Emily Featherston
Interim Superintendent Charles Mason announced Wednesday his recommendation for how the district should be restructured, a recommendation that would reshape the U.S. 31 corridor and Vestavia Hills High School.
Mason announced he will recommend “Option 9” to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education at its Dec. 13 regular meeting, and the board will vote to either accept the recommendation or maintain the plan approved in April.
Option 9, named for the predominant feature being a ninth grade campus, was one of two alternatives Mason released in November to be discussed at four public forums with parents, teachers, school administrators and other members of the community that netted 200 participants.
The options were also part of an online survey, which received 2,361 responses over the course of two weeks.
Mason’s recommended option would take the ninth grade out of Vestavia Hills High School — which was already part of the April plan — and move it to the Pizitz campus. The move would be made possible by the Berry campus becoming a 6-8 middle school, and the Gresham campus coming online and remaining a K-5 elementary school.
The full district structure would be:
- VHHS: 10th - 12th
- Pizitz: 9th
- Berry: 6th - 8th
- LP Middle: 6th - 8th
- Gresham: K - 5th
- VHEE: K - 5th
- VHEW: K - 5th
- VHELP: K - 5th
- VHECH: K - 5th
In a video released Wednesday, Mason said that while moving the ninth grade out of the high school was already going to happen, the hopeful addition of Gresham into the mix allowed him to look at what would be the best thing to do with those students.
Ultimately, he said, he is recommending the board create an “extension” of the high school just over a mile down the street at Pizitz.
“This will address several important goals,” Mason said in his statement. “First of all, it will ensure absolute parity for ninth graders across the district.”
Additionally, Mason said he believes it will help ninth graders become a unified VHHS class more quickly, and make it easier to transport students to the high school for athletics, arts and other programs.
“And perhaps most importantly, the ninth grade center will create the opportunity to create a school that is staffed with people who are totally dedicated to the success of ninth graders as they make that important transition to high school,” Mason said.
In the meantime, the community is again invited to give feedback on the recommendation through a new online survey, which will be open until Tuesday, Dec. 12.
