Roy Exum: School Board Can’t Wait

  • Monday, December 5, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

It took the Hamilton County School board nine months before the group hired a search firm to find a new superintendent. But you mark my words – the Department of Education will undoubtedly implode if our leaders wait another nine months simply hoping for some type of mystical salvation. In the last week Signal Mountain leaders have all but given notice they will form their own district and there are more communities thinking the same within our county boundaries than we had forest fires three weeks ago.

After a searing letter from one of the top teachers ever – Cheryl Roddy – publicly disclosed a marked lack of discipline at East Ridge High over the weekend (see Chattanoogan opinion: ‘Why Our Schools Stink’), the townspeople of East Ridge are growling they will do the same thing, that the HCDE isn’t going to dump any more “troublemakers” in their elementary, middle or high schools. And a flood of emails following the East Ridge expose reveals discipline is one of the most universal problems through the district.

Red Bank officials, with new growth virtually assured, are watching Signal Mountain’s exit strategy like angry lions. Why? Geographically, the East Brainerd-Ooltewah area is so saturated with new homes that the county’s population growth is shifting right up Highway 27. Red Bank, Soddy, Bakewell and Sale Creek will be flooded with students within the next 10 years.

Follow the money. More students equals more state and county funding. Why split it with those who only drag down test scores and more? Red Bank, just like East Ridge, has seen its schools erode with “outsiders” being bused to avoid gang conflicts in the inner-city schools. I’m telling you what I know. And, if you can’t guess, that dance is about up, too. Study the Memphis public schools over the past five years. It’s plain to see.

It is rumored Soddy Daisy and Sale Creek will form a coalition of a district. Further, after a basketball player at Ooltewah High was raped by “outsider” teammates this time last year, it’s an easy bet schools in the Ooltewah-Collegedale section have had enough. To wit: the Ooltewah community is 97 percent white. There were eight blacks, most attending Ooltewah on “hardships,” on the 14-man squad. The ringleader was a troublemaker from the inner city. For all practical purposes, experiments in sociology are over.

Then there is this: We have five iZone schools in Hamilton County that will most assuredly be taken over by the state. The Hamilton County Department of Education will have no say, no vote, no control and absolutely no state or county money. Those running the “poor” schools will get every dime. I am told with good authority the “grab” is going to happen right after the first of the year.

My Einstein question? Which schools will remain for this new superintendent to “super?” As Nero has been fiddling, the city has been burning, brother. In candor, the school board must act quickly and decisively because what we know as the Hamilton County Department of Education will soon be a shell of what it is today. Big people must take big steps in a big hurry.

For starters, I doubt that anyone can find a quality superintendent with so much uncertainty brewing. Not one member of the current school board would dare be the superintendent – book it -- yet they throw $65-large at some search gurus while ignoring the cancer. This is preposterous and I’m telling you that we are on a collision course with an iceberg. The future is now.

Board Chairman Steve Highlander has no choice, in my opinion. In light of what has happened in just the past two weeks, from the bus wreck to the beginning exodus and Mrs. Roddy’s expose, he must call an emergency meeting and show both parents and the community something tangible to quell an uprising. Nine months from now everything will have changed.  

I still think the first answer is to give Interim Superintendent Kirk Kelly a two-year-contract, which will allow the turmoil to settle. Before we let our best schools slip away, give Kirk and his leaders the power to take hard and harsh steps to return normalcy to a system that is now anything but. Send kids back to their zoned schools over the Christmas break. Ask the governor for the National Guard and put a soldier in every classroom. Ban all cell phones during school hours. You simply have no choice. If a kid refuses to give up a cell phone, tell the child you hope he’ll like the next school that will have him.

The stark truth! Up until this minute, mind you, not one soul in our county is accepting any accountability for what has happened within our school system in the past year. With no accountability, there can be no responsibility. Mayor Jim Coppinger? “They have their own elected board. Our hands are tied. All we do is provide the money,” he said. The County Commission? Ditto. Let’s empower the mayor and the commissioners – they have a stake in this catastrophe.

Kelly, because he is a candidate for the permanent job, is understandably leery of making waves. “I am answerable to the school board,” he opines. Then, by Jehoshaphat, the school board should make him answer!

Great goodness, we need a leader to act. We need to know why that contract bus driver was still employed. We need to know why Woodmore leaders were ignored. Why didn’t Durham Bus receive the complaints the very same day? We should have had those responsible in a tote sack the next day but what dramatic steps have you seen since our senseless tragedy? Maybe I missed it.

The school board cannot agree on anything but it is strongly believed the majority believe in the third finalist, retired Marine Corps Col. Shaun Sadler. He would be my Director of Operations by Friday. Put him at a table with Dr. Kelly, Jill Levine, Justin Robertson, Zac Brown and Lee McDade and I’m thinking we have a chance.

Wait another nine months for a superintendent who doesn’t know his way from the Read House to Bonny Oaks and we have no chance. Not a cut dog’s chance.

* * *

SOME SELECT EMAILS FROM A PILE THIS WEEKEND

These are some excerpts of few of many emails from actual teachers. They have been edited to redact all identities – I don’t have permission to disclose private emails. But I think you will see why I am Chicken Little and believer the sky may be falling.

* * *

“Just to be fair… there are other schools/classrooms where the students don’t think they have to listen to substitutes. I have been a sub, and they are numerous. Maybe Ms. Roddy can investigate (now that she’s not an HCDE employee) the … principal at [redacted].  From what I hear many teachers, if not all, are tremendously frustrated and/or miserable. After just a couple weeks people are already planning to retire or change school systems. And like all other employees are afraid of losing their jobs if they complain. (Many teachers quit at another school this person directed.) Something is wrong with a system that allows this person to remain in administration. I won’t give specifics, as they would be third party statements. But something needs to be done about a person that can destroy a school in a matter of weeks.

* * *

“I am a teacher in Hamilton County Schools. I believe you totally missed the elephant in the room. CELL PHONES. I am seriously planning to retire as soon as possible now totally over the change that cell phones have made in the atmosphere. It is not the fault of the school board, teachers, etc. It is simply impossible to compete with the cell phone.

“I suggest you walk up to your grandchild or any other teen you may know and attempt to take their phone from them. Good luck. They are permanently attached to their hands. EVERY time you turn around they're checking it. If you question them they'll say, "It's my mom texting me" and half the time it is! They sign up for on-line classes and they can cheat their way through easily. They screen shot the tests and have constant interaction with others taking the tests. It is a survival skill for them and they can't understand why anyone cares.

“I watched a news video of the young white man that was shot by a policeman after a traffic stop when the youth insisted on filming the entire event with his phone. The policeman repeatedly told him to put down the phone and he wouldn't. When the policeman finally kicked the phone away the young man went into a rage and attacked the policeman. I was not surprised. That is how violently they will act if you take their phones.

“Now, start a new campaign. If you're willing to be the bad guy and get those things out of our schools again I'll be pulling for you, but I would be terrified to stand next to you. Good luck.”

* * *

“I have actually known Cheryl Roddy (for years) … very professional and well prepared … Her statements are absolutely true …

“Much of what Cheryl has said is indicative of what is happening in so many of our schools and much of what is happening can be traced back to home environments and expectations.  (I am not excusing poor performance by students or administration, but feel that it is something that is somewhat system wide.) 

“Yes, there are some ineffective teachers and administrators out there, but there is general disrespect for all teachers.  There are many good, young teachers, but so many of them have not had widespread personal experiences which can be used to enhance their teaching.  They feel they need a teacher's manual that they can follow like following a recipe.  Much of this comes from a fear that they will not be on the correct page, paragraph, etc. in case an administrator makes an unexpected classroom visit, that they will be accused of not properly preparing students for  those "stupid tests", or heaven forbid they will not have a contract renewed.

“Dr.  Jesse Register once commented to me shortly after he came to Chattanooga that a major problem in our schools was that a large percentage of the parents of students did not even have a high school diploma and that until we found a way to remedy that lack of education which would also help them to succeed in better jobs, there was a greater difficulty in seeing student improvement.  I think that is somewhat true.” 

“There is a fear among teachers about losing their jobs because of some complaint from a student, parent, or administrator.  I had several of those instances when I was in the classroom or the counselor's office.  However, I think you have known me long enough to know, that I was rarely "cowed" into back-peddling.  It is a somewhat different ballgame today when students and parents feel that they can control every outcome of questions about student behavior and that their student is always right.

“We have a lot to do with regaining control of our students and helping them to see the relevance of education.  I think this is something that we need to get back to.”

* * *

“This article is … is absolutely spot on for the new norm and culture of East Ridge Schools. I and my siblings all attended East Ridge schools even though we lived in East Brainerd because it was a great and well respected community and school. We wanted to go there, even to the point of turning down private education form some of Chattanooga's most prominent schools. I volunteered coached and substitute taught there for a short period as well. It only took a short amount of time for me to realize how bad and problematic the school had become and I wanted nothing to do with where it was and the direction it was headed. The attitude of the kids was exactly as Mrs. Roddy explains and the administration was a joke! I have personally witnessed the downward spiral of East Ridge schools for the last two decades. It seems that with every administration change the school gets worse and the changes come quite often. It is a sad situation and I am afraid it is going to get worse before it gets better! If there is not a major change like the ones mentioned in Mr. Exums article, East Ridge will be the worst school in Chattanooga, period.”

* * *

“The East Ridge teachers are rated as ineffective but teaching is impossible in this type of culture and climate. I used to work at East Ridge and now I'm at [redacted.] When I transferred, my level of effectiveness jumped up from a 1-2 to a five. I didn't suddenly become a great teacher at [redacted.] The difference is that at [redacted], I am actually able to teach. Somebody needs to do a study comparing teacher effectiveness for teachers who have transferred to another school. I have a lot of friends still at East Ridge who are so discouraged and are so tired of being blamed for student scores. They work very hard and are excellent teachers but are in an impossible situation.”

* * *

“As a forty year veteran of school systems, 25 teaching chemistry and physics and 15 in administration (mostly dealing with discipline), I can tell you that until discipline is achieved, few if any teachers can be fully effective. I understand the concerns expressed in the letter.”

* * *

“I am a teacher in Hamilton County … Do you realize that there are busloads of kids from different zones that attend schools out of their neighborhoods?

“Furthermore, it is a known fact that applying for and getting a "hardship" to attend any school of choice is a mere rubber stamp. There is no discussion or usually no denial for anyone who wants to go to a school outside of their area. For years kids from Brainerd have gone all over the county. At one time, Brainerd had 1,000 students and now it hovers around 500. Where have the others gone? Red Bank, Central and a huge draw is East Ridge, which is a 5 minute ride across the interstate. Because Brainerd has failed tests so many years and has been on every negative list imagined, the students are able to attend a different school with basically no questions asked -- and the schools have to take them.

“What's more is that Signal Mountain was built as a means of "white flight." In the early-to-mid 2000s, Howard students were pouring into Red Bank because they could attend there (and Hamilton County had to provide transportation) because their home school was on some sort of list for No Child Left Behind (and still is).

“Furthermore, Signal Mountain is an IB school. Battle Academy, downtown, is also an IB school (for elementary students). Because they attend Battle, they may continue in the IB program and therefore go to Signal Mountain for middle school. It's no doubt that a majority of the students there are minorities. Creating their own school district is a way to eliminate those kids from going to the mountain.

“Same for East Ridge. Probably a large number of the kids at East Ridge High are from Brainerd. They slip right over from their zone with little to no hassle or question. If East Ridge creates its own school district, it can easily kick out the Brainerd kids which have been pulling their school down for a while now. Who are the Brainerd kids? The black kids, mostly.

“Schools all over the county are absorbing students from the failing schools of Tyner, Howard and Brainerd. The Tyner kids were shipped to Central when THS became "Tyner Academy" and a magnet school. That was a way of Tyner getting rid of their worst students who were not "magnet worthy" and made Central take them. Remember when Central was in the news all the time about fights and problems? Well it wasn't the white kids who lived in Harrison who were the problem.

“In addition, Red Bank had two busloads of kids from College Hill Courts in the mid-2000s because Howard was so bad and again on every negative list. It's not a coincidence that Signal Mountain opened soon after the Howard kids enrolled at RBHS.

“Look closer. There's more to having city schools for Signal Mountain and East Ridge than test scores.”

* * *

Don’t say you weren’t warned. Once again, the future is now.

royexum@aol.com

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