County School Board Members, Rep. Favors Rap State Take-Over Plans For Low Performing Schools; New Superintendent To Come Up With Community Plan

  • Thursday, July 20, 2017
Supt. Bryan Johnson and School Board Chairman Steve Highlander
Supt. Bryan Johnson and School Board Chairman Steve Highlander

County School Board members at a Thursday work session took turns rapping a state take-over plan for low performing schools.

New Supt. Bryan Johnson said he will work over the next 30-45 days to come up with a community proposal for strengthening the iZone schools.

He said, "I'm not sold myself" on some of the aspects of a proposed state partnership with the school district. But he said there may be a number of places in which the state and the schools agree on steps to boost the schools.

State Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has said the schools need to decide by the end of August whether there will be a state-takeover through the Achievement School District or through the new partnership idea in which a separate school board would be created with a district director.

Rep. JoAnne Favors also spoke at the meeting, saying that "we have some wonderful folks" in the community who should work to improve the schools - not an outside group hired by the state.

She said she has asked for an attorney general's opinion on whether the school board could enter into a contract with the state for a partnership district when it is not yet authorized under state law.

She said the ASD "is pretty much dysfunctional. We certainly do not want that."

Board members were adamant in their opposition to the ASD, saying it has failed in Memphis and Nashville.

Several board members also said they were troubled that under the partnership the state would have 60 percent control and the school district 40 percent.

Karitsa Jones said Commissioner McQueen stated that she and board member Tiffanie Robinson could be on the partnership board. She said she was also told that all the members would be from Hamilton County.

Ms. Jones said she did not want students in the low performing schools "to be sacrificial lambs to the ASD," but she said the partnership had merits. She said the same schools have been on the bottom rungs since 2002. She said, "We have to step up and do our part."

Board member Joe Galloway said it appeared under the state plans the schools would shift "to someone who doesn't know any more than we do" about how to fix them.

David Testerman, another board member, said the partnership should not even be under discussion because it is contrary to state law that all school board members be elected.

He said the problems in the schools "didn't just happen overnight. They go back a long way."

Mr. Testerman said with new state administrations that programs constantly change. He said, "We need to stop this merry-go-round." Saying the ASD "has not worked," he said, "We need to show the state that we can do it "make improvements)." He said, "This community needs to step up and make the improvements."

Ms. Robinson said the partnership proposal did include a community school model that she has been pushing for. But she said the school district has "some smart people in the cabinet" and some dedicated principals in place at the schools, who need to be given a chance. She asked if there can be an option for the state to give the county more time.

Chairman Steve Highlander said Commissioner McQueen has indicated that is not an option.

He said he is seeing real progress in the low performing schools and said it is difficult to understand how the state still low rates the schools "when the tests have been a failure."

He said he was told that this year's test results from the state are again delayed past the expected time.

Board member Joe Wingate said it was very concerning to him that the state has still not given details on how much money it will be putting into the endeavor.

Rhonda Thurman said, "I'm just tired of our students being used as guinea pigs." She said the students at the schools "desperately need stability," saying they face many ills in their home life.

She said, "I'm not in favor of the state coming in and taking over. They can't even get the test scores right. I just see a huge problem in all of this."

Dr. Johnson, whose first official day on the job is Monday, said he has been talking with Commissioner McQueen and he met earlier in the day with the five iZone principals.

Chairman Highlander said he hopes that Commissioner McQueen "will be fair-minded" after the school system presents her with its option.

Bryan Johnson
Bryan Johnson
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