Final community meetings will be held through November for input regarding the county-recommended school facilities plan, a sweeping overhaul of Hamilton County school buildings.
December will be a month of deliberation, said school board facilities committee Chair Karitsa Jones, and the school board will present its own facilities recommendation to Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson in January.
Dr. Robertson will present a final recommendation to the county commission in time to work it into next year’s budget.
The plan, revealed in August, recommends consolidating Alpine Crest Elementary School, Rivermont Elementary School, Hixson Elementary School and Dupont Elementary School. It also recommends expanding the Daisy Elementary School campus to combine it with Soddy Daisy Middle and High Schools.
The recommendation is broken down into two phases, years 1-3 and years 4-7, and touches every county school. Some schools will be expanded to keep pace with community growth while others will be modernized.
Next public community meetings:
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 6-7:30 p.m. at Soddy-Daisy High School. Topic: Replace Soddy Daisy Middle School?
Thursday, Oct. 26, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Howard School. Topic: Plan for Growth in the Howard Community
Monday, Nov. 6, 6-7:30 p.m. at Thrasher Elementary School. Topic: Expansion of Thrasher
Jeanette Omarkhail, president of the Hamilton County Education Association, addressed the board to urge it to fight a 2016 state scheme to rate school performance with letter grades A through F.
The state law is just being implemented in Hamilton County, but Ms. Omarkhail said the simple system presents a “false narrative” and conceals too much good about a school.
“The variables are infinite,” she said. Low grades will cause communities to lose faith in their schools and “drive people to private schools,” she said.
School grades are based on a school’s TCAP scores and Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System data which rates student growth and student achievement.