Several Hamilton County school board members are riled up about a resolution to build a new press box at Ooltewah High School that's up for vote by the Hamilton County Commission on Wednesday.
At last week's agenda session, District 9 Commissioner Chester Bankston proposed a resolution to spend $182,598 on a new press box, igniting debate among commissioners that since has spread to the school board.
Hamilton County District 9 Commissioner Chester Bankston speaks during a meeting at the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department Bob Scott Training Center on Monday, Dec. 10, 2018 in Ooltewah, Tenn.The school board hasn't voted on a press box project at Ooltewah, and many said they hadn't heard talk of it until after Bankston's proposal.
"I am disappointed in the way that it has been handled from the aspect of the county commission. In the past, we have set up a structure for how capital projects come through the school board," said District 8 board member Tucker McClendon. "I wasn't made aware of this until after the county commission meeting."
District 3 board member Joe Smith echoed McClendon's disappointment and said there are needs in every district across the county.
"I'm disappointed in the way it's been handled, and we have tremendous needs across the district," Smith said. "It would have been nice for the school board to know about this beforehand."
Smith pointed out the need for lights at a ballfield at Loftis Middle School and the fact Sale Creek Middle/High School doesn't even have a field on which to play.
District 1 board member Rhonda Thurman has for years been particularly vocal about Sale Creek's lack of a field.
"It makes me angry because we have a priority list of things that need to be done and we do that for different reasons. Right now, there is a situation where one school doesn't even have a football school, and to think we are going to spend $180,000 on a school that already has a field and a press box," Thurman said. "I don't like the fact that commissioners can get together and get their buddies and vote for something."
These concerns also were raised by commissioners last week. District 3 Commissioner Greg Martin and District 8 Commissioner Tim Boyd both objected to funding the project, which was not on the 2018-19 approved budget and which the school board had not proposed.
The school board recently approved a nearly $338,000 contract with MGT Consulting Group to conduct an audit of all school facilities, as well as an another approximately $180,000 to study future growth and safety designs of schools. Preliminary results of the assessment will be available to inform the 2019-20 budget, and board members hope to create a priority list of capital needs based on the audit.
"It is my understanding that the school board recently hired a consultant to spend I think it is around half a million dollars to study the different needs of our school facilities, and I'm wondering why we are considering jumping that process," Martin said at the agenda meeting. "I don't think this has come before our finance department, I don't think the school board is making this request, I don't think this should be our process to pick a project and just do it."
District 2 school board member Kathy Lennon said the district is hoping the audit will inform upcoming capital decisions.
"We are working really hard to build our relationships with the county commissioners and I don't want this to draw a wedge between us, but I think it is important to let us go through this facilities building assessment," Lennon said. "I would really like to see what that study brings because we are really doing our due diligence. I would think the county commissioners would like to see what [it] says."
At last week's agenda session, District 1 Commissioner and Vice Chairman Randy Fairbanks challenged Martin's objection, but it is unclear where votes stand on the resolution.
If the funding - which would come from a line of credit, or bond funds - is approved by the commission, it will go back to the school board for final approval. The school board would vote at its next regular monthly meeting on Feb. 21.
Contact staff writer Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.