Photo by Jon Anderson
Vestavia Hills school resource officers are recognized at the Vestavia Hills Board of Education meeting on Monday, July 27, 2026, for having a model school resource officer program nationally.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Monday recognized the Vestavia Hills Police Department for recently being named a 2026 Model School Resource Officer Agency from the National Association of School Resource Officers.
The award recognizes agencies that do an outstanding and model job in building positive relationships with students, staff and families while also helping make sure schools remain safe and welcoming learning environments.
Only 11 law enforcement agencies across the country were selected for the award this year. Another from Alabama was the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
Superintendent Todd Freeman said the Vestavia Hills school district is blessed to have the officers in Vestavia’s school buildings and as a part of the school community.
“It is a very meaningful and important — and would say the most important — thing we do with safety and security is to have these guys in our schools,” Freeman said.
Vestavia Hills police Chief Shane Ware, who himself was a school resource officer in the city 20 years ago, said there is a lot of work that goes into the job.
“These guys put in hours that nobody knows about, and there is a level of commitment and dedication to what they’re doing that very people get to see and recognize,” Ware said. “The hours they put in, the time, the dedication, the resources, the time away from their own families does not go unnoticed.”
The Vestavia Hills school resource officer program was created 26 years ago, and “these men are just a perfect example of what we want our officers to be, and they are the perfect example of our commitment to our community,” Ware said.
He shared comments from students who said that the school resource officers never failed to provide a comforting presence in times of uncertainty or fear and that they never doubted their school resource officers’ abilities and commitment to their jobs. One student shared that their school resource officers had never stopped investing in them as a student and person and that their school would not be the same without school resource officers.
Ware said he echoes that sentiment.
“I don’t think our schools would be what they are without these gentlemen that stand before you,” he said. “As chief of police, I am unbelievably proud of these men and the work that they do, and I commend them for everything they represent and the goodness they bring to our community.”
In other business Monday, the school board:
- Hired AAA Environmental Services to provide janitorial cleaning supplies, Cintas Corp. No. 2 to provide custodial paper supplies for the district and Butler Foods to provide groceries for the child nutrition program
- Amended a contract with CT General Contractors to reduce the amount paid to the company for safety and security upgrades to Vestavia schools by $18,344, putting the final contract amount at $805,208. The primary expense was for new exterior doors, Freeman said.
- Approved small changes in policies related to student seclusion, first grade admissions, grade assignment and treatment for food allergies.
