Hamilton county superintendent gets mixed reviews from board members
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Reviews of the Hamilton County Schools superintendent were released Thursday.
All board members have reviewed and rated Dr. Justin Robertson across multiple categories.
The board graded the superintendent on the following categories: Strategic Planning, Student Achievement/Performance, School Leadership, Community Relationships, Business and Finance, Board Relationship, Staff and Personnel Relationships, Integrity, Fairness, and Ethics, Facilities/Safety, and District Management.
The evaluators ranked the scores from one to five, with one representing the worst performance and five representing the best.
His overall evaluation was a 3.8 out of 5.
Dr. Justin Robertson gave himself the highest overall ratings among board members.
He rated himself all fours or higher in every category but “Board Relationships” where he rated himself a 3.8.
To view his full self-evaluation click here.
School board member Larry Grohn rated the superintendent the next highest. He gave him an Average Evaluation Score of 4.5.
Grohn was also one of only two board members to give the superintendent a perfect score. He gave him two fives in “Facilities and Safety” and “District Management.”
To view Grohn’s full review click here.
The other board member to include a perfect five was Karitsa Jones who gave Dr. Robertson a five in community relationships.
To view her full review of the superintendent click here.
The lowest score came from board member Steve Slater, whose final average evaluation was a 3.1.
That score was the lowest by a wide margin, with the next lowest score—a 3.6—coming from four other board members.
To view Mr. Slater’s review click here.
The average of all board members was 3.8.
However, that average may not fully reflect the evaluations, as some board members cited differing interpretations of the same performance data.
For example, one graded category stated, “The percentage of students scoring below the 25th percentile will decrease by 2% each year.” Board member Jodi Schaffer gave this category a 3 and said, “There was no data this year to show this metric was met.”
However, Felice Hadden ranked that category a 2 saying “The percentage of students scoring below the 25th percentile increased.” This suggests that some data points may be misunderstood or that not all board members are receiving the same data.
All board members’ final evaluations and comments are provided below:
- School Superintendent: Dr. Justin Robertson
- District one: Steve Slater
- District two: Ben Daugherty
- District three: Joe Smith
- District four: Jackie Thomas
- District five: Karitsa Jones
- District six: Ben Connor
- District seven: Jodi Schaffer
- District eight: Larry Grohn
- District nine: Gary Kuehn
- District 10: Felice Hadden
- District 11: Jill Black
