The Hamilton County school board voted unanimously Thursday night to allow the district to hire a structural engineer to inspect aging concrete stadiums and outdoor structures at six area high schools.
The vote followed weeks of buzz across the county regarding the condition and future of deteriorating stands after East Ridge High School’s Raymond James Stadium was condemned in late August. Board members also discussed the future of that stadium.
“All of us know that we’ve pushed this issue of stadium problems as far as we can,” said board member David Testerman, who represents East Ridge. “I think we need to work quickly and timely to get this underway and out of the way. It’s been going on for a long time.”
Superintendent Rick Smith told the board that school officials expected the stadiums would require repair at some point, as many are more than a half century old. He asked the board to approve spending up to $10,000 for inspections so that the district could put together a repair timeline for the years ahead.
“East Ridge is kind of our first swing at this situation,” Smith said.
The list of which six stadiums would be inspected was not discussed in the meeting, but Justin Witt, director of maintenance and operations for Hamilton County Department of Education, previously said Lookout Valley, Hixson, Howard, Ooltewah and Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences were on the list.
Conversation in Thursday’s board meeting also focused on what the district planned to do with East Ridge’s condemned stadium. Smith asked the board to first consider liability and the need to demolish the existing stands. He suggested the demolition take place during Christmas break, estimating it will cost around $95,000.
Witt said constructing new, durable aluminum bleachers that seat 1,000 will cost about $300,000.
Testerman said he does not believe it is solely the Board of Education’s responsibility to foot the bill, and said he hopes to see Smith, the County Commission and the community work together to secure funding.
Smith agreed. He told the board that “sweat equity” is what has built previous stadiums like Signal Mountain, Red Bank and Hixson. He repeated his stance that he is not recommending the board spend large amounts of money on stadiums “when we have instructional needs in this county.”
County Commissioner Tim Boyd, who represents East Ridge, has been vocal about the need to replace the stadium, blaming the school district for not maintaining the current one. He stated last week that the County Commission and the city of East Ridge are willing to contribute funds, and are waiting on the superintendent’s lead.
Jonathan WelchNew leadership
Newly elected board Chairman Jonathan Welch proposed that a work session be held on Oct. 15 to further discuss “some significant facility needs” across the district.
Welch was voted to replace George Ricks as chairman in a 6-to-3 vote Thursday; and Donna Horn was elected in a 5-to-4 vote to remain in the vice-chairman’s seat.
After being elected chairman, Welch challenged the board to strive for excellence, crediting the good place the board is currently in to Ricks’ leadership.
Welch encouraged the board to work toward making Hamilton County the smartest district in the South.
“The questions this board asks and doesn’t ask shows what we value,” Welch said. “If we spend more time this evening and in the coming months discussing football stadiums than academics, we show our priority to be football.”
Shortly after those words, board member Rhonda Thurman followed through with Welch’s challenge, and questioned the state requirement that Hamilton County hire more assistant principals and teachers based on the number of students enrolled in schools.
“Requirements from the state level are costing us more and more money,” Thurman said. “Everything is so structured and so rigid,” she added, questioning how teachers can teach in an environment so tightly controlled by state mandates.
Board Member Steve Highlander agreed, and asked if the need to add 15.5 new positions in the district was a result of a state mandate. Smith answered that they were. Highlander said he is in favor of a small student to teacher ratio, but stated that he is concerned about the growing number of unfunded mandates issued from Nashville.
The board voted unanimously to hire the new positions, which are spread over eight schools, but made it clear that the continuing increase of state mandates is a problem.
Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.