A contentious public meeting at Holt High school on Feb. 10 was rife with speculation that the Tuscaloosa County School System was planning to shut down the athletic programs at the school and send players to either Brookwood or Tuscaloosa County high schools.
The rumors originated from a news release that seemed to indicate the athletic programs were being terminated after the 2025-26 school year and the school was to become a magnet school for TCSS students. Social media rumors contributed to the confusion, which Superintendent Keri Johnson faced in the meeting that featured a number of parents voicing their concerns.
Johnson presented information that indicated Holt High sports are in peril. However, Johnson and school board member Randy Smalley made unequivocal statements during the meeting that Holt’s sports programs were not being shut down.
High school sports at all Tuscaloosa County high schools are self-sustaining and are not funded by the school board. Holt’s revenue numbers were far below those of Sipsey Valley and Northside, the two high schools nearest to Holt in terms of student population. Holt has 431 students and is rated a Class 4A program by the Alabama High School Athletic Association. It is the smallest of the Tuscaloosa County high schools.
More: What led up to the contentious public meeting at Holt High?
“We were exploring the revenues of the sports programs and it (closing Holt sports programs) was definitely something that we were talking about, but it was not set in stone. A decision had not been made at that point,” Johnson said.
The superintendent said she and board members were attempting to use the public meeting to gain input on how to improve Holt and keep the sports programs viable. According to the information Johnson presented, the revenue generated by Holt’s football program was about one-quarter that of Sipsey Valley and Northside. Holt’s football program generated $28,595 compared to Sipsey Valley’s $131,902.65 and Northside’s $108,502.75.
Overall, the sports programs at Holt generated $122,412.05 or about one-third the total revenue at Sipsey Valley or Northside. Holt and Northside currently have the oldest two football stadiums in the county, but Holt has the newest high school building and a new $3 million baseball/softball complex is nearing completion on campus that the County school board paid for, according to Johnson.
Apart from the revenue issues, a major problem for Holt has been a lack of involvement from parents and community at the school, which Johnson believes impacts the level of student participation by student athletes.
“We have had years where we’ve had teams that we’re not able to field a team. I mean, that’s happened. That’s already happened. That’s not like we’re predicting that’s going to happen. That has happened. So, I don’t want our kids at Holt to have to wonder, am I going to have a team to play on next year? I want it to be a robust athletic program with community support, with booster support, parental support, so they know it’s never a question. They know year after year, we’re going to have a team,” Johnson said.
The Holt football stadium was a point of contention in the meeting, with public complaints regarding the restrooms and the general condition of the facility which is at the site of the old high school off Jack Warner Parkway. Johnson said the system was forced to build a new stadium at Brookwood because the old facility was so deteriorated there were safety concerns for fans and athletes. The only other school with an old stadium is Northside High. There is no money available to build another stadium.
Johnson said the failed tax referendum in 2023 heavily affected the system’s finances. A new stadium had been part of the spending plan if the tax had passed. The referendum failed in every voting district in Tuscaloosa County, including in the Holt area. Johnson estimated the cost of a new stadium at about $15 million.
“We don’t have the funding to build a whole new stadium. You know, it’s not a secret that we have the lowest property tax and our revenue sources are not where they need to be for us to go to the bond market to bond out to be able to build things. I mean, we have several schools that we need to build right now as well,” Johnson said. “Without a new source of revenue, we cannot borrow money to build. And we will not have bonds paid off for a long time in order to get back to the bond market. So, I mean, we cannot build large capital projects.”
Johnson emphasized the work that had been done at the football stadium, including updating the team locker rooms, purchasing new lockers, and the restrooms have also received attention. But Johnson said there was a limit to what could be done to the aging restrooms before they would have to be torn down and rebuilt to current building codes, which would require money the system does not have.
Johnson said she wants to get the booster clubs going at Holt because at the other TCSS high schools the booster clubs are a major source of revenue for the sports programs. She believes community involvement and support are the keys to making Holt High sports viable long term.
“They can reach out to their coach, they need to ask their coach what they can do to be supportive. How can they form a booster club? And if they don’t know who to talk to you, they can always call Dr. (Daniel) Dickens, the principal, and let them know they want to be involved and he will help them do what needs to be done to raise awareness, raise support, raise funds,” Johnson said.
Reach Gary Cosby Jr. at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Holt High sports programs safe but issues persist, superintendent says
