By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Leigh Hulsey, a member of the Alabama House of Representatives representing District 15 of the state, has proposed a bill affecting city school boards across Alabama.

HB57 aims to prevent a city board of education from purchasing or acquiring land outside of its municipality unless previously agreed upon by both the board of education and the affected municipality.

“Under existing law, a city board of education’s power to administer and manage the public schools in its municipality includes the right to acquire land for the purpose of school development,” the synopsis of the bill reads. “This right currently extends to allowing a city board of education to acquire land in a neighboring municipality to develop facilities for a school within the municipality served by the board.”

The move to propose the bill was spurred by a previous dispute between the city of Helena and the Pelham Board of Education that began in November 2021. The dispute involved 52 acres of land situated behind Pelham High School, next to the softball field. This property lies within Helena city limits, but is owned by the Pelham BOE.

Helena filed a lawsuit against Pelham due to the fact that Pelham commenced land clearing and construction activities within Helena city limits with the expressed intent of constructing one or more sports practice fields and parking lots for use in conjunction with Pelham High School, which is located within Pelham city limits.

According to Helena, the area was zoned as a special district for single family residential use, prohibiting anything other than single-family residences being constructed in the acreage.

The lawsuit further stated that Pelham’s construction activities in the area were being conducted without necessary permits and approvals from Helena.

Despite Helena’s protestations, a board of education engaging in a governmental function is not subject to a city’s zoning ordinances. Judge Patrick E. Kennedy ruled in favor of the Pelham BOE, citing lawful precedent based on various Alabama Codes.

“The Pelham Board is authorized by law to acquire, and in some instances condemn, real property and to make additions, alterations and repairs to the property, as long as its actions are necessary or proper for the administration and management of free public schools,” Kennedy said in his ruling.

The ruling came on May 6, 2022. At a city council meeting on May 18, 2022, the Helena City Council unanimously decided to appeal the decision.

After multiple appeals, the case made it all the way to the Alabama Supreme Court. The Court ruled in favor of the Pelham BOE in a 5-3 vote on Aug. 2, 2024, deciding that Helena had no legal standing in the case and that Pelham had the right to build on land situated behind PHS.

Associate Justice Greg Shaw, who ruled in favor of Pelham BOE as part of the majority, explained the court’s decision on the case at the time.

“This case is about where acts concerning the administration and management of public schools can occur,” Shaw said. “While the locations of those public schools are fixed ‘within such city,’ the code section does not suggest that powers exercised in relation to the administration and management of those schools within the city’s boundaries are similarly fixed.”

In a dissenting opinion, Associate Justice William Sellers argued in Helena’s favor.

“The Pelham Board of Education does not have the power under 16-11-9, Ala. Code 1975, to construct and use the athletic field and parking lot on the real property in dispute here without the property first being annexed by the City of Pelham as part of the Pelham school district,” Sellers said.

Further information on the bill’s status will be updated as it becomes available.