Ooltewah HS parents, students protest decision to cut IB program at school board meeting

Hamilton County School Board Chair calls decision 'a limit' to furthering student education

The tagline for the Hamilton County School District is “experience the future without limits.” One group of students at Ooltewah High School say the removal of the school’s international baccalaureate program goes against that mantra.

Take a good look at this sign. It’s probably the last time you will see those words on the marquee.

This past Friday, an email from the principal told parents Ooltewah was doing away with its I-B program, which is a tier for higher learning in high schools that focus on critical thinking and not memorization. It’s what made senior Jake Dawes go from a C & D type student to straight A’s.

“I’m going to take these ideas, not only after my senior year of high school, not even after my college. It’s going to help me in college, but it’s going to help me understand life. It has opened my viewpoint. I understand other people’s viewpoints. I respect people more. The whole program is basically a life class. It’s not just an educational program.”

Dawes helped present his case to keep Ooltewah’s I-B program at Thursday night’s school board meeting. Hamilton County School Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson said this was a tough decision to lose I-B and keep advanced placement courses, but it was a case of the numbers.

“When you do the math in terms of sections, and how many kids are currently enrolled and expressing interest in I-B, it’s difficult to justify running both of them. Signal Mountain’s making the exact opposite decision. They’re shutting off all A-P classes and focusing on I-B.”

April Nielsen is the mother of one of Ooltewah’s students, Ben, in the international baccalaureate program. She answered Dr. Robertson by saying, “If this is a matter of limited resources, moving the program is going to be a significant cost. One of the things we (parents) do respect and appreciate is that budgets are limited. Our schools have to operate on limited resources, and that is really disappointing to hear that when faces with limited resources, we’re going to cut top-tier programs.”

Members of the board shared their thoughts on the decision, but the opinions weren’t about whether the decision was right or wrong. They lamented what this does for the students’ future. Board Chair Tucker McClendon ended the discussion with this: “Sitting here, I just want to remind the board and our administration that the saying behind us says ‘All children thrive and experience the future without limits. This is a limit.”

The I-B program at Ooltewah High School will run through the 2023-24 school year. Unless the board finds an alternative, these students will have to drive an hour to take the same sort of classes that they do at Ooltewah at Signal Mountain.