VHCS working to make schools safer, more welcoming place
Vestavia Hills City Schools is continuing to work to help alleviate problems of bullying and harassment throughout the school system, said Jennifer Bailey, the school system’s director of student services at the Sept. 28 Board of Education meeting.
Bailey updated the Board on progress the system is making on one of its strategic goals: “to develop common understandings and shared community support for confronting the problems and challenges that impact the system, youth, and families.”
That means addressing bullying, harassment and other issues that keep students from getting the most out of their time in Vestavia Hills City Schools, Bailey said.
“Until they are safe, they can’t access the incredible education we offer,” Bailey said.
For the past couple of years, the school has offered an app for students to use to report any issues, and it can be anonymous if need be, Bailey said. Bailey is notified, as are the principals at the school in which the incident is alleged to have occurred.
The school is also teaching life skills to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, including communication skills and how to collaborate, which Bailey said is at the root of misbehavior. When school leaders spoke with alumni, Bailey said they found many problems in high school began in middle school.
Meredith Hanson, the district’s director of personnel, spoke about how the school system is continuing to recruit a diversity of teachers, but it isn’t just a “good faith effort.”
“It’s not just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do,” Hanson said.
Hanson said students and staff need different perspectives and experiences. The school system has built a good relationship with historically Black colleges and universities [HBCUs], and they are partnering with them to find teachers. Hanson said she is also working to create support groups for minority teachers.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Antonio Cooper said he is working to create opportunities for diversity training for teachers, including at The Open Institute, available to schools across the country, and at the Hope Institute at Samford. These opportunities came after Cooper, who is Black, had a conversation with Superintendent Todd Freeman over the summer about what was going on in the country, including the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, and how Vestavia could ensure all students felt respected.
In his report to the Board, Freeman said teachers are doing a great job during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said attendance and academics are right on track with what the school system wants to see.
In other business, the Board:
- Heard updates to Board policies regarding student and staff sexual harassment – they will be voted on at the October meeting.
- Approved resolutions for the inaugural class of the Vestavia Hills City Schools Hall of Fame.
- Approved a revision to the salary schedule for bus drivers.
- Approved the 2021-22 school calendar.
- Approved architect/engineer agreements for the following improvement projects: Kitchen renovation at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge, with a budget of $225,000; The replacement of a freezer/cooler unit at the freshman campus, with a budget of $90,000; Parking and drive improvements across the system, with a budget of $1.3 million; Athletic roof repair over the locker room under the visitor’s side bleachers at Vestavia Hills High School, with a budget of $63,000; Gym floor renovation at Pizitz Middle School, with a budget of $95,000; New track surface at Pizitz, with a budget of $375,000.