A new wing was added in 1995, but the heart of the facility is more than six decades old. Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson has publicly described the building as “subpar.”

If county and school leaders agree that the building is no longer good enough, the answer should not be to remove the school from its community. The answer should be to build the community a school worthy of its children.

As an educator, I could teach in a one-room schoolhouse if necessary. Dedicated teachers will find a way to educate children wherever we are placed. But our willingness to persevere should never become an excuse for the government’s failure to provide students with an equitable learning environment.

The children of Churchville, Bushtown, Avondale, Highland Park, the Westside, Bayberry, Riverside Drive and the surrounding communities deserve more than a building adults have learned to tolerate. They deserve modern classrooms, functioning systems, updated technology, safe athletic spaces, science laboratories, collaborative learning areas and a campus they can proudly call their own.

A school building sends a message. A modern facility tells children, “You matter. Your education matters. Your future is worth investing in.” A deteriorating and neglected facility sends a very different message, no matter how inspiring the words painted on its walls may be.

Hamilton County Schools is considering relocating approximately 300 Orchard Knob students to the former Howard Connect space. I understand the argument: an available building has more room and is in better condition. But a temporary relocation without a funded commitment to return is not a permanent solution. It is displacement.

This is not an argument against Howard. Howard has its own proud history and deserves continued investment. This is an argument for keeping a neighborhood public school rooted in the community that has supported it for generations.

Hamilton County has already demonstrated that it can make significant investments in school facilities. When leaders committed approximately $34 million to modernize Soddy-Daisy Middle School, they emphasized the importance of keeping that school rooted in its neighborhood. Orchard Knob’s families are asking county leaders to apply that same principle to us.

We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for equitable treatment.

The Hamilton County Commission should work with the Board of Education, superintendent and county mayor to place a new Orchard Knob Middle School into a funded capital plan. That commitment should include design and planning money, a construction timeline, meaningful community participation and a financing package that does not leave the project as another vague promise for “someday.”

Dr. Warren Mackey, this is your moment.

Orchard Knob Middle School is in the district you were elected to represent, and you serve on the County Commission’s Finance and Budget Committee. Put public dollars behind public promises. Get off the sidelines, champion the funding, build a coalition among your fellow commissioners and fight for the traditional public middle school in your own district.

A charter school is not a substitute for investing in the neighborhood public school taxpayers already own. Moving children into borrowed space is not a substitute for giving them a permanent home. Another study is not a substitute for construction.

Our students should not have to test their way out of neglect. A safe, modern school is not a prize reserved only for children in affluent or rapidly growing communities. It is part of the basic promise of public education.

Orchard Knob’s students have shown up. Our educators have shown up. Our families and neighborhoods have shown up.

Now the Hamilton County Commission must show up.

Approve the investment. Build the school. Keep Orchard Knob Middle in its community - and give our children a facility they can finally be proud of.

Sean Nix

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It looks like the schools are on a quest to spend as much money as they possibly can. When will restraints be put on the out of control spending?

The results are not there. Education is not improving. Private schools see significantly better results with far less expenditure.

Yes, there is a need for better education, however this unrestrained spending is not the answer.

Patrick Riehl

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Not to take sides at all on the future of the Orchard Knob School building as referenced in Friday's Chattanoogan.com Opinions section, I would point out that just down Third Street from Orchard Knob Middle is Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences (CSAS), once Chattanooga High School, Riverside High School, Erlanger School of Nursing and now CSAS. That original building is 105 years old, with wings added about 1937, almost 80 years old. It is still proud, still kept up, still functioning.

Orchard Knob is 65 years old, a youngster by comparison. Was it built poorly or taken care of poorly?

D.C. Cooper