Photo by Katie Turpen.
During an Aug. 26 meeting, the Board of Education approved a contract with Knight Eady Sports Group for communication and branding services.
VHHS was recently thrown into the spotlight as part of a national discussion on Confederate symbols. Locally, it sparked a debate on whether or not Vestavia Hills High School school should change its Rebel Man mascot. On July 15, the board made the decision to keep the Rebel name but rebrand the mascot.
“With any strong and progressive company or organization that must continually refresh its image to represent the direction it is going, to ensure that it reflects the future and does not lose its competitive edge, logos change,” said Superintendent Sheila Phillips. “It doesn’t change who you are, it modifies how you are branded.”
The contract with Knight Eady approved during the Aug. 26 meeting will be for 16 months and will begin Sept. 1. The firm will perform communication services for the board for $1,500 per month. In addition, the firm will perform branding services for a one time fee of $6,000.
Communication services include a strategic plan for the rebranding process, a minimum of 50 hours leading and engaging focus groups, gathering sentiments of VHHS students, faculty and staff, the development of an online information center, and other various duties.
"We will study other schools, colleges, universities, and businesses that have successfully been through this process," Phillips said. "We will do so methodically and with great sensitivity through the lens of our strategic plan developed by so many in our community."
Knight Eady Sports Group, a sports marketing and managing firm was founded in 2013 by Michael Eady of Hoover and David Knight of Homewood. The firm has worked with Florida High School Athletic Association to expand its corporate sponsorship program and also managed the NCAA Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2015 and 2016.
In other news, the Board of Education:
- Approved the addendum to the Johnny Hamilton painting contract.
- Approved a reimbursement resolution for the anticipated issuance of school warrants.
- Approved an engagement letter with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings for services as bond counsel for the anticipated issuance of school warrants.
- Approved the salary schedules and supplements for 2015-2016.
- Recognized Marla Hines for winning the Presidential Award for Excellence.
- Announced that the school system's new website should be up and running by the end of September.
