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Photo by Jon Anderson
This house on the campus of Vestavia Hills High School is set to be demolished to make way for 52 new parking spaces next to the the school's tennis courts.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
This house on the campus of Vestavia Hills High School is set to be demolished to make way for 52 new parking spaces next to the the school's tennis courts.
3 of 3
Photo by Jon Anderson
This house on the campus of Vestavia Hills High School is set to be demolished to make way for 52 new parking spaces next to the the school's tennis courts.
The Vestavia Hills school board on Monday agreed to spend about $630,000 to demolish a house on the campus of Vestavia Hills High School and add 52 more parking spaces.
The house is next to the school’s tennis courts, and the parking spaces are needed to accommodate a growing student population, Principal Blair Inabinet said.
The current junior class at the high school is the largest ever, with 572 students, Inabinet said. That compares with 509 in this year’s senior class, she said.
The next couple of years probably will be the largest number of students ever on campus, and then the student population likely will decline some due to smaller classes making their way through the system, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.
But this additional space will help accommodate junior and senior parking the next couple of years and provide additional parking during events at the school, Freeman said.
The house formerly was the location for Vestavia Hills’ alternative school, but it has been vacant for a couple of years, he said. Reworking of the site also should improve stormwater management for the campus, Freeman said. Money for the project is coming from the state, he said.
Also at Vestavia Hills High School, contractors over spring break completed repairs on the senior patio following sewer line repairs that caused the campus to be shut down for more than three days in February.
A portion of an aging terra cotta sewer line collapsed, making about 75% of campus restrooms unusable, school officials said. Students received virtual instruction for three days while repairs were being made, but final repairs on the senior patio had to be completed before it could be reopened, Inabinet said. The senior patio should reopen Tuesday, she said.
The school board also on Monday approved spending $224,000 to repair an addition to the dry storage area for the cafeteria at Pizitz Middle School. A vehicle crashed into an exterior brick wall of the storage area in August, causing extensive damage.
Money from the school system’s insurance company should cover a large portion of the cost, but the storage area also is being expanded as part of this project, Freeman said.
In other business Monday, the school board:
- Rescinded a December vote to award a contract for about $ 1 million worth of upgrades for the school system’s computer servers due to some errors that were discovered in the bid that was submitted by Clear Winds Technologies. School board attorney Pat Boone recommended the vote be rescinded and the project rebid next year.
- Approved three-year contracts for four principals coming off initial one-year contracts. The salaries are $116,988 for Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights Principal Kim Polson, $119,538 for Vestavia Hills Elementary East Principal Cynthia Echols and Vestavia Hills Elementary West Principal Susan McCall and $125,888 for Liberty Park Middle School Principal Dori Hardee.
- Approved a job description for the position of program coordinator of exceptional children. Freeman said this is not a new position, but some adjustments needed to be made to the job description and title due to some upcoming shuffling of job responsibilities in the central office.
- Approved a job description for elementary math coaches. The district plans to hire two elementary math coaches this spring with money coming from the state and additional math coaches in the following year, Freeman said. The district already has five elementary reading coaches funded by the state, he said.
- Approved a license for W.C. Grad Sales (Herff Jones) to sell merchandise using the school system’s logos and symbols.
- Approved new science textbooks
