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HPM presents narrowed list of facilities options during BOE work session

by

Erica Techo

The number of facilities options presented to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education was reduced by half during a March 22 work session.

“We’ve narrowed the options down to about four options that we think are still feasible, make the most sense, and we are recommending that these four options are the ones that are the main basis of the decision we’re recommending to you to use,” said Brennan Bell with Hoar Project Management.

All four options presented during the work session included a plan to renovate offices in the upper floor Board of Education building to create four classrooms in time for the 2017-18 school year, and to renovate four classrooms in the lower floor of the building before the end of 2017.

Doing this would provide immediate relief to Vestavia Hills Elementary West, and the four upper classrooms could be done in-house, meaning there would be no need to bid out the project, said Superintendent Sheila Phillips.

“The continuing issue is the fact that they [West] need some immediate relief if at all possible,” Phillips said. “Well, there is some space there that would provide or could provide some immediate relief for them.”

If those four classrooms became permanent classrooms, there would be an overall savings, Bell said.

Kim Hauser, principal at West, said she spoke with classrooms who are currently in spaces and rooms that are not ideal.

“On paper for us, it looks great. Because we need that strange room that’s being used as a classroom as a conference room … really it’s not to get four new teachers, it’s just to give us some elbow room,” Hauser said.

The rooms that would be renovated are used for professional development space and the local rotary, but not full-time. Phillips said replacement spaces for those purposes would, of course, be part of the discussion.

Choosing to renovate spaces in the BOE building would cost around $9,944,000, create 11 classrooms (capacity for 893 students) and wrap up around August 2018, Bell said. A classroom addition, however, would cost around $12,894,000, create 13 classrooms (capacity for 931 students) and wrap up around August 2019.

Phillips said they recognized there would be a cost to relocate the central office for the Board of Education, but there would be multiple options for that, including renting a space, using Vestavia Hills Elementary Central Campus or renovating a portion of the Berry campus for temporary use.

Board member Jerry Dent said he would like to see more information on moving the BOE’s central office before deciding to renovate the building.

“To me, that’s a big hole in this,” Dent said.

The options presented to the board were as follows:

Option 1

Option one, which maintained current grade alignment in the schools and created an academy facility for grades nine through 12, would answer growth everywhere except for the high school. At the high school, there would still be capacity in five or 10 years that would need to be answered, Bell said. 

Feeder patterns would be maintained, Pizitz would move to the Berry Campus and Central would move to Pizitz. Central would then become an academies facility.

The overall cost for option one would be around $63.16 million, and it would create a proposed capacity of 8,791. This is a few hundred over the projected 2026-27 enrollment of 8,371, but the projected numbers for Vestavia Hills High School indicate the school would be over proposed capacity in both 2021-22 — 2,000 in proposed capacity versus 2,213 in projected enrollment — and 2026-27 — 2,000 versus 2,684.

Option 2

Option two included K-5 alignment at East and West and creating an academy facility for grades nine through 12. Once again, Pizitz would move to Berry and Berry to Pizitz, and Central would become the academies facility.

The price tag for options two and one, as well as proposed capacity numbers, would be the same. This option, however, would require rezoning, as BOE President Mark Hogewood pointed out.

Option 3

Option three would maintain current feeder patterns but remove the ninth grade from Vestavia Hills High School.

Pizitz would move to the Berry campus and become a 6-9, Liberty Park Middle School would be converted to 6-9 and Central would continue to be 4-5 grade but move to Pizitz. Central’s campus would be taken offline.

Unlike options one and two, this option addresses five-year growth numbers at VHHS. The proposed capacity for this plan would be 2,000 for the high school, but by removing ninth grade from that campus, projected enrollment would be at 1,841 in 2021-22. Growth numbers in 10 years — projected enrollment is 2,212 — would not be addressed.

The projected cost for option three was around $69.86 million.

Option 4

Option 4 was the most expensive option and the option that addressed the most growth, Bell said. This option was a “hybrid” of the other three, he said, and proposed converting East and West to K-5,  moving Pizitz to Berry and converting Berry to 6-9, moving Central to Pizitz and converting Pizitz to K-5, converting LPMS to 6-9, converting VHHS to 10-12 and making Central into an academies facility.

The overall cost would be around $73.96 million, and it would meet the 10-year growth of all schools, according to Bell.

During discussions of options three and four, the issue of transportation and extra curriculars came up. Phillips said there have been discussions on how to provide transportation to ninth graders involved in sports or other academic teams. By transporting the students, they would all be able to act as one team.

“They will still be together,” she said.

Following presentation of all four options, the board opened the floor for questions. Kimberly Cook addressed the board on a variety of topics, including its property in Cahaba Heights, building a second high school and how realigning grades could affect students.

In regard to the second high school, Phillips said cost was the main factor in that matter. By building a second high school, many of the renovations and changes to other schools would be taken off the table, Hogewood said.

For realignment, Phillips said they have considered how changes could affect students. She added that ninth grade remaining at the high school presents a “numbers issue” for capacity and projected enrollment, but having the ninth grade stand alone would also not be a good option. If a decision was made to realign to 6-9 and 10-12, Phillips said consideration would be given to what options in grade alignment and structure to teams or classes would be best for students.

Also at the meeting, the Board of Education:

The Board of Education set another work session for April 12, where these options and information on personnel, interest in creating an academy, transportation options for ninth grade students and relocation of the central office will be discussed.

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