
Photo by Neal Embry.
Board members David Powell, Jennifer Weaver and Jaclyn Hudson smile during recognitions at the Nov. 25 Vestavia Hills Board of Education meeting.
By the end of January, a turn lane into the new Pizitz Middle School — the former Berry High campus — is expected to be added on Columbiana Road, and the new softball field should be finished by mid-January. The new baseball field should be finished sometime in the spring.
Assistant Superintendent Patrick Martin gave an update on construction both at the new Pizitz Middle School and at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge at the Nov. 25 Vestavia Hills Board of Education meeting.
Martin said a celebration for the completion of work at Dolly Ridge was held in early September after construction crews worked to add parking and a new building with additional classrooms, move the playground and perform other work.
At the new Pizitz campus, Martin said the school is “close” to being finished. Students are expected to move into the campus for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
Work on the gym exterior is basically complete. Work is being done on the carpool lanes around the school, and more work is being done in front of the school as well.
Martin said workers also are improving the fire alarms and other safety measures and completing flooring and painting projects around the school. In the near future, workers will repave and stripe the parking lot and driveways, add signage, seed and hay, he said. Basketball goals and bleachers are being added in the lower gym, which will be the location for large school events.
The move will add 75 parking spots for middle school students and staff, Martin said.
In other business, the board approved two memorandums of understanding with the city of Vestavia Hills that allow the city’s Police Department and school resource officers to access the school’s live feed security system.