By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A pair of principals in the Alabaster City School System will retain their positions for at least three more years after the city’s Board of Education voted to extend their contracts during a recent meeting.

The School Board voted unanimously during a July 27 meeting to extend the contracts for Thomspon Sixth Grade Center Principal Dr. Daniel Steele and for Creek View Elementary School Principal Charissa Cole. Each contract was extended by three years, at the recommendation of Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers.

Cole was hired as the CVES principal before the 2014-2015 school year, and served as an assistant principal at Meadow View Elementary School before moving to CVES. As is routine for new principals, Cole was on a one-year provisional contract during her first year at CVES, Vickers said.

“She did an outstanding job,” Vickers said. “She has worked well with CVES, and they had a great year last year.”

During an Aug. 4 interview, Cole said she has enjoyed her time at CVES, and said she has big plans for the school’s future.

“I’ve developed a relationship with the faculty, the staff and the students during my first year here at the school. I’ve really felt at home,” Cole said, noting she has lived in Alabaster for 17 years. “I’m excited to continue to develop that team.”

Cole said she is working to establish CVES as a “Light House School” through the Leader in Me program.

“Everything we do will be centered on leadership,” Cole said.

Steele has been the principal at TSGC for one year, and was the principal at Thompson High School before moving to TSGC. Vickers said Steele’s current three-year contract is set to expire soon, and said he had no hesitations about recommending Steele’s contract extension.

“He has done a fabulous job everywhere he has been,” Vickers said.

Steele praised his predecessors at TSGC for “laying the groundwork” for success at the school.

“My experience this year has broadened my perspective on the K-12 process and given me a new appreciation for the great work that goes into preparing students for success in high school,” Steele wrote in an email. “My predecessors, Dr. Hester and Ms. Woodley, did a great job of laying the groundwork for the outstanding year that we had because I inherited a faculty, staff and school culture that is top notch. Our teachers care about their kids and are relentless in their pursuit of raising student achievement.”