Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Melissa McIntyre, the music teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, works with first graders as they learn the first portion for a patriotic concert Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. McIntyre was named the Elementary Teacher of the Year for Vestavia Hills City Schools.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Tuesday approved a state-mandated 2% salary increase for all employees in the school district, plus additional raises for certain other employees with local school money.
In addition to the 2% state pay increase, teachers who have a bachelor’s degree will get another 2% raise with local money, and teachers with a master’s degree, educational specialist degree or doctorate will get another 3% above the state raise, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.
Some teachers may get even more of a raise due to some other adjustments in the pay scale that were made to make Vestavia Hills more competitive with competing districts, Freeman said.
Certified employees who work 187 days in the year will have pay ranges of $48,533 to $70,490 with a bachelor’s degree, $55,552 to $81,856 with a master’s degree and $62,248 to $93,474 with a doctorate.
Certified employees who work 207 days in the year will have pay ranges of $53,724 to $78,029 with a bachelor’s degree, $61,496 to $90,611 with a master’s degree and $71,120 to $103,473 with a doctorate.
Meanwhile, custodians are getting a total pay raise of 4%, with the pay range going from $23,753 to $51,559, depending on experience.
Workers in the child nutrition program got significant raises, with a new pay range from $21,666 to $33,699, depending on experience and number of hours worked.
Child nutrition managers’ pay will range from $31,950 to $52,137, depending on experience and the grade levels of their schools, with high school managers earning more.
Day care supervisors will receive a 5% pay increase, with pay ranging from $26,917 to $44,094.
Principal pay now will range from $116,988 at the elementary level to as high as $167,105 at the high school. Central office coordinator pay ranges from $61,069 to $85,865, while central office director pay ranges from $118,263 to $135,645.
“Ya’ll are so deserving,” school board President Jaclyn Hudson said regarding the pay raises for employees. “We’re so excited to be able to do this.”
In other business Tuesday, the school board:
- Hired Jennifer Brown, who is retiring as an assistant principal at the high school, to be a mentor for administrators and instructional support personnel and teachers going through the process to be certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, at a salary of $37,000 a year
- Agreed to pay Axon Industries $220,900 a year for lawn maintenance at school facilities
- Amended a contract for architectural services related to a parking lot expansion at Vestavia Hills High School to revise the fee rate from 7.3% to 7.8% and reduce the maximum amount payable from $73,000 to $37,050 due to a revised cost estimate for the overall work from $1 million to $475,000
- Amended a contract for artificial turf replacement at the Vestavia Hills High School football stadium to upgrade the kind of turf being installed, raising the price by $115,000 from the previous price of $1.1 million. The warranty on the upgraded turf will be extended to 12 years instead of eight years, Freeman said. The money for the turf project is coming from the city of Vestavia Hills.
- Amended the architectural agreement for upgrading the restroom and concession building at the Vestavia Hills High School baseball field to a fee of 6.8%, with a maximum payment of $170,000 for Lathan Architects. The tentative cost for that project is now $2.5 million. Money for that project also is coming from the city, but that project won’t happen immediately because some matching private money still must be raised to help pay for it, Freeman said.
- Elected Scott Brown as the school board’s president for the 2024-25 school year and Jay Stewart as vice president.
