By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Thompson Intermediate and Thompson High schools soon will be getting schoolwide Wi-Fi after the Alabaster City Council agreed to donate $3,000 to each school during a Nov. 19 meeting.

The donations will help both schools complete work on their Wi-Fi networks, which will provide wireless Internet access throughout the schools.

During a September council meeting, THS Library Media Specialist Greg Stone said THS, Vincent High School and Shelby County High School are the only three high schools in Shelby County without schoolwide wireless Internet.

Stone said the high schools in Shelby County with schoolwide wireless Internet purchased the equipment themselves using money generated from fundraisers and community support.

Once installed, schoolwide wireless Internet will allow students to bring their own devices, such as smartphones or iPads, to school to use in the classroom.

In addition to the council donations, the two projects will also be funded using money generated through fundraisers the schools have been conducting over the past several months.

In other business, the council also approved a resolution supporting the annexation of the South Forty neighborhood in Saginaw.

Because the 34-house neighborhood is not contiguous to Alabaster’s city limits, the subdivision would have to be annexed by an act of the Alabama Legislature, council members previously said.

The Alabaster City Council will forward its resolution supporting the annexation to the Legislature to consider during its 2013 session.

During an early November work session, South Forty residents presented the City Council with a petition signed by 32 homeowners. The residents said would like to be annexed to have services such as the Alabaster police and fire departments, and to be in the Alabaster School System when the city finalizes its split with the Shelby County School System.