Barnett sees ‘the best years ever’ ahead

The Cullman County Board of Education was introduced to several new faces — and maintained a familiar one — in 2024. Despite its leadership changes, however, the board continued to build upon its reputation as one of Alabama’s premier school districts by continuing to develop and expand its infrastructure, meeting the most basic needs of its students and focusing on expanding creative pathways to student success.

Superintendent Shane Barnette secured his position in March 2024 during the first countywide superintendent primary election in nearly a decade. With no Democratic challengers on the ballot, Barnette’s victory was made official and he was sworn in during the board’s meeting in December 2024.

“I’m just super excited that the people of Cullman County came out and supported me today. This just shows that we are doing good things and we’ve got even better things planned ahead. We’re going to continue working on that strategic plan that we’ve developed as a school system and I honestly believe that the next few years are going to be the best years ever in our district,” Barnette said shortly following his primary victory in March.

Two former board members — Gene Sullins from West Point and Heath Allbright from Holly Pond —  chose not to seek reelection in 2024. Their vacancies were filled by Larry Duke and Richard Hays respectively.

During the board’s first meeting of the 2024-205 school year in August, it announced nearly $73 million in capital improvement projects had been completed since the introduction of a five-year capital improvement plan in 2020. During that same meeting, the board announced plans to invest an additional $23 million during the next five years to replace aging facilities and meet the needs of the district’s growing student population.

Superintendent Shane Barnette said three projects in particular — replacing Edmondson Hall at Hanceville Middle School, constructing a new classroom building at the Child Development Center and constructing a new Good Hope Elementary building — would be given top priority in the updated capital plan.

Edmonson Hall, which was built in 1949 making it one of the district’s oldest facilities still in use, was demolished earlier in the school year. In late March, 2025, the board accepted a $3.3 million bid to begin construction on a new addition to replace Edmondson Hall which will feature classroom and meeting spaces as well as a new library.

The most costly of the three priority projects will be the construction of a new elementary school at Good Hope. Barnette said the project was needed due to the drastic increase of the student population within the Good Hope area during recent years. The estimated $9 million project is expected to share a gym and playground area with the adjacent Good Hope Primary School and free up much needed space at Good Hope High School by allowing the current elementary school building to be used as a “ninth grade academy,” according to Barnette.

These new additions, as well as upcoming renovations to existing buildings, will also allow the district to expand its PreK program by restructuring the feeder pathway from several of its school’s lower grade levels.

The board recently announced an ambitious “organizational plan,” for Hanceville, Holly Pond, Harmony and Welti schools which it plans to implement at the beginning of the upcoming 2025-2026 school year.

The plan includes a hefty renovation of the vacant Hanceville Elementary building which will soon accommodate all the school’s PreK-2nd grade students. This will allow Hanceville to participate in Alabama’s First Class PreK program for the first time.

Holly Pond’s K-8 school will revert back to dedicated elementary and middle schools and two of the district’s feeder campuses, Harmony and Welti, will be freeing up classroom space by having students transition to larger campuses before sixth grade.

One particular need among students that became much more prominent in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic was their mental well being. CCBOE Mental Health Services Coordinator Karen Pinion said she has witnessed issues such as anxiety and depression affecting the lives of more children each year, some as young as elementary students.

Cullman County Schools had already made several resources available to students by staffing three full-time social workers and contracting with outside mental health agencies, but took things one step further in 2024 with the introduction of a districtwide “student expo” series.

The first event was held for the district’s high school students in April 2024 as a precursor to Mental Health Awareness Month — which is recognized nationally each May — with a follow up event in October. Both events featured engaging and transparent speakers who shared their own struggles with mental health issues. The successful feedback from both events laid the foundation for the district to expand the program to its middle school students in December.

“I think we have put on a number of worthwhile events and assemblies and have had some incredible speakers. All of those previous events have been phenomenal and have had some great information. With that said, hands down the amount of phone calls, emails and texts I have received saying how great it was, has been far more than any other event we have done,” Pinion said when discussing the first student expo event with The Times in April 2024.

New partnerships and programs were also implemented to increase the chances of student success after they graduate from high school.

In March 2024, Cullman County Schools partnered with North AlabamaWorks through its Modern Manufacturing program. The program is spearheaded by former Cullman County Career Technical Education Director Billy Troutman and aims to bridge the gap between education providers and their local industries.

Troutman said the program also offers financial support for teacher salaries and equipment, leaving local schools free to offer more funding to its other career technical programs. Barnette said the program would create additional benefits for students participating in several programs at the Career and Technical Academy.

“This is going to allow us to have more credentialing than what we currently have, which is just going to better prepare our kids to walk into jobs right out of high school,” Barnette said.

Students who prefer to work with soil rather than steel were able to participate in a new summer internship program through the USDA. The three-year gran was secured by the North Alabama Agriplex and gave two county students the chance to work directly with local farmers.

The CCBOE’s support of the local agriculture industry culminated in the completion of a first of its kind, fully functional livestock barn on the West Point High School campus. What began as a passion project among several West Point FFA alumni will soon allow students who may have been unable to do so otherwise, to purchase and raise their own animals and participate in the school’s livestock showing program.