School campaign shifts to high gear

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
The city’s five schools will be in the forefront of a grass roots campaign to solicit voter support for a 7.5 mill property tax for a new high school, according to Dr. Andy Dukes, chairman of the Hartselle School Board.
Representatives of Crestline, Barkley Bridge and F.E. Burleson elementary schools, Hartselle Junior High School and Hartselle High School will meet Thursday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. and Friday, Jan.. 11, at 9 a.m. at the Hartselle Fine Arts Center (Old Burleson Elementary School). They will discuss the proposed school tax and set up a plan of action to work for its passage at a special referendum on March 11.
Dukes said the schools are being tasked to develop and carry out their own promotional campaigns.
Dukes said telephone calls and house-to-house visits would be included in the campaign. Supporters will also be invited to post “Vote Yes for School Tax” signs in their yards. These signs will be made available Saturday, Jan. 12, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the parking lot at the J.P. Cain Football Stadium.
The property tax referendum was approved by Hartselle City Council Dec. 11. At the same time the governing agreed to impose a one-half cent sales to help fund the new school and other system improvements if voters approve the property tax increase. Together, they would generate about $1.4 million a year, or enough to pay off a $30 million bond issue over a 30-year period.