New Year, New School Updates!

TL;DR

• Study has begun for a potential Normal Park high school

• School Vouchers are back on the legislative agenda and likely to cost the state $400 million

Possible High School on the Horizon

The common refrain among Normal Park parents that starts even in early elementary school is, “if only there was a Normal Park high school…” And finally, an option seems to be on the horizon! At December’s Hamilton County School Board meeting, it was announced that the Board has formally initiated a study of the feasibility and cost of creating a grades 9-12 magnet school option for Normal Park (NP) students. This could be the first step that would allow students to continue to progress with their school community and magnet school education through the high school years.

The NP Upper School and Lower School buildings are neighborhood landmarks and architectural treasures. However, both buildings are over 100 years old, and like most hundred year old buildings, they have a host of major maintenance and ADA-compliance issues. NP Principal Dr. Jamelie Johns has said that rarely does a day go by that there is not a maintenance issue for her and the staff to contend with. 

The board has approved $100,000 for architects to conduct technical audits of multiple HCS properties, including US & LS buildings. This technical architectural study will build on the 2020 MGT Facilities Study to ascertain the structural integrity of the buildings. For example, if the MGT study noted multiple cracks in a wall at the US, structural architects will investigate those cracks to determine if they are just a superficial aging issue or a structural concern. They will then estimate the repair process & costs. Chattanooga-based Franklin Architects (FA) will conduct the audit. In addition to analyzing both buildings, FA will also study the viability of building a new state of the art high school in the location of the current NP football field. 

District 6 School Board Member Ben Connor hopes the study will be completed within six months, which will allow the school board to make recommendations on next steps or look into alternative locations. Feel free to reach out to Ben with any questions at connor_ben@hcde.org. 

School Voucher Bill Returns

Gov. Lee has called a special legislative session to begin on January 27 to focus on his proposed school voucher bill. This year the school voucher Bill (the Education Freedom Act of 2025) has been combined into an omnibus bill. The omnibus bill includes allotting state resources to support federal immigration policies as well as Hurricane Helene relief funds for East Tennessee. Gov. Lee has lumped the unpopular voucher program, which our state legislature did not approve in 2024, in with immigration and storm relief funds, other bills that may be more popular statewide. 

The Hamilton County School Board recently voted 7-2 against supporting the voucher bill. In a December 2024 Board Meeting, District 6 board member (and NCNA resident) Ben Connor said, “We [the School Board] are categorically against vouchers. We have seen throughout the country ways that it has absolutely failed… In every state that has these, between 70%-80% of the kids that were using the vouchers were already in private schools.”

The Tennesseean has a great article that outlines the $400 million voucher bill costs that have been estimated to date. 

Here are some questions to ask about the voucher bill:

• Is this the same thing as School Choice? No. School choice is a program that is already active in our current public school system. 

• How much will it cost the state? Initial estimates of almost $400 million with 5 year costs estimated at $861 million. 

• How much is each voucher worth? $7,025 for the coming year, may change as the public school funding model, TISA, changes. 

• Who is eligible for the vouchers? 20,000 vouchers would be available across Tennessee. 10,000 are reserved for students of families who earn up to 300% the federal limit to qualify for free & reduced lunch. This means a family of four could earn up to $173,160 and qualify to receive a voucher. The remaining 10,000 are available for anyone regardless of income. 

• Who is likely to use the voucher? In other states with similar voucher programs, 70-80% of voucher recipients were already attending private schools. In Arkansas that number was 95%. 

• Where will the funding come from and where will ongoing funding for the program come from? The first round of funding will come from the state’s Rainy Day fund. It is unclear where ongoing funding will come from. Arizona enacted a similar bill and ongoing costs have been 1300% over estimates, leading to a budget shortfall. Florida, Indiana and Ohio have all faced similar fiscal overruns since creating similar voucher programs. 

• What kind of testing requirements will be required to monitor voucher-recipient progress? How do those requirements compare with what is required of public schools? What are the consequences if private schools fail to perform at acceptable standards? 

• What type of schools will be eligible? Will homeschool families be eligible? If so, what is considered acceptable use of funds for homeschoolers? Will funds be limited to curriculum or co-op costs or could funds be used for home improvements, purchase of vehicles, travel expenses? Is there a cap to the number of vouchers per homeschool family? 

Lots more questions are out there, and the bill will shift as it goes through the process with additional amendments. The Tennessean.com is a great resource for updates, check their politics page for the latest. 

The special session begins Monday, January 27. Our state house and senate representatives are open to hearing your perspective so be sure to write to your legislator to share your thoughts, questions. If you are contacting them, please be sure to reference HB1 and SB1, the bill names for the house and senate. 

• State Representative Greg Martin rep.greg.martin@capitol.tn.gov 

• Sen. Bo Watson sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov

One Family’s Normal Park School Experience

Our neighborhood school, Normal Park Upper, is such an asset for our community. When Nathan and I bought our house in 2021, we bought it as a childless couple. Our realtor mentioned it was a sought-after school, which would help keep property values up. We both value education and were excited to be in an area that gives so much support to the local school. Fast forward to 2023, and we began talking about potentially adopting my sister’s kid. When weighing everything that would go into this dramatic change of becoming instant parents to an 11-year-old, one of the easiest checkmarks on our long list was that Normal Park was going to be his school. Learning about Hamilton County high schools sent me on a spiral, though, and we are immensely grateful for our school board member, Ben Connor, and others’ efforts to potentially bring a 9-12 school to our zone.

Previously, our son was struggling in school. When we registered him at Normal Park, we were able to meet with several people to voice our concerns. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the welcoming and understanding nature of everyone working at Normal Park made this transition incredibly easy for us. Funny what happens when you have teachers, principals, and support staff that truly care about each child, even one with ADHD and Autism. During a parent/teacher conference, his math teacher (the subject he struggled in the most as his previous school) was shocked when I asked about his behavior. She could not believe that he was previously failing and was constantly being sent to the principal’s office by his old math teacher. She said he was a sweet kid who was even performing above expectations for his grade level. When talking to our son, he mentions how everyone knows who he is, and he reported that on the day of his official adoption, when he arrived at school late, that the office ladies were incredibly excited for him.

Day to day, our son loves the cool classes he takes and says he actually enjoys all of his teachers, even the ones he hasn’t officially had for classes. In the mornings, there is one teacher who always engages him in conversation when I am dropping him off. One day I asked who the teacher was, and our son shrugged his shoulders saying he didn’t know, but he was cool.

All in all, being in the Normal Park zone is such a privilege and one I do not take for granted. It is such a weight off our shoulders. We are so thrilled that our son ended this quarter at school on the A/B honor roll! From the edge of failing at his previous school to this achievement is remarkable. Clearly Normal Park is the right school for him. Normal Park is one of those rare schools where they exceed their reputation.

• by Kala Wright

How Can NCNA Help Our Local Schools?

What can NCNA do to support our local schools & neighbors? 

As an individual it can be daunting to figure out how to make an impact on something as large as a school district that supports 45,000 students. But as a neighborhood association, we can operate as a larger community with a stronger voice. 

• NCNA can become a reliable, proactive resource for information. Rumors and misinformation spread quickly, but we see the potential for NCNA to have a role in reducing confusion by doing the following: 

• Providing neighbors with timely resources to easily contact School Board and County elected officials to advocate for our schools.  

• Notifying neighbors when we can/should we be physically present at relevant School Board/County Commission/City Council meetings. This can relate to the ongoing Facilities Plan, but also things like providing a voice to support educational/student values (support school libraries, advocating for students and staff, etc.)

• Neighbors can tangibly support the school.

• Use your time or talents to support the school!  Just a few examples: 

• Who has cool tools that the STEM teachers could use in class? 

• Who has a business that might make a good Learning Expedition (field trip) destination? 

• Who may be interested in mentoring students? Tutoring students? Employing students? Help with minor projects at the school? Etc. 

• Help teachers with their Classroom Amazon Wishlists. 

• NPMM teachers’ Lower & Upper School Wishlists

• Fill up the Care Closets - The Normal Park Care Closet provides gently used and new clothing, backpacks, school supplies, shoes/socks, and hygiene items, to students that experience an emergency while at school. (Use the links on the left hand navigation to see what each school needs)

• NCNA can be a cheerleader for our local schools. Our schools do amazing things and we should be jumping for joy for that success - whether it’s test scores, recognition for special teacher achievements or (most importantly) everyday successes for our students. 

• Help us with Historic Preservation Grant research. Normal Park’s Upper and Lower school buildings are both about 100 years old! They are beautiful landmarks in the neighborhood, but they also suffer from decades of deferred maintenance. Neighbors have begun looking into ways to tap into Historic Preservation grants and government funding options for these old buildings so that they remain great places for our kids to learn every day. 

Join us for our next Education Committee Meeting on Sunday, October 6 at 4:00 p.m. at the Amy’s home. Address details will be sent via email. 

Supporting Local Schools

Why is supporting our local schools important for the neighborhood? 

There’s a quote that’s stuck with me for several years that comes from an old motto in Shaker Heights in Cleveland - “A community is known by the school it keeps.” In today’s world there are infinite factors that affect the success of a school, but there is no arguing that a well-regarded, well-supported school can be a tremendous benefit to its neighborhood. The reputation of Normal Park Museum Magnet (NPMM) is what drew our young family to Northshore when we moved to Chattanooga in 2020 and it has been a draw for countless other families. 

Our neighborhood is fortunate to have great schools at every level, from daycare & preschool at Northside Learning Center (NLC) to NPMM for pre-k-8th and Chattanooga and Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts (CCA), a magnet school for 6th - 12th grades. 

How does having these schools right out our front door benefit our neighborhood? 

• Socially

• The ability for families and students to safely walk to school everyday is a key to community building and creating a family-friendly vibe. 

• Strong schools help families put down roots. These roots give us the motivation to engage with our neighbors to find ways to identify and overcome problems. 

• Economically

• For homes in the Normal Park school zone, the reputation of the school continues to positively impact home values. Homeowners who want to see their house values remain strong should have a vested interest in the school’s success, whether they have children attending school or not. 

In future posts, we’ll be sharing ways that NCNA and our neighborhood-at-large can support our local schools. Education committee members will also be meeting with school leaders to learn about ways our community can partner with the schools and promote those opportunities through NCNA, including opportunities to learn more about Historic Preservation grants to help modernize our aging school buildings. 

So where do we go from here? Join us for our next Education Committee Meeting on Sunday, October 6 at 4:00 p.m. at the Amy’s home. Please email: northchattanooganeighbors@gmail.com to let us know that you plan to come. Address details will be sent via email. 

- Amy Packer, Head of NCNA Schools Committee