North Hamilton County community conversations
North River Civic Center, 1009 Executive Drive, Tuesday, March 22 at 6 p.m.Red Bank High School Media Center, 640 Morrison Springs Road, Thursday, April 7 at 6 p.m.
East Hamilton community conversations
Heritage House, 1428 Jenkins Road, Tuesday, April 5 at 6 p.m.
Metro community conversations
New Covenant Fellowship Church, 1326 N. Moore Road, Monday, March 21 at 6 p.m.Brainerd Crossroads, 4011 Austin St., Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m.
The Hamilton County Board of Education’s decision to keep Schools Superintendent Rick Smith in place, at least for now, has not seriously affected UnifiEd’s planned community forums to discuss what parents and members of the school system want from their superintendent.
UnifiEd Executive Director Elizabeth Crews reported last week, following the board’s 5-4 vote against the proposed buyout of Smith’s contract, that while meetings scheduled for March 17 and 18 have been postponed without rescheduled dates as of yet, all the other community discussions will take place as planned.
UnifiEd is a community movement working toward improving Chattanooga’s public school system however they can. In light of the scandal surrounding the alleged rape of an Ooltewah High School student and the public’s cry that Smith step down or be removed, the education advocacy group planned meetings in communities around the Greater Chattanooga area.
“Right now, the focus of the meetings has not changed,” said Crews. “We’ll be talking about the superintendent we want to see, asking the community what they want from a superintendent and how we want to be involved in the process of finding one.”
UnifiEd has taken a position that, regardless of what happens with Smith, it’s imperative for the community to have a say in the matter of who the superintendent is and what they expect from them. While Crews said the organization has not formally come out in opposition to Smith, they are asking the school board to revisit their decision last Monday to keep him as acting superintendent.
School board members Steve Highlander, Donna Horn, Karitsa Mosley, Rhonda Thurman and Martin voted against the buyout. Each of them said their constituents did not want Smith to be offered $269,000 to leave his job.
Greg Martin’s motion to fire Smith for cause did not receive a second.
The school board’s attorney said in the future, either the school board or Smith can propose that a new separation agreement be drafted, but at this time Smith remains superintendent.
“I plan on staying and won’t ask the board to renegotiate a buyout,” Smith said after the vote. He said he plans to remain the school system’s leader until the summer of 2019, when his contract is set to expire.
Staff writer Kendi Anderson contributed to this story.