BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Islamic Academy of Alabama notified Hoover city officials late Friday they will not pursue approval from the Hoover City Council to relocate their school to a building in Meadow Brook Office Park, school officials told Alabama Daily News.
That decision follows a Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission’s vote Monday recommending denial of the school’s conditional use application.
Academy attorney Lucas Gambino said school officials lost faith in the city’s review process, citing the series of new concerns raised late in the process. He told ADN they no longer believed Hoover officials would evaluate the application objectively, particularly after the Nov. 21 questions and the tone of Monday’s meeting.
The application made the school a target of anti-Muslim comments from community members and elected officials, he said, including the frontrunner to be the state’s next governor.
On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville criticized the academy on social media: “The only place this ‘Islamic Academy’ should be moving is OUT OF ALABAMA. Islamic Indoctrination Centers have NO PLACE in our state.”
In an interview, Tuberville said, “Islam is not a religion. It’s a cult.” Referring to the school again, he said that when he becomes governor, he would not allow Islamic schools in Alabama. “I’ll be damned if we’re gonna do that in the state of Alabama.”
Tuberville’s office did not return Alabama Daily News’ request for further comment.
Later in the week, State Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, echoed Tuberville’s remarks in local news reports.
As rhetoric intensified throughout the week, the school requested an additional police presence at its Homewood campus, which houses pre-K through 12th graders and at local mosques. The school responded to the remarks on Tuesday and again on Friday.
In a news release Friday, school officials called the statements from Tuberville and Butler “inflammatory,” “baseless” and “defamatory.”
“Not one word of these allegations reflects the teachings, values, curriculum or culture of our school,” assistant principal Stacy Abdein said. “They are irresponsible fabrications that fuel fear, prejudice and division.”
Abdein said such rhetoric puts students “as young as 3 years old” at risk by emboldening hostility and harassment, referring to students attending the school.
“At a time when our community should be coming together, statements that demonize innocent children and families are not only false, they are dangerous. We remain committed to unity, truth and the safety of and well-being of all those we serve,” Abdein said.
Gambino told ADN the school community was “disappointed, but not surprised” by the public reaction. He said he was “disheartened” by the incendiary nature and the broad brush with which their comments painted the Muslim community.
Set against the recent developments, Gambino noted that the school’s request began as a simple effort to find more space.
School officials hoped to buy the 100,000-square-foot building in Meadowbrook because it offered room for long-term expansion in a location they considered ideal, he told ADN.
The Islamic Academy has operated in Homewood for nearly 30 years without concerns from city officials or neighbors, he said. The school hosts community health fairs, distributes food to families in need and currently enrolls about 260 students.
School officials hoped the additional space would allow them to expand STEM opportunities for their students. And participation in the CHOOSE Act education savings accounts could allow more students to enroll.
The group signed a contract with the office building’s owner in March and learned they would have to ask the city for approval to relocate the school, as the building was designated as an office park.
The group filed an initial request in May, but withdrew it and refiled in September. Gambino said they had multiple meetings with city officials to work through concerns about traffic congestion and the school paid for additional analyses at the city’s request.
But opposition to the school’s request started early, with one resident starting a petition – which had garnered 1,600 signatures through Monday – in May. They posted notices of upcoming meetings on social media to rally opponents to attend.
Due to continuing discussions about traffic concerns, the vote was postponed from October to November and then to December. When the meeting was held Monday, nearly 200 residents showed up.
Many of them had signs saying “no,” and some showed up with signs in direct opposition to the Muslim community who would attend the school.
Two women held signs saying “Dearborn Michigan,” presumably referring to the large Muslim population in that city. One said “Stop the 100-year plan,” referring to a theorized plan to transform America’s democracy into a Muslim society.
During the meeting, Hoover City Planner Mac Martin presented a list of concerns that Gambino said city staff first raised in a Nov. 21 email to school officials, including questions about enrollment projections, compatibility with the city’s comprehensive plan and the inclusion of a community prayer space.
Gambino said those questions seemingly came out of nowhere. “We didn’t get this until the Friday before Thanksgiving,” Gambino told commissioners. And though school officials responded with answers to the city’s questions the following Tuesday, they did not receive any response from city officials prior to Monday’s meeting.
In his presentation to the commission, Martin also said school officials had changed elements of their proposal during the process, a claim Gambino disputed.
In an interview on Friday, when asked about the city’s new set of questions, Martin told ADN that as the process unfolded, the city continued to learn more about the school’s plans and its questions evolved and expanded.
After commission members asked their questions, the floor was opened for public comment. Many comments focused solely on traffic and development issues. Others were directed at the religious nature of the school and raised objections about the presence of Muslim families.
Hoover resident Bruce Davis gave commissioners many reasons he opposed the request, including traffic congestion and incompatibility with the comprehensive plan. He claimed school officials weren’t being truthful and up front about their plans.
“A community center is going to bring people in,” he continued. “It’s not only going to bring people in from this city, it is going to bring foreigners into this country when they relocate. They’re going to relocate to Birmingham, Alabama so that they can be there at that school and that community center and they’re going to fill it up.”
“You’re going to have real problems with this community,” Davis said in later comments. “I’m just telling you now. There’s gonna be an influx of other people that are going to create a problem for this community. We might as well just face it.”
The crowd applauded loudly when the commission voted to recommend denial of the school’s request.
Gambino said the school will now look for another site, as the need for a larger building remains. “We’re picking up the pieces and moving on to the next project.”
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