Homegrown lawyer Brown takes place on Board of Education

Lawyer Scott Brown is the newest face on the Vestavia Hills Board of Education, replacing outgoing Board President David Powell, whose term ended last month.

Brown grew up in Vestavia Hills, near the new Pizitz Middle School campus, off Gentilly Drive.

At that time, the campus was used by the Hoover school system as Berry High School.

Brown went through the Vestavia Hills school system and said he was especially inspired by his teachers at Vestavia Hills High School, such as longtime English teacher Dale Quin and longtime math teacher Kay Tipton.

When he arrived at Rhodes College in Memphis after graduating from Vestavia in 1992, he said he felt more prepared than some of his classmates, some of whom had been taught in private schools from all over the Southeast.

Brown was also part of state championship teams in baseball and basketball.

After finishing law school at the University of Virginia, he moved to Vestavia Hills with his wife in January 2011. The couple has four children, the oldest of whom graduated from the high school in 2019, he said.

Brown works with the Mixon Law Firm, handling commercial litigation and other cases as well. For 19 years before he joined Mixon this past February, he worked at Maynard, Cooper and Gale.

Brown first applied for a Board of Education position when Jerry Dent’s term was set to expire in 2019, a position that ultimately went to Jaclyn Hudson.

Brown said that having gone through the schools himself and now seeing the benefits they provide his own children, he considers the school system at the heart of what makes Vestavia a special place.

Going through the application process last year helped him prepare for this year and helped him learn about the board and what it does. Now that he’s on the board, Brown said he wants to help keep the schools performing at the highest level.

“I certainly want to help maintain the commitment of excellence in the classroom,” he said.

Brown said the school system adapted well to distance learning, even though it was forced to do so by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being a lawyer, Brown said he’s well equipped to examine all of the issues that may come before him as part of the Board of Education.

“As a lawyer, we’re trained to look at all sides of an issue,” he said. “Often, people on different sides of an issue have similar goals; they’re just taking different paths [to get there].”

Being involved in litigation has helped Brown become adept at solving problems, he said.

He doesn’t have a specific agenda, he said. His plan is to allow the professionals at the central office and schools to do their job and help cast a vision for the future of Vestavia Hills City Schools.

“We’ve got some of the best administrators and principals in the state,” Brown said. “If I can play a small role in helping give back... I’ll look back at this time as being really well spent.”