Chambers County schools consolidation update

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

CHAMBERS COUNTY — At the June 17 Chambers County School Board meeting, the board approved regular business, and Superintendent Dr. Sharon Weldon shared updates on the school consolidation. 

State Auditor from the Examiners of Public Accounts BriAnna Upchurch presented the audit results. 

“Our review of snack and athletic concession receipts for LaFayette High School revealed the following issues: the school failed to maintain inventory records for items sold as concessions or perform a reconciliation between items purchased, sold and amounts collected,” she said. “There was no documentation provided to prove that the money collected using the personal cash app account was subsequently deposited in the school's official bank account. Errors were noted between the amounts recorded on snag cell records and the amount shown on the pre-numbered receipt prepared by the bookkeeper. The school failed to follow established policies and procedures regarding snack and athletic concession sales. As a result, we were unable to determine if all snack and athletic concession receipts were deposited into the school's official bank account.”

Weldon gave an update on the school consolidation and what must be accomplished moving forward. 

“We're very proud of the Chambers County High School, Mighty Lions,” she said. “And we have some of you who are going to say, ‘Wait, that's not new, because that is exactly what the original Chambers County High School was… [We have been thinking and talking about things like] what is important to LaFayette High students, and things that were important to Valley High students, and one of those things was rich traditions.”

Weldon explained that the school district is still under the federal court order to consolidate LaFayette and Valley High School. The site for the new school was selected during the 2023-24 school year, and all parties involved in the case were given 60 days to file an appeal. None of the parties appealed, so the site became the final decision at the time.  

Weldon said in January 2025, Chambers County Schools began to move forward with the process and worked to reduce the overall cost of the construction so it was manageable for the school system. 

As Chambers County Schools pulled information from community surveys that were conducted and looked at the history of schools throughout the county, Weldon said they wanted to be sure the new school represented the countywide community as much as possible. 

Weldon said she is proud to announce that, based on that information and the history of the schools, the new school will be known as the Chambers County High School Lions. Additionally, Weldon said the district has secured the bond rating, and Chambers County earned an A+ rating on the Ad Valorem tax and an A for the sales tax. 

With the bond rating, Weldon said the district was able to apply for Bond Insurance, which will help lower the interest rate. After securing a quote, Weldon said the district is ready to move forward with the new school as soon as the finances are set. 

Weldon said the final step is to secure the approval of the state board of education, and the district’s assurance that it can handle the debt is based on projections of growth in both the Ad Valorem tax and sales tax. Additionally, Weldon said the district requested a pledge from the city of Valley and the Chambers County Commission, with each agreement allowing an annual opportunity to back out. She shared the city of Valley has already given its pledge, and there are hopes to secure a pledge from the commission in the near future. 

With frequent questions about what a plan B for the consolidation would look like, Weldon said that would be a decision that the board and she would need to explore, since it is not their decision alone; it would have to be approved by Federal Judge Keith Watkins. 

Weldon said one of her other goals with the consolidation is to have career tech on the same campus as the new consolidated high school. This would give students the opportunity to not miss valuable instruction time from driving to the current career tech building. 

In other business

• The board voted to approve the agenda.

• The board voted to approve the minutes from the May 20 meeting. 

• The board voted to approve the routine personnel recommendations.

• The board voted to approve payroll and the monthly financial statement for May. 

• The board voted to approve items of surplus from Fairfax Elementary School, W F Burns Middle School and Huguley Elementary School.

• The board was presented with a report of the 2025-26 Physical Restraint Information for review. 

• The board approved the Valley High School softball team to travel to Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, to attend an overnight softball camp. 

• The board was given no recommendation for changing the Chambers County Board of Education Board Member Code of Conduct; no vote was conducted.