June Newsletter - City of Alabaster

The Alabaster Board of
Education held its first-ever
meeting this past April at
the Alabaster Senior Center.
During the meeting,
Dr. Melanie Shores was
elected president of the new
school board, while Ty
Quarles was elected as vice
president.
Following the meeting,
Shores said she was pleased
with the way the first official
meeting had gone.
“I think it went well for
our first meeting,” said
Shores. “We had a work
session last week, but it
wasn’t anything like
preparing us for this meeting.
It was just catching us
up to speed and going over
some documents and discussing
some things like
that, but nothing to prepare
us for tonight. But overall I
SCHOOL BOARD HOLDS FIRST MEETING
think it went well.”
Shores, who is an assistant
professor of education
at UAB, has a Ph.D. in
educational psychology
from Auburn University.
She’s also been active with
the Creek View
Elementary School PTO,
serving recently as secretary.
Quarles also works for
UAB, serving currently as
the executive director for
facilities administration at
the university. He also has
a law degree from the
University of Alabama
School of Law.
In addition to electing
officials, the school board
also addressed other
important issues during
the meeting, such as training
for the new board
members and the board’s
24 SEE YOU AT CITYFEST JUNE 2 MUNICIPAL PARK! June, 2012
future meeting schedule.
“We hope to decide that
in the next couple of
weeks,” said Shores.
Before finalizing a regular
meeting date, board
members said they wanted
to be sure to avoid any
potential scheduling conflicts
in order to allow
more people to attend.
They also have to determine
the location for future
meetings.
For residents interested
in attending future school
board meetings, the meeting
schedule and location
should be available via the
City of Alabaster website.
“I think the best option
is the Alabaster city website,”
said Shores. “I may
try to contact some of the
principals from some of the
schools and see if we can
work with their PTO or put
it on their marquee and
that way parents can know
if they want to attend.”
Shores said people can
also submit questions or
comments via the City
website.
“There’s a place on the
website to comment, and
then they’ll forward those
to us,” she said.
In fact, Shores said
they’ve already received a
number of emails from residents
addressing various
issues regarding the future
of the school district.
“We have several emails
that came in before we
were appointed, so we’re
holding on to those, and
those are issues we want
to make sure we address at
some time,” said Shores.