It's not a new problem. Hoover principal Joe Austin said the leak has been an issue since at least 2008, when the voters approved Proposition S, a $2.1 billion construction bond to pay for school repairs. At that time, Austin said school leaders were optimistic some of those funds could fix the leak. That didn't happen.

     Hopes were renewed in 2012 that Hoover could deal with its structural problems. That year voters approved another $2.8 billion construction bond and property tax increase - Proposition Z. But the crack still waits to be fixed.

That doesn't mean Hoover hasn't seen any bond money. On the school's north side sits a new football stadium with a vibrant-green turf field. Stadium and upgrades to other athletic facilities here ran the district $15.1 million. ... 

    ... Since 2009, the district has spent $107 million on stadiums and athletic facilities like weight rooms, scoreboards, tracks and fields. That's 43 percent of what the district has spent modernizing schools, which includes repairs, bringing buildings up to code, and adding classrooms.

     Yet, of the roughly 140 whole site modernization projects the district lists, only six are listed as complete. Work on the remaining projects are scheduled to begin sometime between now and 2027. ...