A couple of weeks ago, members of the Hamilton County Board of Education and members of the Hamilton County Commission spent two hours talking about school buildings and maintenance.
The conversation was per usual. We have astronomical needs and not enough money. Nor enough leadership.
The take-away at the end of that first meeting was not a priority list or a plan, but rather a meager agreement to schedule another meeting.
That second meeting has not yet been scheduled. However, the County Commission's finance and education committees met last week. If anything, there was less give and take at that meeting. Instead, County Commissioner Tim Boyd forged ahead, putting his own "action plan" on the table.
Boyd, who represents East Ridge, claimed the county can cut $4.1 million from some county funding sacred cows to help pay for about $43.1 million in new bond debt that would be used for a new elementary school, a new sports complex at Howard High School, several track facilities and expenses associated with his proposed relocation and expansion of Chattanooga School for Liberal Arts to Dalewood Middle School.
It is hardly a perfect plan - seemingly heavy on sports fields and light on the bricks and mortar of operational education.
It also seems destined to face opposition from those who will not like the plan's cash losers. Boyd has proposed slicing county funding from several areas: The Chamber of Commerce, cut about 15 percent; the Convention and Visitors Bureau, cut 29 percent; the Humane Educational Society, cut nearly 20 percent; the city/county planning commission, cut 13 percent; Enterprise Nature Park, cut 29 percent; other county commissioners, who face eliminated discretionary funds as well as a 30 percent reduction in travel allowances. County funding for the Enterprise Center, the Urban League and Read 20 would be eliminated from the county budget under Boyd's proposal.
There it was - like a hand grenade thrown on the table for those nearby to grab and throw or run from.
Boyd acknowledged that the plan might be "a hard pill to swallow," but he said he is trying to jumpstart the next conversation between the commission and the school board.
"We have done an incredibly good job on every aspect of economic development, tourist development, you name it," Boyd told the committee members. "We've done a great job in Hamilton County, but we have done a poor job of keeping up with our facility needs and maintenance for our schools."
Commission Vice Chairman Greg Beck questioned the CSLA relocation, asking about the ethnic breakdown of the CSLA students who would displace the Dalewood students. Students at Dalewood, which is underutilized, would be moved to Brainerd High School.
Jill Levine, chief academic officer for Hamilton County Schools, called Dalewood Middle and Brainerd High both "fragile" schools that are working to get off the state's lowest-performing schools list.
Commissioner Greg Martin slammed Boyd's plan to eliminate Read 20 and protested that Boyd's plan was more like a press conference than a meeting, since members were left with little time for discussion.
But Boyd deserves credit for igniting a debate. Parents have tried. School officials have tried. These editorial pages have tried. Now the gauntlet is down, and as Boyd says, "Let the conversation begin "
This is a good start, but a start is all it is. What's more, this is a start only looking at school facilities - not the nitty-gritty of quantity and quality of teachers, administrators and improved teaching policy.
Our county's school problems have been too long ignored - and too long nickled and dimed. It's nice to hope - and try - to fix the pickle we've put our children and business community in without raising taxes.
But let's be honest: It's highly likely that we can't just "cut" our way to enough new funds to get us out of this bleak corner where Hamilton County employers can't find enough young graduates with adequate job skills to fill positions.
Boyd has done the right thing by taking this first painful step.
Let's join him with some spirited discussion and innovative ideas.