By By Adrienne McKenzie
The loss of a teacher could occur at A.C. Moore Elementary School if the 3-mill tax for the county school system is not renewed in the June 5 election.
A.C. Moore principal David Nolin said money allocated for next year is not going to be enough to cover all of the teacher units, which will result in the loss of one teacher.
"Right now our state allocation for next year is one teacher short based on the number of students and daily attendance average," Nolin said. "If the tax is renewed, we'll get that teacher back."
If the tax is not renewed and one teacher is lost, class sizes at the elementary school will increase. A.C. Moore is an Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) school and because of that, smaller class sizes are more helpful with individualized guidance.
"If we lose that teacher it will raise the teacher/student ratio," Nolin said. "We are an ARI school, based on being able to get students into smaller student/teacher ratios. In the ARI reading program, students need more small group instruction. If the tax is not passed and we lose a teacher it will hinder the small groups, not only in reading but in math and language also. More than likely this will be reflected in test scores."
Not only will the tax renewal allow A. C. Moore to keep their teacher units, it also would allow the school to indulge in some maintenance work that has been put off due to lack of funding.
"We still do not have a gym for our school and that is desperately needed," Nolin said. "Anytime we have cold, rainy weather we have to send the kids into one single classroom. The school desperately needs maintenance. We need teacher desks, student desks, our school needs painting inside and out. The only painting we've had for the past five or six years is what teachers have done themselves. If the tax is not renewed, we won't have the money to do that."
Nolin wanted the public to understand that the tax is not new, that it is a tax renewal.
"This is not a tax increase," he said. "It's a renewal for a tax. Taxes will not go up."