Name: Susan Speraw
Resides in: Signal Mountain
Occupation: Retired professor from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Experience relevant to the committee: Developed and directed multiple federally funded programs, which included managing grants valued at millions of dollars.
Experience with Signal schools: Has grandchild currently attending Signal Mountain Middle/High School.
Quote: “I hope to use my skills to help this community, and to ultimately assure that current and future generations of our children have the best education available to them.”
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Name: John Friedl
Resides in: Signal Mountain
Occupation: Retired attorney; retired administrator and professor from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Experience relevant to the committee: Was responsible for a $60 million budget at UTC; has taken graduate-level courses in tax law and accounting.
Experience with Signal schools: N/A
Quote: “I do not have enough information to be able to form an opinion. That is one of the main reasons for my decision to volunteer for this task.”
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Name: Tom McCullough
Resides in: Chattanooga
Occupation: Retired school administrator
Experience relevant to the committee: Was principal at Hixson High; served as superintendent of two small school districts in Georgia, where he was responsible for preparing annual budgets; served eight years as dean of instruction at Chattanooga State Community College and five years as head of private David Brainerd Christian School in East Brainerd.
Experience with Signal schools: Served as SMMHS principal for three years; has four grandchildren in Signal schools. (His children went to Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences and Hixson High School.)
Quote: “Although I am under the impression that Signal schools would be better off independent, I am willing to see the totality of the information gathered and rethink my position.”
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Name: Thomas Peterson
Resides in: Walden
Occupation: Retired physician
Experience relevant to the committee: Current vice mayor of Walden; served on the board of directors for a multi-million dollar corporation.
Experience with Signal schools: N/A (His children attended Red Bank High.)
Quote: “As a Walden alderman [I want] to represent Walden students’ interests, serve as a communicator and elicit a fair evaluation of the issues, alternatives and consequences.”
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Name: Charles Spencer
Resides in: Signal Mountain; owns property in Walden
Occupation: Financial analyst at TVA
Experience relevant to the committee: Has performed economic growth analysis and budgeting at TVA for 40 years; has visited the Collierville, Tenn., school system to gain insight into the decision-making process that led to it becoming its own school district.
Experience with Signal schools: Taught at SMMHS for one year; his children attended Thrasher Elementary School, the former Signal Mountain Middle School and SMMHS (as well as The Bright School and Girls Preparatory School).
Quote: “Being a resident of Signal Mountain since 1989, I want only the best for our community.”
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Name: Amy Wakim
Resides in: Signal Mountain
Occupation: Consulting engineer
Experience relevant to the committee: Helped compiled preliminary research for group proposing school district split; MBA in finance; owned and operated an engineering consulting firm, where she maintained all accounting and tax records.
Experience with Signal schools: Has one child currently enrolled at Nolan Elementary School and two at SMMHS.
Quote: “I enjoy working with numbers and spreadsheets, which will be useful to this committee since there is a tremendous amount of financial data to sort through. . I am determined and work diligently to ensure the numbers generated make sense and there is a way to justify how they were developed.”
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Name: Melissa Wood
Resides in: Unincorporated Hamilton County on Signal
Occupation: Former educator; current full-time mother
Experience relevant to the committee: Was a certified teacher in Ohio, where she served on Gov. John Kasich’s Committee for Teacher Performance and Evaluation; M.A. in teaching, and began additional higher education for administrator’s certification, where she learned about operations and finances related to a school district.
Experience with Signal schools: Has children currently enrolled at Nolan Elementary.
Quote: “I’ve made a long-term commitment to Signal Mountain in purchasing a new home and immersing my children in this community. I want to see that the right decision is made for my children and all the families I’ve come to love.”
Source: School System Viability Committee applications