New website on the way for Vestavia City Schools
The Vestavia Hills City Schools website will have a new look starting Thursday, Oct. 1.
The new webpage has been in the works for several weeks and includes features that will simplify user experience, said communications and media specialist Whit McGhee. Superintendent Sheila Phillips asked McGhee to discuss the new website at the Sept. 30 Board of Education meeting.
“We are prepared to click that button and make that change. I just wanted him to show it to you all,” Phillips said.
The webpage for each school in the system will have the same navigation as a way to make navigation easier, McGhee said. There is also a Google-powered search bar at the top of each page to help visitors find their way around the websites.
“We are very excited to bring this online, and I want to just say that our IT specialists have been putting in a tremendous amount of work here, and I just want to say a thanks for what everything they’ve done,” McGhee said.
Parents will also have the option to subscribe to the calendar of their children’s schools in order to stay up-to-date. The website’s address will remain the same.
Board Vice President Mark Hogewood noted that improvements to the school system’s website were a part of the strategic plan and commended the work that was done.
“I’m really excited about it being much cleaner and much more user friendly. … A great team effort,” Phillips said.
Board President Nathaniel Robin also discussed collaborative efforts between several school system presidents. Earlier in September, Hoover Board of Education President Derrick Murphy organized a protest against the state legislature’s plan to take money away from education funding. Robin attended the protest and said he looks forward to working with the Board of Education presidents in the future on the topic of funding as well as any other issues that arise.
“The plan moving forward is that we as a group will remain active and will continue to meet regularly,” Robin said. “But a smaller subset of that group will remain active and try to get involved in the legislative agenda to make sure that this budget issue is not revisited and we don’t lose more money in coming years.”
Also at the Board of Education meeting:
- Several students were recognized for excellence on national foreign language exams.
- The Board discussed the Seal of Biliteracy, which will recognize students for knowledge in more than one language. This program will kick off in the 2016-17 school year.
- Phillips held off on accepting a contract with Simply Green LLC, pending a few changes to the verbiage and details of the contact. The contract will be revisited at the October meeting.
- Approved an agreement for the partial reroofing of Pizitz Middle School in the amount of $1,600,000.
- Approved a change order for bathroom renovations at Vestavia Hills Elementary School East. The change order was for a $5,000 credit to the school system.
- Approved a change order for the partial reroofing at various schools in the system. The change order was for a $1,750 credit to the school system.
- Approved the purchase of cafeteria tables for Vestavia Hills Elementary Central in the amount of $90,554.20.