COMMITTEE UPDATE
This is the first in an ongoing series of weekly updates contributed by members of the town’s School System Viability Committee.The SSVC committee met on March 15 and divided into five subcommittees to simultaneously research the various aspects of an independent school district: budget, buildings, demographics, quality and legal.So far, the budget subcommittee has spent approximately 12 hours reviewing and editing each line of the preliminary budget [provided by an ad hoc group of parents and educators who previously researched forming a separate school district and created a budget for said district]. This process involved checking each number for accuracy against information from either the HCDE budget or responses recently provided by HCDE. The subcommittee noted that HCDE has been very timely and responsive to requests for information made by the SSVC committee.On April 12, the [entire SSVC] committee met and heard Dr. John Friedl provide a report on the progress of the budget subcommittee. He explained that the final budget will look different than the preliminary budget since new information has been provided by HCDE and each line item has been methodically reviewed and edited by the subcommittee members.Working group meetings for Quality and Demographics were scheduled to begin their work as well. Travel plans to visit school districts in Memphis were briefly discussed and those plans will be made available to the public once the dates of travel have been confirmed.Finally, separate reports were provided by committee members Dr. Thomas Peterson and Mr. Charles Spencer. Both men spoke separately with town and school administrators from independent school districts from the Memphis area. Both reported that while the process of becoming an independent school district was not easy, the representatives they spoke to stated the change worked out well for their municipality and it was worth the effort to become an independent school district. Spencer noted that the superintendent he spoke with said their town chose to make the change in order to have more local control over decisions made regarding education for their students.
Signal Mountain officials are already investigating whether a separate school district would be financially viable, but they are now also looking to determine whether that new school district would make the mountain's three schools better.
The Signal Mountain School District Viability Committee's quality sub-group met April 19 to start the process of defining what an improved school system would look like and what resources would be needed for that improvement.
Committee member Tom McCullough reported the budget sub group had made one improvement that added value to the school system when it budgeted for full-time guidance counselors at Nolan Elementary School and Thrasher Elementary School instead of part-time counselors, who currently spend at least one day off the mountain each week.
Committee member Susan Speraw said it would be difficult to quantify the value of that change without looking at measurable factors it would improve, like wait lists to see a counselor.
She suggested the sub group start by looking at Brentwood High School in the Williamson County School District, which has some of the highest average ACT scores among non-magnet schools in the area, according to the 2015-16 Tennessee State Report Card. A cross examination of Brentwood's budget could offer suggestions for Signal schools, she said.
McCullough cautioned against using Brentwood as a benchmark without first examining the socioeconomic factors impacting its students, which he said are often tied to test scores. Committee member Melissa Wood also noted that Williamson County's school district operates differently from Hamilton County's.
Still, Speraw said, tangible and quantifiable change will be important, especially when considering costs for desired improvement.
"Our single objective is better Signal Mountain schools," she said."We have to have some benchmark, and it may not be a perfect benchmark, but we have to have some benchmark, otherwise you have no idea whether you got there."
Moving forward, the sub group decided to seek input from teachers and parents on what constitutes "better Signal Mountain schools," and put special emphasis on reaching out to parents who have taken their children off the mountain for school.
"They're not doing that because they think they get everything here," said Speraw. "If they had everything that they wanted here, then they wouldn't be taking them off the mountain."
Members discussed compiling an anonymous survey for teachers to encourage feedback from those concerned about conflicts of interest with the Hamilton County Department of Education. Opinions differed on the best way to solicit feedback from parents. Some favored public meetings, which they said would let parents know they've been heard, while others said a survey would yield a higher response rate, collecting thoughts from those unable to attend meetings.
This was not the first time the issue of not feeling heard has come up during viability committee proceedings. During a regular meeting April 12, Councilwoman Amy Speek told the committee she had been contacted by several residents frustrated that the questions they posted on the town's website had gone unanswered.
Town Manager Boyd Veal said the comment form, posted on the website to collect inquires about the viability committee and possible new school district, was never meant to issue direct responses; it is only a mechanism to get questions to the committee.
"We will eventually answer every question that we get, one way or another, in a report or a document attached to a report, but we're in no position to be engaged in a two-way conversation," said committee chair John Friedl.
Still, he assured residents the group had received every question sent, holding up 12 pages of inquires for emphasis, and Speek proposed setting up an automatic reply so posters know their questions have been received.
"I do think it's important that the citizens know that we are working on it. That we are hearing them. That we are not ignoring them," she said. "I just think it's important that they know they're being heard."