Hoover school board hires Berry principal as chief learning officer

The Hoover school board on Tuesday night approved several changes in administrative personnel, including naming Berry Middle School Principal Chris Robbins as the district’s new chief learning officer.

Robbins, who has been principal at Berry for 8½ years, will assume his new role Jan. 3, taking over many of the duties held by Assistant Superintendent Ron Dodson.

Dodson was scheduled to retire Jan. 1 but on Tuesday learned of some technical issues with the Retirement Systems of Alabama that could delay his retirement a little longer.

Robbins will oversee curriculum and instruction, federal programs, special education and instructional support.

He has been in education more than 23 years. He started as a science teacher at Berry Middle School in 1998, then became assistant principal at Bumpus Middle School in 2005 and assistant principal at Brock’s Gap Intermediate School in 2011.

He was transferred to an associate principal role at Berry Middle School in 2012 and took over as principal there in August 2013.

Samford University in 2015 recognized Robbins as one of the top 100 graduates from the O.B.B. School of Education with the "Learning for Life" award, and in 2017, the Alabama Educational Theater Association recognized him as the Alabama Administrator of the Year for his consistent support and promotion of theater arts programs.

In 2019, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Education awarded Robbins its Outstanding Alumni Award, and in 2020, he earned Level 1 Google Educator certification. He also is a graduate of the 2020-2021 Alabama Superintendent's Academy through the University of Alabama.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in middle school and secondary education from Samford University in 1998, his master’s and educational specialist degrees from UAB in 2003 and 2005 and his doctorate in educational leadership from UAB in 2011.

The Hoover school board also on Tuesday approved the retirement of Human Resources Director Mary Veal and Lead Nurse Vicki Holden.

Veal has been in education 30 years in Alabama and one year in Georgia. She taught her first year in Georgia and then one year at Trace Crossings Elementary when it opened. She then worked as a school counselor at Oak Mountain Elementary in Shelby County for eight years and as a school counselor at Deer Valley Elementary in Hoover when it opened.

After three years at Deer Valley, she was promoted to an assistant principal job split between Green Valley and Rocky Ridge elementary schools for a year, then was an assistant principal at Homewood High School for one year.

She returned to Hoover for one year as a school improvement specialist before being named human resources director 15 years ago.

Veal originally planned to retire in July 2020 but rescinded her retirement notice and stayed longer. Her retirement now will take effect Feb. 1, she said.

Holden has been a nurse for 39 years, including the past 25 years with Hoover City Schools. She has spent the past six years as lead nurse for the system and was named the system’s Employee of the Year for the 2017-18 school year.

The school board on Tuesday appointed Julie Kent to take Holden’s position as lead nurse. Kent has been a nurse for 28 years, including more than 12 with Hoover City Schools.

She spent her first 10 years at Gwin Elementary, was split between Gwin and Trace Crossings Elementary for two years and this school year has been full-time at Trace Crossings.

The school board also on Tuesday appointed Amanda Giles as the assistant principal at Simmons Middle School, where she has taught English language learners.

In other business Tuesday, the school board agreed to hire an outside custodial company to help provide custodians for the system. Superintendent Dee Fowler said the school system is having a hard time finding reliable people to fill open jobs.

The school system already had hired an outside company to provide custodians at Greystone Elementary but now believes it may need to expand that practice to some other schools, Fowler said.

The school board awarded a contract to Sani King to be that provider, should the system go in that direction, he said.