By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Pelham City Council President Rick Hayes said the draft results of the city’s school feasibility study could come “in the next week or so” during a May 15 phone interview.

“I don’t think we’ll have them in time for our meeting next Tuesday,” Hayes said. “It would have to be a special-called meeting or our next regular meeting (June 3) before we get a chance to talk about it.”

In late March, the council agreed to pay the Decision Resources firm $30,000 to conduct the Pelham city school feasibility study.

According to the resolution passed by the council, the study will “assess the financial resources that would be available to fund a separate school system for the city of Pelham.”

“We want to do what’s right for the community. We want to lay everything out for consideration,” Hayes said. “Our community doesn’t end at the city limits. We don’t want to do anything that is going to hurt our neighbors.”

The study will outline funding options for a separate Pelham city school system, and will explain the costs associated with maintaining “the current status of educational operations in the school sites comprising the proposed Pelham city school system” and the costs associated with forming a new school system and implementing new educational programs.

The study will also compare Pelham’s tax base with those of current Alabama school systems similar to Pelham.

Council member Maurice Mercer previously said the council will provide “several opportunities” for public comment on the matter once the study results are unveiled.