Crowd at meeting
There was standing room only at the Red Bank Community Center Wednesday night for a public meeting organized by Hamilton County School Board Member Ben Conner and County Commissioner David Sharpe. Almost every parent, grandparent, student, Red Bank resident and official at the meeting were there in opposition to a plan unveiled a couple of weeks ago to consolidate three elementary schools, including Alpine Crest in Red Bank. A plan that was created over the past 11 months was based upon a report to address facility needs done by MGT consulting company, that had been commissioned by the school board in 2020 at the cost of a half million. The new plan would combine Alpine Crest Elementary, Rivermont Elementary and Dupont Elementary and build a new "mega school" at the location of Dupont Elementary on Hixson Pike.
The new study resulting in the report was created by a schools facility working group which included Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, Superintendent of Hamilton County Schools Justin Robertson, Tucker McClendon, deputy director of education and workforce development for Hamilton County, County Commissioner Lee Helton and one member of the local community. Board member Conner and Commissioner Sharpe both told the crowd that they were not aware of results of the study until the day of the press conference.
Comments from those present Wednesday night included what the cost would be to renovate each of the three schools that are proposed to be combined. Superintendent Robertson said that there would not be a reduction in operations, the cost savings would come from the deferred maintenance piece. He said $5 million-$6 million has been spent on Rivermont Elementary and you wouldn’t even see it. The cost savings would be in in the buildings, not staffing, he said. He said new, more efficient systems such as air conditioning would cost less to operate.
HCS could see savings, but the community would lose the community school that they all want to keep, speakers said. Anyone who wanted to speak was allowed to comment, and all were opposed to closing the school and creating one large school. Comments included giving the community the opportunity to fix problems at Alpine Crest with volunteers or by raising money. There already has been an outdoor learning center created by Master Gardener volunteers who have turned five of the 17 acres belonging to the school into an outdoor classroom. They have built a certified butterfly garden, a blue bird trail that fledged 34 babies this year, a greenhouse, raised beds and hiking trails and are in the process of creating an arboretum for studying trees.
The majority spoke about the importance of community created by the school. Teachers and staff at Alpine Crest know students by name when they see them in the halls, said many who spoke. And students feel “safe, seen and loved,” when they enter the building, said the school’s librarian. "We are individuals, not maps and graphs," said a former student. Moving the school to Dupont Elementary would remove the last elementary school in the city of Red Bank.
Mayor of the city Hollie Berry said that would put students who were moved to the mega school in line to attend junior high and high school in Hixson. She said that she wants all students that are zoned for Red Bank to attend high school in the city to keep the community together. Another speaker said if Red Bank students were sent to Hixson, citizens of the town would not have the ability to vote for the school board member to represent their children.
The new school facilities working group recommendations include all aspects of the school buildings and rate all the facilities. It aims to create new efficiencies in the school buildings and to use whatever is saved in the classrooms, said Commissioner Sharpe. He said it is supposed to make decisions based on limited resources that yield the best educational opportunities. But does this plan do that? No one is really excited about this, he said, but the plan is county wide, not only for Alpine Crest. If this is not the answer, we have to figure out what is, said Mr. Conner.
It started in the 1990’s, said Mr. Conner, when the city of Chattanooga got out of schools and Hamilton County took over, inheriting the buildings with their problems. And he said it hasn’t significantly been addressed for 30 years. The school board creates the annual budget, and the County Commission is responsible for funding it. This year there was $8 million included in the budget for maintenance, said Commissioner Sharpe, but the county lowered that to $3 million. He said that currently, there is $13 million worth of roof projects, alone, that is needed. It is a crisis, he said.
In 2020 the cost to modernize and/or replace buildings was $1.2 billion, according to the MGT report. With inflation and workforce demands today, the cost is likely to be upwards to $2 billion, said Commissioner Sharpe. It seems unsurmountable. “I’m with you, but we need to put our heads together to be able to have great schools, facilities, teachers and child to teacher ratio”, he said and urged the crowd to keep an open mind about all the things being discussed. Mr. Conner said that it is obvious that everyone in the room loves their school and it is noted. The next topic, he said, is what are ideas to move forward.
No one wants to talk about how to finance the solution, said Commissioner Sharpe, but the answer is revenue. "We need a dedicated stream of revenue plus a tremendous amount of capital. We have to pay to have a better community," he said.
Mayor Berry suggested raising county property taxes to fund schools. Commissioner Sharpe quoted School Board Member Rhonda Thuman “studies don’t mean a thing until we have the money to do it.” "We have time," he said, noting that six votes are needed from the school board and six from the County Commission.
County Mayor Wamp earlier said the facility plan could be carried out without a county property tax increase.
Commissioner David Sharpe