1 principal takes state job, another reassigned
Two schools in Hamilton County saw major shakeups in leadership Tuesday, with Ooltewah High School Principal Robin Copp’s departure and the reassignment of Ooltewah Elementary Principal Tom Arnold.
Copp took over at Ooltewah at a particularly fragile moment in the school’s history, folowing the 2015 rape of a high school basketball player by his teammates. She quickly became Tennessee’s principal of the year. Though she is leaving her position for a state job, she will still be working closely with Hamilton County through her new role with the Partnership Network, through a position with the Tennessee Department of Education.
“She has distinguished herself as one of our top principals in Tennessee and has consistently shown herself as an educator and leader who is student-centered and outcomes-oriented,” read a statement from Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.
Copp has been at Ooltewah for three years and was named 2017-2018 principal of the year in Tennessee.
The Partnership Network is a collaboration overseen by the district and the state and a separate advisory board, charged with overseeing the school improvement work at five of the district’s worst-performing schools, including
Brainerd High School and its feeder system. Copp will serve as key facilitator, or the network’s liaison between the district and the state.
Copp has been a school administrator in Hamilton County Schools for 13 years. She served in leadership positions at Signal Mountain Middle/ High School and Sale Creek Middle/High School before becoming Ooltewah’s principal. Previously, she was an assistant principal and teacher at Sale Creek after working as a physical education teacher at five county schools, according to a press release.
East Ridge Middle School principal Angela Cass will replace Copp at Ooltewah. Cass has spent 20 years in the district. Ten of those years were in administration at the middle and high school level. For Cass, the move is a homecoming, of sorts. She began her career as a teacher at Ooltewah Middle School.
The district also announced Tuesday that Tom Arnold, the principal of Ooltewah Elementary School, has been suspended for 10 days and removed from his post at the school.
An internal investigation began Monday, Oct. 8, was completed and resulted in the reassignment, according to district spokesman Tim Hensley.
When Arnold returns from his suspension, he will be reassigned as assistant principal at East Ridge Middle, replacing Christy Drake, who was promoted to interim principal at the school Tuesday. Drake has been the school’s assistant principal for more than five years. She was a 20172018 graduate of PEF Principal Leadership Academy and has other leadership training. Previously, Drake was an inclusion, resource, gifted and advisory teacher at Loftis Middle School, Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts and Tyner Academy.
The district has not elaborated on the cause for the investigation, citing the reassignment as “the result of a personnel issue that did not involve academic or school financial responsibilities related to the role of principal.”
Superintendent Bryan Johnson declined to comment on the reassignment, saying he “does not comment on personnel issues.” Notably, Johnson has commented on previous incidents such as the recent suspension of a Soddy-Daisy High School assistant principal after a video went viral of the administrator making what Johnson called “inexcusable” comments.
Arnold released a statement Tuesday, acknowledging his reassignment after making “mistakes,” according to a letter he sent to local media outlets.
It is unclear at this time as to what mistakes he was alluding.
“At no time did my personal issues negatively affect the academic integrity or financial stability of Ooltewah Elementary,” Arnold said in the statement. “I will always treasure my time at Ooltewah Elementary. The school, staff, students and community have been a big part of my life.”
Long-time district leader Margo Williams will temporarily come out of retirement to serve as interim principal while the district seeks a permanent leader. Williams retired as Westview Elementary principal at the end of last school year. She had been in the position since 1999 and was the longest tenured principal in the district when she retired.