Members of the Hamilton County Board of Education and Hamilton County Commission discussed at a joint meeting Tuesday the pros and cons of splitting the county into 11 school board districts, which would result in adding two more seats to the school board.
Hamilton County Election Commission administrator Scott Allen said that in light of the county commission discussing its own expansion to 11 districts, it would initially cause confusion for voters if the number of school districts remained at nine.
Board attorney Scott Bennett said the law allows for the number of board seats to differ from the number of county commission seats, but that the current number of nine school board seats must remain unless the Tennessee General Assembly approves a change.
An act passed by the Legislature in 1992 says the number of school board members in Hamilton County should be equal to the number of county commission districts, but Bennett said the act no longer holds, "because the General Assembly adopted a new legislative scheme that shifted us just from the old system of appointed school board members to elected school board members. That fixed us at whatever number we had back in '93, and that number was nine."
Board member Marco Perez of Signal Mountain mentioned an ongoing concern that proposed maps split feeder schools from high schools and referenced a comment made by Commissioner Randy Fairbanks, R-Soddy-Daisy, last week about the breadth of his district.
"He was the one who explained that 'It'll take me an hour to drive across my district,' and my concern with that is how well I can serve a population that is that distant from me, especially since some of them don't feed into any of the schools I serve," Perez said.
Board member Tiffanie Robinson of Chattanooga said she has the most schools in her district and she represents about 7,000 students, which is about 16% of the district's 44,000 students.
"It doesn't feel equitable to me. It feels like I have one vote, but I make up a very large portion of our student population," Robinson said.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / From left, county commissioner David Sharpe and school board chairman Tucker McClendon confer during the meeting. The Hamilton County Board of Education and Hamilton County Commission held a joint meeting, at the school board, to discuss redistricting and how it affects schools October 26,2021."Personally, I think that it would be more equitable to create another district out of my district, and I think it actually accomplishes a lot of things for the commission and for the board, and I'm not territorial over what schools stay in my area whether District 4 gets split this way or that way, it doesn't matter to me personally, but the way that you guys are going right now in my district, I'm fine with it."
Board member James Walker of Birchwood said that for election purposes, it made sense to expand the number of school board seats to 11 to match the 11-district commission option.
Elections assistant administrator Nate Foster said updating the voter registration software to accommodate any changes to school districts would take about 30 days.
Board Chairman Tucker McClendon of East Ridge said he was leaning toward staying with nine school board districts because adding more board members might turn off potential candidates for a new superintendent.
"If we go to 11, we'll be the only large district [in Tennessee] ... that would have more than nine school board members," McClendon said.
At last week's commission meeting, county commission Chair Sabrena Smedley, R-Ooltewah, said the commission would vote on the redistricting plan Nov. 2, a six-day extension from the previously decided voting date of Oct. 27.
(READ MORE: Questions arise about impact on schools from Hamilton County redistricting)
The commission's three Democratic members - Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, Katherlyn Geter, D-Ridgeside, and David Sharpe, D-Chattanooga, thought Nov. 2 was too soon to vote and said they and their constituents had unanswered questions about the boundaries on the proposed 11-district map.
"Many of us have continued to have conversations with our constituents, and the constituents are voicing concerns. For example, when you look at the lines, and when they begin to become jagged and distorted, it implies something about gerrymandering," Mackey said.
County legislative bodies - in this case, the Hamilton County Commission - typically assign school board districts, according to the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. In Hamilton County, there are currently nine commission districts and nine school board districts.
The commission will hold its next redistricting workshop Wednesday at 11 a.m. after unrelated meetings starting at 9:30 a.m.
Contact Anika Chaturvedi at achaturvedi@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.