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Photo by Steven Stiefel.
Kate Hurst, a rising senior at Vestavia Hills High School, outside the high school.
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Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurst.
Kate’s teacher that year was Miss Barnhill, and it was Ty Arendall’s first year as principal.
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Photo by Steven Stiefel.
Kate Hurst is a rising senior in the Vestavia Hills High School Class of 2025.
The summer break from school is coming to a close, and for students like Kate Hurst, that means more interaction with friends.
“I love school mainly for my friends,” the rising senior at Vestavia Hills High School said.
With high school starting back Aug. 7, Hurst is looking forward to senior traditions, such as toga day, and other activities with groups such as the Student Government Association, Vestavia Hills Ambassadors, Youth Leadership and Help the Hills Coalition, which promotes healthy living and discourages substance abuse, she said.
She’s also excited about the service projects that students at the school undertake each year, she said.
But everything won’t be the same this year.
Left: Photo by Steven Stiefel, Right: Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurst
Left: Kate Hurst as a rising senior. Right: Hurst on her first day of kindergarten.
WHO’S NEW?
Tonya Rozell, who has been principal at Vestavia Hills High School since 2020, has retired and is being replaced by Blair Inabinet, who has moved from Liberty Park Middle School.
Also, Vestavia Hills has lost some of its athletic rivals such as Mountain Brook, Homewood, Spain Park and Chelsea due to reclassification, Hurst said.
It’s definitely a year of change among many of the leaders in the school district, with six schools gaining new principals this year.
Rozell wasn’t the only principal to retire. Vestavia Hills Elementary West Principal Kim Hauser and Vestavia Hills Elementary East Principal Mark Richardson also chose to retire this year, and Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights Principal Lauren Dressback was transferred to oversee the alternative school.
WHAT’S NEW?
The Vestavia Hills school district also is putting a heavier emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math this year. The district is launching a new STEM initiative in all of its elementary schools — creating a specialty class alongside art, music and library classes that emphasizes construction, engineering, robotics and coding.
Additionally, school officials are enhancing math instruction in the middle schools and health science and engineering education at the high school, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.
Another priority is hiring and keeping the best teachers and employees. To help with that, the school board in May approved raises for certain employees beyond the 2% salary increase mandated by the state.
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, Freeman said. Some teachers may get even more of a raise to make Vestavia Hills more competitive with competing districts, he said.
Day care supervisors are getting a 5% raise, while custodians are getting a 4% pay increase. Workers in the child nutrition department also received significant raises, officials said.
“Y’all are so deserving,” former school board President Jaclyn Hudson told employees when the pay raises were passed in May. “We’re so excited to be able to do this.”
Freeman also got his annual salary boosted from $227,928 to $239,500, and Chief School Finance Officer Courtney Brown’s salary was raised from $125,042 to $152,000, according to school officials and records.
FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS
Several capital projects have been underway this summer, including replacing the artificial turf at Vestavia Hills High School’s Buddy Anderson Field and roadway, drainage and parking improvements at the athletic field at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge.
Because school officials say they are strapped for money to make needed improvements, the Vestavia Hills City Council contributed $1.1 million to make those projects happen this summer.
The school board also is spending $275,689 to renovate the girls locker room at Vestavia Hills High School to provide additional showers.
School officials have identified an estimated $35 million of other facility maintenance improvements that are needed, including mechanical, roofing and water systems, plus more than $20 million of other general needs, Freeman said.
But “the reality is we do not have the budget or anticipated revenues to do that at this time,” Freeman said. “We’re being as creative and thoughtful as we can about how to get this accomplished.”
Revenues last year came in about 10% over budget, enabling the school board to improve its reserves and take care of some needs on a piecemeal basis, Freeman said.
OK, YOU’RE NEW?
For people who are new to Vestavia Hills, here are some key facts about the school system.
The Vestavia Hills school district has five elementary schools, two middle schools, a high school campus with grades 10-12 and a freshman center campus.
This past school year, Vestavia Hills City Schools had about 6,900 students, school system records show. While some previous projections anticipated significant growth with new residential construction, a new forecast by McKibben Demographic Research shared with the school board in March predicts the school district actually will see its enrollment decline to about 6,500 students in 10 years.
That’s because, in part, the population in Vestavia Hills is aging and fewer of those aging people are moving out of the city to make room for families with school-age children, Jerome McKibben said.
While new construction is taking place, it’s not enough to compensate for the rising number of empty-nesters in the city, he said. “You can’t build enough to make up that deficit.”
The positive side is it reduces the burden on school officials to build new facilities and allows them to focus on maintaining and improving their existing facilities, Freeman said.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Because Vestavia Hills voters rejected a proposed property tax increase to pay for new facilities and initiatives, the Vestavia Hills City Council has committed to continue helping the school district tackle certain projects.
Over the next two summers, the council has committed $2.4 million to help cover replacement of gym floors at Pizitz Middle School and the Dolly Ridge, East, West and Liberty Park elementary schools; replacement of basketball goals at the East and West elementary schools; track improvements at Vestavia Hills Elementary Central; new turf at the football/soccer/lacrosse field at Pizitz; and bathroom and concession improvements at the high school baseball field.
Steven Stiefel contributed to this story.
