School board Chairman Kenny Smith wants the Hamilton County Schools system to build a high school dedicated to career and technical education, he announced today.

“I don’t know how the administration will feel about it, but I almost don’t care,” he said. “They still think of career and technical as a dumping ground.”

Speaking to members of the Pachyderm Club, Mr. Smith also addressed topics such as school discipline and the district’s budget for fiscal year 2009.

Hamilton County Board of Education members Rhonda Thurman and Chester Bankston also attended the meeting and voiced their support for Mr. Smith’s idea.

“I love it,” said Mr. Bankston, an electrician and owner of CB Electric. “This year we’re in a budget crunch. It may not happen in our term, but it doesn’t mean we can’t work toward it.”

Mr. Smith, also an electrician, said he would like to see a 300-400-student high school focused on teaching trade skills to students who do not wish to attend college.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.