Editorial
Front Page - Friday, February 12, 2010
Women’s Council of Realtors gets educated on schools
Stephanie Coward
Danielle Clark, director of communications for Hamilton County Schools, was the guest speaker at the February Women’s Council of Realtors meeting. She addressed numerous questions asked by local Realtors at the luncheon.
- Stephanie Coward
The ladies of the Women’s Council of Realtors gathered in the Choo Choo Hotel’s Imperial Ballroom last week for their regular monthly meeting. Danielle Clark of the Hamilton County School Board was the guest speaker – she addressed many questions often heard from Realtors, both during her speech and the Q&A held afterward.
President Chereé Dumas called the meeting to order promptly at 11:45, and after the invocation, led by Liz Johnson, there was a brief break so the members could enjoy their lunches.
Joyce Smith, State Women’s Council treasurer, took the podium near the end of lunch to announce the February super sponsors. “I have the pleasure of standing in for Martha Miller, who is the vice president of membership and couldn’t be here today. But it gives me great pleasure to present our super sponsors,” Smith said. She first introduced Jay Coffey of Coffey Insurance – a man she herself has done business with. “He was very responsive, he was very thorough and he always did what he said he was going to do. I made one call and Jay did the rest, and that’s who I like to do business with.”
Coffey spoke briefly with the group, informing them that his company – an independent agency – represents several different insurance companies and writes home, auto, life, health and small business insurance. “We really specialize in working with Realtors, bankers, mortgage companies and title companies,” Coffey said in closing. Smith then gave him a token of appreciation on behalf of the Women’s Council.
The next super sponsor recognized was Warranty Title. “Warranty Title is a big supporter of Women’s Council throughout the state,” Smith said before recognizing Patty Martin as the sponsor representative in attendence. “I can’t remember the first time I met Patty because it was some years ago,” Smith continued, telling the group that if Martin didn’t have an answer, she wouldn’t stop researching until she found it.
When Martin took her turn speaking to the crowd, she began by ensuring the group knew everywhere the company had offices in Tennessee – in Chattanooga, on Shallowford Road, Knoxville, Henderson-ville and Springfield. The company can do closings in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky, and offers four major underwriters at all times. “If one can’t do it, I am sure another one will,” Martin said. She also took time to explain a new program offered through Warranty Title: Sure Close. “Our office has gone totally paperless; we scan everything into a huge database. As a Realtor or mortgage broker, we’ll give you a pass code, you can enter that at anytime, pull a commitment, pull a title policy for your customer … Anything that was in that package that you walked out with a copy of will be scanned into that database.”
When she finished, Martin was also presented with a token of appreciation from Women’s Council, and then, she quickly hopped back up to the podium to recognize her office staff – Missy Hicks and Yvonne Miller – who accompanied her to the meeting. She ended by letting the attendees know that the company also has an abstractor.
President-Elect Kaye Ivey then took a moment to get the crowd introduced to the day’s guest speaker. Clark is the director of communications for the Hamilton County Schools and is in charge of all internal and external communications, community relations, media relations, publicity and promotions for the 42,000-student school system, which constitutes 78 schools. Clark sits on Dr. Jim Scales’ executive leadership team and reports directly to the superintendent.
Scales, who was pulled out of town at the last minute and couldn’t attend the meeting, sent his apologies through Clark. “I’d like to say I am a shorter, blonder version of him,” she joked. “I’m here to answer any questions you have.” Clark had left a packet at every seat for the attendees, which was packed with information that answered many of the questions consistently asked by Realtors.
Hamilton County School district is the fifth largest district in Tennessee and is considered an urban, suburban and rural district. Urban is downtown, almost into Red Bank; suburban is considered Hixson out to Ooltewah; and the rural part of the district is considered Soddy Daisy up into Sale Creek and over to Birchwood, according to Clark. Much of the district is suffering, however, with 59 percent of the students considered “economically disadvantaged,” which Clark explained means they live below the national poverty line. That line is set at an annual salary of $45,000 to $50,000 for a family of four. That 59 percent qualifies for reduced price lunch.
Clark then moved on and discussed graduation rates. The county has a graduation rate of 72.6 percent, but that number is based upon how many students finish high school in four years. If a student takes five years to graduate, he’s considered a dropout. If a student transfers and doesn’t let the county know where he moved, or if a student is in special education and can’t pass the state exam, but fulfills the IEPs, he’s considered a dropout.
“So that 73 percent graduation rate, you have to understand it’s a four-year term. The thing that’s really interesting … we have roughly between 93 and 98 percent of our seniors that graduate every year. Tennessee is considered to have the toughest graduation rate formula in the country,” Clark said.
The Volkswagen plant opening in Chattanooga has led to the school board implementing significant changes in a short time. The board was able to put together a German program for those Volkswagen staff that move to Chattanooga from Germany for the plant opening. “When the county and city negotiated with Volkswagen to come here, there was a clause put into a memorandum … that stated that Hamilton County would provide a German curriculum in our schools,” Clark said.
“The decision was made, that on a temporary basis, we would put that program at Normal Park because that school was expanding … as of today, we have 30 students at Normal Park that are from German families.”
After discussing the German and International Baccalaureate programs in greater detail, Clark explained the possibility of zoning changes in East Hamilton, and concluded her talk with a discussion of the Web site redesign, currently ongoing through May.
The new site “will have dynamic information,” including all the school’s enrollment information, teacher contact information and more. The board has been trying to increase its county exposure through such things as joining Facebook and Twitter.
“I believe in public engagement,” Clark said. Other technological advances include the Web site redesign and a new call program – Connect-Ed. With Connect-Ed., Clark said that they’re able to contact 67,000 households in about 20 minutes with a phone call over the Internet; this program has been used several times already this year when the weather caused cancellations.
Dumas thanked Clark for her time and information and then she announced that the membership drive was still ongoing until the end of March. “So I’d like for each of you who have Realtor guests, bring them twice and then we ask them to join. Next month, we will be having our serious membership luncheon at the Homebuilders Association and we will be having a joint meeting with them,” Dumas said. “Nina (Boss) and Karen Flores and several people are making spaghetti, so we’re having a spaghetti luncheon. It’s free to the Realtor members’ guest.”
And with those words the meeting was adjourned.
|
|