Vestavia Hills Elementary East to get playground upgrade

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education has added a playground upgrade into the plans for proposed improvements at Vestavia Hills Elementary East.

Superintendent Todd Freeman said the school’s parent teacher organization already has raised money for the playground upgrade.

The school board on Jan. 30 voted to alter the school system’s contract with Lathan Associates Architects, which already is doing design work for proposed improvements that are part of the 1Rebel 1Future plan, to include new turf for the play area at the school.

Freeman said it made sense to put all the design work in the same package and the playground work likely could proceed regardless of what happens with the 1Rebel 1Future plan, which includes a proposed 9.8-mill property tax increase.

These changes increased the tentative budget for all the proposed improvements at Vestavia Hills Elementary East from $4.1 million to $4,371,500 — an increase of $271,500.

Total compensation for Lathan Associates Architects increased from an estimated $332,875 to an estimated $354,595 — an increase of $21,720.

Other improvements proposed for Vestavia Hills Elementary East include a classroom and gymnasium addition and interior renovations.

In other business, the school board:

Hired Lathan Associates Architects to design safety and security upgrades at all Vestavia Hills City Schools campuses. The tentative budget for the upgrades is $455,900, and Lathan is estimated to be paid no more than $38,060, according to the contract.

Hired Raymond James & Associates to invest up to $11 million of school system revenues in U.S. treasuries to take advantage of higher short-term interest rates. Chief Schools Finance Officer Courtney Brown can recoup the money as needed to pay bills throughout the year, said Matt Adams of Raymond James & Associates.

Approved a trademark licensing agreement with The Vestavia Store, giving the store the authority to sell promotional items with Vestavia Hills City Schools logos, symbols, insignias and marks as long as the school system receives 10% of the revenue from such sales each quarter.

Recognized Kelly Bagby, Karen DeLano, Audrey Pharo, Brian Cain and Kimberly McBride as recent inductees into the Vestavia Hills City Schools Educator Hall of Fame.

Heard more from Assistant Superintendent Aimee Rainey about a proposal to hire “instructional partners” for each school in the system as part of the 1Rebel 1Future plan. The instructional partners would be similar to instructional coaches and would be highly skilled teachers who help other educators in their school improve their teaching skills, Rainey said.

Congratulated all of the Vestavia Hills City Schools Teachers of the Year, both for individual schools and the district as a whole.