History of Huntsville City Schools in Timeline

Huntsville City Schools is the school district for Huntsville, Alabama. In the 2016-2017 academic year, it served over 24,000 students with a teaching staff of nearly 1,700. The district is composed of 36 schools: 21 elementary schools (including Pre-K), 6 middle schools, 7 high schools, and 2 magnet schools.

2010: School System Debt

In 2010, Huntsville City Schools finished the fiscal year with a debt of nearly $20 million, the largest debt of any school system in Alabama. Casey Wardynski was later appointed superintendent to address this debt.

2011: $194 Million Capital Plan

In 2011, the Alabama Board of Education granted a $194 million five-year capital plan to Huntsville City Schools to renovate and construct new facilities, including Blossomwood Elementary School, a new Freshman Academy for Huntsville High School, and a new building for Lee High School and New Century Technological School.

2012: New Digital Curriculum

In 2012, Huntsville City Schools issued a new digital curriculum, providing all students with laptops and increasing digital usage for teaching.

2013: Hiring of Chris McRae

In the 2013 fiscal year, Huntsville City Schools paid Chris McRae, a former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to run the social media monitoring program.

2014: Monitoring Social Media Activity

In 2014, Huntsville City Schools officials began monitoring students' social media activity, prompted by a phone call from the National Security Agency (NSA).

2016: Huntsville City Schools Data

In 2016, Huntsville City Schools had 24,083 students and employed 1,697 teachers, overseeing 36 schools including PreK-elementary, middle, high, and magnet schools.