Photos courtesy of Vestavia Hills City Schools
Three Vestavia Hills principals are retiring July 1. They are, top row from left, Vestavia Hills High School Principal Tonya Rozell, Vestavia Hills Elementary East Principal Mark Richardson and Vestavia Hills Elementary West Principal Kim Hauser. Blair Inabinet, principal at Liberty Park Middle School, bottom left, will replace Rozell at the high school. Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park's Tiffany Marron, bottom center, was promoted from interim principal to permanent principal, and Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge Principal Ty Arendall, bottom right, was granted a three-year contract extension.
A principal shakeup is underway in the Vestavia Hills school system.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Monday night approved the retirement of three principals and a transfer for a fourth one.
Vestavia Hills High School Principal Tonya Rozell, Vestavia Hills Elementary West Principal Kim Hauser and Vestavia Hills Elementary East Principal Mark Richardson all plan to retire effective July 1, Superintendent Todd Freeman announced.
Blair Inabinet, the principal at Liberty Park Middle School, was appointed to replace Rozell at the high school when Rozell leaves.
That leaves upcoming vacancies at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, Vestavia Hills Elementary East and Liberty Park Middle. Those spots will be filled this spring, Freeman said.
Freeman praised the work done by Rozell, Hauser and Richardson, saying they have provided stellar leadership for the Vestavia Hills school system, with a combined 43 years as principals.
Richardson has been principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary West since 1999 following the retirement of Vestavia Hills City Schools Hall of Fame member Jim Williams. He previously served as an assistant principal in Shelby County Schools and as a fifth grade teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Central. VHEE was named a National School of Character twice during his tenure, first in 2013 and again in 2022.
Hauser has been principal of Vestavia Hills Elementary West since 2013. She previously served as the school’s assistant principal for 12 years and as a fifth grade teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Central from 1996 to 2005. Under her leadership, VHEW was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2016 and a National School of Character in 2021.
Rozell became principal of Vestavia Hills High School in 2020. She previously served as principal of Liberty Park Middle School and as an assistant principal in Hoover City Schools. Rozell’s experience as an educator spans more than 30 years at schools in Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Mountain Brook, Shelby County and Birmingham. During her principalship, Vestavia Hills High School students achieved the school’s highest Advanced Placement scores in more than five years and the highest number of National Merit semifinalists and finalists in nearly 20 years, school officials said.
“They have shepherded their schools really well,” Freeman said.
While they have about the same amount of experience as he does, he has learned from them and is grateful for them, he said.
They’re all leaving in good standing, happy and making good decisions, Freeman said.
They are announcing their upcoming retirements early enough to give the school system plenty of time to make new hires, he said.
School board members Jay Stewart and Jaclyn Hudson echoed Freeman’s praise of the three retiring principals, calling them superstars and legends who have made an eternal mark on the school system. “We’re just so grateful for y’all and your leadership,” Hudson said
Inabinet, who will be moving from Liberty Park Middle School to Vestavia Hills High, has 19 years of experience in education. She previously served as principal of Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park and has worked at schools in Mountain Brook and Georgia as an elementary and high school assistant principal, teacher leader, gifted coordinator and science and history teacher.
Additionally, Tiffany Marron, who has been serving as interim principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park this year, was officially named the new principal there Monday night, and Ty Arendall, principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge, received a three-year contract renewal at Dolly Ridge.
Before being named interim principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, Marron served as assistant principal there for two years. She worked for a combined 20 years as a teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights as well as schools in Mountain Brook and Auburn.
Arendall led the opening of Dolly Ridge in 2019 and previously served as principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park and Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights. Under his leadership, VHELP was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2017. Since its opening, Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge has received two “Promising Practices” awards from Character.org.
In other business Monday night, the Vestavia Hills school board approved a five-year contract with ZeroEyes for new security software that will help detect guns, using the existing security camera system.
The technology combines artificial intelligence with human eyes and should be a great supplement to enhance security on all Vestavia City Schools campuses, Freeman said. It costs $81,600 a year, plus another $10,000 for initial setup, according to the contract.
The school board also approved an agreement for Lathan Associates Architects to do design work for future field turf replacement at Vestavia Hills High School. Freeman said the school system currently does not have the estimated $750,000 to do the field turf replacement, but he wants to go ahead and do the design work so that turf replacement can proceed once money is found for the project. The cost of design work is not to exceed $56,250 unless the school board approves the additional amount.
