Story By John Mann
The Marshall County Board of Education met on Thursday evening for their regular meeting, where County Superintendent Dr. Cindy Wigley gave an update on multiple projects taking place at Douglas, DAR and Brindlee Mountain schools.
Before the presentation Wigley wanted to remind everyone that January is School Board Appreciation Month, and announced that in 2025 the Marshall County Board of Education contributed $64,698,735.00 to fund projects to aid Marshall County students. The current county school board is made up of Bill Hancock, Mark Rains, Laura Byars, Tony Simmons and Terry Kennamer.
The first project reported on by Wigley was the updates taking place at Douglas Elementary and Robert D. Sloman Primary School. On a budget of 17.625 million dollars the school is adding a new front office, administrative and conference space, new classrooms, a new shared library and dining hall as well as converting existing office space into classrooms. Expected completion for the project will be September 2026.
“They’ve been able to work really solid on it and we’re pleased with the progress that’s being made.” Wigley said.
Kate Duncan Smith DAR school in Grant is currently in the process of building a new stand alone elementary school, with an expected completion of December 2026. The 58,000 square foot facility will include classrooms, a media center, gym, cafeteria, integrated storm shelter and more. The budget for the project is 21.78 million dollars.
“It’s taken a long time to do the land prep there,” Wigley said. “Lots and lots and lots of dirt has been hauled. If you look at that field to begin with you wouldn’t think it would be that much but with the drop it really was a lot. We planned for that and it was in our budget, that’s why we have Scout (Scout Program Management), to make sure we have those things in place.”
The final project that was discussed is the addition of a new gymnasium facility at Brindlee Mountain High School. When completed the 24,000 square foot facility will include a competition floor and seating for around one thousand, four offices, male and female locker rooms for home and visiting teams, a weight room, concession stand and restrooms with a budget of 8.716 million. Currently underground MEP and site work is underway and completion is expected in January of 2027.
“It’s going to be a beautiful piece to finish up what we needed to rebuild after the tornado.” Wigley said.
The Marshall County Board of Education meets on the third Thursday of each month at 4 p.m. Meeting take place at the Board of Education building located at 12380 US-431 in Guntersville. Note that the next meeting, however, will take place on Tuesday, February 17, at 4 p.m. Board meetings are open to the public.
