Lawry photo courtesy of Hoover City Schools; Stokes and Posey photos by Jon Anderson
Hoover City Schools Chief Administrative Officer Bob Lawry, left, is retiring Aug. 1, 2026, while Deer Valley Elementary Principal Nicole Stokes, center, is taking a job with the Alabama Department of Education. Riverchase Elementary Principal Taylar Posey, right, is leaving to become a professor at the University of Montevallo.
The Hoover school system’s chief administrative officer is retiring, and two elementary school principals are leaving the system.
Bob Lawry, who has been chief administrative officer the past year, is retiring effective Aug. 1. Meanwhile, Deer Valley Elementary Principal Nicole Stokes and Riverchase Elementary Principal Taylar Posey both are taking jobs outside the Hoover school system.
Lawry has been with Hoover City Schools for 34 years. He worked as a fourth or fifth grade teacher at Trace Crossings Elementary for six years, a fourth grade teacher at South Shades Crest Elementary for four years and then worked as an instructional technology specialist at multiple schools for four years.
He has been in an administrative role for 20 years. He served as an assistant principal at Gwin Elementary for two years, then as principal at South Shades Crest Elementary for five years before moving to the central office in 2013. He spent six years as a student services specialist, two years as coordinator of students services, four years as director of student services and the past 11 months as chief administrative officer.
Stokes has been hired as a regional coordinator for the Office of Math Improvement in the Alabama Department of Education, while Posey will be working as a professor at the University of Montevallo, teaching undergraduate and graduate classes in the College of Education and Human Development.
Stokes has been in education 25 years, including 20 years at Deer Valley, the last four as principal. She spent her first five years as a teacher working with first graders at Kate Shepherd Elementary in Mobile but moved to the Birmingham area in 2006. She taught second and third grade classes at Deer Valley for eight years, then spent five years as the math coach at Deer Valley before being named an assistant principal in 2019. When Principal Wayne Richardson retired for years ago, she took his place.
She was a Teacher of the Year at both Kate Shepherd Elementary and Deer Valley Elementary.
Posey has been principal at Riverchase for two years. She has been in education for 19 years total, with 12 years of experience in administration.
She began her career teaching first, second or sixth grade for seven years in the Shelby County school system and then spent four years as an assistant principal at Meadow View Elementary in Alabaster and five years as an assistant principal at Thompson Middle School in Alabaster before getting her first principal job at Brookwood Elementary in Tuscaloosa County in September 2023. She was hired to replace Alice Turney at Riverchase two years ago.
Other changes in administrative roles approved by the Hoover Board of Education last week include:
- The resignation of Hoover High Athletics Director Harley Lamey, who took a job as the athletics director for Pell City Schools
- The transfer of South Shades Crest Elementary Assistant Principal Anita Frederick to a fifth grade teaching position at Shades Mountain Elementary
- The transfer of Berry Middle School Assistant Principal Matthew Stephens to a math teaching job at Simmons Middle School
- The promotion of Hoover High social studies teacher Trent Hosmer to an assistant principal role at Hoover High, replacing Jason Deason, who accepted a position as associate principal at Pell City High School
