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Vote: 9 - 0 Passed |
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| 5 |
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Special Recognition of Lucy Farley, Tennessee Secretary of State's 2026 Civics Essay Contest First Place Winner in 3rd to 5th Grade Category
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The Board and Superintendent Rysewyk recognized 5th grade student Lucy Farley of South Knox Elementary School for being a first-place winner in the 3rd to 5th grade category of the Tennessee Secretary of State’s annual Civics Essay Contest. Ms. Kristy shared that students from public, private and home schools, from kindergarten to 12th grade, were encouraged to participate in the contest that began in 2016 with students writing about themes such as voting, citizenship, leadership, and civic duty. The goal of the contest was to encourage students to be actively engaged citizens by recognizing their important roles as citizens of the great state of Tennessee. The theme of the 2026 contest was “Tennessee, America at Its Best.” The contest winners were announced in March and Secretary Tre Hargett honored only 12 students across the state for their essays. Over 4,600 students participated, with first place winners receiving a $500 College Savings Program Scholarship and a trip to the Tennessee State Capitol. |
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Superintendent's Report |
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End of 2026-2027 School Year
Superintendent Rysewyk thanked the Board for approving the $717 million Fiscal Year 2027 Budget. He also thanked the KCS Business and Talent and the Finance team for their hard work on the multi-year effort toward bringing KCS employee salaries back to market value in 2028.
Teacher Appreciation Week
Superintendent Rysewyk noted that this week was Teacher Appreciation Week. He stated that KCS was fortunate to have incredibly talented educators and shared his appreciation that each of them had chosen Knox County Schools as their employer.
Student Holiday
Superintendent Rysewyk announced that a local election day was scheduled for Tuesday, May 5. That day would be a system-wide in-service day and student holiday.
Graduations/Field Days
Superintendent Rysewyk also announced that high school graduation ceremonies would take place May 14 through 21. He stated that he was excited to celebrate with the Class of 2026, the first cohort of students experiencing the 865 Academies. He thanked educators for providing students with a strong foundation from preschool to 12th grade. Superintendent Rysewyk noted that when possible, in the case of forecasted rain, ceremonies would be rescheduled within 48 hours. He also noted that many elementary schools would be holding field days over the last weeks of the school year.
Thank you to Mayor Jacobs
Superintendent Rysewyk thanked Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs for honoring Knox County Schools with a Salute to Service Award for supporting those who chose military service. He stated that KCS would remain committed to supporting military service as a post-secondary pathway for students and for participating staff members. |
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Announcement of 2026-2027 Board of Education Student Representative
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Mr. Triplett reported that this year’s Board Student Representative Selection Committee process began in early March with information being shared with every high school. Rising seniors had until March 26 to submit applications to the Board office and 22 submissions were received from students at 9 different high schools. Mr. Triplett stated that in accordance with Board Policy J-450, the Selection Committee consisted of Assistant Superintendent Kori Lautner, current Board Student Representative Albert Liu of Region 1, Parent and Community Member Tonya Williams of Region 3, Chief of Schools Ryan Siebe of Region 4, Principal Kendedrick Jones of Region 5, and himself as the Board’s representative, representing Region 2. The Selection Committee met on April 13 to receive the redacted applications along with the scoring rubric that covered the areas of Leadership, Communication, Organizational Skills, Academic Achievements, Community Service, Extracurricular Activities and Recommendations. Interviews were offered to the 3 top-scoring candidates after application scores were calculated. The Selection Committee interviewed and scored the candidates on Thursday, April 30, and Mr. Triplett said he was happy to announce that Dominick Pelaia from the L&N STEM Academy was selected as 2026-2027 Board Student Representative. Mr. Triplett thanked Mr. Pelaia for being present and congratulated him. He shared that Mr. Pelaia’s term would begin on July 1. |
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| 8 |
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Legislative Update |
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Mr. Wright reported that the State of Tennessee 114th General Assembly had closed on April 23. He noted that bills and amendments were sent to the Governor for signature, and would be published as Public Chapters on the Tennessee Secretary of State website soon. He also noted that the Tennessee School Boards Association's Summer Law Institute would be held July 17–18 in Gatlinburg and that several Board Members would be in attendance to receive information regarding the new legislation. |
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| 9 |
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Strategic Plan Committee Update
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Ms. Kristy noted that the Board was provided with copies of a proposed new Superintendent Evaluation instrument during March. She said that consideration of the new instrument had been delayed until this month so that changes to the Superintendent's employment contract could be considered at the same time. Ms. Kristy outlined changes to the contract including changing the due date for the Annual Action Plan, updating the contract dates to June 1, 2026 to May 31, 2030 to align with the Strategic Plan, adding a section related to liability insurance coverage, and two sections recommended by the Law Department regarding assurances and third-party beneficiaries.
Knox County Deputy Law Director Gary Dupler noted that he had become clear that a new contract was needed, and even though by law, the Board could not extend the current contract, the need to add a section on liability insurance coverage that was not in the current contract was recommended. He also noted that the statements on assurances and third-party beneficiaries appeared in most Knox County contracts and protected both the Superintendent and the Board. |
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Discussion of May 7, 2026 Board of Education Regular Session Agenda |
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Superintendent Evaluation Instrument
Mr. Triplett noted that he believed the evaluation instrument objectives should not just be about strategies but about end results. Ms. Kristy stated that the Strategic Plan Committee had extensive discussion and agreed that if strategies put in place by the Superintendent were not aligning, then change would need to be recognized. Assistant Superintendent of Impact and Policy Kori Lautner added that there was a focus on actions under the Superintendent's purview and the idea was to align resources. She stated that if the resources did not bear fruit, then they would be recognized in the Annual Action Plan when goals were established and priorities aligned year-over-year for a snapshot of what worked. Ms. Lautner noted that the committee had wanted to preserve as much of the previous instrument as possible while also recognizing best practices. Mr. Triplett asked if the Board would receive data through the Annual Action Plan and Ms. Lautner confirmed that was correct. She stated that the objectives of the instrument could be adjusted to align with each Annual Action Plan.
Contract No. 26-268
Mr. Dupler noted that agenda item 8 was for Board consideration of Contract No. 26-268, which was related to school safety. He stated that under Tennessee law, such items could not be shared publicly, but that Board Members were provided with the contract for purposes of review. Mr. Dupler said that any discussion on this item would need to be held outside a public meeting.
Consent Agenda
Mr. Triplett asked for information regarding agenda item 9C4 regarding a form agreement with facilities offering services to neglected and delinquent students. Assistant Superintendent of Business and Talent Jennifer Hemmelgarn noted the form agreement simply allowed Knox County Schools to be a pass-through for state funding for facilities that served Knox County students. She noted that only the dates in the agreement had been updated from the previously approved version.
Board Policies
Dr. Butler noted that he would be offering some additional small revisions to Policy J-190. He said he would be requesting that the due process language be changed from the current language referring to "offender" to keep a more positive focus and consistency with the current Policy J-191. Ms. Lautner thanked Dr. Butler and noted that Board Members were provided with a paper copy of Dr. Butler suggested revisions. She stated that she had spoken with Mr. Dupler and neither he nor KCS staff had any reservations about the changes which reflected the intentionality on learning.
Ms. Bike asked if communication between the Student Supports Department and General Education Department would continue given all the movement in Policies J-190 and J-191. Ms. Lautner explained the recommendation to move language into Policy J-190 and move detail to administrative procedure would result in no change in practice. Ms. Bike stated that she was concerned that in the general education setting there may not be as deep of an understanding when students had a 504 or IEP, and she would rather incentivize those students. Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Dr. Andrew Brown confirmed that his division supported behavior incentives and noted that students with disabilities did have some allowances. He said that discipline was at the discretion of school principals and that every school was different, but support would be in place. Ms. Bike asked for information regarding how bullying was handled. Dr. Brown stated that training related to bullying was required by law for every teacher. She asked if bullying reports were tracked. Dr. Brown confirmed that all discipline data was tracked and that teams were deployed when support was needed. Ms. Bike asked if bullying had to be reported in any specific way. Dr. Brown confirmed that it was reported in multiple different ways and was not limited.
Ms. Templeton noted that an updated Administrative Procedure to accompany Policy J-190 had been shared in March. She stated that she had requested that a statement be added to the procedure to ensure that the Board was informed whenever the procedure was changed. Ms. Lautner stated that Ms. Templeton's requested change was made to the procedure, and it would be officially added to the Procedure Manual if Policy J-190 was approved on second reading as amended.
Grants
There were no questions or discussion on grants.
Contracts
There were no questions or discussion on contracts.
Regular Agenda
There were no questions or discussion on regular agenda items. |
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| 11 |
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Public Forum |
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- Daria Turner, KCEA President, of Knox County, Tennessee addressed the Board regarding her deep appreciation for the Collaborative Conferencing process and thanked the Board for their consideration of a new 3-year Memorandum of Understanding.
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| 12 |
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Board Forum |
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- Mr. Liu shared that students were moving into the final testing window for the school year. He congratulated students on their hard work and said he knew everyone was looking forward to summer break.
- Dr. Butler thanked all school administrators, support staff, and parents for a good school year. He also stated that he was looking forward to the first cohort of graduates from the 865 Academies and taking the Academies to the next level.
- Ms. Templeton congratulated all graduates and wished all students and families the best of luck. She expressed her appreciation for teachers during this Teacher Appreciation Week and also encouraged everyone to vote in the May 5 elections.
- Ms. Fontenot-Ridley shared her appreciation for Bearden Elementary School and a recent dance event at the school. She also thanked Bearden High School for allowing her to volunteer at a recent golf tournament at Willow Creek Golf Course.
- Ms. Morgan congratulated Knox County Schools for the recent award related to support for military service and thanked Mayor Glenn Jacobs for his recognition. She also shared her appreciation for the work of Career & Technical Education students on housing for the Operation Hero's Hill project.
- Ms. Henderson shared that she had recently attended field day at Hardin Valley Elementary School and said the event was wonderful. She also shared her appreciation for teachers during this Teacher Appreciation Week and wished all students well on their next chapter.
- Ms. Kristy echoed and agreed with everyone's statements related to Teacher Appreciation Week. She said that Knox County was very blessed with amazing educators.
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