Losing momentum? Changes have Howard alumni worried about future of school

The Howard School, seen Tuesday, was once poised to be a great education turnaround story.
The Howard School, seen Tuesday, was once poised to be a great education turnaround story.

Howard is changing, and it's changing pretty rapidly."

The Howard School was poised just two years ago to be Hamilton County's great education turnaround story.

A documentary film came out charting the school's path from the threat of state takeover to a 20 percent jump in its graduate rate. There was a rallying cry from the community to get behind the almost all-black, all-poor inner-city school.

But some students, community members and alumni say that momentum is dead.

Paul Smith, who headed Howard for six years, left the school system to work for city government, and some say the new principal hasn't rallied the community as Smith did.

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"We're concerned about what's going on at Howard," said Howard alumnus Reuben Lawrence, known as the Godfather of Howard. "Since Mr. Smith has left it seems like the morale of students and teachers has declined. The community involvement is far and few in between."

This year the homecoming parade was canceled, along with the historic football game between Howard and Brainerd, the city's other mostly black high school. The baseball team also was put on the chopping block.

And many wonder if the school system has plans to either close the school or change it completely. Recently, Howard's uncertain future has been a hot topic at alumni meetings and NAACP gatherings.

"It's a new day at Howard," said longtime Howard supporter Gerald Mason this month while discussing the school with Lawrence and Chattanooga Police Department Sgt. Cheryl Bryant.

Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith acknowledges the changes but says he's committed to making sure Howard retains its significance.

"Howard is changing, and it's changing pretty rapidly," Smith said at the NAACP chapter meeting last week. "We have to pay attention to that because even back in my day, back in the '60s, Howard was the cornerstone of the community, and that still needs to exist tomorrow just like it did yesterday."

Storied history

For years, Howard was the pride of Chattanooga's black community. It was the first public high school for blacks and was beloved for its traditions such as the Howard/Brainerd rivalry game. But some supporters fear traditions are threatened as new leadership has come in and the makeup of the student body continues changing.

Hispanic students now make up 25.4 percent of the student body at Howard, and with the 71 percent of Hispanic students at East Side Elementary School the Hispanic population at Howard is expected to increase, school officials said. The demographic shift undoubtedly will change school culture, many say.

Lawrence, an influential alumnus who raised $100,000 for the Howard band several years ago, said he believes that as fewer blacks attend Howard, fewer blacks in the community will show up to support the school. He also said the school's new principal, Zac Brown, hasn't made efforts to reach out to alumni or discuss his decisions to eliminate games or sports teams.

photo Jessica Cummings, center, a senior student who plans to attend Alabama A&M in Huntsville next year, waits for a school bus with other students in front of the Howard School on Tuesday.

Bryant, another alumnus who is deeply involved at the school, said the Parent Teacher Association has met only once this school year because Brown told the elected members that they couldn't meet without him being present, she said.

Repeated attempts to reach Brown were unsuccessful.

Bryant said many parents and supporters do not feel welcomed.

"They don't feel wanted," Bryant said. "When they want to go to classes to check on their children he tells them that they have to make an appointment to come to the school."

Brown was unavailable to speak when a reporter visited the school Friday. Speaking to the NAACP, Smith called Brown a "great principal" who does a "great job."

Schools officials, including school board member and Howard volunteer George Ricks and Smith, say Howard is under excellent leadership and the system is not disinvesting in the school.

Former principal Smith said he supports Brown 100 percent.

"This principal is a talented administrator," he said. "I appreciate that he has picked up the mantle. I appreciate his drive to move Howard forward."

High school senior Jessica Cummings disagrees.

"I've been at Howard all four years and I've seen it go from school of excellence, everybody wanting to go to class, everybody can't wait to do this or that, to everybody just giving up," she said.

End of a rivalry?

When asked about the decision not to play the annual Howard-Brainerd game, Ricks said that was because Howard's enrollment growth pushed the school into a higher division than Brainerd.

Howard assistant principal and athletic director Matthew Taylor explained that enrollment increased within one year from an estimated 540 students to about 670. That put the school in a different Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association district than Brainerd.

School administrators don't make the decision, the TSSAA makes it, Taylor said.

photo The Howard School is located in the 2500 block of Market Street in Chattanooga.

Ricks said the Howard-Brainerd game will return next year, but it won't count as a district game.

Taylor also said Howard's homecoming parade will return this fall. The parade was scheduled near the end of September in 2014, but that was during or near Chattanooga's Iron Man competition and he couldn't get clearance that he needed for the parade, he said.

And in recent years the games haven't quite been the idyllic experience alumni remember. Gunfire has erupted after Brainerd-Howard sporting events. At some games, attendees have had to walk through metal detectors. Football and basketball games have been held earlier and earlier in the day because of the fear of violence.

Smith asked his NAACP audience and Howard supporters to assist in making sure there is no violence whenever Brainerd and Howard play.

"Let me say this, and I hope you hear what I'm saying," said Smith. "When we do that, it has got to be a positive experience. ... We want kids to go to the football game and enjoy the game. Don't fight. Don't threaten. Don't get out in the parking lot and cause problems and hopefully nobody gets hurt."

Ricks also pushed them to get more people to attend Howard games.

"You can look around and can count the people in the stands at the Howard and Brainerd football game now," Ricks said. "So let's be real. I want the game back in place, but I need the community to start coming to the ball game."

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or call 423-757-6431.

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