Jim Scales

The Hamilton County Board of Education voted 5-4 Thursday to give schools Superintendent Jim Scales a new four-year contract.

Board members Chip Baker, Janice Boydston, Joe Conner, Debra Matthews and Jeffrey Wilson voted for the new contract, while Rhonda Thurman, Chester Bankston, Everett Fairchild and Kenny Smith voted against it.

Dr. Scales still had two years remaining on his current contract, which would have expired June 30, 2010. His new contract will expire June 30, 2012.

The contract provides no raise, though Dr. Scales did receive a 3.5 percent raise during the 2007-2008 school year, the same amount awarded to schoolteachers.

He received a $500 increase in a transportation allowance, bringing that total to $9,000 annually. Dr. Scales’ salary is unchanged at $200,272, which could increase if teachers are awarded a raise this coming school year.

The vote didn’t come without controversy. District 1 school board member Rhonda Thurman asked to have Dr. Scales’ contract removed from the agenda. She went through a list of accomplishments provided to the board members and line-by-line discounted Dr. Scales’ involvement with each measure.

She alleged school board members rushed a vote on the contract so that if three new school board members are elected in August, those people won’t get a chance to decide if they want to keep Dr. Scales.

State law mandates a schools superintendent cannot be terminated or offered a contract 45 days before an election or 30 days after an election.

It also requires that the superintendent’s contract be the first item on the agenda, and that vote came before the board’s designated time for public comment. Only Gregg Juster, a candidate for school board, took that chance to speak, and his comments on school board decision-making lasted just 30 seconds.

“We’ll move on from here. We’ll deal with it,” Ms. Thurman said after the meeting. “But I don’t trust them. This whole thing was orchestrated by central office personnel whose jobs are dependent on Dr. Scales being superintendent.”

Joe Connor, district 7 representative, who is a lawyer, said he drafted the new contract at Dr. Scales’ request. District 5 school board member Jeffrey Wilson said he presented the motion because the school system needed continuity.

“I am a firm believer that if you have a good leader in place, that you do what’s within your power to stabilize your leadership,” Mr. Wilson said. “The way to do that is to lock that person in as long-term as you can.”

Dr. Scales said he was excited about the next four years. He brushed off the controversy over his contract as part of his job.

“Superintendents work for corporate bodies. In our case, it’s nine members, and each of those nine members has an opinion about issues, and they voice it,” Dr. Scales said after the vote. “In this case, I’d like to thank this board for extending me a new four-year contract. I intend to serve this community well for the next four years.”

Before the meeting three candidates — Ms. Thurman, Dr. Joe Dumas and Mr. Juster — running in the upcoming school board election as the “Back on Track” team, signed a pledge vowing to do away with the “backroom deals and secrecy” that they said led to Dr. Scales’ new contract.

Ms. Thurman is running unopposed for the District 1 seat. Dr. Dumas is running against Mr. Baker for the District 2 seat, and Mr. Juster is running against Ms. Matthews for the District 4 seat.

“I believe the correct procedures were followed, and I believe the process has been open and above board,” said Mr. Wilson, who first placed Dr. Scales’ new contract on the board’s agenda.

In other business, the school board again denied Ivy Academy’s request for a charter school. The board has voted at least three times previously to reject the school’s application. The last vote came at May’s school board meeting after concerns the school couldn’t adequately serve disabled students.

The school’s leaders have 60 days to appeal that decision.

A report prepared by Thomas Kranz, the school system’s chief financial officer, and assistant superintendent Rick Smith listed deficiencies noted during a visit to the facility the school plans to use at the Chattanooga Nature Center.

Those listed deficiencies included a lack of air conditioning and restrooms, a need for renovations and no nearby fire hydrants.

No one from Ivy Academy spoke in favor of the application, and the vote was unanimous.

The board also voted to approve changes to high school graduation requirements, including modifications to the senior project requirement. Larger schools in the system now won’t offer the senior project as a separate class, while smaller schools will. The larger schools will incorporate the project into the senior English class.

The changes are mandated by state law, but the Hamilton County Schools system already has implemented many of the other requirements, including a single-track diploma and four years of science.