
Neal Embry Starnes Media
Board members David Powell, Jennifer Weaver and Jaclyn Hudson smile during recognitions at the Nov. 25 Vestavia Hills Board of Education meeting.
By January, a turn lane into the new Pizitz Middle School, the old Berry High campus, is expected to be added onto Columbiana Road, and both the new softball and baseball fields should be finished by the end of December.
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 November 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 in just a few months to add parking, a new building with additional classrooms, move the playground, and perform other work to get the school to Vestavia standards.
“That’s a tremendous amount of work in a short amount of time,” said board president David Powell.
At the new Pizitz campus, Martin said the school is “close” to being finished, as students are expected to move into the campus for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
Inspections are being held this week and on December 9 to ensure the school is healthy and safe for students, Martin said, and 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 is well.
Martin said work is being done on fire alarms and other safety measures, as well as work to complete flooring and painting around the school. Paving, striping, signage and the addition of seed and hay will also be done in the near future. Goals and bleachers are being added to the lower gym, which will be the home of 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 allows the city’s police department and school resource officers to access the school’s live feed security system.