Though the Signal Mountain Town Council has disbanded the committee created to investigate the possibility of creating an independent school district, the local education advocacy group UnifiEd has offered to serve as a mediator for future community conversations.
During the public comment portion of Monday night’s council meeting, Alexa LeBoeuf, the director of community engagement and design for UnifiEd, announced the group’s desire to facilitate conversations about the highly contested topic, specifically among the council, the Friends of Signal Mountain (a group formed in support of an independent school district) and Stay with HCDE (the Hamilton County Department of Education), a group formed to oppose a split.
“It just seemed to be, since they were disbanding the School System Viability Committee, the right time to have a discussion,” said Dick Graham, one of UnifiEd’s APEX steering committee members. Graham, a longtime resident of Signal Mountain, approached UnifiEd about facilitating discussions on Signal Mountain.
“It’s been a heated conversation, one of the most divisive issues I’ve seen, and I’ve lived on the mountain for more than 30 years,” Graham said. “They’re good at organizing good conversation about issues.”
LeBoeuf echoed Graham’s sentiments and said UnifiEd’s mission is to facilitate and train community members to hold such conversations on their own.