PELHAM – Pelham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Coefield recently received positive feedback from the Board of Education about how well he is fulfilling his duties as superintendent of the school system.

At a meeting on Thursday, June 29, at Pelham City Hall, board president Rick Rhoades read excerpts from the board’s evaluation of the superintendent, which is done on an annual basis.

Each board member completes a form with various questions about the superintendent’s performance and a consensus is compiled from the comments. Rhoades said it’s standard procedure for boards of education to evaluate superintendents annually.

Coefield was evaluated in 10 different areas: as Chief Executive Officer of the school board, educational leadership of schools, personnel management, facilities management, financial management, community relations, management of pupil personnel services, communication and interpersonal relations, professional development and leadership and professional responsibilities.

The summary of Coefield’s evaluation states that he is an “outstanding superintendent and is making tremendous progress toward making Pelham City Schools one of the best school districts in our state.”

The report states that Coefield consistently meets or exceeds expectations in the areas of leadership, personnel, facilities and financial management.

“His 9 Point Plan of Excellence created a road map for establishing goals to move Pelham City Schools from above average to outstanding,” the report states. “This road map enabled everyone within our organization to remain focused on what the goals and expectations are for each semester and school year. This plan kept our school district on the path to successful financial stability during the critical first years of independence.”

The board also commended Coefield on his efforts to improve community relations.

“Dr. Coefield made that a priority this year and his work toward building better relationships within our community, faculty, and city government is a testament to the hard work and dedication he exhibits while performing a multitude of tasks to help build a solid foundation of education in Pelham,” the report states. “Perhaps one of the greatest exhibits of leadership is in the area of ensuring our students have the necessary skills for continued education or starting a new job after graduation. We have several recent graduates that will start jobs as craftsman because of your ability to look outside the academic walls and see other opportunities for these young men and women to work and contribute to society.”

While the board is pleased with the school system’s progress thus far, Rhoades said there is still work to be done.

“This has been a very challenging job,” Rhoades said. “We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re on the right track.”

Coefield expressed a desire to see the school system’s academics and test scores improve more. Although some gains have been made, Coefield said academics could still be better.

Once construction and renovation projects within the school system settle down, Coefield said he and school administrators will be able to focus more on academics.

Coefield also commended the school board on a job well done over the years. He said some people sit on school boards for years and never get a chance to do some of the things that the Pelham board has done, such as building a new school.

In other business, the board also:

-Approved a contract with Beth Myers to provide interpreting in service areas related to special education.

-Approved a contract with Pediatric Therapy Services to provide physical therapy services.

-Approved a bid from Allied Waste Services of Birmingham for garbage services.

-Approved job descriptions for support staff.

-Approved salary schedule for support staff.

-Approved the 2017-18 Code of Conduct.

-Approved meal prices for 2017-18.

-Approved 2017-18 extra curricular supplements.