Photo by Erin Nelson.
Construction work continues Nov. 19 on the new addition to Berry Middle School. The addition includes 10 classrooms, three science labs, a teacher workroom and an enclosed walkway. All the projects should be complete by the end of June.
As a new year dawns, one of the biggest tasks for Hoover City Schools in 2021 is to hire a new superintendent, school board President Deanna Bamman said.
“There’s a lot going on, but we need to get a strong superintendent in place,” Bamman said.
Her desire is to have someone selected to replace departing Superintendent Kathy Murphy by April 1, but that may be an aggressive timeline, she said.
State law requires school boards to fill superintendent vacancies within 180 days. Murphy, who resigned to become president at Gadsden State Community College, agreed to stay with Hoover through the end of 2020, so that gives the Hoover school board until near the end of June to hire a permanent replacement.
However, Bamman said there is too much happening in Hoover City Schools to wait that long.
Bamman some one of the key things she would like to see in a new superintendent is someone with a proven track record of strong leadership. She also wants someone with high integrity, a positive and caring spirit, knowledge, practical mindset, accountability, strong oral and writing skills, and good interpersonal skills.
Hoover’s next superintendent should be proactive, an advocate for all students, an effective communicator with different kinds of groups, someone who makes data-driven decisions and someone who is able to think outside the box, Bamman said.
“That’s especially important right now,” Bamman said. “You’ve got to think outside the box because things aren’t normal. How can we educate these kids in a pandemic?”
It also would be a plus to find someone who is familiar with desegregation issues, Bamman said.
Hoover school officials have said they want to do what’s right for all students and make sure there are no institutional barriers or obstacles for students of any race to succeed. The school system must prove that to the federal court to be released from a decades-old Jefferson County desegregation court case. Bamman said the new superintendent needs to be able to carry that torch forward so the school district can achieve that goal.
Murphy said the school system already has put together a new plan to ensure its program for gifted students is accessible and beneficial for students of all races and a plan to make the racial makeup of faculty and staff more reflective of the student population. Those plans have been submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice and NAACP Legal Defense Fund for their review and will be submitted to the federal court at a later date, she said.
Murphy said she hopes the Hoover school district should be able to prove in 2021 that it has met federal desegregation goals in several areas. Proving completion of all goals may take longer, she said.
Bamman said another goal for 2021 is academic improvement and growth. That’s always a focus, but it will be particularly important in 2021 to help students recover from any “COVID slide” that may have occurred due to not having access to in-person instruction, she said.
It’s not just about catching up either; it’s about taking kids to the next level, Bamman said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Hoover school board was very close to setting a date to have an election to raise property taxes in Hoover for schools, but that effort was stalled by the pandemic.
“This is not the time to go out and get an election out there to ask people for more money,” Bamman said. Now, it could be 2022, or it could be 2025, she said.
Several important capital projects are scheduled to be complete in 2021, including an addition at Berry Middle School, renovation of the original part of the old Bluff Park School, window and roof replacements at several schools and new controls for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems throughout the district.
The Berry addition includes 10 classrooms, three science labs, a teacher workroom and an enclosed walkway. All the projects should be complete by the end of June, said Matt Wilson, the school system’s operations coordinator.
The school board also has been evaluating potential theater upgrades at Hoover and Spain Park high schools that could take place in 2021.
