By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster School System is planning to look out-of-house, at least temporarily, for companies to help with the system’s special-needs and graduation coach services.

During its Nov. 14 meeting, the Alabaster School Board voted unanimously to authorize Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers to contract the services with outside entities.

Vickers said the contracts will help the upstart city school system offer the services until the system’s growth warrants hiring employees to offer the services in-house.

“Once it gets to a point where it warrants a (full-time) position, we will approve that position for the next school year,” Vickers said during the meeting.

The entity awarded the contract to handle exceptional education – the school system’s special-needs department – will help provide services to the school system’s students with physical, emotional and learning disabilities.

Vickers said the school system will utilize its contract for graduation coach services on a case-by-case basis.

“That is going to be done on a need-by-need basis,” Vickers said.  “The graduation coach is an important position.”

The graduation coach will work with upperclassmen at Thompson High School to ensure they are taking the proper steps to graduate on time.

During the Nov. 14 meeting, the school board also approved a new counselor for Meadow View Elementary School, which will give MVES and Creek View Elementary School two full-time counselors apiece.

Before the new counselor position was approved, each elementary school had one full-time counselor apiece, and one counselor rotated between the two schools, Vickers said.

“With numbers approaching 1,000 (students at each school), it was important for us to do that,” Vickers said. “We will look at other campuses as well.”