It all began in November of 2008 when the Alabama School of Math and Science put up a green chain link fence — a donation from a local company — to enclose their newly paved student parking lot. Shortly after the green fence was erected, a tree from an abutting property fell on a separate section of silver eight foot fencing on the back of the school’s property.

But, because the green chain link fence didn’t conform to historic guidelines, school officials had to go before the Architectural Review Board (ARB) where it was ruled that they could keep the fence up for one full year — until this November — because administrators didn’t have the money to replace it with a conforming fence. According to Devereaux Bemis, director of the Mobile Historic Development Commission, the ARB made its ruling not knowing the tree-stricken 8-foot fence had been replaced with an identical unit.

Then a completely unrelated, but soon to be very relevant event occurred. The first domino fell, so to speak.

The school’s budget was cut by the state from $7.1 million to $6.3 million — $800,000 annually. After that, employees were let go — operational workers like janitors and secretaries were first on the list because the school’s intention has always been to keep a strong academic staff intact, according to Bebe Lindsey, ASMS’s director of development.

So when a subsequent hearing to discuss the new 8-foot chain link perimeter fence came around, neighbors showed up. They noticed, of course, that for a second time the school didn’t spring for the wrought iron style deemed acceptable by historic district guidelines, Lindsey said.

The neighbors started to complain at that meeting. It wasn’t fair, they said. They couldn’t install chain link fences on their properties, “So why let the School of Math and Science?”

Lindsey says they didn’t even have the money to replace the first fence after paving the student parking lot and were lucky to receive the donation. As for fundraising, in the current economic climate she’s only been able to collect about $1,500 in donations for a new, acceptable fence since last November. Quotes are running upwards of $100,000, she said. She’s guessing a replacement by November of this year is looking pretty unlikely.

“We’re not even in the ballpark. We couldn’t even get them to come out and give us an estimate for that ($1,500). Then, Devereaux called me a couple of times and a lawyer sent me a letter and said that chain link fence had to come down immediately — the 8-foot one,” Lindsey said. “And so we didn’t do that and the date is coming past (for the other fence), so I just asked Devereaux, ‘What are you all going to do to us?’” Lindsey recalled. “He said ‘We could fine you and take you to court.’”

Bemis says he’s been working with Lindsey to try to alleviate the situation, as she had earlier confirmed during an interview with Lagniappe, but he doesn’t believe the ARB will be able to grant the School of Math and Science another year to fix the problem.

“The board really bent over backwards to work with them (on the green fence last November). Meanwhile, the silver fence was completely gone and everybody thought it had been taken down. Then an 8-foot new, silver chain link fence showed up. It was no longer repair, it was just a new fence,” Bemis said. “The board treated that as a new fence. They said it had to come down. But then we decided to let them have it through the end of the school year. And when that time came we contacted them again. And, that’s pretty much where we are now.”

Bemis says he advised Lindsey, telling her since the School of Math and Science could keep the green fence until November they should apply to paint the rest of the silver perimeter fence green so it would all match. He said they would have to agree to take it all down in November. Basically, the application would buy time on the newest fence issue under Bemis’ suggestion — a suggestion that carries with it no future guarantee of approval by the ARB.

Without trying to sound stubborn, Lindsey says she simply doesn’t see donations coming in for the fence, but its use is still for safety’s sake.

“We have to have a locked area for the kids to be able to go and get to their cars at night. We can’t install a wood fence because we couldn’t see in it (the parking lot). We have cameras that look into the parking lot.” Lindsey said. “We have other problems across the campus — leaks in roofs and windows — that if we do get some money we have to take care of those to make the living quarters healthy. I’ve been raising money to do that. The chances of anyone in this economy feeling sorry for us and wanting to give money for a fence are slim.”

Lindsey said she has filed the appeal Bemis advised. Bemis said the appeal will go before the ARB on Aug. 5 at 3 p.m.

“When I’ve talked to Devereaux he’s trying to help,” Lindsey said. “He’s got his guidelines and his board and we’ve got our security issues and no money.”

When asked how this problem could be solved, Bemis said the school could look beyond ways of fixing the issue with a new fence, like not allowing students to go to their cars at night or at all during the week, encouraging students who live closer to Mobile to carpool or to get dropped off and moving the student parking lot elsewhere on campus where fences already stand or finding possible off-campus parking locations.

“Otherwise we would either have to fine them — which is a $500 ticket I’d rather see go to the fence — or take them to court,” Bemis said. “Court fees are also money that could fund a fence.”

Lindsey says hopefully the issue can be settled in a manner that leaves both sides satisfied, but ensuring parents that their children are safe still remains paramount on the list of priorities. She also called Bemis’ suggested solutions “inconvenient” for students who live in Fairhope who have to drive or if students had errands to run like going to a doctor’s appointment.

Lindsey is in complete agreement with Bemis on another front, however. “Trust me, I want a fence!” she said.