A Hamilton County school board member is raising concerns about the form students, staff and community members can use to anonymously submit tips to the school system.
In the past three years, Soddy Daisy High has received 180 tips, school board member Stave Slater, R-Soddy-Daisy, said. Sifting through them is time-consuming, and the majority are bogus, he said.
“The absolute libel of good, solid, role model coaches is just insane,” he said at Thursday’s school board meeting. “When I get an email from somebody and it’s from abc10987654321, I don’t even read that email because it’s anonymous basically. They don’t sign their name. It’s just a bogus email.
“Have the guts to put your name on something if you’re going to complain, or even better, pick up the phone,” he added. “Call the principal or call the coach and talk to them or send them an email instead of this crazy anonymous stuff going on.”
The link to Hamilton County Schools’ Quick Tip form is publicly posted on district websites, and anyone can use it to submit an anonymous tip to school and district officials. Those filling out the form select a school and topic, write a message and are given the option to upload photo evidence and leave their contact information.
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The form can be used to report situations such as bullying, hazing, cheating, school threats or any other concern someone does not feel comfortable reporting in person.
“It does take a lot of effort and a lot of time because when it gets submitted, we are going to investigate every one,” Superintendent Justin Robertson said.
The anonymous tip line was created by the district in 2016 after the Ooltewah High rape case. One of the takeaways from that incident, board attorney Scott Bennett said, was that the district needed to make it easier for students to speak up about things they didn’t want to have to attach their names to.
He acknowledged that the Quick Tips system was not perfect and does get abused and weaponized by some. Despite that, he advised the board to be reticent to change it.
The question, Bennett said, is what adjustments can be made to the system that won’t harm the integrity of the “safety release valve” it’s intended to be.
“This system is intended to be an avenue for someone to voice a concern where they don’t feel it’s safe for them to voice a concern,” he said. “My strong caution to the board and to the administration would be, whatever we do, we don’t want to lose that opportunity for someone to voice a legitimate concern, so I would say, tread carefully.”
Bennett noted that the elements school board members had concerns about were also a strength. Since the lack of accountability makes it easy to submit a tip, he said, the absence of those complaints can also be used to prove that the district hasn’t ignored something.
School board member Ben Connor, D-Chattanooga, said the board needs to ensure it’s not removing its ability to fix a major problem.
“There’s a possibility that we could hear some really meaningful things from somebody who just doesn’t want the attention,” he said. “So I’m cognizant of the fact that we have to sift through, but at the same time, I don’t want to miss something.”
If the district gets a credible tip, the school board expects that it will be tracked down to the very end, board member Larry Grohn, R-East Ridge, said. That’s a promise, he said, to all parents that the district will protect its students and staff.
“Don’t we live in a truly, sometimes can be depressing time, when we have to worry about people anonymously trying to destroy someone’s reputation,” he said. “It’s absolutely one of the worst things, I think, any individual can do. …. If it’s that important to you, you should be willing to identify yourself, because if it’s legitimate, we want to hear about it.”
Contact education reporter Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.