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Board approves strategic goals

by

Neal Embry

On July 22, the Vestavia Hills Board of Education approved system-wide goals for the Vestavia Hills City School system that arose as part of the strategic planning process.

Three goals were given that Superintendent Todd Freeman said were consistent with the system’s mission statement.

The first goal, Freeman said, is to “ensure that students learn and demonstrate a profound understanding of knowledge and skills consistent with expectations of teachers, parents, and the community, and ensure that students find value and meaning in the work provided to them.”

Freeman told the board that while there tends to be focus on student’s grades, it’s important to make sure the learning going on is actually matching those grades, instead of students performing well on a report card but not actually retaining and learning the material.

The second goal is to “embrace our leadership role in developing common understandings and shared community support for confronting the problems and challenges that impact the system, youth and families.”

With ever-evolving discussions about how to address mental health in the country, Freeman said he wants VHCS to address student’s mental needs as well as their academic needs.

“Right now, we can’t serve every student the way we need to [in regards to] mental health,” Freeman said.

Toward that end, Freeman said it’s vital the school system partners with community organizations that help meet mental health needs.

The third goal is to “strengthen leadership, management, and staffing systems committed to advancing the mission, beliefs, and goals of the strategic plan.”

Freeman said one of his goals is to pay attention to staff as well as the system pays attention to students. The school currently has about an 85% retention rate from year-to-year among teachers, which is a good number, Freeman said, with the average teacher having 12 to 13 years of experience.

Long-term operational plans were also discussed in Freeman’s report, with special attention being given to monitor the recent growth in student enrollment, though Freeman said it’s leveled off a bit in the last year or two, as well as studying how to improve arts and athletics. Lastly, the school will continue to monitor facility needs as they arise.

In other business, the board approved owner-architect agreements for interior work to be done at the libraries at Vestavia Hills Elementary East, West and Dolly Ridge, with a tentative price of $300,000 at each school. The agreement engages Lathan Associates Architects to begin preparing for work on the project, and does not actually authorize the money to be spent yet, Assistant Superintendent Patrick Martin said.

The board also approved an owner-architect agreement for paving work at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, Liberty Park Middle School and Pizitz Middle School for a tentative total cost of $200,000.

In other construction news, the board approved a $20,409 change order for the classroom addition at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge.

The board also voted to increase Freeman’s salary by four percent, as mandated by state law.

The board also heard a report from Director of Student Services Jennifer Bailey on student incident reports, which totaled less than 60 overall reports in the 2018-19 school year. SIR’s, as they are referred to, are the incident reports that are reported to the state, and do not represent every single disciplinary incident at each school. The reports are just one tool the school uses to evaluate student behaviors, Bailey said.

Freeman also told the board he was creating two new positions: a director of maintenance and an assistant director of technology.

He also told the board work had been done to update the student drug testing policy, with Martin adding students will no longer be able to have a second test done if they fail the first drug test. The test is given to students who participate in extracurricular activities.

In other business, the board:

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