Roy Exum
Just when I thought I had seen and heard the very best of buffoonery with watching our public schools over the last 14 months, Chuckles the Clown once again came calling. During a committee meeting of the Hamilton County School Board last week, it was mentioned Interim Superintendent Kirk Kelly had received a call from the people at The Discovery Channel who were eager to showcase the strides in innovation and the success our Department of Education has enjoyed.
This is absurdity at its worst, the catch being that the school district would first send a check to the Discovery Channel for just shy of $20 grand to cover the production costs. Talk about “fake news,” oh my gracious. Look at our students, struggling mightily to overcome the stigma of being the worst metropolitan in the state. We still have 60 percent of our third graders who can’t read successfully.
Look at our facilities, decrepit buildings desperate for over $200 million and mounting in repairs. The average age of a school in Hamilton County is over 40 years. And look at our leadership – still a floundering collection of mostly good ole boys who have collectively allowed us to reach the point where we have not one new school anywhere near an architect’s table.
I dare say there is not one school district in much of the nation facing as many serious lawsuits, or looking at more courts summons, this between the paralyzing rape of an Ooltewah High basketball player by his teammates and a bus tragedy not 12 months later where six children were killed. Yeah, we deserve a documentary alright but media moguls will agree it’s for all the wrong reasons.
Add the fact we have one of our healthiest areas (Signal Mountain) ready to pull out of the HCDE, and another (Red Bank) anticipating the same plan. Both will experience quite a renewal when our population growth morphs from the Ooltewah area up Highway 27 into the north part of the county. It is hardly a stretch to believe Soddy Daisy, Bakewell and Sale Creek could align with a new Red Bank school district, either.
Tomorrow night the nine members of the Hamilton County Commission will meet with the nine school board members and, brother, you could do a half-hour documentary on that confab alone. For the record, I have a sincere respect for all 18 elected officials but I believe, also in all honesty, that not a one has a clue of just exactly where to begin in untangling the mess our schools are today. That’s true with almost all of us.
That said, I believe I have the recipe for a ready solution. First, our Department of Education has a $417 million budget. Look at it as a huge “company” with over 4,000 employees. There are some really smart people who will advocate we bring in some “consultants,” but I believe we’ll go farther and with better results if we bring in some Chattanoogans.
For example, there is Zan Guerry, who brilliantly built Chattem into a world-class pharmaceutical giant. He is now “retired” and lives here. He adores a challenge. There is Thorpe McKenzie, now relaxed but who has equal brilliance and could dissect the school’s problems in 48 hours. There is Bo Bishop and Tom Watgen, who both guided Unum to worldwide fame, and I know about their unique savvy. We get “Thunder” Thornton’s input, and within 90 days you would have your roadmap. We need to ask for help from these proven winners and so many more like them. It’s a no-brainer.
How about Mickey McCamish, the Naval captain, and General B.B. Bell? A military strategy would never allow our schools to become what they are today but that doesn’t matter. We need these guys to show us how purpose, discipline, and an attack mode can still win the battle.
You have no idea how many fabled resources we have in our very neighborhoods who I believe would enjoy bettering the education of our next generation. Go back to the Greeks – “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Let’s form an ad hoc crowd and then let our elected bodies enjoy its wisdom before voting on a solution
It’s like Jim Yong Kim, who is President of the World Bank, once famously said, “No matter how good you think you are as a leader, my goodness, the people around you will have all kinds of ideas for how you can get better. So, for me, the most fundamental thing about leadership is to have the humility to continue to get feedback and to try to get better - because your job is to try to help everybody else get better.”
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HARDLY ‘PARTICIPATION TROPHIES’
When we honored our “Teachers of the Year” last week, I thought it was wonderful to salute and congratulate our winners. I wouldn’t take a smidgen away from any one of them. But I also know that most schools nominated their own MVP and if you get a chance, jot a note, get a stamp, and write to your school’s winner about a job well done.
HIGH SCHOOL: (Grades 9-12)
Jessica Hubbuch – The Howard School - District Winner
Deborah Campbell – Tyner Academy
Heidi King – Hamilton County High
LuShan Webb – Red Bank High
Kim Stanley – STEM School of Chattanooga
Wendy Sigette – Soddy Daisy High
MIDDLE SCHOOL: (Grades 5-8)
Kristin Burrus – Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences – District Winner
Allison Haley – East Hamilton Co. Dept of Education
Grant Knowles – Normal Park Museum Magnet
Erin Glenn – East Lake Academy of Fine Arts
Deborah Colen – Nolan Elementary
Laura Prichard – Tyner Middle Academy
Kristi Reiniche – Loftis Middle
Megan Oliver – Ooltewah Middle
Larry Lewis – Hixson Middle
Marion Pound – Red Bank Middle
Katherine Brown – Hixson Elementary
Deborah Neighbors – Big Ridge Elementary
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: (Grades Pre-K – 5)
Shellie Gibson – Wallace A. Smith Elementary – District Winner
Laura Odum – Normal Park Museum Magnet
Suzan Russell – Nolan Elementary
Lindsey Wheeler – Clifton Hills Elementary
Jayne Newell – Snow Hill Elementary
Kathryn Marsh – Hixson Elementary
Karen Schmidt – Big Ridge Elementary
NOTE: Schools that are not listed also have a MVP – every school does -- but as we work to better our school system, 100 percent participation is anticipated.
royexum@aol.com