Vestavia Hills City Schools
Vestavia Hills City Schools is an independent school system established by the City of Vestavia Hills in 1970. The system currently operates eight schools and, as of 2018, has a student population of 7,141.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education offices are located in Wald Park at 1204 Montgomery Highway. The board meets on the last Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM. The superintendent is Todd Freeman.
History
Vestavia Hills Elementary School, was constructed in the rapidly-developing community in 1948 as part of the Jefferson County School System. A middle school followed in 1967, feeding into Berry High School. Vestavia established an independent school system in 1970, breaking away from the county's system.
In 2021 the system was awarded $4,443,431 ($632/student) in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Desegregation
In 1971 Vestavia's schools became part of a court-mandated desegregation plan under which students from the Oxmoor Valley area of Birmingham are bused 20 miles to school in the Vestavia system. The number of students enrolled under this agreement was less than 100 until it reached 109 in 2004, 125 in 2005, and stands at 132 in 2006.
In September 2006, the Vestavia Hills Board of Education voted to ask a Federal court to grant the system "unified status" and remove it from the agreement. Students currently enrolled, as well as their younger siblings, would stay in the system through graduation under their proposal, but no new families would be enrolled from the area.
The board's proposal met strong objections from residents of the "desegregation area" and area politicians at a special meeting at Shady Grove Baptist Church. They argued that the desegregation agreement asked the system to strive for 25% "diversity quotient". At the time, 7% of the system's students were non-white. A ruling on the board's request was expected within a year or so.
Schools
- Vestavia Hills High School (opened 1970)
- Liberty Park Middle School (opened 2008)
- Pizitz Middle School (opened 1967 as Vestavia Hills Junior High School)
- Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights
- Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge (opened 2019 in the former Gresham Elementary School building)
- Vestavia Hills Elementary East (opened 1948 as Vestavia Hills Elementary School)
- Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park
- Vestavia Hills Elementary West
former schools
- Vestavia Central Elementary School (closed 2019)
Superintendents
- William Clark, 1970-1979
- Maurice Persall, 1979-1986
- Carlton Smith, 1986-1997
- Harrison Cass, 1998-1999
- Michael Gross (interim), 1999-2000
- Jamie Blair, 2000–2015
- Sheila Phillips, 2015-2017
- Todd Freeman, 2018-
References
- Goodman, Troy (September 20, 2006) "System wants cap on Oxmoor Valley students." The Birmingham News
- Goodman, Troy (September 21, 2006) "Vestavia Hills desegregation plan gets fierce response." The Birmingham News
- Whiting, Marvin Yeomans (2000) Vestavia Hills, Alabama: A Place Apart Birmingham: Vestavia Hills Historical Society
- Crain, Trisha Powell (October 25, 2021) "Alabama schools got $3 billion in federal COVID relief money. Where did it go?" The Birmingham News
External links
- Vestavia Hills City Schools website