By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers said he spends enough time in the city’s schools to know students don’t hesitate to tell him how they really feel.

“As a superintendent, I can learn a lot from the students. They’re usually pretty honest,” Vickers said with a laugh.

Over the next few weeks, Vickers will look over applications from Alabaster students interested in having a say in the Alabaster School System’s future.

Throughout September, the city’s schools collected applications from students interested in serving on Alabaster’s first superintendent’s advisory council. Vickers and school system staff members are now looking over the applications and will select about 30 students to serve on the board, which likely will have its first meeting in November, Vickers said.

“It will be a big group,” Vickers said. “It will give the students a chance to get to know me, and it will give me a chance to talk to them and get their honest feedback.”

The students selected for the council will hold regular meetings with Vickers, and will “serve as advisors to (Vickers’) decision-making process,” according to information distributed to the students at each school.

“This group of students will have a voice in the decision-making process. The group of students will provide feedback and suggestions on major district-wide initiatives and programs,” read the memo to students. “In addition, the SAC will serve as a liaison between other students in order to identify, express and resolve system-wide concerns.”

Vickers, who came to Alabaster in 2013 from the Saraland School System, said he has formed student advisory councils in the past, and said it allowed him to keep the students’ thoughts in mind while planning the systems’ futures.

“I’m excited about it,” Vickers said. “It’s something I’ve done before, and it’s always worked out well.”