BOE discusses options for alleviating capacity problems at public forum

The Vestavia Hills school system may be aiming to learn without limits, but their students are certainly reaching the capacity limit throughout their facilities, and discussions are underway as to how to best mitigate the problem.

On Sept. 8 at both noon and 6 p.m., the Vestavia Hills Board of Education held its first of many meetings to discuss any and all options for the Berry campus with the public.

“There is the rumor out there that [action with Berry] is already decided,” Superintendent Sheila Phillips said. “We wouldn’t be going through [these discussions] if it was already decided.”

In a presentation that addressed many much needed renovations to the schools throughout Vestavia, Phillips pointed out that the school system is growing, and something has to change.

At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the district saw 6,476 students enrolled. This year, there are 7,094.

Phillips attributed this issue to the number of homes within the district that do not have children. When these houses are flipped and sold, more families move in, which leads to a spike in school enrollment. Currently, 73 percent of homes in Vestavia do not have school-aged children, which leaves a large amount of space for potential families and children.

“We do not anticipate [our enrollment] slowing down,” said Phillips, but Vestavia does plan on adjusting accordingly for the growth.

Many concerns were introduced by the public including how the district plans on dealing with the increasing population through zoning and annexations, how they might merge classes and schools, what they will do with the Berry campus, how they will be spending money and how they will keep students aligned and together to ensure the best education possible.

In what Phillips called an “anchor idea,” she addressed an option that involves moving Pizitz Middle School to the Berry campus, and moving the Vestavia Hills Elementary Central to Pizitz, since Berry was built as a middle school or small high school. Central would then close, alleviating the need for renovations to bring the school up to a more desirable condition.

While this idea was explained, Phillips reiterated that no decisions were being made and everything is still open for consideration.

The size of the new property was also discussed at length to clarify that in addition to the currently standing facilities, and the Berry campus does have the capability to expand outwards on the 37 acres it is already sitting on.

Although no agreements have been made, the board is looking to have a decision by the end of September or early October in order to keep with the timeline of “being pretty far along in three years.”

“We intend to make this experience even better, and that is what this whole initiative is about,” Phillips said.

The board of education’s next meeting, which will cover the topic of alignment between the middle schools, will take place at Liberty Park Middle School on Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. and on Sept. 22 at noon. No dates have been decided for future discussion of the Berry campus, but the locations will be spread out throughout the district to reach a broader audience.

For those interested, Phillips’ presentation will be available online along with a narrative for the public. Dates, times and locations for future meetings will be posted online as well.