Vice Chair Gary Kuehn, R-Ooltewah, will seek a second term on the Hamilton County school board in 2026.
Kuehn, who was first elected in 2022, said he is running again because he believes he still has some experience and expertise to offer.
“I know the schools,” he said by phone. “I know the administrators in the schools. Many of the teachers were students of mine, and many of the teachers were parents of students that I had. I have a very good relationship with them, and I think they know that I care about the kids and I care about the schools and the teachers and the administrators and want to do what’s best for our students and parents.”
In a rematch of the 2022 Republican primary, Kuehn and James Walker of Birchwood are both seeking to represent District 9 on the school board. The district includes the Birchwood and Harrison areas.
The primary election is set for May 5.
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Before retiring, Kuehn, 66, spent 40 years as a teacher and administrator in Hamilton County Schools — the vast majority of which was in District 9 schools.
Having someone with educational experience on the board helps provide some insight, Kuehn said. He noted that he gets asked a lot of questions by other board members to gain more in-depth information if they’re not sure about something.
“In many cases, the types of policies that we’re setting up, it’s good to share sometimes from the perspective of the administrator or the teachers,” he said. “When you haven’t been an educator, sometimes it’s hard to get the real picture unless you spend time in the classrooms, and that time needs to be more than one day or a period or a few hours.”
If reelected, Kuehn said one of his priorities will be expanding the district’s career and technical education offerings, known as Future Ready programs. When the school system was working to open its second centralized hub where multiple schools send students to learn skills for a variety of career fields, Kuehn said he provided some guidance based on his experience as a former principal at the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center.
He hopes to play a part as the district creates its third Future Ready center.
“There’s huge data that says if a student picks an area that they’re interested in, then their grades and their success will be greatly increased,” Kuehn said. “That’s what the Future Ready career pathway does. It allows them to have choice in what they want to do.
“Not everyone is geared toward college, but what’s nice is that many of our Future Ready programs are either geared toward college or they’re geared toward associate’s degree or even apprenticeships and internship programs,” he continued. “So it just gives that choice and the school choice option … gives the kid a big boost to get things going in their lives.”
Other areas he’s focused on include ensuring teachers get their pay increases based on years of service, increased support for exceptional education and continued funding for school maintenance projects. Kuehn has served as chair of the board’s Facilities Committee for the past two years.
He also hopes to work toward giving teachers more autonomy.
“We have many teachers that have lost the joy of teaching,” he said. “That’s what we need to look at for my next four years is how I can lead or champion the crusade to allow teachers to have the autonomy to teach.”
Contact education reporter Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.
