Representatives from Baldwin County Schools and the newly-formed Gulf Shores school system are heading back to the negotiating table this afternoon.
Talks surrounding the Gulf Shores split from Baldwin County Schools started last week in contentious fashion, with Baldwin County superintendent Eddie Tyler threatening to call off negotiations altogether if Gulf Shores didn’t put a superintendent in place. Gulf Shores representatives argue they have a qualified team handling the transition and want to have a plan in place before hiring a superintendent.
There are also disagreements over Gulf Shores’ projected timeline. They want to welcome students to an independent Gulf Shores School System by this August. Baldwin County officials say that is unrealistic and would prefer to push the date back to August 2019.
Kevin Corcoran is the president of the Gulf Shores School Board. He hopes the negotiations will also address the concerns for some students that attend Gulf Shores schools, but don’t actually live in Gulf Shores.
“We’re very much interested in this being a non-disruptive process. Students from Orange Beach and Ono Island and Fort Morgan that currently attend Gulf Shores Middle or Gulf Shores High School, we would love to find a way to accommodate that scenario. It just needs to be an element of the separation agreement.”
Superintendent Eddie Tyler told local media after last week’s meeting that Baldwin County isn’t interested in busing those students to Foley or to other schools in the county system.