Board hears updates on facilities, alignment at work session

Facilities upgrades and middle school alignment have been dominating the discussion at Board of Education work sessions for the last few months, and February was no different.

At the Feb. 22 meeting, Assistant Superintendent Jane-Marie Marlin explained that after the last discussion, she and the rest of the team received feedback that some aspects of the middle school alignment plan needed a deeper dive.

Particularly, she said, the board had asked for more information about professional learning communities, academic strategy classes, the Pirate/Lancer period and the personnel requirements for the plan.

Because of the cost, Marlin said she and the team recognized that adding personnel is a major consideration for the board. The plan proposed at the January meeting would require 13 new faculty members at Liberty Park Middle School and six at Pizitz Middle School.

“We can’t do alignment work without a personnel need,” she said. 

To provide the board with options, she said they did determine that strictly course and schedule alignment could be done at the schools, requiring only six additional teachers at Liberty Park, and none at Pizitz. However, the other goals the team identified–professional development, intervention and academic strategy–wouldn't be as fully addressed as hoped.

Liberty Park assistant principal Roger Dobnikar further explained how professional learning communities would benefit the professional development for teachers, and Pizitz assistant principal Andy Carpenter went into more detail of how the Pirate/Lancer period at the end of the school day would enrich the experiences of students.

After the team's presentation, Superintendent Sheila Phillips presented the board with a final plan for implementing alignment in the middle schools.

For the 2017-2018 school year, the course offerings at both schools would be aligned, Liberty Park would be moved to an eight-period day, and LPMS would receive six additional units: an intervention unit, 7th grade social studies, 7th grade science, 8th grade social studies, 8th grade science, 7th grade gifted and a new PE teacher.

For the 2018-2019 school year, homeroom would be removed from the schedule at both schools, and two 6th grade academic strategies and two 7th grade strategies units would be added, as well as one 8th grade academic strategies unit and Career Prep A unit.

“Not only is it a financial investment, but the other piece is making sure that as we move in that direction and we have different expectations … that we provide enough time for our teachers to be prepared for that,” Phillips said on separating the implementation into two years.

With regard to personnel, seven teachers would be added in the 2017-2018, and six in the next year.

Facilities

After discussing alignment, the board heard an update from Brennan Bell of Hoar Program Management about the proposed district-wide facilities updates.

To begin, Bell introduced Ann Hoffsis of Cooperative Strategies to give an update on the demographic study the company is conducting in order to paint the clearest picture of future enrollment numbers.

Hoffsis explained the methodology of the two studies the team is conducting, which include a traditional enrollment study and a subdivision analysis to determine housing yield. 

The enrollment study looks at live birth records from the state, as well as historical enrollment data from the school system. The subdivision analysis looks at housing types and attempts to determine potential growth.

Hoffsis explained that both of the studies are combined to try to give an idea of what the school district can expect over the next five to 10 years.

The team determined a high, low, moderate and recommended enrollment projection for each school. For most, Hoffsis explained that the recommended projection will likely be the best, but for Liberty Park, she said that based on preliminary information about growth in the area, the high projection may be the best one to consider.

Among the enrollment projections, notable increase estimates included a recommended projection of 31 percent growth at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, and high projection of 25 percent growth at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park.

After Hoffsis' presentation, Bell took back the podium to explain how HPM had taken the preliminary demographic study results to update the options for the board to consider.

First, he explained that the capacity numbers were based on a 19-to-1 student to teacher ratio, and for elementary schools didn't include multi-purpose spaces, Pre-K or special needs classrooms. For middle and high schools, however, he said the numbers do include art, choir and band facilities.

Option 1: New Liberty Park High School, current grade alignment, move Pizitz to Berry, move Vestavia Hills Elementary Central to Pizitz, Central moves offline. No rezoning. Budget: $129,611,677.

Option 2A: Current alignment, move Pizitz to Berry, move VHEC to Pizitz, Central building becomes Academy facility for 15 percent of 9-12. No rezoning. Budget: $68,611,677.

Option 2B: Current alignment, but rezone VHEE and VHEW to even out numbers, move Pizitz to Berry, move VHEC to Pizitz, Central becomes Academy facility. Requires rezoning for VHEE and VHEW. Budget: $65,561,677.

Option 3: K-5 alignment district-wide, move Pizitz to Berry, move VHEC to Pizitz and convert to K-5, Central becomes Academy facility. Requires rezoning for VHEE and VHEW. Budget: $68,611,677

Option 4A: Current alignment for elementary, VHEC moves to Pizitz, Central goes offline, Pizitz moves to Berry and becomes 6-9, LPMS becomes 6-9, VHHS 10-12. No rezoning. Budget: $69,411,677.

Option 4B: Same as 4A, except for rezoning of VHEE and VHEW to even out numbers.

Option 5: K-2 and 3-5 alignment along U.S. 31 corridor, middle schools 6-9, VHHS 10-12. Pizitz moves to Berry, VHEC moves to Pizitz, Central campus moves offline. No rezoning. Budget: $70,511,677.

Option 6: K-5 alignment district-wide, changing VHEE and VHEW to K-5, as well as VHEC which moves to Pizitz. Pizitz moves to Berry and becomes 6-9, LPMS becomes 6-9, VHHS 10-12. Central campus offline. Requires rezoning. Budget: $70,311,677.

Option 7: K-5 alignment district-wide, VHEC moves to Pizitz and becomes K-5, Pizitz moves to Berry and becomes 6-9, LPMS 6-9, VHHS 10-12, and Central campus becomes Academy facility. Requires rezoning. Budget: $70,961,677.

Bell explained that each option has benefits and disadvantages. Some go above the desired budget of about $68 million, which is a combination of the remaining $54 million from the recent bond issue and about $14 million from the reserves.

Some, he explained, fit the current projected ideal capacities, while others would still leave some issues at the 10-year mark, particularly the high school.

Over the next month, Bell said the team is confident that with the additional data from the demographic study, HPM and Lathan will be able to narrow down the choices to two or three, as well as further refine the schedule and cost.