Skip to main content
Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Opinion: Yes, Hamilton County commissioners voted to give ARP funds to a private inner-city school trying to make a difference

Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / 
Olivet Baptist Church is photographed Wednesday, January 30, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Olivet Baptist Church is photographed Wednesday, January 30, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Olivet Baptist Church is photographed Wednesday, January 30, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Among the resolutions adopted by the Hamilton County Commission on Wednesday was one to award the private King School $154,577 for its mission to provide an elementary education to inner city children.

The amount is from the federal American Rescue Plan stimulus funds awarded the county in 2021 for so-called COVID relief.

The King School, opened in the fall of 2019 to eventually become a K-5 academy in a partnership with Chattanooga Christian School, focuses on family, education, diversity, community and faith. It is located in Olivet Baptist Church and offers only one class per grade and 12 students per class.

The money, according to the president of Chattanooga Christian, will be used for items such as classroom furniture, curriculum materials and building maintenance.

Some may wonder — and at least one commissioner did — why taxpayer funds are being used to assist a private school.