By the numbers
64: Number of Hamilton County's 76 schools that need cameras 12: Have adequate cameras 19: Have old cameras that need upgrading 45: Have no cameras Source: Hamilton County Department of Education
Up-to-date security cameras are needed in all 76 Hamilton County schools. There's no disagreement between school board members and county commissioners about that.
But the security cameras' installation is still in limbo, even after a Wednesday morning meeting between the two groups, because school officials have balked at a condition commissioners put on the project on Feb. 18. Commissioners voted 7-2 to fund the cameras with $2.1 million that the county recouped from the 2013 sale of the old Ooltewah Elementary School -- provided that proceeds from the future sale of East Brainerd Elementary School are split evenly between the commission's nine districts, which mirror the county's school board districts.
School board members voted 8-1 last week to ask the commission to fund the security cameras with no conditions, and a majority of the board attended an 8 a.m. facilities committee meeting between school and county officials at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts.
"It's for the safety of our students. There's time to have discussions about that [East Brainerd Elementary] money when we get that money," Soddy-Daisy school board member Rhonda Thurman said.
But Lookout Valley Commissioner Joe Graham, who made the resolution that started the fight, said Wednesday afternoon that the school district can start installing security cameras any time it wants by tapping into its roughly $34 million fund balance, or savings.
"They're hoarding money," said Graham, who wasn't at the meeting. "They're more than flush with cash. I just don't understand why they need such a large fund balance."
Christie Jordan, director of accounting and budgeting said the fund balance would pay the school system's bills for only about four weeks. The school district's annual budget is about $345 million.
The county, with a general fund budget of almost $327 million, maintains a fund balance of about $112 million.
Graham said schools in each of the nine districts could spend the proceeds, expected to be several million dollars, of East Brainerd Elementary's sale on technology, which they all need.
But school officials painted a very different picture of school finances. The meeting at CSLA attracted about 60 parents, many of whom had campaigned last year for a new $40 million CSLA school building with enough room to house grades K-12, up from the current K-8.
"We're not here by accident," Superintendent Rick Smith said, pointing to peeling paint and missing plaster on the auditorium's walls. "This is a school that's starting to show its age. This school is not designed for middle-school students."
He cited other expenses on the horizon, including a projected need for new elementary school and middle schools in eastern Hamilton County -- especially after Volkswagen hires 2,000 additional workers to build a new sport utility vehicle at its Chattanooga assembly plant
Teachers want raises, Thurman said, and expanding CSLA to K-12 would require hiring more teachers.
East Ridge school board member David Testerman said, "There's a lot to be done all over this county."
Smith said he'll ask the commission again in the next few weeks to fund the security cameras without conditions.
"This issue should not even be an issue," Smith said. "We're not just pulling things out of the air; we're pretty thoughtful about what we recommend to the board."
He should get support from East Ridge Commissioner Tim Boyd, who represented the county at Wednesday morning's meeting along with Chester Bankston.
"I'll do all I can to advocate the release of the funds," Boyd said. "I'm going to work with Rick [Smith] to get that done."
The school district plans to install Smartvue-brand camera systems in 64 schools. The surveillance would be positioned in hallways, cafeterias and outside schools to capture images of entrances and parking lots -- but not inside classrooms or in private areas.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.
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