What can our local school district decide?

Hamilton County Schools has to follow statewide regulations, but local administrators still have significant leeway to shape how schools run day-to-day.

This story is part of our series on how our school system operates. See “What power does the school board have?” 

The Tennessee legislature passed dozens of laws this year that impact school districts across the state. Combined with rules from state agencies and federal mandates, many policies for Hamilton County Schools come from outside the district. 

Yet local administrators, from Superintendent Justin Robertson to school principals, have considerable leeway in managing the day-to-day operation of all 79 district schools. 

Among many duties, they craft the annual HCS budget, structure curriculum, and suggest policy to be adopted by the local school board. They also provide support for other factors that affect student learning, such as mental health and home internet access.

“We are basically given guardrails from the state on any number of things,” said Sonia Stewart, deputy superintendent. “And then we make choices that comply with the state that is ultimately complying with the federal government.”

Here’s an overview of key ways school district leaders direct what’s happening in HCS.

Responding to state laws

When the Tennessee legislature passes new education laws, it’s up to the local administration to make sure the district complies. A good example is the law passed in 2021, known as the third grade retention law, that created new reading benchmarks third graders have to meet to move on to fourth grade. 

The local district had to figure out how to offer summer school and provide reading tutors — and how to pay for the new programs. 

“All of that to make sure that we are adhering to the law, but doing right by kids,” Stewart said. “In education, there's lots of things that come down, and our job at the district level is to interpret it on behalf of children and on behalf of families.”

Divvying resources & autonomy for principals

School funding begins with the district administration. Each spring, administrators set funding priorities and present a budget to the school board. Once approved, it’s ultimately passed by the Hamilton County Commission.

This year's operating budget (about half of which comes from the state) is broken down into various initiatives created at the district level, with a majority of funds going toward student learning. Funding increased significantly from last year, mostly thanks to a new state funding formula that requires a base level of spending per student and includes additional funds for students who need more support, such as low-income students and students with disabilities.  

Stewart said the increase in state dollars gives schools “supplemental allocations" to hire needed staff. Principals can use the extra money for new tutors and teachers, including educators for technical schools and English as a new language programs. It’s up to individual school leaders to hire based on school needs. 

“This is the most autonomy principals have had in this county and the most agency over funding,” Stewart said. “So it’s a really exciting time.”

Managing curriculum 

Administrators select curricula for elementary and secondary schools from a few state-sanctioned options that meet state and federal academic standards.

Currently, a committee created by the school board and run by the administration's chief academic officer, Blake Freeman, is selecting new math textbooks for the district. Input from the community and teachers is part of the selection process.

Once courses and textbooks are set, administrators create curriculum guides for each grade to set the pace of learning in line with standards. From there, school-level leadership is in charge of developing teachers and actual in-class instruction to be both rigorous and creative.

“We expect certain things — high quality instructional design, talented educators, right?” Stewart said. “It's the principal's responsibility to develop their staff's capacity to do that.”