Schools within the county’s small municipalities: Seven of Hamilton County’s 10 municipalities have schools within their limits, and 20 of the district’s 76 schools are within the six small municipalities. Chattanooga has more than 40 public schools, and the unincorporated parts of the county have about a dozen schools. * Collegedale: Wolftever Creek Elementary, Ooltewah Middle School * East Ridge: East Ridge Elementary, Spring Creek Elementary, East Ridge Middle School, East Ridge High School * Lookout Mountain: Lookout Mountain Elementary * Signal Mountain: Thrasher Elementary, Nolan Elementary, Signal Mountain Middle/High * Soddy-Daisy: Sequoyah, Soddy Elementary, Allen Elementary, Daisy Elementary, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Soddy-Daisy High School * Red Bank: Alpine Crest Elementary, Red Bank Middle School, Red Bank High School, Dawn School Lakesite, Ridgeside and Walden have no schools within their boundaries.

More Info By the numbers: Hamilton County Schools: about 56 percent of the student body is white, and about 36 percent of students live in poverty. Signal Mountain Middle/High School: about 93 percent of the student body is white, and about 5 percent of students live in poverty. Thrasher Elementary: about 95 percent of the student body is white, and about 6 percent of students live in poverty. Nolan Elementary: about 94 percent of the student body is white, and about 7 percent of students live in poverty. Source: Tennessee Department of Education

More Info Applicants for the committee: Brad Shumpert John Michael Stewart James Pratt Joanna Holland Todd Maynor Susan Speraw Jonathan Gray John Friedl Tom McCullough Robert Hensley Richard Urban Thomas Peterson Larry “Buddy” Fogo, Jr. Joseph D. Durek, Jr. Jeff Parker Charles W. Spencer Amy Wakim Jessica Hetzler Rebecca Bishop Taylor Moore Travis Close Andrew Akridge Elizabeth Baker Melissa Wood McKinley S. Lundy, Jr. Kayse Rigsby Eric Goddard Grant Summerlin William Kennedy Jeff Duncan Source: Signal Mountain

The Signal Mountain Town Council has selected a committee to investigate the feasibility of breaking away from Hamilton County Schools.

The council began discussing the idea of forming its own school district, with three of Hamilton County's top-performing schools, in December. Members spent almost an hour Friday afternoon deciding which of the 30 applicants to name to the committee to look into the viability of the idea, and they will officially vote to approve the committee members next month.

The council decided to appoint Susan Speraw, John Friedl, Tom McCullough, Thomas Peterson, Charles Spencer, Amy Wakim and Melissa Wood to the committee.

Councilwoman Amy Speek said she spoke with each of the 30 candidates individually and emphasized to the council the importance of the group's work.

"What we are asking this committee to do is very complicated and very complex and can have very strong implications for our town," Speek said.

Signal Mountain Mayor Chris Howley said the appointed committee is diverse. The council voted 4-1 to approve the committee members, with councilman Dan Landrum voting against.

Landrum voiced concern about McCullough, who previously served as the superintendent of two small school districts and was a former Signal Mountain principal, bringing bias to the committee. Signal Mountain's Vice Mayor Dick Gee agreed.

"Undoubtedly, Tom McCullough is qualified," Gee said. "But I have to ask, is it possible for him to be totally, completely unbiased as he approaches this task because of his experience?"

Speek and Howley disagreed, saying McCullough's experience and knowledge will greatly benefit the committee's work.

When talking to McCullough, Speek said he seemed neutral on the issue and eager to help the community answer questions about creating a new district.

Of those named to the committee, McCullough was the only person to mark that he was in favor of the mountain forming its own school district on his application. The other six candidates marked "neutral." Out of the 30 applicants, just three stated they were against the mountain creating a separate district, and none of them were named to the committee.

A group of residents conducted preliminary research last year into the viability of forming a separate district with Signal Mountain Middle/High, Thrasher Elementary and Nolan Elementary, concluding that it was worth investigating further.

The council debated whether Wakim should be on the council's committee, as she was heavily involved in compiling the preliminary research.

Gee and Landrum said each member of the committee should be looking at the information with a fresh perspective, and argued Wakim should not be on the committee but just an adviser.

Howley and Speek argued that she was needed because of her understanding of finance and the amount of work she's already done looking at the numbers.

"If she's not on [the committee] we are going to lose a lot of work and a lot of time," Howley said.

Several members of the council supported Friedl, a retired UTC provost and attorney who does not have children in the system. Peterson, a retired physician, was the only resident of Walden to apply, and the council agreed he was qualified to be on the committee and represent that part of the mountain.

Wood, a former educator with a master's degree in teaching and the mother of students at Nolan, was selected to represent the unincorporated part of the mountain. Susan Speraw, a retired research professor at UT-Knoxville, also received wide support from the council because of her experience, as did Charles Spencer, who is a financial analyst at TVA and has been involved in a variety of robotics initiatives in many of the region's public schools.

For years people on the mountain have talked about breaking away from the county school system, and the group conducting preliminary research last year concluded that launching a separate school district seemed economically feasible for the municipality and would benefit the mountain's schools academically.

Residents of the mountain voiced concern over the uncertainty surrounding the district's future leadership, low academic performance and limited county resources as reasons for separating from Hamilton County Schools. Others said breaking away from the county seemed elitist and would require a tax increase.

If municipalities decide to form school districts, the schools will receive state and county per-pupil allocations, meaning Hamilton County Schools would receive less money because of a decrease in enrollment, according to the state.

Before a separate school district could be launched, Signal Mountain residents would have to vote to establish it, which would involve creating a separate school board and hiring a superintendent to oversee the three schools about 2,500 students attend.

Red Bank plans to seat a committee to consider breaking away from the county schools next month. East Ridge and Soddy-Daisy are also considering forming committees to look into the idea.

Contact staff writer Kendi A. Rainwater at krainwater@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @kendi_and.