With the cost of diesel fuel rapidly approaching $5 per gallon, would-be school board member Joe Dumas told members of the Red Bank Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, the Hamilton County Board of Education needs to rethink its policy of transporting some students to schools more than 20 miles from their homes.

For example, rather than providing bus transportation to Soddy Daisy schools for students zoned to Howard High, the UTC consumer science professor noted, the school board should spend that money improving Howard so residents of the community want their children to attend there.

On the other hand, the school board candidate said, there should not be stringent rules dictating which school a student must attend.

“If a parent from Red Bank wants to send their child to school on Signal Mountain and they’re willing to provide the transportation back and forth, then they should be able to do so,” he said.

Dr. Dumas’ opponent, incumbent board member Chip Baker, said decisions concerning individual schools should be made by the entire community, not just the school board.

And before any decisions are made, he added, officials should gather all the facts.

As former administrator of Children’s Hospital and the current head of Friends of the Festival, he said, he tries to approach questions such as the location of the proposed new Red Bank Middle School as a businessman, weighing costs and benefits of various options.

Transportation costs are one of the items that should be considered when deciding where to put the school, he noted.

During a recent public meeting, 100 percent of the people attending indicated they would like to see the school located on the Dayton Boulevard property where the town’s old Bi-Lo was located. The Red Bank Chamber of Commerce also has come out in favor of the Bi-Lo site.

If more studies confirm that a majority of Red Bank residents want the school built on the land where the now-defunct grocery store was located, Dr. Dumas said, then he will support that position.

Mr. Baker was chided by his opponent for using his position on the school board as a “stepping stone to the County Commission.”

Recently, Mr. Baker teamed up with a majority of board members to push through a vote to renew the current school superintendent’s contract two years before it expired, his opponent charged.

“It’s ironic that he wants to keep Superintendent (Jim) Scales here for another four years, but he isn’t willing to make a similar commitment to the school system himself,” Dr. Dumas said.

As he has been at previous meetings, the incumbent school board member was asked if it is true that he intends to run for the seat now held by County Commissioner Richard Casavant two years from now, rather than serve a full four years on the school board if he is reelected.

Once again, he refused to rule out such a County Commission candidacy.

If Mr. Baker did run successfully for the County Commission and resign his school board seat, Dr. Dumas noted, that would mean he would be one of the nine people who appointed his replacement on the school board.

And if that happens, the UTC professor said – even though Mr. Baker has said he does not favor appointed school boards – “that means that school board seat becomes an appointed position.”