Audio clip
Jim Scales
After almost two years in office, Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Jim Scales is confronting what some consider the first real test of his administration.
Recent discipline problems and incidents of violence in some schools prompted criticism of Dr. Scales and school leaders for failing to inform parents and others about the situations in a timely fashion.
Board of Education member Rhonda Thurman said the last several weeks were “the first time (Dr. Scales) has had to face the music on anything.”
Ms. Thurman said schools will not become safer if administrators continue to gloss over problems.
“This is all about controlling the message,” she said. “If we don’t know students are in an unsafe environment, how can we make it safe?”
On Jan. 25, two students were arrested after a late-night fight that turned into a near riot at Tyner Academy. During the fight, a teacher at Tyner interfered with the arrest. The incident was made public two weeks later.
On Feb. 6, two male juveniles trespassed with a loaded gun on the Howard School of Academics and Technology campus and were arrested. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department alerted the public nearly a week later on Feb. 11.
When asked if negative news has been downplayed in the public recently to protect the image of the school system, Dr. Scales said, “probably.”
He acknowledged that he and other administrators have been slow to respond to questions about student safety.
When he came to Hamilton County in 2006, Dr. Scales promised open communication.
“We’re maybe not doing as good a job as we should,” he said, “but I came here saying transparency, and we are going to be transparent.”
County Commissioner Fred Skillern said Dr. Scales’ commitment to “transparency” made him initially “relieved” to have him take leadership of the schools. Mr. Skillern, who served as a school board member for 20 years, said he has “never seen things going on that have been going on in the last six weeks.”
“The perception is, the school system doesn’t want anything to get out,” he said. “I definitely believe that the whole of Hamilton County would be better off if there wasn’t the perception that a lot of things have been hidden.”
Dr. Scales said there have been occasions when he, too, was unaware of events until they were made public. He heard about the incident at Tyner through a media outlet, he said.
“I heard ‘Near riot at school,’ and I’m thinking, wow, some poor superintendent is going to get hammered,” he said. “Lo and behold, it was Jim Scales.”
School board members said they were not told about the incidents at Tyner and Howard before the public.
“If we don’t know about it and parents call to talk about it, they think we’re not even doing our jobs,” board member Chester Bankston said.
Board member Everett Fairchild said school administrators “need to not even give the appearance that we’re trying to hide something. If you sit on something for a few days ... you’re planting the seeds of distrust.”
VIOLENCE AND DISCIPLINE ISSUES AT SCHOOLS
Jan. 4 — Third-grade student at East Brainerd Elementary arrested for bringing gun to school
Jan. 25 — Two students arrested after late-night fight at Tyner Academy; teacher interferes with arrest
Feb. 1 — Three Howard students trespass on campus of Central High with pellet gun
Feb. 6 — Two male juveniles trespass on Howard’s campus with loaded gun and are arrested
Feb. 11 — Five female students at Central arrested for disorderly conduct
Feb. 14 — A male student at Hixson pushes teacher to ground, arrested for aggravated assault
Feb. 15 — Female Hixson High student arrested for filing a false report of kidnapping
Feb. 20 — Two former Hixson High students, one of whom attends Soddy-Daisy High, arrested on trespassing and gun charges
Source: Newspaper archives
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
The recent incidents that have been pubicized are nothing new. Many things happen within the school system that aren't public knowledge. If Hamilton County is good at anything, it is covering up these types things. This is especially true of the suburban schools. I see and hear things worthy of news that are going on in the schools and wonder if and when it is going to become public. This is one of the FEW times that it has. Because of the attendance rates, there are a lot of times nothing ever happens to these problem students and they often (not the teacher) control what happens within the classrooms. Our jobs have become more about discipline than education, yet our hands are really tied and there's nothing we can do about it. We have very little support from building level administration or from the central office. They want us to handle our own discipline, but do not back us when we do. Despite all of the things that we have to deal with, they expect test scores to rise! Readers DO NOT be surprised- we see these things everyday.
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