State could pay for new PCHS

PHIL CAMPBELL – The future of the tornado-damaged Phil Campbell High School has been up in the air since the 210 mph winds roared through it on April 27, but thanks to the work of several local officials and state legislators, money to build a new and improved PCHS should soon be on its way.
Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow (D-Red Bay) said he pre-filed a bill on Wednesday that would make a supplemental appropriation from the Education Trust Fund that would supply $32,906,007 to five different school systems that sustained catastrophic damage on April 27.
This appropriation will give the Franklin County School Board $11,673,678 to rebuild PCHS, a project that Superintendent Gary Williams has said was necessary from day one.
“The parts of the school that weren’t completely destroyed still went through and E-F5 tornado,” Williams said. “The school is old and there is no telling what kind of damage that could be there unseen.
“The best action, in my opinion, has always been to level the old high school and build a new school that we know will be safe for the students and the faculty and staff.”
Plans to move forward with the demolition of the old high school and the construction of a new high school have been on hold as Williams and school board officials sifted through negotiations with their insurance company and with representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA).
Once FEMA funding and insurance payments had been determined, Williams said they were still looking at over $11 million to cover the final costs of rebuilding the school.
“I don’t even know how to describe how important it was that we received this money from the state,” Williams said. “There was absolutely no local money to cover the costs, so we couldn’t have built a new school without this.
“We are so appreciative to Johnny Mack and to Roger [Bedford] and all the others who have worked hard on this and who plan to see this bill through to the end.”
Morrow said finding a way to rebuild the schools that received catastrophic damage on April 27 was never a question in his mind – it was just something that had to be done.
“I made a pledge to the people in Phil Campbell that I wouldn’t stop until their school was built back as it was,” Morrow said.
“I sat down with Sen. Bedford and Mr. Williams at the first of November to discuss moving forward with this project. That discussion turned into a meeting in Tuscaloosa with the legislators and superintendents from the other four districts that were affected by the tornadoes and we decided we would introduce one bill that would provide money for all five school systems.”
In addition to Franklin County, the other four school systems that will benefit from this bill include DeKalb County (Plainview School), Marion County (Hackleburg High School and Hackleburg Elementary School), Tuscaloosa City (Alberta and University Place Elementary schools), and Tuscaloosa County (Holt Elementary School).
Morrow said after the meeting in Tuscaloosa, they held a meeting with Gov. Robert Bentley in late November who pledged his full support to rebuilding these damaged schools.
“I appreciate the governor giving us his support,” Morrow said. “This project is important to me because Phil Campbell is a place that is close to my heart. I went to school there from the first through the ninth grades and I have a lot of pride in that school.”
Morrow said the project was also important to him because of a family connection that makes for an interesting coincidence.
“When I was in the fifth grade in 1955, my mother woke me up on the first day we were supposed to go back to school in January and told me the school was on fire,” he said. “My father was the superintendent for Franklin County at that time and when that school was destroyed, he was the one that made sure that it was rebuilt.
“Now, here I am over 50 years later making sure the school my father rebuilt is rebuilt again. To say this is a special and important project to me doesn’t even cover it.”
Morrow, who is the House sponsor for the bill, said he will introduce the bill on the first day of the legislative session, which is Feb. 7.
Sen. Roger Bedford (D-Russellville) said he will sponsor the bill when it makes its way to the Senate and will do everything he can to ensure its quick passage.
“It is vitally important to these five school systems that we get this bill passed as quickly as possible so they can build back new and modern schools, which is what these students deserve to have,” Bedford said.
“There is a slight possibility that we may be able to get this money from the risk management fund before the session even starts, but if that doesn’t work out, we’ll still have this bill that will hopefully go through the House and Senate easily and provide the money,” Morrow said.
“Either way, the bottom line is that Phil Campbell will have a new high school that will be up to code and that will provide a safer environment for them to learn.”