ORANGE BEACH — City School Board members are working out staffing for the new municipal school system when the split from Baldwin County takes place in July.
At a meeting Monday, May 9, and work sessions throughout the week after that, members approved job descriptions for positions such as assistant principals, counselors and school nurses.
During the discussion on nurses, Randy McKinney said the board should not have to duplicate all the administrative positions in the much-larger county system.
"I don't mean to be a Scrooge, but my only concern about having multiple school districts is the duplication of administrative positions," McKinney said. "And sometimes I think when you have a system that you almost tried to mirror every administrative position that you see in a bigger system, we're not a bigger system or a smaller system. And I hope that at some point, we kind of consolidate some of these areas to where we're not trying to match position for position, or someone who's handling 30,000 students with the system is handling 1,200."
Robbie Smith, interim school superintendent, said one possible way to have fewer administrators would be to have some people in two positions and pay that person a supplement for the additional duties.

"For example, we may not need a transportation supervisor for seven buses, but we do need somebody to help with routes and help with drivers," Smith said. "So, maybe that's a supplement we do for maybe one of the assistant principals that helps them also."
Smith said that instead of hiring a separate nursing supervisor for a system with two or three nurses, one nurse could also serve as a supervisor, overseeing materials supplies and performing other duties.
"This may be something instead of doing nursing supervisor, maybe it's a supplement or the administrative part for one of the two existing nurses," Smith said.
Board members also recently approved procedures for students living outside the school district. The district is the area within the Orange Beach city limits.
Students living outside city limits who are now enrolled in an Orange Beach school during the 2021-22 academic year will have their tuition waived for the 2022-23 school year, according to the procedures.
The board had set a tuition of $1,000 a year for students living outside the district.
Out-of-district students in the ninth, 10th or 11th grade in the 2021-22 school year will have their tuition waved until they graduate or finish their time at Orange Beach High School.
New out-of-district students will be subject to tuition and application fees for the 2022-23 school year.
Orange Beach will not provide transportation for students living outside the district.
All out-of-district students must complete an application to attend city schools.