Hamilton County Board of Education attorney Scott Bennett now will get paid $20,000 a month, and that might not cover everything.
The school board approved a new agreement Thursday with Bennett, of Bennett & DeCamp PLLC, but the agreement excludes some special education cases. Those are some of the longest and costliest cases with which the board has been involved. Though board members were puzzled earlier this year by Bennett’s actions on Ooltewah High School rape litigation, they unanimously approved the agreement.
Hamilton County Schools’ legal costs
December 2016: $23,111January 2017: $25,697February 2017: $19,313March 2017: $16,978April 2017: $39,976May 2017: $27,133June 2017: $30,295July 2017: $42,680August 2017: $25,666September 2017: $23,248October 2017: $39,938November 2017: $26,532December 2017: $24,418January 2018: $9,085>February 2018: $22,358March 2018: $25,193Source: Hamilton County Board of Education documents
Bennett pitched the agreement to the board as a savings: Last year, the district spent more than $364,000 on legal services, all but $3,400 of which went to Bennett and his firm. The new agreement could save the board $100,000 a year, unless the district is involved in a special education case that goes to court.
Bennett defended the agreement, saying those cases can be time consuming.