Patti SkatesThe four Hamilton County Board of Education members running for re-election this fall face competition, and across the county, people are calling this the most significant school board election in memory.
January changed the landscape for the upcoming election, which looked relatively uninteresting until the rape of an Ooltewah High School freshman, allegedly by three of his basketball teammates, just days before Christmas. The months after that incident spiked the community’s interest in the school system, and the school board’s leadership was challenged.
Looking ahead, the school board is expected to make a series of critical decisions about the district’s strategic vision and next leader. School board members Rhonda Thurman, Jonathan Welch, George Ricks and Donna Horn each hope they will still be helping make these decisions after the August election.
Many of the seven candidates who qualified to challenge the incumbents say they are running on a platform of change and progress, stating concerns about the district’s low test scores, school inequality, and a lack of effective leadership.
In District 1, Thurman faces competition from longtime local educator and politician Patti Skates and fireman Jason Moses.
This is Thurman’s fourth school board election, and she plans to continue speaking boldly on behalf of her district.
“This is the first time that we are going to be able to start fresh since I was on the school board,” Thurman said.
She hopes former Superintendent Rick Smith’s successor will be an outsider who can restructure the central office and not be afraid to change programs that aren’t’ working, specifically mentioning the district’s reading program.
Skates, the vice mayor of Soddy-Daisy, also works at Georgia Northwestern Technical College as a career transition specialist for dual enrollment students. She previously taught in several Hamilton County high schools and has been a Hamilton County Education Association board member for eight years.
“There needs to be a change,” Skates said. “This change must provide the best opportunity for the students in Hamilton County to prepare them for life after graduation.”
Skates said board members must work together to find solutions, adding that the Chattanooga 2.0 initiative provides insight into where the school system has room for improvement and what it is lacking.
Moses is a lieutenant with the Chattanooga Fire Department and a substitute teacher in Hamilton County Schools. He serves in the Parent Teacher Association at Falling Water Elementary, where two of his kids attend.
“I’m running because I want to get more stuff done for the students and teachers,” he said. “More support for the children.”
Thurman said she does not know Moses, but has concerns about Skates being elected because there are already several educators on the board, which she thinks needs to have more diverse opinions.