Independent schools studied ahead of ‘potential train wreck’

FAIRHOPE — The Fairhope City Council is a step closer to undertaking another feasibility study of an independent school system within the city’s feeder pattern. With a unanimous vote July 13, the City Council requested the city’s Education Advisory Committee (EAC) to research the costs associated with such a study, but not every council member will support what that study might find.

At a previous work session, the EAC asked councilors to fund an update to a 2010 feasibility study to include not just the costs associated with a city school system, but also a special 3-mill tax increase to raise an additional $1.3 million for schools in Fairhope.