at the beginning of this year, it currently has about 480 students and was built with a capacity of 1,200. The students added to the school from surrounding districts in Robertsdale, Loxley and Summerdale would total about 118 to "take advantage of that room we've got in that school."

Summerdale School's current eighth-grade students that live in the rezoned Marlow area will attend Robertsdale High School next year instead of Elberta High School, as typically happens for the Summerdale feeder pattern. Students who live in the Marlow area and currently go to Elberta have the option to be grandfathered in and remain at Elberta or attend Robertsdale.

All other current Summerdale eighth graders will attend Elberta High School.

Some guidelines for grandfathering Sharp mentioned included: athletic eligibility with the athletics association will transfer with a student if he or she decides to transfer schools or remain in Elberta, but once a school is decided upon next August, a student cannot transfer again and still be immediately eligible. Another guideline is that grandfathered students in the Marlow area would not receive bus services to Elberta.

He also said moving from your present location relinquishes grandfathering status, and leaving the school you were grandfathered into relinquishes the status.

"Board policy assures that all curriculum offerings and special services will remain the same from one school to the next," he said. "Part of our policy says that ... no student shall be denied the benefit of any education program or educational activity. All programs offered by the schools within the school district shall be open to all students in compliance of statutory and judicial requirements."

QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD

Parents anonymously filled out question cards, which were read by District 1 Daphne City Councilwoman Tommie Conaway. Conaway worked in Baldwin County schools for 34 years, including 13 in the classroom and 21 as principal at Foley Middle, Daphne Intermediate and Daphne East.

Most questions centered around the transitions of middle school students.

One parent said they wanted their student to remain at Summerdale School because they've attended that school since kindergarten.

The parent said, "I would rather homeschool than switch schools."

Superintendent Eddie Tyler responded, "If it upsets you and your child enough that that you've been here all these years but now you're going to be changing schools and you really don't like that, well, you do have a choice. Homeschooling is a choice; another school district is a choice. That's up to you and your child."

Another parent asked Sharp to elaborate on why current middle school students in the Marlow area are being transferred to Central Baldwin Middle. He focused on academics, saying students have good teachers at Summerdale School, but teachers focus on all grade levels of a certain subject. At the middle school, teachers are specifically teaching seventh- or eighth-grade math.

Two questions brought up the upcoming Elberta Middle School, which is currently under construction and set to open Spring 2027. Sharp and Tyler confirmed that all Summerdale School middle school students will be moved to Elberta Middle once it is open.

"It just makes sense to put all our middle school students under one roof," Sharp said.

Sharp said the K-8 schools in Baldwin County Public Schools are looking at transitioning to just elementary. This will allow middle schoolers an easier transition into high school and to access benefits in academics and athletics. He explained the athletic benefits would be that middle schoolers could be a part of larger programs rather than having a small middle school population sport team going against a larger one.

Another parent asked if eighth-grade children could also be considered for grandfathering as their child is already friends with a lot of people who will be going to Elberta.

Tyler answered, "Then why rezone? We've got to rezone for a reason. We can't grandfather everybody in that feels like 'well, my child's been here for this long.' It's not heartless, it's just something that has to be done."

He said parents need to explain to their children that "sometimes these things happen, and they happen for a reason."

At the beginning of the public input meeting, Tyler and Sharp said redistricting is in response to "excessive" growth seen in certain areas of the county. He said his only power as a superintendent to combat the growth is to propose new zones for school feeder patterns.

Tyler said the published map is not set in stone and that it can be tweaked by public input before presented before the board to approve. Sharp said there will be about three months for feedback to come in from the community, teachers and administration.