When the Hamilton County Commission approved a near $100 million increase for Hamilton County Schools a year ago, an increase that funded 529 new positions, the intimation by the school district was that the increase would really move the needle.
It would fund additional social emotional learning needs, the expectation went, but also important classroom requirements. And improved social emotional learning, it was said, would lead to improved classroom learning.
Fast forward a year and the release of the 2023-2024 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) district test scores. Though the district, as any district would, accentuated the positive, its worksheet showed more negatives than positives.
The 18.9% higher budget and the new positions resulted in proficiency scores lower year over year in 14 grade categories and higher in 11. Overall, the district saw small proficiency decreases in English language arts, science and social studies. Math scores will be released in late fall after the state Department of Education reassesses its math standards.
The scores came at a particularly bad time for the district, just days after it voted to send the County Commission a budget that requests a $21 million increase in local funding — instead of a lower amount Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson had negotiated — and just days before the commission votes on the overall county budget.