By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— At the second elementary school zoning meeting on Feb. 18, Pelham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Coefield addressed many concerns he received since he first presented the plan.

Title one status, funding, demographics and teacher placement were among the questions posed by parents during the Feb. 18 meeting.

Both Pelham Ridge and Pelham Oaks will be Title One schools, which means both will qualify for federal funding, according to Coefield. He said the percentage line where schools qualify is 40 percent, and both schools have more than 40 percent.

He also explained that the 40 percent poverty level will not affect student performance in the schools, so parents should not worry.

The PARCA report, a report on the Alabama state assessments, revealed that Guntersville, which has 41 percent poverty, ranked No. 3 in the state on its scores, according to Coefield.

“Don’t worry about Title One,” Coefield said. “It’s not about that. It’s about expectations, it’s about teachers, it’s about everything we do in the schools.”

At the town hall meeting Feb. 16, a resident expressed the issue of funding and over extension. Coefield told the attendees that Pelham’s 1-cent sales tax provides about $4.5 million to the schools.

He also added that as a city school, all the district taxes in Pelham go directly back to its students, which wasn’t necessarily happening when it was a part of the county system.

“We are now spending about $7.5 million more on the kids in Pelham than what we were two years ago, and only about $4.5 million of that is from the new tax,” Coefield said. “You can’t get a better return on your investment.”

The money is being spent on school safety, better curriculum, greater technology, extracurricular activities, teacher training and more. Coefield said they are keeping dollars in Pelham and spending them on the students.

Once the proposed zoning plan is finalized and approved by the Board of Education, Coefield said he will immediately begin determine staffing at both schools. Both schools will be staffed with equally qualified kindergarten through fifth grade teachers.

For more information related to zoning in Pelham, visit Pelhamcityschools.org. To share feedback or pose questions, email zoningfeedback@pelhamcityschools.org.