posted July 12, 2005
County Commission Chairman Fred Skillern told the Kiwanis Club on Tuesday that questions about management at the County Schools and prior problems at Erlanger Medical Center make him balk at passing a tax increase.
He told the club that Hamilton County Schools get a high share of local funds compared to other school systems, and he said their ratio of support personnel is much higher than many systems.
Mr. Skillern said, "The very best county school has a dropout rate of 25 percent. That is unsatisfactory. One school has a dropout rate of 70 percent. That's criminal."
He said Erlanger made one of the largest increase requests of the county. He said, "I have a hard time raising taxes when the reason is, in my opinion, years of mismanagement."
He said juries have to render verdicts based on "beyond a shadow of a doubt." He said on judging whether there should be a tax hike, he wanted a similar standard.
But he said he had many doubts about county school figures, saying "a little sunshine would help. But you can find a different set of figures for anything you ask about."
He said he had been given "four or five different sets of figures" about the size of the central office, ranging from 279 to 312.
Mr. Skillern, who served over 20 years on the County School Board, said when he went on the board there were over 20,000 students, 41 schools, 99 support staff and 28 maintenance workers. He said the staff then kept the schools in good shape, but he said the condition of the schools is the number one complaint he now hears.
He said there now are 39,600 students, 81 schools, 279-312 support staff and 85 maintenance workers.
Mr. Skillern said funds sent to the schools for maintenance had often been diverted to operations. He said the county set aside $20 million for fire code upgrades at the schools, and devised a process to insure it would go for that purpose.
The speaker said, according to recent newspaper articles, both Hamilton County and Knox County have about 6,000 employees, but Knox County has 12,000 more students.
He also told the club, "A lot of teachers aren't teaching," but are consulting teachers. He said more of those should be in the classroom.
He also said he has a problem with public/private partnerships that are permanent, saying they should have a specific goal and end time. He apparently referred to the role of the Public Education Foundation with the county schools.
Mr. Skillern praised the partnership with the Benwood Foundation, saying it was for a limited time and had high accomplishments.
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