Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Vestavia Hills City Council recently appointed Kyle Whittington to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education.
Local business owner Kyle Whittington will join the Vestavia Hills Board of Education later this month, replacing outgoing board president Jennifer Weaver.
Whittington is the current owner of Meld Financial, an independent wealth management firm. He served last year as the president of the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation, which he said gave him insight into the school system.
The Vestavia Hills City Council chose Whittington at its April 24 meeting.
“We heard loud and clear from our current board that having someone on the board with financial planning expertise would really help in this oversight,” said the council’s education liaison, Kimberly Cook.
As part of Leadership Vestavia Hills, Whittington said he also learned about kindergarten classes across the system, which helped him gain an understanding of how his daughter would soon be introduced to Vestavia schools.
When he and his wife married in 2011 and were looking for a place to live, Whittington said he really got a good feel for local communities but found Vestavia was the best fit.
As he steps onto the board, Whittington said he wants to see Vestavia schools continue to advance and is excited for his own children to participate in the school system. His goals include making sure arts, sports and more continue to grow.
“If we maintain excellence, I’ll be happy,” he said.
Vestavia schools are renowned and respected across the state, but that doesn’t mean staying put, Whittington said, as there is always an opportunity to advance education.
While the 1Rebel 1Future proposal did not pass voters, Whittington served on the project’s strategic analysis arm and said it was good to see the community participate in the proposal’s planning as well.
Before the vote was taken, Whittington said he felt Vestavia had managed their money well, but that the changes needed to be made.
“No one wants to spend more money, and no one wants to spend more money on building maintenance,” he said. “You don’t want to spend money to fix things … but you have to.”
And while voters disagreed with the plan, Whittington’s financial background will be needed as the board makes changes and prioritizes aspects of the plan.
He said at his current job, he has to make tough decisions on a daily basis and has tough conversations with clients who come for financial advice.
Knowing that most families choose to live in Vestavia for the schools, Whittington said he is excited about being involved with one of the most important pieces of the community.
“It blows me away how successful they’ve been,” he said.
– Solomon Crenshaw, Jr. contributed to this report.
