VOL. 8 NO. 34
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NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Sports in Section B Check out Pages 2-3 in Section B to find regular columnist Marvin West, new columnist Stefan Cooper and pictures from Friday’s games.
Teacher info State Rep. Gloria Johnson wants to make sure teachers of subjects that don’t have TCAP tests know about the Sept. 1 deadline to comply with a new state law that could affect the way they are evaluated. In the past, 15 percent of their evaluation scores have been based on school-wide or county-wide “literacy” or “numeracy” scores (i.e., reading or math scores of students they never taught). Johnson posted this announcement: “Is everyone aware that teachers who teach untested subjects now have the ability to choose whatever relevant method they want for their 15 percent as of 7/1/2014? “You can make up your own measure as long as it is relevant! It has to be approved by superintendent and if there is a disagreement it will go to state BOE.”
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Adam Hasan: New kid on the board By Betty Bean
A lot happened the night of Adam Hasan’s first official appearance as the student representative to the school board: *A debate over the five-year strategic plan that ended with the board chair declaring the vote an emergency. *A security guard ordering a teacher to sit down. *A tenure-revocation hearing that ended with a unanimous vote to reverse Superintendent James McIntyre’s move to fire a veteran teacher. It’s no surprise that school board meetings have become must-see TV for a growing segment of Knox Countians who follow politics. Observant viewers may have already noticed something different about the newest student representative to the Board of Education – and it’s not just his bow tie. The Bearden High School senior aims to be a voice for students. McIntyre’s evaluation was the
topic of his third meeting, and when it came time for each board member to speak, Hasan took a turn. After tiptoeing into some substantive observations regarding the controversies surrounding McIntyre’s job performance, he ended with this observation: “Something that a student actually told me today was that this board and the district as a whole can do a better job of communicating with the students … and I’d be more than happy to help out with that.” Hasan, who carries a 4.2 grade point average, was one of the handful of students who attended board meetings and spoke out during last year’s teacher protests. Although his tone was more measured than that of some of his fellow students, he was no apologist for the McIntyre administration, and he has no plans to follow the student rep tradition of being seen and not heard. “I really want to go to every high school in Knox County and hold student forums and listen to
Adam Hasan
Photo by Betty Bean
what they have to say about issues affecting individual schools. I also want to update them on education policy and get kids more involved,” he said. “I generally do a lot more listening than talking, but I plan to have something to say at every meeting.”
Meet David Moon He grew up in George Wallace’s Alabama and had a picture of Richard Nixon’s Oval Office on the back of his bedroom door. His grandmother dated Wallace’s predecessor governor, Big Jim Folsom, whom Moon describes as “not quite a benevolent dictator, but as honest as you could be as an executive politician in the South in the 1950s.” He remembers crying the day Nixon resigned.
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Read Betty Bean on A-12
Showdown at the K-12 corral It’s high noon, and Jim McIntyre faces Tim Burchett on the dusty street. “Not room in this town for both of us,” says Burchett. But McIntyre can’t draw. “It’s the doggone Common Core,” he says. “I have to conceptualize all the steps involved in pulling the gun from the holster. I know engineers who can’t do it.”
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Hasan prepared for this ambitious undertaking by getting most of his course work out of the way before his senior year, but it’s not as if he doesn’t have plenty of extracurricular interests, like his job at Butler & Bailey Market, his passion for the sport of curling and his serious coffee-roasting hobby. “I started roasting it in a Whirly Pop popper when I was 14. My parents got me an actual roaster for my birthday, and I’ve been roasting it mostly for friends and family.” He spent part of his summer on a road trip with his parents, Sherri and Husein Hasan, traveling to San Francisco to visit his older brother, Shaddi (a Ph.D. student at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley). They stopped at potential college destinations along the way. Planning for his future is exciting but not so much that he’s ready to fast-forward through the immediate task at hand – becoming the students’ voice on the Board of Education.
Baker Peters gets new neighbor By Anne Hart
IN THIS ISSUE
August 27, 2014
The gas station next to the Baker Peters House was torn down last week to make way for an Express Oil Change & Service Center. Dr. Larry Tragesser, who has owned the historic office/restaurant at the corner of Kingston Pike and Peters Road since 1990, says the new owner understands the property’s importance. “Adam Fuller is the real deal,” Tragesser says. “When we talked, he got it, and he has made incredible concessions to make sure what he builds complements Baker Peters.” Fuller and a partner, Darrell Lamb, own 28 Express Oil locations in six states, including one on Chapman Highway. Fuller says construction will begin immediately and completion is expected this year. The business will employ six to 10 people. Fuller said the new building will be drastically reduced in size
The Baker Peters House on Kingston Pike. Photo by Anne Hart from the Express Oil prototype; the red brick used in construction will match that of the Baker Peters House as closely as possible; and the original plat plans have been altered so that the building will wrap to the west side of the property, thus assuring an almost unobstructed view of the historic home. Also, there will be additional
landscaping in front of Baker Peters, and lighting will be in keeping with the character of the property. Tragesser says other policies of Fuller’s company will be appreciated, such as not leaving any vehicles outside at night, and being closed on Sundays. “When I think of what might have gone in there – a little strip
mall or something like that – I know we are indeed fortunate to have Adam Fuller coming in here. I believe everyone will be pleased with the result.” Tragesser, who has operated a dental practice at the house for a couple of decades, secured a right of first refusal when the Mr. Zip filling station closed and the property was listed for sale. Then he tried to line up support and funding for a public park there. “I talked to the mayors, the historical society, homeowners groups and individuals ... and everyone thought a park was a great idea, but no one wanted to pay for it. That is such a visible piece of property, and the Baker Peters House is such an important piece of our history, and I was determined, but I just couldn’t pull it off.” The property sold for $650,000. Holrob’s Ean Moffett handled both sides of the deal.
Mama makes three: Rountree attends orientation By Betty Bean Superintendent James McIntyre is off to a rocky start with one of his new school board members. Ninth District school board representativeelect Amber Rountree will be sworn in Sept. 2. She is due to have a baby Sept. 6, and stayed on her job as an elementary school librarian through the end of last school year. She has taken “sick time” as medical leave this summer to preserve her health insurance and will resign Sept. 1. Her Knox County Schools coverage will remain in force until Sept. 30. Rountree was elected to the school board on a “no rubber stamp” campaign promise and was one of the most vocal of the teachers who spoke out last year against McIntyre’s policies. Her maternity-leave status became an issue after she participated in a tour McIntyre conducted at Dogwood Elementary School Aug. 11. Her former opponent, incumbent Pam Trainor, also attended the tour. On Aug. 13, McIntyre sent Rountree an email informing her that he had “fielded a few questions … about your status, which I answered tactfully.
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“I’m starting to become a bit concerned that some people may perceive it as inappropriate for you to be accompanying me on school visits while you are a paid school librarian out on medical leave. “Sorry to broach a potentially sensitive subject, but I just wanted to make sure you know that such questions are being asked.” On Aug. 18, McIntyre sent Rountree another email informing her that she would not be allowed to attend an Aug. 21 orientation session for incoming board members “given the fact you are out on maternity leave due to physical disability.” He said he’d set up a separate session for her after Sept. 2. Later that day, Rountree sent McIntyre an email reply telling him she’d checked with David Buuck, the chief deputy law director, who assured her that there was no legal reason to bar her from attending the orientation session with fellow board members-elect Terry Hill and Patti Lou Bounds. McIntyre responded the next day:
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“I certainly appreciate the opinion of the deputy law director, but I’m not willing to accept the risk, nor any potential appearance of impropriety.” Rountree again asked the law director’s office for guidance. Buuck replied quickly: “Amber, I am astounded at the disrespectful response of Jim McIntyre to a member of the BOE which body is his employer.” Buuck shot off an email to McIntyre: “I can find no reason that she should be denied the right to attend the orientation meeting on account of her pregnancy and have so advised her.” McIntyre responded: “Unfortunately, I believe you have significantly mischaracterized my correspondence with Ms. Rountree.” The next day, Buuck escorted Rountree across Gay Street to the Andrew Johnson Building, where she attended the orientation. McIntyre tweeted a picture of the three new board members. There were smiles all around. The Shopper-News obtained the emails last Friday after submitting a public information request to the law director’s office.
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