What Does the School Board Do?
The Hamilton County School Board doesn't run schools day-to-day, but it sets district policy, establishes priorities, and adopts the school system's budget — all of which shape what students and teachers experience every day.
While the County Commission has final approval over funding, the School Board determines how resources are allocated within the district and advocates for what schools need. Here are a few recent, local examples of how that works in practice.
How Policy Gets Made
Setting Policies That Affect Daily School Life
In August 2025, the Hamilton County School Board voted 7–4 to approve a new student cell phone policy. Under this policy, students are no longer allowed to use their phones during the school day — from the first bell to the final bell, including during lunch and between classes. Exceptions were included for students with medical needs or disabilities.1
The policy was adopted in response to a new state law requiring schools to restrict phone use during class time, but the specifics of how the policy would work locally were decided by the School Board.
This is the Board's role: weighing state requirements, listening to community feedback, debating publicly, and deciding how policy is implemented in Hamilton County schools.
What Happens When We Show Up
Responding to Student Needs Through Planning and Evaluation
The School Board voted to end Hamilton County Schools' partnership with Centerstone, a nonprofit organization that provided mental health services to thousands of students in our district at no cost.
That vote included our current District 3 representative, School Board Chair Joe Smith, who voted in favor of ending the partnership.2
Following the loss of those services, parents, students, educators, and community members raised concerns about gaps in care.
I was one of the residents who spoke during public comment at the September 2025 School Board meeting, speaking with parents, teachers, mental health providers, and students to urge the Board to reconsider the removal of school-based mental health supports and to center student well-being in these decisions.
After months of public discussion and review, the Board voted in November 2025 to approve new partnerships that would bring school-based mental health services back to students.3 Board members reviewed memorandums of understanding with multiple providers and ultimately approved contracts with five organizations, including Centerstone and the Helen Ross McNabb Center, to give families options for mental health support.