CCBOE adding five additional PreK classrooms

Published 3:44 am Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Friday, July 11, that five Pre-K being added at Cullman County Schools will receive funding through a recent round of grant funding from the state’s First Class PreK program.

The Cullman County Board of Education announced the classrooms earlier this year, in February, as part of a reorganization strategy it said aimed to accommodate its rapidly growing student population.

One additional PreK classroom is set to open at both Welti and Harmony schools this coming Fall and will be open to students throughout Cullman County.

Good Hope Primary School will also be gaining an additional PreK classroom.

“I am very excited about Cullman County Schools receiving these grants for additional Pre-K classrooms,” said Dr. Shane Barnette, Cullman County School Superintendent. “These additional five classrooms are simply the next step in a much broader strategic plan for our school system to be able to offer all of our families free access to quality PreK programs across the county. Space and funding is always a challenge. As more funding becomes available we will continue to request additional Pre-K classrooms.”

Two of the new classrooms will be added to Hanceville Primary School, offering its students the opportunity to participate in the PreK program for the first time.

The school has previously been unable to offer a PreK program due to a lack of space, but recent campus expansions and renovations to one of the school’s 89-year-old buildings located on Commercial Street have shored up extra classroom spaces. The CCBOE unveiled those renovations during a re-opening ceremony on Thursday, July 24.

“Just a couple of years ago we were thinking that we would never be able to use this building again,” Barnette said. “Now, I believe we’e created something that will be in use for the next hundred years.”

Hanceville Primary Principal Michael Lindsey said the need for the program was evident by the number of students who have already signed up for enrollment and that a waitlist had already been implemented.

“With the amount of growth that we’ve had going on, I think it’s going to be great. These students are going to be ready and prepared to go into kindergarten and that is just going to help them all the way through high school,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey said the Alabama Department of Education caps PreK classroom size at 18 students while a total of 53 had signed up for enrollment. He added that he foresees the board applying for additional grant funding before the 2026-2027 school year in order to continue expanding the program.