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VOL. 56 NO. 10
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FIRST WORDS
School board will ‘buy local’ By Scott Frith The Knox County Board of Education is picking a new superintendent, and some are surprised that both finalists are from East Tennessee. Don’t be. Political trends swing like a penduScott Frith lum. When looking for new leadership, folks often go in the opposite direction. Not convinced? The best local example may be in the county mayor’s office. Remember those feuds between Dwight Kessel and Victor Ashe? By 1994, voters grew tired of the bickering and elected Tommy Schumpert on the promise of peace. For the most part, Schumpert succeeded. Yet, as he finished a second term, some viewed his “getting along” and calm demeanor as not aggressive enough in promoting economic development. They looked to then-County Commissioner Mike Ragsdale, who possessed enough charisma and sound bites to fill the entire City County Building. Ragsdale was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. But then, voters elected Tim Burchett, who couldn’t be more different. Think Lexus sedan vs. beat-up Jeep Cherokee; tailored suits vs. a brown Carhartt jacket. You get the idea. The same pattern emerges with the superintendent of schools. State law changed in 1992 to require school board appointment of superintendents. In 1999, our board picked Charles Q. Lindsay, a Mississippi native best remembered for relocating principals and getting directly involved in the messy politics of school board campaigns. Lindsay left in 2007. The next year, the board hired Jim McIntyre, an education technocrat, whose roots in Boston (and lack of political skill) couldn’t have been more different from Lindsay’s southern drawl and political brawling. McIntyre left last year. And now the school board appears to be buying local. Finalists are Bob Thomas (assistant superintendent since 1990) and Dale Lynch (superintendent of Hamblen County Schools since 2001). Thomas is the favorite to win. Do not be surprised. Both are the opposite of McIntyre. Scott Frith is a local attorney. You can visit his website at pleadthefrith.com
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March 8, 2017
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Celebrating the centennial in style By Ruth White
When Halls throws a party, it throws a party. It’s not every day, after all, you turn 100. Halls Elementary and Halls Middle schools held a centennial gala Feb. 25 at The Foundry. It is part of an ongoing seHenderson ries of centennial events this school year. “Turning 100, that’s a unique thing for the school,” Halls Elementary principal Dr. Chris Henderson said. “We wanted to celMaland ebrate it.” Halls School (now divided into elementary, middle and high schools) opened during the 1916-17 school year. An estimated 100 attended. Former teachOliver ers, students and principals chatted throughout the room. Halls native and local radio personality Kim Hansard was the master of ceremonies. “It turned out better than anyWormsley one had hoped. Kim did a marvelous job, and we
Heather Cardwell chats with Rhonda Vineyard at the Halls centennial gala, held by and for Halls Elementary and Halls Middle schools, at The Foundry on Feb. 25. Cardwell was on the Halls Elementary PTO committee that organized the gala. Vineyard is a Halls native and a longtime booster of Halls Elementary, as well as the gala’s Gold Sponsor. Photos by Ruth White heard a lot of good stories and positive feedback,” Henderson said. Elementary PTO members Heather Cardwell, Gina Hodges, Holly Sewell, Amanda Van De Griff and Lori Wroblewski helped coordinate the event.
Halls Middle School assistant principal Jay Wormsley said fellow assistant principal Joy Sherrod coordinated the middle school’s part of the gala with its PTA. Wormsley was chatting with former Halls Middle principal Doug Oliver near the entrance be-
fore dinner. “It’s so good to see Doug and (wife) Suzanne, and (former principal) Bobby Gratz. A lot of middle school teachers connected, too,” Wormsley said. To page A-3
Auction prizes to boost Emma Walker scholarship By Sandra Clark
■■ Autographed Marcus Mariota Tennessee Titans
jersey professionally framed, $800 value (jersey Central High School student Emma Walkdonated by the Tennessee Titans and framing er will be memorialized with a perpetual donated by Fast Frame Knoxville) scholarship if a committee headed by teacher Chris Hammond is successful with an up- ■■ Autographed and numbered lithograph print of a painting that Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco coming fundraiser. painted (hand-signed and numbered by Princess The event will be 6-9 p.m. Friday, March Grace herself), $800 value (signed lithograph 24, at Central High School in the commons/ donated personally by His Serene Highness, cafeteria. The Young Fables are donating Prince Albert II of Monaco and framing donated their time to provide entertainment. by Fast Frame Knoxville) Tickets are $15 and include dinner. Auc■■ Diamondback 510Ub exercise bike, $1,100 tion items include:
value (donated by Push-Pedal-Pull) ■■ Spa International Escape Package, including a massage, $150 value (donated by Salon Visage) ■■ Round of golf with cart (for 4 players) at Fox Den Country Club, $472 value, (donated by Fox Den Country Club) ■■ Passes to Wilderness in the Smokies, WonderWorks, Dollywood, Zoo Knoxville, Regal Cinemas, and tickets to the Nashville Predators and the Knoxville Ice Bears
To page A-3
Will rezoning bring resegregation? By Betty Bean While some worry that the proposed middle school rezoning plan will undo years of desegregation efforts and land Knox County Schools in federal court, the two players most likely to be on opposite sides of the courtroom look at the issue from very different perspectives, but do not seem overly concerned about that possibility – for now. “This (plan) is a good first step, as far as it goes,” said NAACP president John Butler, who filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights after the agreement to build a new Gibbs Middle School was unveiled.
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Knox County Law Director Bud Armstrong said desegregation was not the primary purpose of the 1991 rezoning plan that closed schools and bused inner city kids to distant parts of the county. He cited a 1991 opinion by U.S. District Court Judge Leon Jordan that found no evidence of intentional discrimination by Knox County Schools. Jordan said the only question the court could ask was “whether the motivation in adopting the plan was invidious discrimination on the basis of race, and the Court finds that there was not.” Armstrong said: “They did not close Gibbs and move them to Holston Middle School because
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Knox County has built new schools in recent years only in predominantly white communities. “Now that you are zoning (minority students) back in, we need to Armstrong have facilities and staffs looked at and steps taken to eliminate inequity,” said Butler. He wants new, state-of-the-art middle and high schools staffed with faculties who understand the needs of minority students. He will not withdraw the complaint, even after Buzz Thomas, interim superintendent, asked him to do so.
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those schools were segregated. Conversely, if they reopen Gibbs, it won’t be to resegregate those schools.” Whether intended or not, the rezoning will result in some schools having a higher percentage of African-Americans while others have lower. To paraphrase former school board chair Sam Anderson: We can be sure black kids are treated fairly when they are sitting next to a white kid and both are treated the same. That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1954 (Brown vs. The Board of Education): “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Are we entering the post-Brown era?
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