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BOE sets stage for new year, appoints new CSFO

by

Emily Featherston

Emily Featherston

Emily Featherston

Emily Featherston

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education met for its annual board meeting Wednesday, and set up the structure that will drive the next school year.

Before getting down to business, though, the board heard three recognitions of student accomplishments.

The first was of Sophia Akhtar, a rising junior who was awarded the 2018 Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship. Akhtar will spend the 2018-2019 school year with a host family in Germany, where she will attend a German high school and be fully immersed in the culture.

She is one of only a few dozen students from the Southeast and Puerto Rico chosen for the exchange program, and was chosen for her language and other academic skills.

The board next recognized the 2016-2017 Youth Leadership students, who created a student life app to increase school spirit. The app was designed with the help of Blackboard, and the company recently awarded the students for the ingenuity of the app.

Next, the board recognized seniors from the Vestavia Hills High School girls soccer team. The Lady Rebels took home the state title last week after defeating McGill-Toolen in a rematch of last year’s tournament.

The final recognition was of outgoing BOE President Nancy Corona, who will roll off the board at the end of May.

David Powell noted the long list of major developments that occurred during Corona’s tenure as board president, including the superintendent search, restructuring decision and beginnings of rezoning.

Corona was presented with a memento, which she said she will cherish as much as her time serving the community.

Of the several items of business at the meeting, one was setting up the structure and organization of the board for the 2018-2019 school year.

Powell was nominated and voted into the role of board president, and Jerry Dent will continue as Vice President. Superintendent Todd Freeman will serve as secretary, as has been custom with the board.

The board also elected to forgo the allowed salary, because, as board member Lisa Baker noted, if jokingly, “the opportunity to serve on the board is priceless.”

Monthly meeting dates were approved, with meetings now to be held on Mondays at 4 p.m., beginning on June 25, and work sessions to be called on an as-needed basis.

With current Chief Schools Financial Officer Greg Maner set to retire on July 1, the board approved the hiring of Courtney Brown as the district’s new CSFO.

Brown is currently with Carr, Riggs & Ingram, the accounting firm that handles the district’s audit, so Powell said she is already familiar with Vestavia Hills City Schools.

“She knows our processes very well, she knows our books … We feel good about Courtney,” Powell said.

Corona noted there were several qualified applicants for the position, and she and board attorney Pat Boone will be negotiating a contract with Brown, hopefully in time for her to begin before Maner departs.

Other BOE business included:

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