Rick Smith's challenge

photo Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith speaks to the media in this file photo.

When Hamilton County students officially begin the 2011-12 school year this week they will do so in a system that has new leadership at the top, significant changes in administration and a raft of problems both old and new. Newly minted Superintendent Rick Smith promises to address the issues in a timely and practical manner. Whether he can do so and remain above the political fray that has crippled the system in recent years is the most pressing question the school system faces at the moment. There is no ready answer.

Smith clearly understands the educational and financial issues that currently confront the system. He readily admits there are academic and other shortfalls at many schools. He agrees, too, that remedying those problems in a manner that satisfies state and federal mandates and that addresses local concerns will be difficult. He acknowledges, as well, that population growth in some parts of the county and the shifting census at several schools complicate the task of planning for both the current year and the future. He knows, too, that the schools have an image problem.

Still, he remains optimistic - despite those problems and the lingering fallout over his appointment.

Smith's ascension to the superintendency was more a well-executed political triumph - orchestrated behind closed doors in violation of Sunshine Laws - than a decision based on well-established protocols for selecting the chief executive of a multimillion dollar educational enterprise. Consequently, he'll likely have to invest time to mend political fences and to soothe the wounds that linger in the aftermath of the removal of his predecessor from office, and his swift appointment to the ensuing vacancy. That time and energy, in truth, could be better spent on the day-to-day operation of the system.

For the moment, Smith appears to be saying the right things. He pledges to serve urban and suburban schools in equal measure and to create curricula and programs to improve academic performance. He wants to help unify a divided school board and to restore morale in the system. And he says it can be done while putting the needs and interests of students above all. That's a full agenda.

Other than getting the upcoming school year off to a good start, the most pressing issue on that agenda is restoration of public confidence in the county's schools. That's been eroded in recent years by continuing reports of substandard academic achievement in the system. The numbers appear stark.

Less than half of the county's schools are in good standing under federal No Child Left Behind Act guidelines. Over a dozen schools did not make what is called "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, this year under NCLB standards that are being tightened incrementally each year through 2014. And even more have missed AYP two years in a row, in one or more of several dozen rated categories. About a third of eighth-graders failed to meet basic performance levels in math, for example. Parents and other school patrons are rightly concerned about those demonstrated academic shortfalls.

There are, however, a few bright spots in student achievement. Smith told members of the editorial board of this paper last Thursday that scores on this year's tests showed considerable improvement in many areas. Even so, the county's students, on average, still fail to meet all rising state and federal mandates that rightly reflect skill levels needed by students who will enter a competitive and technologically-demanding workplace.

Smith says he can address that issue by focusing on the teaching of literacy and reading and math, and by improving leadership in administration and the classroom. Perhaps he can, but it will not be a swift, simple or inexpensive process.

Hamilton County's schools remain in transition. Even with a projected enrollment increase of about 500 this year and an expanded county population, the number of students in the system still will be below the number in public schools prior to the merger of city and county systems nearly 15 years ago. That suggests that there has been a continuing lack of confidence in Hamilton County's schools in recent years, and an accompanying outflow of students to private and parochial schools following the merger.

Smith's task, in a nutshell, is to rebuild that trust in a way that emphasizes and builds systemwide student achievement and that eliminates the heavy-handed political interference that has dogged public education here for years. He says he's up to the task. Now that the school year is about to begin, he'll have to prove it.

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