No high school kid should need to choose between their education and a spot on the baseball team, marching band or drama club. But for one of Alabama’s highest-profile school systems, choosing an education in the skilled trades has meant potentially missing out on extracurriculars. A relationship with PNC is helping ensure that future students at Alabaster City Schools won’t need to make that choice.
“Kids were making choices about not even applying,” said Dr. Wayne Vickers, Superintendent of Alabaster City Schools, of kids foregoing opportunities for trades-based education due to logistical challenges. “We weren’t meeting the needs of our students.”
The Need:
For students at Alabaster City Schools, pursuing an education in commercial construction, welding, electrical, or other skilled trades meant traveling an hour or more roundtrip to another training academy in Birmingham. And with 72 schools participating in the programming, the number of students from the Alabaster school system who could participate was limited. It also meant a choice between pursuing a skilled-trades education and having a high school experience that includes after-school activities.
Vickers estimated that the challenge of commuting to Birmingham, the limited enrollment capacity of Birmingham’s craft academy and the prospect of missing out on extra-curricular activities such as band or athletics eliminated around 80% of the school’s potential applicants to trades-based education opportunities.
“We’ve done a great job with dual enrollment, advanced placement, and college and career readiness as a school system,” Vickers said. “The piece of the puzzle that was missing was the ability to identify, purchase, and build our own workforce development center.”
The Solution:
PNC Bank was no stranger to Alabaster City Schools’ Chief School Financial Officer Ed Roberson, who had a long-standing relationship with the bank through a position at a previous school district. When Roberson moved to Alabaster City Schools in early 2023, he quickly realized that the district’s accounts — then with another institution — weren’t earning the interest he knew they should have been based on their balance size. Roberson said the school had a high-balance construction account that for more than half a year had barely earned the interest necessary to cover the cost of the account itself. That’s when he called the team at PNC.
Within 30 days of his start date with the school district, PNC helped Roberson identify opportunities to capitalize on the existing interest rate environment and Roberson moved the funds in the construction account to PNC. In the year since that move, Alabaster City Schools has moved all its operating accounts and school accounts to PNC. In addition to account servicing, PNC manages treasury management, credit card, and longer-term investments for the district through PNC Institutional Asset Management (PNC IAM.)
“When I got here, I knew what the generated returns should be for a school district, and we weren’t getting anywhere near that on higher-balance accounts than what I had at my old district,” Roberson said. “But we were able to move very quickly with PNC to get that issue resolved.”
The Results:
This is the way a bank and a public institution are supposed to work together and how great banking relationships can reap rewards for students.
— Dr. Wayne Vickers, Superintendent of Alabaster City Schools
By moving the construction fund account to PNC, Alabaster City Schools was able to significantly increase interest earned on the account and was able to purchase a 50,000-square-foot former grocery store, which is being rehabbed into the district’s own “ACS Champions Craft Academy.” Vickers noted that a craft academy for the district was part of his long-term strategic plan, but by moving the district’s accounts to PNC, they were able to achieve that goal five-to-seven years before it was anticipated. The purchase price of just under $2 million for the facility was also significantly lower than the cost to build an entirely new facility. Additionally, proceeds from long-term investments now with PNC IAM will allow Alabaster City Schools to make continued investments in the new facility and other capital improvements in the coming years.
Most importantly, Vickers noted, the ACS Champions Craft Academy, which is anticipated to open at the start of the 2025-2026 School Year, will significantly increase the number of students who can participate in trades-focused education. The new facility is less than five minutes’ drive from Alabaster City Schools’ Thompson High School, meaning students will no longer need to choose between participating in workforce development or the marching band or other extracurriculars. He estimates the program will grow from serving fewer than 20 district students — at the Birmingham facility — to serving between 100 and 150 students interested in the trades.
“We will increase the number of kids and their exposure to craft ten-fold in one year. That’s a difference maker,” Vickers said. “I won’t have anyone on a waiting list. Everyone has an opportunity and that’s very important to us.”
It’s an opportunity that was earned through a long-term banking relationship, quick action, and active investment management by PNC to help Alabaster City Schools make the most of their investments – and turn it into life-long positive outcomes for kids.
“This is the way a bank and a public institution are supposed to work together and how great banking relationships can reap rewards for students,” Vickers said.
