CCBOE announces plans to purchase property, develop new career tech center

Published 11:15 pm Friday, July 25, 2025

The Cullman County Board of Education has announced plans to purchase property with future plans to develop a new career tech center.

The board authorized Superintendent Shane Barnette to enter into a property agreement with the seller and begin the board’s due diligence process on Thursday, July 17. On Tuesday, July 22, officials with the board said the seller had approved the agreement.

The property was described as a “large tract of land” located in south-central Cullman County. The exact cost of the purchase was not yet available as negotiations are ongoing.

“This purchase aligns with our five-year strategic plan, specifically to provide our students with the best possible opportunities to be college, career, and workforce ready. We have been working on several funding and grant requests over the past several years that will allow us to build a modern state-of-the-art career center, and I am very excited about what is to come in the near future. We look forward to revealing some exciting growth plans once the purchase is finalized,” Barnette said in a press release.

Officials who spoke to The Times on Tuesday said the property will eventually be used to construct a new career tech center to replace the current Cullman Area Technology Academy. No final plans for the use of the current CATA property were available at this time apart from that at least a portion could be used by the adjacent Child Development Center.

Development for the new career tech center will largely depend on the board securing grant funding and the board has included some level of contingencies into its purchase agreement.

Patrick Camp may be reached by email at patrick.camp@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 256-734-2131.