Hoover school district ready to face rezoning, budget challenges head on, superintendent tells employees
School rezoning and tough budget discussions were two big challenges for Hoover City Schools last year and will continue to be this school year, Superintendent Kathy Murphy told employees in a back-to-school address today.
But school officials are up to the challenges and will tackle them head-on, Murphy told the nearly 1,800 school system employees who gathered at Hunter Street Baptist Church.
“Leadership means facing challenges head-on,” Murphy said. “I’m not real good at ducking and dodging and pretending and throwing my head down in the sand and pretending that all is fine. I’m all about owning and being transparent.”
Hoover school officials worked long and hard over the past year to listen to the public and craft the best rezoning plan for Hoover City Schools before submitting a plan for federal court review this past spring, Murphy said.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala gave preliminary approval to the rezoning plan in May but held off on final approval, asking school officials, the U.S. Department of Justice and NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund to more fully assess issues regarding the school district’s efforts to meet desegregation obligations.
The judge told the parties to collaborate on a written assessment of how Hoover schools are doing in regard to desegregation and how those issues affect school attendance zones and file it with the court by Jan. 17. Then, by May 31, the parties must present a comprehensive plan for a path for Hoover to be released from federal court supervision.
All of these efforts should help Hoover get a final rezoning plan approved for the 2017-18 school year, the judge said.
Murphy today said school officials will continue to tweak the rezoning plan as necessary as they follow the court’s directive.
School officials also will continue looking for ways to address financial challenges, Murphy said. They’re looking for ways to cut costs and perhaps find new or increased revenue streams, she has said.
It’s important to remember that 86 percent of the school district’s budget is about faculty and staff, Murphy said.
“We’re not making widgets and loading them up on an 18-wheeler and trying to produce a profit. We’re teaching children,” Murphy said. “We invest our money into our resources … For anyone that would suggest it’s ridiculous or silly for us to invest our time and our money into our resources, and that being you, shame on them because we are putting our money into the best ways that we can to bring the very best teachers into this school district to support our children.”
All Hoover schools are feeling the effects of budget cuts, and Murphy today brought in a guest speaker to talk about overcoming challenges.
Christian Cooper, a 2009 Hoover High School graduate who suffered burns to 80 percent of his body in a February car accident on Interstate 65 and spent the past five months in a burn center in Georgia, talked to school employees about the importance of keeping a positive attitude when facing adversity.
Cooper, the 25-year-old son of Hoover school board member Earl Cooper and retired Vestavia Hills Elementary-Cahaba Heights Princpal Kay Cooper, said there have been many times during his recovery and rehab when he didn’t feel like doing what the doctors wanted him to do.
But he made a conscious decision to focus on the positive experiences and make the best of the situation, he said.
“Challenges are one thing. How you face and how you handle those challenges is what’s important,” Cooper said.
“Was I dealt a bad hand? Maybe. Was it sometimes easy to say, ‘Oh, poor me, why me?” Sure, but what good does that do for yourself and the people around you?” Cooper said. “With the right attitude — a strong, positive attitude, you can get through anything, and you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.”
Cooper thanked many of the school employees for pouring into his life over the years and helping prepare him for this battle in his life. The crowd gave him a standing ovation after his talk.
Murphy said God sometimes picks special young people such as Cooper to teach the most profound lessons in life.
Murphy also today emphasized that Hoover schools’ aim is to prepare all students for success, whether they are gifted, typical, reluctant or struggling learners.
She noted that Hoover had 20 students graduate with International Baccalaureate diplomas this past spring and has a total of 210 students in that program. Hoover schools offer 27 Advanced Placement courses, and 64 percent of the 1,509 AP exams taken by Hoover students ended with scores qualifying for college credit, she said.
The school district’s seven types of career academies involved 2,090 students last year, and 221 of those received career credentials through the academies, she said. The average ACT score for Hoover students last year was 22.5, compared to 20.6 statewide and 21 nationally, Murphy said. Twenty-five percent of Hoover students who took the ACT had a composite score of 27 or higher, and two students scored the highest possible score of 36, she said.
Hoover’s graduation rate is 93 percent, and 95 percent of those report they are headed to college, while 3 percent reported they are going into the armed forces, Murphy said. “Our students are going and being productive,” she said.
Newly released ACT Aspire scores for students in grades 3-8 and grade 10 showed 10 percent improvement in math over the past three years and 5 percent improvement in reading, Murphy said.
“I know our teachers are fighting every day to serve children,” she said.
Murphy also noted that Hoover schools have 146 teachers who have received certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards — more than any school district in Alabama. Hoover has seven Alabama Teachers of the Year and more teachers selected for the Jacksonville State University Teacher Hall of Fame than any district in Alabama, she said.
Breanna Sabbatini, a third-grade teacher from Rocky Ridge Elementary School who is entering her 16th year as a teacher, said today was the best back-to-school institute she has ever attended.
“I laughed. I cried. It was invigorating and exciting. It made me ready for the new school year, excited about the new school year,” Sabbatini said. “I was already excited. It was just a little extra push that everybody else is excited, too.”
Mary Beth Pugh, a fifth-grade teacher at Bluff Park Elementary entering her 24th year as a teacher, said today’s gathering was very inspirational, child-centered and supportive.
“It was a great reminder of why we’re here and why we do what we do, and a good pat on the back for what we do,” Pugh said. “I felt very appreciated. … I’m proud to be a teacher here and a mom as well. All of my kids have gone to school here.”
Hoover school board President Stephen Presley thanked the school employees for their contributions.
“I’ve heard many times before that it takes a village to raise our children, and every one of you in this room are that village,” Presley said.
He recounted many qualities of great leaders of the past, such as Winston Churchill’s determination and perseverance, Julius Caesar’s decisiveness and ability to outwit his opponent, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s yearning to never stop, Abraham Lincoln’s conviction, humility and great oratory skills and Martin Luther King Jr.’s courage and boldness in fighting for what is right.
Presley said the Hoover community is blessed they were able to find Murphy, who exhibits a lot of those same qualities.