Jefferson County Schools (Alabama)


The Jefferson County School System is the second-largest public school system in Alabama. It is the third oldest school system in Jefferson County preceded only by the Birmingham and Bessemer School Systems. The Jefferson County School System was created in 1896, and initially served all unincorporated communities and cities in the county other than Birmingham and Bessemer. Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s various other cities began to establish their own separate systems. Today the County system serves students in those unincorporated areas of Jefferson County, Alabama such as Alliance, Bagley, Concord, Corner, Forestdale, McCalla, Minor, Mt. Olive, and Oak Grove. It also includes students who reside in the cities of Adamsville, Clay, Fultondale, Gardendale, Graysville, Hueytown, Irondale, Kimberly, Morris, Pinson, Pleasant Grove, and Warrior among others. Those cities listed below each have a city-based school system, therefore, their students do not attend schools in the Jefferson County School System:
The system is presided over by the elected Jefferson County Board of Education which is responsible for setting school policy, adoption of an annual operating budget, and broad issues usually dealt with by most school boards, such as construction of new schools, etc. The Board also relies on the guidance of the Superintendent in the making of many of those decisions. the work of the Board is financed by appropriations from the Alabama Legislature and a series of property taxes some of which are "district wide" and some of which are "county wide" in nature, plus the proceeds of a 1 cent sales tax.
The Board consists of five members elected by Place Number in partisan elections for six year terms. While these races are usually decided in the respective party primaries almost none of the work or decisions of the Board are of a partisan nature. There is no limitation on the number of terms to which a member can be elected. Four of the five members are elected only by the voters of the areas actually served by the school board. The fifth member is elected collectively only by the voters of the 11 cities that have their own school systems. This configuration is mandated by State law. When vacancies occur during a term the remaining members of the Board have the power to appoint someone to the post for the remainder of the unexpired term. Two of the current members came to office in this manner when Ronnie Dixon was appointed to replace Dean Taylor, Jr. who died in office and Carita Venable replaced Jacqueline Smith who resigned. Officers of the board are elected for one-year terms from the five members. The immediate past President of the Board is Oscar Mann. The current President is Ronnie Dixon who was elected to the post in November, 2019.
The current Board members, their party affiliation, and the designated Place Number when they appear on the ballot are as follows:
NameParty AffiliationFirst ElectedNext ElectionBallot Position
Donna J. PikeRepublican20162022Place 1
Eddie BrownRepublican20182024Place 2
Oscar S. MannRepublican20122024Place 3
Ronnie DixonRepublican2020Place 4
Carita VenableDemocrat2022Place 5

Dixon was appointed to the Board in May, 2016.
Venable was appointed to the Board in February, 2019.

Past Board Members (Partial List)

Many different men and women have served on the Board over the years. For most of the Board's history all its members were Democrats until the election of Republican Jim Hicks in 1980. After Mr. Hicks election the Board transitioned to a Republican majority over the next few election cycles. It has remained with a Republican majority ever since. Three African-Americans have served on the Board including the present Board member, Carita Venable. Previously, Martha Bouyer, and Jacqueline Smith served with Mrs. Smith being the first African-American to be elected as Board President. Below is a partial listing of past members:
Day-to-day operations of the system are run by the superintendent. That post is filled by appointment by a majority vote of the County Board of Education and that individual serves at the pleasure of the Board. The most recent superintendent was Dr. Craig Pouncey, who took over in June 2014, following the ouster of Dr. Stephen Nowlin after 16 months in office. On September 11, 2019, it was announced that Dr. Pouncey had accepted the Presidency of Coastal Alabama Community College, effective October 1, 2019 and would leave his post with Jefferson County on September 27. Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, Jr., the Deputy Superintendent became Interim Superintendent on September 27, 2019 and was given the position permanently by the Board in November, 2019, becoming the first African-American to be permanent Superintendent.
The first Superintendent of Jefferson County was Isaac Wellington McAdory from 1896–1913. In 1868, shortly after The Civil War and long before the County System existed, he and his wife, Alice McAdory, established and ran the Pleasant Hill Academy in McCalla. It was arguably the first education institution in Jefferson County preceding both the Birmingham and Bessemer systems and even predating any colleges or universities in the county. The Pleasant Hill Academy is the forerunner of present-day McAdory High School. The first seven superintendents of the system all had schools named in their honor. However, McNeil School no longer exists and Simmons Elementary is now part of the Hoover School System. Issac Wellington McAdory is the only Superintendent who has three separate schools named in his honor which may be more of a coincidence than a deliberate effort.

List of current schools

High schools

The Jefferson County School District includes the following fourteen high schools. Data on enrollment, student-teacher ratio, and graduation rate are all drawn from the 2013–14 academic year.
SchoolLocationEnrollment
Student-Teacher
Ratio		Graduation
Rate		Avg. ACT ScoreAthletics
Center Point High SchoolCenter Point84115:186%186A
Clay-Chalkville High SchoolClay1,33318:186%216A
Corner High SchoolCorner52116:195%245A
Fultondale High School Fultondale32211:173%243A
Gardendale High SchoolGardendale1,09519:190%246A
Hueytown High SchoolHueytown1,11318:188%226A
Jefferson County IB SchoolIrondale36317:1100%30---
McAdory High SchoolMcCalla97519:192%216A
Minor High SchoolAdamsville1,00315:183%206A
Mortimer Jordan High SchoolKimberly75117:195%245A
Oak Grove High School Bessemer50113:184%244A
Pinson Valley High SchoolPinson1,02820:183%226A
Pleasant Grove High School Pleasant Grove54815:195%225A
Shades Valley High SchoolIrondale1,34816:193%226A

Oak Grove is a combined Middle and High School campus containing grades 6–12.
Both Pleasant Grove and Fultondale are combined Middle and High School campus containing grades 7–12.

Middle schools

With the passage of years many former schools in the Jefferson County School System completely ceased to exist. This is to be expected in a system that is over 100 years old. Most were established by the County Board of Education, yet some were first established by a local community or were built as "company schools" and ceded to the County System at a later date. Other schools have seen their names changed or been sold or ceded to some of the other municipal systems. This occurs for a variety of reasons some of which are demographic changes, de-segregation orders, obsolete facilities, etc. Many of these campuses are gone without a trace and a few have been re-purposed to other uses. This list does not include former school buildings at different sites for institutions that still exist under the same name such as Shades Valley High School ; Hueytown High School ; Minor High School, etc. The list does include schools whose names and/or locations have changed such as Berry High School or New Castle High School.

High Schools (Partial List)

Name of High SchoolLocationYearsAdditional Notes
Alliance High SchoolAlliance community
W. A. Berry High Schoolnear City of Hoover, Old Columbiana Roadconverted to Berry Middle School, sold to Vestavia Board of Education
Brighton High SchoolCity of Brightonclosed and abandoned
E.B. Erwin High SchoolCenter Pointreplaced by Center Point High School; was a Middle School from 1957-1964 and again from 2011-present
Gilmore-Bell Vocational High Schoolpresent day City of HueytownDemolished, vacant and overgrown property at 4933 Bessemer-Johns Road
Hooper City High Schoolpresent day City of Birminghamall black school
Jones Valley High SchoolCity of Birminghamclosed, Demolished, site now is Jones Valley Middle School
New Castle High SchoolCity of Fultondalerenamed Fultondale High School after 1972
Robert R. Moton High SchoolCity of Leedsall black school; closed when system was desegregated; Moton Community Ctr. since 2012
Powderly High Schoolpresent day City of Birminghamall black school
Rosedale High Schoolpresent day City of Homewoodclosed in 1969all black school, closed when system was desegregated
Shades Cahaba High Schoolpresent day City of Homewoodbuilding still exists as Shades Cahaba Elementary School
Warrior High SchoolCity of Warriorclosed, building still exists
West Jefferson High SchoolCity of West Jeffersonbuilding still exists, serves as West Jefferson City Hall and community center
Westfield High Schoolpresent day City of Birmingham all black school; closed when system desegregated; Demolished 1973; Willie Mays was a graduate

Other Schools (Partial List)

NameLocationYearsAdditional Notes
Addison Elementary SchoolBessemer all black school, building abandoned but still exists
Alley SchoolBirmingham ceded to Birmingham after the 1910 municipal consolidation
Alliance ElementaryAlliance communityabandoned building still exists
Dixie Junior High SchoolMinor communityclosed in 1970replaced by Bottenfield Jr. High and renamed Minor Middle School
Dolomite Elementarysite in present-day City of Hueytown Demolished
Graysville Junior High SchoolCity of Graysvilleclosed in 1980sbuilding now owned by City of Graysville
Greenwood SchoolGreenwood community ceded to Bessemer School System in 1966, still operates in Bessemer System, served grades 1-9 through 1959
Greenwood Junior High SchoolGreenwood community since 1966 the building has been Greenwood Elementary of the Jefferson County system
Hall-Kent Elementarypresent day City of Homewood ceded to Homewood School System in 1970
Ishkooda Elementary
Johns Elementarynear City of North Johns
Ketona Elementary
Ketona Junior High Schoolnear Tarrant City
Majestic ElementaryCity of Morris
McDonald Chapel Elementary
McNeil Schoolsite in present-day City of Bessemer, Demolished in 1998, site today is McNeil Park
Mineral Springs ElementaryMt. Olive
Mulga Elementary
Pinson School 4509 Pinson Blvd, Pinson
Raimund Elementarypresent day City of Bessemer
Red Ore ElementaryBessemer originally built by Woodward Coal Company
Roosevelt Elementary
Joseph N. Rutledge Elementarypresent day City of Midfieldceded to Midfield School System after 1970
Sandusky Elementaryclosed mid 1980stoday is Sandusky Community Center
Shannon Elementarypresent day City of Homewood closed in 1970s
Sylvan Springs ElementaryCity of Sylvan Springsbuilding today serves as a Community Center located on Rock Creek Road
Trafford Elementary
Virginia Mines Schoolsite in present-day City of Hueytownclosed 1950s Demolished
Booker T. Washington Elementarypresent day City of Birmingham ceded to Birmingham after 1910 municipal consolidation, Demolished 2007
Wenonah SchoolBrownsville community1917-2007; built as a "company owned" school, later ceded to Jefferson County, transferred to B'ham system
Wilkes Schoolpresent day City of Midfield, ceded to Midfield School System after 1970, building still exists
Woodward Elementarypresent day City of Birmingham
Rosa Zinnerman ElementaryCity of Hueytownclosed, abandoned but still exists

Failing schools

Statewide testing ranks the schools in Alabama. Those in the bottom six percent are listed as "failing." As of early 2018, both Center Point and Minor High Schools were included in this category.