Emily Featherston
The Vestavia Hills City Council is seeking applicants to fill a five-year term on the Vestavia Hills Board of Education.
School board President Lisa Baker’s five-year term comes to an end on May 31, and the council needs someone to fill her spot.
Baker said serving on the school board has been a great experience, but she thinks five years is long enough for anyone to be on the board. “Different voices are always helpful on the board,” she said.
Applicants have until 5 p.m. April 12 to file an application and resume with the Vestavia Hills city clerk’s office at 1032 Montgomery Highway. The applications are available online at vhal.org when you click on the “News” box.
By state law, applicants must be of good moral character, must have a high school diploma or equivalent, must not serve on the board of a private elementary or secondary educational institution, must not be on a state or national sex offender registry and must not have been convicted of a felony.
Additionally, the Vestavia Hills City Council listed the following as desirable traits for a school board member:
- Demonstrates a commitment to public education by profession or through community service
- Shows a dedication to service
- Team-oriented
- Open-minded
- Exercises good judgment and ask questions to promote clarity in decision making
- Is independent of outside pressures or the influence of special interest groups
- Communicates effectively, both in writing and orally
The Vestavia Hills City Council plans to conduct interviews with applicants beginning at 8 a.m. on April 15 and choose a new school board member at the April 26 council meeting. The five-year term will begin June 1.
Any questions regarding the school board vacancy should be directed to Councilwoman Kimberly Cook at kcook@vhal.org or City Clerk Rebecca Leavings at rleavings@vhal.org.
The school board vacancy was announced at the City Council meeting on Monday, March 22.
In other business Monday night, the council:
- Annexed five single-family residential properties at 3632 Dabney Drive (owned by Vita Marshman), 1700 Shades Crest Road (owned by Whitney and Thomas Holland), 2829 Acton Place (owned by Lindsay and Jake Brown), 2632 Alta Vista Circle (owned by Victor and Cynthia Maldonado) and 2600 Alta Vista Circle (owned by Mark and Hillary Smith).
- Agreed to spend $24,000 for radio communications equipment for the police and fire departments.
- Declared three Police Department 2015 Honda Goldwing motorcycles as surplus equipment due to a strategic decision by the department to replace motorcycles with Ford Interceptor vehicles, which City Manager Jeff Downes said are more versatile and safer vehicles. The motorcycles have 16,805 miles, 19,898 miles and 22,295 miles on them.
- Heard a report from Downes that online sales tax revenues received through the state have increased substantially in recent years from about $20,000 a month in 2017 and 2018 to about $90,000 in March 2020 and about $140,000 in March 2021.
- Heard a report from Chief Financial Officer Melvin Turner that the city’s sales tax revenues are $1.1 million greater than last year for the first four months of fiscal 2021 (through the end of January) and $1.5 million greater than expected for the first four months in the 2021 budget. Property tax revenues are about $570,000 greater than last year at this point and about $700,000 greater than expected in the 2021 budget so far, the financial report shows. Overall revenues are $1.1 million greater than last year and $2.1 million greater than expected in the budget. Expenses are about $953,000 greater than last year for the first four months of the fiscal year and about $860,000 greater than expected in the budget so far.
