Bush School

Ensley School

The Bush School, originally known as Ensley School, was built in 1901 at 2211 Avenue G in Birmingham, Alabama. The newly ratified Alabama Constitution of 1901 provided funding for this project. A special tax on saloons repaid a $7,000 loan for the school’s construction. 

Construction of the new building commenced on August 14, 1901, and was successfully concluded in October of the same year. The two-story brick schoolhouse, designed by architect William Spink, was meant to accommodate 600 pupils.

It was distinguished by a hipped roof with towers situated at the inside corners where the wings converged with the central building. Additionally, tall arched windows were strategically positioned along the thick walls at regular intervals. Notably, the school did not have a lunchroom, and students had to bring their own meals and dine in the classrooms or outdoors. However, the opening of a candy store across the street presented students with the opportunity to supplement their lunches with confectionery items.

By 1903, it was renamed for Ernest Forrest Bush, the first principal of the Bush School and superintendent of schools for Ensley. The current Ernest F. Bush Middle School is also named after him. Bush also served as superintendent of Wellston Missouri Schools in St. Louis County, Mo.

Only two students, Margaret Wright and Mattie May Williams, graduated in the school’s first class in 1903. Ten more graduated in 1904, ten in 1905, and sixteen in 1906. There weren’t any graduates in 1907 as the school added a 12th grade. The next two graduating classes comprised three and eight girls, respectively. Ensley School became part of the Birmingham School System in 1910 when Ensley was annexed to Birmingham. The high school grade levels were transferred to the new Ensley High School that same year.

Bush School

In 1923, the Birmingham Board of Education’s “Birmingham School Survey” found that the school was overpopulated and deeply needed repairs. F.B. Dressler of the U.S. Bureau of Education reported that the building was “not suitable for further service,” stating that “the whole building reveals decrepitude and decay and should be abandoned at the earliest possible moment.”

Following his advice, the school board commissioned David O. Whilldin to design a new school building adjacent to Ensley High School. After an addition to the school in 1928, the “new” Bush School replaced the old Ensley School building. From then on, Ensley School was known as the “old” Bush School. Bush School was expanded in 1952 and 1957. In 1961, the school board approved the addition of a gymnasium and three classrooms. Further additions came sometime in the 1990s.

Incidents

1949 Fire

In January 1949, two former Bush School students, Mrs. H. D. Fields and Fannie Merle Smith, were driving toward T.C.I. Ensley when they noticed smoke coming from the school’s annex. There was no one around, so Mrs. Fields stopped the car and ran into the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Hair, shouting for Mr. Hair to call the police. Ensley’s Fire Station No. 16 was called, and Lieutenant Bailes and his crew responded before Hair could hang up the phone.

The fire was put out quickly and was contained to the music room of the gymnasium building. The loss, which included damage to a piano, was $500. Principal Joseph T. Vaughan said the loss of the annex alone would have amounted to approximately $20,000. He said the school building, although fireproof, could have sustained serious damage.

1984 Fire

In March 1984, students at Bush School were safely evacuated as a fire on the school’s second floor gutted a cloakroom and damaged an adjoining classroom. A teacher in a nearby classroom reported the fire at 7:40 a.m. Although classes did not begin for another 10 minutes, many of the school’s 369 students had arrived early to eat breakfast in the lunchroom or were milling about in the first-floor hall.

Three fire engines, a snorkel truck, and a rescue unit responded to the alarm and extinguished the fire in about 15 minutes. District Fire Chief Eugene Rouveyrol said some coats, textbooks, and other paper materials stored in the cloakroom were destroyed, and the classroom was damaged by smoke and water. Students were allowed to return to the building by midmorning, and classes were held for the rest of the day.

Birmingham Fire Department officials said a student’s smoldering cigarette was suspected of causing the fire. Principal Ralph Sheetz said no students were supposed to be on the second floor when the fire broke out. Sixth graders displaced from the burned classroom were housed in a vacant first-floor classroom until repairs could be made.

Sheetz said the fire was the second reported fire during the 1983-84 school year. In August 1983, a small fire damaged a first-floor cloakroom. That fire was suspected to have also been caused by students smoking or playing with matches. Although also believed to have been arson, the two fires were unrelated as the students suspected of the August fire were no longer enrolled there “for various and sundry reasons.”

Bush, a “Failing School”

In 2009, a $7 million renovation was planned for Council Elementary School. However, interim superintendent Barbara Allen recommended that the student body should be moved to Bush School to create a new K-8 school which occurred in 2013. Unfortunately, later that same year, Bush K-8 School was labeled as a “failing school.”

The board proposed improving the current Bush School building instead of building a new school. Some parents opposed the decision, arguing that the community was promised a new school and that the renovations wouldn’t address the need for improved parking, playgrounds, or athletic fields. Furthermore, some parents expressed concerns that the existing building may have exposed their children to mold. The Jefferson County Health Department investigated and found “a single, isolated instance” of mold in a locked supply closet, which was promptly removed.

Closure

In June 2014, the board moved forward with the renovation and arranged to bus students to the recently closed Center Street Middle School. Architect Nolanda Hatcher prepared bid documents and presented them in a public meeting on August 31, 2016. However, all the construction bids were significantly more than the $6.5 million budget. Earlier that year, superintendent Kelly Castlin-Gacutan recommended shelving the renovation plans and putting the money into deferred maintenance system-wide. Many years later, the school building remains in serious disrepair with much-needed repairs that would far surpass any budget the school board could afford.

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