Photo by Erin Nelson
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education office
Residents in Vestavia Hills will soon be asked to vote for a tax increase to fund major facility upgrades across Vestavia Hills City Schools.
Superintendent Todd Freeman on July 25 unveiled the “1Rebel 1Future” improvement plan, which includes plans to upgrade each of the district’s eight school facilities.
Focus areas include expanding the system’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and world languages offerings, as well as creating new and improved spaces for fine arts and athletics, and improving the district’s ability to support students holistically, Freeman said.
“We’re in a school system that has some aging facilities,” Freeman said. “We have limitations in how we provide profound learning experiences for all of our students.”
More than 300 stakeholders took part in providing feedback on the plan, with meetings and initial plans beginning in 2019. While the system is now better suited for enrollment growth, after investing $110 million in facilities in the past several years, upgrades need to come to all campuses, Freeman said.
Possible additions include STEM labs, new fine arts spaces, more world languages curriculum, more counseling and other opportunities, Freeman said. School facilities also need upgrades to HVAC systems, lighting, roofing and water systems, he said.
While the square footage of the system’s school campuses has grown 23% since 2012, they have not hired additional maintenance staff to help keep up those buildings, Freeman said.
At Vestavia Hills High School, there are plans to create a new arts center for band, choral, art and theater, as well as a new kitchen, expanded cafeteria and a multipurpose facility.
A plaza and common space will connect the cafeteria and arts center, as well as the arts center to a new proposed indoor athletics facility, to be located between the gym and Thompson-Reynolds Stadium.
While 100 parking spaces in the area around the gym and football field would be lost, 270 spaces would be added, a net gain of 170 spaces, Freeman said. The proposal is to move the school’s tennis and track programs to the fields behind the former Vestavia Hills Elementary Central campus, allowing for six tennis courts, a center court and a track. While the system will explore the sale of the school building itself, it plans on maintaining the fields, Freeman said.
The existing tennis courts at the high school, along with some board-owned space in the hills currently used for student parking, would be converted into parking spaces, Freeman said.
Changes at Pizitz include a new dressing room, while Liberty Park Middle School will receive an auxiliary gym and a future classroom expansion.
At each of the district’s five elementary schools, there are plans to add STEM classrooms, as well as multipurpose classrooms at Vestavia Hills Elementary East and Vestavia Hills Elementary West. East would also receive more classrooms and an expanded gym, while West would receive new music space and a renovated gym, Freeman said.
Financially, Freeman said the system is set to save $1 million from new energy management efforts, and will also receive funds from grants and the potential future sale of the Central property.
The system has strong reserves, but not enough to complete all of the needed upgrades across the system’s facilities, Freeman said.
Sometime this fall, Freeman told the board he would be presenting a plan, which would then have to go to the voters, for a tax increase, though he said it would not be as high as a 10-mill increase, the increase approved by voters in Mountain Brook for their city school system in 2019.
The system currently receives 52.06 of the city’s 92.6 mills collected in property taxes, Freeman said, and spends $12,770 per student.
“Investing today elevates the value of Vestavia Hills City Schools and the community experience of tomorrow,” Freeman said.
Board of Education President Jennifer Weaver said it is important to have a vision that benefits every Vestavia student.
“No one likes to hear the word tax increase,” Weaver said. “But we have to make the decision: Are we going to stay as we are or are we moving forward? … If we aren't moving forward, we’re moving backwards.”
Other Business
In other business, the board:
- Approved an opt-in policy for parents, who now, for students age 14 and younger, must opt in to whatever counseling and mental health services they want their child to receive. This does not include mental health topics covered in the educational curriculum.
- Approved updates related to the mental health policy and drug screening in the parent-student handbook
- Approved fee schedules, meal prices and field trip policies
- Approved advertising guidelines and a new licensing agreement
- Approved a credited change order in the amount of $44,000 for renovations to the library at West
- Approved a contract with Southern Regional Education Board, which will provide consulting services and feedback on how to improve the system’s STEM offerings at a cost of $69,300 per year
