Commission, school board debate need for Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts construction

Hamilton County school board member Rhonda Thurman expresses concerns during a meeting Feb. 18, 2016. (Contributed photo)
Hamilton County school board member Rhonda Thurman expresses concerns during a meeting Feb. 18, 2016. (Contributed photo)
photo Hamilton County Commissioner Sabrena Smedley
photo Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd
photo School board member Joe Wingate (Staff photo by Myron Madden)

The Hamilton County Commission and county school board continued to debate construction priorities - especially the need for new construction at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts - during a meeting to develop strategies for facility needs and funding March 14.

An upgraded facility for CSLA was placed second on the school board's recently unveiled three-school priority list, after Harrison Elementary School but before East Hamilton Middle School, much to the disappointment of parents with children enrolled in the magnet school.

Over the last few years, CSLA's 68-year-old building has fallen victim to water damage, decay, mold and mice, parents have said.

Commissioner Sabrena Smedley said she is impressed by the work being done there, but said there will be no new funds in the county budget for new school construction.

Even if the county was able to find the $64 million needed for the new facility at CSLA, she added, it would be years before it was ready to welcome students.

"Considering the current conditions of CSLA, it doesn't sound like they have five to six years to wait on a facility," Smedley said.

Instead, she asked Hamilton County Schools officials if there were any schools under capacity that the students at CSLA could move into.

There isn't much extra capacity in schools, district officials said, and Interim Superintendent Kirk Kelly reiterated what he and other Hamilton County Schools representatives have said before: Rezoning would only be a temporary fix.

School board member Rhonda Thurman said CSLA should not be a priority because it would not solve the overcrowding problem facing other area schools. She said zoned schools at the north end of East Hamilton, specifically in Ooltewah, must be a priority not only because of overcrowding, but also because of that area's anticipated growth.

The East Hamilton area, labeled "Area 12," is expected to make up 32 percent of all the coming housing demand, making it the fastest-growing sector of the county, market studies have shown.

"That's where all of our focus has to be ... because that's where the growth is," Thurman said.

She pointed specifically to Snow Hill Elementary, whose overpopulation has forced nearby students to ride the bus more than an hour away to attend Ooltewah Elementary. The long ride means students are already tired when they get to school, and they miss an hour of homework and family time on the way back, Thurman added.

"If you want to go to CSLA, you choose to go to CSLA. These are these other kids' zoned schools," she said.

Commissioner Tim Boyd, who represents East Ridge and has advocated for CSLA in the past, said a new CSLA would serve up to 1,600 students, up from about 400 now, and would relieve the overcrowding felt in other East Hamilton-area facilities by accepting students from more schools, including those over capacity nearby.

"If you open up more seats in a centrally located part of town, in an academically superior environment, you're gonna have more parents take advantage of that or there wouldn't be a thousand-parent, thousand-student waiting list to go there," he said.

But school board member Joe Wingate, who represents the East Hamilton area, said there was no guarantee a new CSLA would relieve that pressure, calling it a "blind lottery." The school would accept students from Districts 7 and 9, where most of that growth is being felt, he explained, but as a magnet school, CSLA would also accept students from the rest of the county, meaning it could have a minimal effect on overcrowding as the area grows.

"There's no one here who discredits what goes on at CSLA, but the bottom line is we have to look at what's best for our community as a whole," Wingate said.

Though no plans were made in regards to CSLA or the other schools on the construction priority list, Smedley said she hopes a strategic plan will be developed to address the district's maintenance needs. She also said she was open to planning another meeting for the two bodies to come back together to try to find solutions.

Staff writer Kendi A. Rainwater contributed to this story.

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