Photo Courtesy of Vestavia Hills
Lauren Dressback was named principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights at the April 25 Vestavia Hills Board of Education meeting.
After serving as the interim principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights for the past few months, Lauren Dressback now has the backing of the Board of Education to continue in that role for the 2022-23 school year.
The board approved a one-year contract for Dressback at the April 25 meeting. Dressback is a 1997 graduate of Vestavia Hills High School and has spent 20 years working in education, the school system said in a news release. She taught social studies for 11 years at VHHS before becoming an administrator and also taught in the Homewood and Mountain Brook school systems before coming to Vestavia.
“This is a close-knit, special community where the students are invested, and the teachers are truly amazing at what they do. I’m so honored to make this my home and continue working with the Cahaba Heights family,” Dressback said in the news release.
In another personnel move, the board approved the retirement of Chris Pennington, the system’s director of assessment and accountability. Pennington, who previously served as principal at Pizitz Middle School, has been in education for about 30 years.
As part of his retirement, the board approved a staff restructuring that will see the creation of a new role of a system-wide fine arts coordinator. Pennington gave the board a report on fine arts, bringing the news that dance and theater classes would be offered to both Pizitz Middle School and Liberty Park Middle School.
In that same report, Pennington said Vestavia students are enrolled in fine arts opportunities at a 2 to 3% higher rate than students across the country. He also told the board of the numerous awards won by fine arts teams and individuals from the 2021-22 school year. Pennington also said in the 2022-23 school year, there will be two full-time choral instructors between the high school and freshman campus. There will also be increased opportunities for professional development and upgrades to technology, he said.
In the future, Pennington said the system could benefit from, among other ideas, facility upgrades and a system-wide fine arts strategic plan.
In his report to the board, Superintendent Todd Freeman said the school system is examining if they will raise employee salaries in conjunction with state-mandated raises. As part of new bills signed into law this past legislative session, each employee will receive a 4% raise, with some employees receiving more based on degrees held and experience. While the school system currently pays more than the state gives them for each position, that gap is closing following the new bills, Freeman said.
With the new state matrix, the gap between what the state pays the school and what VHCS pays its teachers closes. The state mandates higher wages than are currently given at year 30, representing about 20 teachers currently in the school system, Freeman said. That mandated increase will cost about $1 million, Freeman said, but he also wants to examine possibly increasing salaries across the board to widen that gap, which he said helps recruit and retain teachers.
In other business, the board:
- Heard a report on the fiscal 2021 audit
- Approved the 2023-24 school calendar
- Approved a new contract for Chief Schools Financial Officer Courtney Brown
- Extended Freeman’s contract three more years through the end of the 2026-27 school year
- Waived any right to consider for approval or act upon changes to the planned unit development at Patchwork Farms
- Reinstituted the school system’s pre-COVID-19 remote learning plan, which allows students in ninth grade or above to receive education virtually
- Approved a roughly $270,000 bid and contract with Bennett Building, Inc. for a new scoreboard at the high school football stadium, which is funded by private monies
- Rejected bids for fieldhouse improvements, as the bids were not within budget
