Public engagement kicks off in updated facilities consideration

Interim Superintendent Charles Mason asked the community in a series of emails to join him in discussing the future of the restructuring plan for the Vestavia Hills City Schools district.

And join him they did.

On Tuesday, the gym at Vestavia Hills Elementary East was filled with parents, school faculty and staff, elected officials and other community members eager to see what Mason would suggest as an alternative to the facilities plan the Board of Education approved in April.

“I think the board made a good decision given the variables they had to work through,” Mason said in his opening remarks, but added that with the potential purchase of Gresham Elementary, he and the board knew that a second look was necessary.

At the meeting, Mason walked through the board approved plan, "Plan A," and showed images from Gresham elementary before explaining the two alternatives he and his staff came up with after meetings with administrators, Hoar Program Management and Lathan Associates.

For all three options, Vestavia Hills High School would become a 10-12 campus, and all Elementary schools would become K-5. In the two new options, Gresham Elementary would join the mix as a K-5 school.

"Option S," with the "S" standing for "Split" was presented first. The major feature of the plan would be the separation of grades 6-7 and 8-9 along the U.S. 31 Corridor, and Pizitz Middle School remaining a middle school. Pizitz would become a 6-7 campus, while Berry would become an 8-9 campus. Liberty Park Middle School would be 6-9, as in Plan A. The new elementary school that would have been housed at Pizitz would move to Gresham.

“This is an example of how Gresham makes something possible that wasn’t possible before,” Mason said.

"Option 9," the second of Mason's new options, gets its name from the creation of a 9th grade campus at Pizitz, which would pull from Liberty Park and the U.S. 31 corridor, but alleviate the crowding at the High School. Under this plan, both middle schools would be 6-8, and all elementary schools K-5, with the new elementary being located at Gresham. 

Mason said he wanted to emphasize that the process going forward is aiming to "Inform, Engage, Listen, Decide," and that he and the principals and staff were not trying to "sell" any particular option.

After his introduction, Mason split the room into three groups, and each group made its way to one of three stations, where principals further explained the three options and went through the pros and cons Mason and the team had already identified.

For Plan A, there were the same issues as when the board approved the plan in April, one of the most pressing being the public's concern with having 6th graders in the same school as 9th graders.

For Option S, parents were concerned about alignment and equitable experiences for two ninth grades and one middle school verses two schools depending on the side of town. Additionally, parents expressed concern at the added number of transitions students would have to go through during years that are already difficult.

For Option 9, parents expressed concerns about how a separate 9th grade campus would affect the students being part of the high school culture, but were pleased that there would be system-wide alignment.

Both new plans drew concerns from parents about having students at multiple schools, and the logistics of getting everyone where they need to go each day.

During the breakout sessions, the principals took down the additional pros and cons the audiences put forward, and also catalogued questions that need to be answered.

According to the timeline, Mason said the plan is to have the results and a comprehensive list of the ideas expressed at Tuesday's meeting online by Thursday.

But, he said, parents don't have to wait until then to voice any additional opinions or questions they might have.

While the groups were meeting, the district opened an online survey with the same information presented at the meeting, and asking for the same feedback.

As of the end of the meeting, roughly an hour after the survey was launched, it had received more than 600 visitors, Mason said.

The next engagement meetings will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 14, the first at 10 a.m. at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Cahaba Heights, and the second at 6 p.m. at Liberty Park Middle School. The final engagement meeting will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. at Pizitz Middle School, to be followed by a board meeting.