Q&A with Sheila Phillips

Vestavia Hills students will return to classrooms Aug. 11 with a new leader at the helm of the city’s schools. The Vestavia Hills Board of Education in May named Sheila Phillips, 48, as its new superintendent. She replaces Jamie Blair, who will serve in an advisory position until his official retirement date, Oct. 1, 2015. Phillips will make $167,500 annually under a three-year contract, which also includes a vehicle allowance of $9,888 a year. Phillips has been with the Vestavia Hills school system since 2010, serving as assistant principal of the high school until she was appointed the system’s assistant superintendent in May 2012. She held that position until her recent appointment. Phillips agreed to answer a few questions about her selection as superintendent.

How do you feel about being named the new superintendent?

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity just to be able to serve this community and the district in this new role. I have grown very passionate for the work that is being done here and for the people and students of Vestavia Hills.

Do you think your close working relationship with former Superintendent Jamie Blair will make for a smooth transition in leadership?

Yes. Because I am currently the assistant superintendent, I think the transition will be much smoother. We have worked very closely on all major projects. And even though we both have different responsibilities, he’s allowed me to be very involved in big projects and initiatives in our district for the two years I’ve been his assistant.

I understand you worked with Dr. Blair before in another school system?

We worked together for a short amount of time when he was superintendent in Cullman and I was there teaching special education, and then he came to Vestavia. I stayed in Cullman and then changed systems to Homewood and then went back to Cullman for several years. My husband (Mike) had been commuting to Homewood for several years, and we were about to be empty-nesters and, for family reasons, decided to stop the commute. So I decided to find a job here, and that’s how I ended up in Vestavia Hills.

What are your goals as superintendent?

As far as goals are concerned, I have to provide an assurance that we’re going to continue on a path of excellence that’s already been established in this district. I understand that’s a primary responsibility of mine. I also have to ensure that I’m meeting the needs of the students in the community. One of my goals, obviously, is to bring people together to create a vision of who we are, where we’re going, what we’re going to be doing, what we want to be doing in the future and then ensuring that all programs and educators are meeting the needs of each and every student, and then maintaining the high level of accountability expected from the superintendent of this district.

Vestavia Hills is already one of the best school systems in the state. How do you improve upon such a high standard?  

When you’re a high-performing school system, you have to dig deep to identify areas of growth. Identifying those areas can be a challenge in and of itself, but we’ve been able to do that and continue our high performance. We have just finished our districtwide accreditation process, and we’re still awaiting our final report. But out of that, you develop action plans to respond to the outcome of that visit. Once you have that information, there’s a time you can get back to the development and strengthening of your strategic plan, and that is where we are in this district. Our original strategic plan was developed years ago, so it’s time for us to bring the community back together to reestablish where we are and what we want to do.

What are some challenges you see for your school system?

Obviously, with state-level changes in standards, you have to bring along changes in methods of teaching strategies, assessment of students, etc., and you have to realign what you are doing in the area of curriculum. So those are some of the challenges we will be facing. However, through our strategic planning process, we have a forum for identifying and developing an action plan for that.

When you began your journey in education, was your goal to become a superintendent?

I have to say that I did not aspire to be the superintendent of a school system. I have always been very comfortable in school-level leadership, being involved closely with students and teachers and parents. Only when I came to Vestavia and opportunities started to open up for district-level leadership did it even occur to me this might be an area of interest. But I’ve learned along the way that I enjoy being able to have a broader influence in what is happening on behalf of students and the learning that they’re engaged in. I am invested in the work we have been doing in this school district and want to see our standard of excellence move to the next level.