By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

WESTOVER – The Westover City Council passed a resolution identifying a number of possible sites for a future school.

Westover Mayor Mark McLaughlin said the city is offering 6,000 acres of land for the Shelby County Board of Education to choose from as a potential school site.

“In 2003-04, we did a lot of planning. A major objective of that plan, which eventually became our city comprehensive plan, was to provide school sites,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve grown by 20 square miles since then. The city council felt it was important that we resolve to let everybody know that we have followed through with that plan. The sites are available. They’re available to put a school on.”

Tom Ferguson, assistant superintendent of operations for the Shelby County Board of Education, said a Westover school is not being considered at this time.

“There’s the potential for developers to donate property or the city center that Westover is developing to set aside property for a school, but that is future planning,” Ferguson said. “It is not because there is a school that is considered or designed at this point in time.”

School children of Westover currently attend schools in Chelsea, Vincent or Wilsonville, attend private schools or are homeschooled, McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said the sites are “gold,” and are in prime locations, readily available for roads and utilities.

“The main thing the city council wanted to do was to be sure the folks of Westover know that the council worked really hard to make these sites available, available without charge, prime sites and ready-to-go sites,” he said. “The city worked a lot of personnel hours, it’s been a priority. We had followed through with the plans of the city. It wasn’t just a discussion that didn’t go anywhere.”