The Chattanooga City Council will delay a vote concerning its position on state oversight plans for five struggling Hamilton County schools.
The Tennessee Department of Education has called for the creation of a special mini-district for Orchard Knob Elementary, Orchard Knob Middle, Woodmore Elementary, Dalewood Middle and Brainerd High.
Councilman Russell Gilbert, who sponsored a formal request for the state "to slow it down," said he wants to give the Hamilton County Board of Education a chance to discuss the matter first.
He called for the one-week delay at the request of his school board representative Karitsa Mosley Jones, Gilbert said.
"I will honor her for that reason, but I still feel the way I still feel about that we are asking them to slow it down," Gilbert said.
Gilbert would like the state to give Bryan Johnson, the county's new school superintendent, two years to make academic gains for the five schools.
On Monday, Mosley Jones said she would like the board to have a chance to "collectively discuss and share our thoughts."