The assault case at Ooltewah High School diverted attention from an education initiative aimed at improving Hamilton County’s workforce, but it hasn’t stopped forward motion, city officials said Thursday.
“Has that been a distraction?” Bill Kilbride asked of the abuse scandal that arose during the school’s basketball team trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., just before Christmas.
“Yes, it has,” he said. “But has that caused us to lose anything? No, it hasn’t.”
Kilbride, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, was not the only official to discuss Ooltewah during Thursday’s Rotary Club of Chattanooga rollout of Chattanooga 2.0, a report released in December that highlights the public school system’s failure to produce qualified graduates in Hamilton County’s improving economy.
Jared Bigham, the executive director of Chattanooga 2.0, told the Rotary Club members the tragic events of Ooltewah affected the initiative’s planning. Superintendent Rick Smith was also present Thursday, hours before the Hamilton County Board of Education voted to pursue a separation agreement with him.