By By Kerry Whipple Bean
publisher
No official progress toward a new middle school has been made, but a new petition in support of building the school at Dogwood Hills is circulating among parents and is also posted on the Internet.
Supporters plan to submit the petition to the Brewton City Council once enough signatures have been gathered.
The petition, titled on the Internet “It’s Time to Build,” encourages the city council to accept the school board’s proposal to buy the Dogwood Hills property for the new middle school.
The school board is itself not circulating the petition, although several school officials, including Superintendent Lynn Smith, have signed it.
School officials want to build a new middle school at the site of the Dogwood Hills golf course, a move that has been opposed by golfers, some residents and other supporters of the recreation site.
School officials and supporters have argued that the site is an ideal location for a new school and that the property the city owns could be reconfigured to allow for nine holes of golf. The school board would buy the property from the city and lease much of the land back for continued use as recreation facilities.
Leigh Kelly, who has helped organize the petition, said gathering signatures has been going well.
The petition is available online at www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/286097447.
A petition that opposes using Dogwood Hills has been available at the golf course for several months.