By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—The Pelham Board of Education held its first meeting including newly hired Pelham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Coefield, and as the July 1 separation date from the Shelby County School System approaches, progress towards an independent system has quickened.

During the April 30 meeting, the Board of Education heard the last in a series of three presentations from specialized K-12 and education construction management firms regarding the possible construction or renovation of the Pelham schools.

These firms offer services to manage the construction process from the planning phase through to its completion, helping to keep projects on time and within a budget.

Since March 31, the Board of Education has heard presentations from Volkert and Associates, Inc., Robbins and Morton and Hoar Program Management. Board of Education President Rick Rhoades said they will come to a decision on project management during the next board meeting.

The Pelham Board of Education has also begun the search for central office staff members, widely posting a number of job listings for directors, coordinators and supervisors, Coefield said.

“We are in a situation where we have to hire a completely new staff,” Coefield said. “We are trying to advertise as broadly as we can so we can get as many qualified people as possible.”

Coefield noted the large number of positions listed is intended to elevate the number of applications submitted, and the school system will “not hire all of these positions.”

“The beauty of this is it gives you the flexibility to get your team together,” Rhoades said of the strategy to garner as many applications as possible.

Coefield stressed the Pelham City School System must have a central office staff “by the end of the month,” and he expected some candidates may come in earlier.

“By the end of this month I hope to have recommendations.” Coefield said. “It is possible to have some people in here in two weeks.”

The Board of Education also accepted bids for virtual servers, SAN, routing and switching infrastructure and a firewall.

“This is part of our continuing quest to get our information technology systems ready to go July 1,” said Interim Superintendent Dr. Tim Alford.