Long silence between Hamilton County commissioners, school board to break

photo Tim Boyd

The Hamilton County Commission and the Board of Education are once again trying to reboot their relationship.

Commissioner Tim Boyd says the commission's Education Committee will meet with the school board's facilities management committee at 8 a.m. Dec. 10 at the Battle Academy library. He has hammered the date down with school board Facilities Committee Chairman George Ricks.

"I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be good," Boyd said. "We were talking today, and we were both excited about getting to know each other and to get communication going between the two bodies."

Individual commissioners do speak with their school board counterparts, Boyd said. But the last time the two bodies met as a group, in 2011, the meeting became political and argumentative out of the gate, he said.

Later efforts to bring the two full bodies together didn't happen, he said.

Boyd and Ricks hope that bringing the two smaller committees together will mend some fences between the two groups.

photo George Ricks

The tension was highlighted in March, when parents of students at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts and other schools spent days outside the Hamilton County Courthouse as the commission considered a measure to build or expand four other county schools.

Superintendent Rick Smith had given the county a list of six schools to be considered for funding, and Mayor Jim Coppinger recommended four of those building projects for a combined $48 million.

Commissioners decided that a new Ganns Middle Valley Elementary would absorb Falling Water Elementary and additions would be made at Sale Creek Middle-High and Wolftever and Nolan elementaries. CSLA and East Hamilton Middle School would wait.

Commissioners blamed the school system for providing an unranked list. Parents blamed the county for not funding their schools, and the gap between the two bodies widened.

Ricks said Friday he, too, wants to avoid that kind of situation again.

"We just want to get together and work together as a team. I think we are just trying to do the right thing for our kids," Ricks said.

By law, the meeting will be open to the public, but Ricks said it will be an informal, relaxed chat.

Smith and schools Facility Manager Gary Waters will give the two committees a presentation about the school system's capital needs and answer questions from members, Ricks said.

Smith said Friday the school district will propose using the $2.2 million in proceeds from the sale of the old Ooltewah Elementary School to purchase security cameras for the school system.

This will be the first time commissioners and school board members have met in a formal setting since the 2011 event.

Commissioner Warren Mackey, the former Education Committee chairman, said last week he was hopeful the meetings would be productive and become common.

Boyd said Thursday he hopes the groups will meet three or four times a year.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or 423-757-6481.

Upcoming Events