Fairhope city officials opened their first public meeting on the possibility of creating an independent city school system Tuesday with a resounding message from attendees: If it’s not broken, why fix it?
That sentiment, often delivered passionately in defense of the current educational system, came from a wide range of residents and Baldwin County school stakeholders, including students, teachers, current and former administrators, and even a school bus driver.
Speaker after speaker defended the status quo, warning city officials that creating a separate school system would introduce too many unknowns at a time when Fairhope schools were earning A grades on state report cards, offering robust extracurricular programs and ranking among Alabama’s highest-performing schools…