The County School Board is considering carrying out a "Best Practices Audit" to determine if board policies are filtering down to the school level.
Board member Greg Martin said members of the Superintendent's Student Leadership Council told him that only a fraction of students are familiar with board policies on bullying and other topics.
Steve Highlander, another board member, said the message may also not be getting to teachers, who may be "texting" while policies are being outlined for them. He said the schools should "make them sign that they have read it all."
Board member Rhonda Thurman questioned the cost of such a review and noted that the current policies may change after a review by a committee led by Dr. Martin.
Board member David Testerman said in the lower grades it appears that teachers and school officials are "very quick" to report incidents of possible abuse. However, he said in the upper grades "there are questions about when to report and who does the reporting."
Board attorney Scott Bennett said he believes the board is in good shape and legally sound on the policies, but he said the issue is "if they are actually being carried out."
He said by next Thursday he will provide the board with information on the cost of hiring an expert to make a "school climate review" to determine if policies are being followed in the individual schools.
Attorney Bennett said, "The question is 'where was the gap? We have already started some critical analysis on that."
Board Chairman Jonathan Welch said he wants the "internal investigation" to get underway within the next 60 days.
The review comes after an incident Dec. 22 in which three Ooltewah High basketball players are charged with the aggravated rape of a freshman teammate. Afterward, District Attorney Neal Pinkston charged the team's two coaches and the school athletic director with failing to report the incident as required. DA Pinkston has also summoned Supt. Rick Smith, Asst. Supt. Lee McDade, Secondary School Administrator Steve Holmes and Ooltewah High Principal Jim Jarvis at witnesses at a hearing in Juvenile Court on Monday morning.
Supt. Smith has since asked the school board to buy out his contract.