Supt. Rick Smith sits with his attorney, Leah Gerbitz, before the county school board. The board voted 5-4 not to accept his buyout offer, but also did not move to fire him.
The County School Board on Monday afternoon voted 5-4 not to buy out the contract of Supt. Rick Smith.
Voting against were Rhonda Thurman, Karitsa Mosley, Donna Horn, Greg Martin and Steve Highlander.
In favor of the buyout were Joe Galloway, David Testerman, George Ricks and Chairman Jonathan Welch..
Dr. Martin then made a motion to terminate Mr. Smith, but it did not get a second.
The buyout offer had included a $239,000 payout toward remaining years on his contract.
Dr. Highlander made a motion to continue negotiations, but that did not get a second.
Supt. Smith sat at the front of the room with his attorney, Leah Gerbitz, during the session. He did not comment.
Afterward, he was he was not ready to make a response, saying he needed "some think time." He indicated he would do so on Tuesday.
Mr. Galloway said, "If Supt. Smith is going to be the superintendent, then we need to all get behind him. I hate to see the man's family getting raped and just raked over the coals."
He added, "I'm sticking behind him. If we don't get behind him, then we got nothing."
Mr. Galloway said he had never wanted Sjupt. Smith to leave, saying he had gotten excellent evaluations for five years. He said the move to oust him "came after three people did something stupid. And all of a sudden he's inept." He referred to the incident just before Christmas when three Ooltewah High basketball team members were charged with the rape of a 15-year-old team member.
Mr. Ricks said, "I've said all along let's hug and all get along."
He said Supt. Smith needs to improve his communication with the board and strengthen his staff.
Ms. Horn also said that communication with the board has been a problem. She said she learns most information about the schools from the news media.
Ms. Mosley said members of the public did not favor a buyout. She said she felt the money paid could be put to much better use in some of the schools.
Mr. Testerman said , "Something's missing. We've got to reach out to the community and find out what it is. We've got to stop beating each other up."
He said the school board is "still in a state of limbo."
Ms. Thurman said she had been longtime friends with Rick Smith, but she said, "He is the one who asked to leave. He can leave, but I don't think we should have to pay him to leave."
She said a lawsuit between the board and Supt. Smith "could cost us a lot of money. Every attorney I've talked to says it has to be a pattern, not just one incident.."
Ms. Thurman said, "We haven't been holding the central office accountable."
Dr. Martin said, "Many times I have been left in the dark and found out about it on the news. That has to change."
Dr. Highlander said, "The taxpayers have spoken out loudly that they are tired of buyouts."
He said he feels that teacher morale "is the lowest I've seen in my 43 years."
Ms. Thurman and Dr. Highlander said central office personnel need to work to help teachers, rather than arbitrarily penalizing them.
Mr. Galloway, concerning a morale problem, said, "This testing is a nightmare. It's a joke. This did not come from the superintendent. It came from the state."
Chairman Welch said the results highlighted in the Chattanooga 2.0 study "are also a legitimate concern."
The board earlier asked for applicants for interim superintendent and had been set to meet Thursday to consider the applicants.