Roy Exum
As the Hamilton County School Board is preparing to pick from three finalists for the position of interim superintendent, there comes a hazy but disturbing tale that the leading candidate, Dr. Kirk Kelly, got “kicked up the ladder” in the school system some years ago after he was found guilty of mistreating a teacher while principal at Alton Park Elementary.
It seems that after he tried to cover up the fact that a student brought a knife to school – refusing to call both school and law enforcement authorities -- about 15 years ago (“It makes us look bad,” is the usual reason given in the system), the aghast teacher called the police herself. According to reliable sources, Kelly was so indignant he made her life miserable for the rest of the school year. Word around the camp fire is that he even made ugly faces at her in the hall, court records show, and gave her such poor rating she was not rehired.
The teacher, understandably flummoxed, then hired a lawyer ---crafty little fellow named Andy Berke – who won the victim an alleged $125,000 settlement and approximately $20,000 in back pay. Kelly was transferred to the central office, where purportedly a number of other principals at failing schools have been destined over the years. Berke has since become mayor of the city and it is believed his relationship with Kelly since the courtroom bashing has remained a bit chilled.
Last Thursday, just one week after his name was submitted as a candidate, Kelly was the lone unanimous pick by the nine school board members as a finalist while Jill Levine and Shaun Sadler received five votes apiece. One school board member, David Testerman, actually used the dreadful “art of the single shot” for Kelly, voting only for Kelly while all of the other candidates become “un-cast,” don’t you see?
George Ricks, whose school board district (read: ‘voters’) includes the area with Levine’s Normal Park Magnet Elementary School, obviously listed Levine along with Kelly in his “soft shoe” ballot of a double shot. Ricks, however, is well-noted for carrying a deck of race cards and, since Kelly is the lone black candidate among the three, Ricks’ vote after this Thursday’s round of 15-minute interviews is expected to be a delight to watch unfold.
Since none of the current school board members was seated at the time of Kelly’s loathsome behavior as a principal, it is believed they were just as surprised – and further embarrassed -- as the revelation of Kelly’s attempted cover-up, his teacher abuse, and the district’s subsequent court penalties have returned to the light.
In an informal poll now on Chattanoogan.com, Levine was leading the public’s view yesterday afternoon with Sadler, a retired Marine Corps colonel, also well ahead of Kelly. The current plan is to have the three candidates each speak in public forum in a special called meeting of the school board at the Department of Education campus at 3 o’clock Thursday.
There is no way to know how the board will react to Kelly’s censure but school insiders say that Kelly is the overwhelming choice of those in the central office and the very visible “good ole boy” network. School board members Testerman and Joe Galloway defended the ousted Rick Smith until the shame became too great and it is said Smith’s wife, in a post on Facebook, wrote bitterly that some of the former superintendent’s associates had turned against him.
Because of the uproar that has continued since a sensational rape by teammates on the Ooltewah High basketball team at Christmas, a Chattanooga 2.0 assessment of the Hamilton County Department of Education has amply illustrated why the district is the worst among metro school systems in Tennessee. Yet the goal of the Chattanooga 2.0 movement is to restore it and the most opposition – quite unbelievably – has been from the school board members.
Steve Highlander, a former college wrestler who has since earned his divinity degree, caused the latest raised eyebrows Thursday night when he – rather devilishly -- castigated Dr. Jared Bigham who, along with Warren Logan of the Urban League, was present “to inform not fight.” Earlier the school board had voted 7-2 to accept the Chattanooga 2.0 concept yet that has hardly, and regretfully, not been the case.
It has also been perceived the school board members are still not being given the information they deserve. A new budget will be introduced to the County Commission this Wednesday but, as of last week, the board members had not yet seen it. “That is absolutely ridiculous!” member Rhonda Thurman said.
Which adds extra weight to the pressing issue of someone in charge with the ability to get things done. Both of the Times Free Press editorial pages, its lead columnist, and myself solidly agree it should be in the unbiased and proven Sadler, this because of his time-proven organizational skills and his prideful dream of “putting the house in order.”
Yet I’ll tell you this because this I know: Nashville and Knoxville are also actively searching for permanent school superintendents right now. Trust me now … Jill Levine could get either job if she wanted to.
When school board chairman Jonathan Welch said last week he hopes a decision can be made on an interim selection this week, he also had a sage observation: “Remember, it takes five votes…”
royexum@aol.com