001We're here. Welcome to the board of education's May 4th, 2026 work session. Please stand as we observe a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance led by Dr. Butler. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Dr. Butler. Um, we have one announcement, just a reminder that our next policy review meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 15th at 10 a.m. in this boardroom. Um, and with that, are there any requested changes this to this agenda? So, a motion by Mr. Triplet, a second by Miss Henderson. All in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. So, first up on the agenda is something I am super excited about. Um, we
002have a special recognition of Miss Lucy Farley uh from South Knox Elementary who is here tonight. Each year, the Tennessee Secretary of State encourages students in public, private, and home schools from kindergarten to 12th grade to participate in a civics essay contest. The contest started in 2016 with students writing about themes such as voting, citizenship, leadership, and civic duty. The goal is to encourage students to be actively engaged citizens by recognizing their important roles as citizens of the great state of Tennessee. The theme of this year's contest was Tennessee, America at its best. The contest winners were announced in March and Secretary of State Trey Harget honored 12 students across the state for their essays. Over 4600 students participated with first place winners receiving a $500 college savings program scholarship and a trip to the
003Tennessee State Capital. I'm proud to say that one of our very own Knox County School students was a first place winner in the third to fifth grade category and she is here tonight. So, if you all will join me in congratulating Miss Lucy Farley of South Lox Elementary. Yeah. and and she is here with her mom and dad and I believe her a teacher and a principal. So, if you all will come up, we have a a certificate and we can do a picture. All right, Dr. Ricewick, I think you're up next. Uh, good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. It's hard to believe this is the last month of the school year. I want to begin by thanking you for approving an over $700 million budget for the FY27 uh season to improve
004outcomes for kids, including more than $22 million in salary uh investments for staff. I also want to recognize our business and talent team, specifically our finance department, for the time and care that went into putting all that together. They worked handinhand with our assistant superintendent to navigate with some difficult decisions with intentionality and discipline. The result is a budget that reflects our four priorities and investments in the strategies that we know work. In a year with low revenue growth, we're continuing a multi-year effort to maintain market value through our 2028 promise. We're also funding investments in the 865mmies early literacy and numeracy and differentiated supports for students. Each of these strategies is core to our mission for graduating every student ready for en enrollment, excuse me, ready for enrollment. Yes, enlistment and employment. For anyone
005interested, the full budget book uh put together by our communications team is available at our website. As always, this is a busy time of year and this week is no exception. Today marked the start of our teacher appreciation week which runs through Friday, May the 8th. This is a time to recognize, celebrate, and thank the many outstanding teachers that serve Knox County students. During this year, I've had the opportunity to visit schools and classrooms across the district. Each visit reinforces the same thing. We are fortunate to have incredibly talented teachers in our classrooms. I've seen enthusiastic teachers setting high expectations for engaging students in every classroom. As I've shared many times, these great educators are making a real impact of our students, on our students, their families, and the community. So, to our teachers, I
006want to say thank you for choosing Knox County Schools to share your talents and gifts. One other quick note for this week. While not intentionally scheduled alongside our teacher appreciation week, students will be out of school tomorrow, Tuesday, May the 5th, for election day. Everybody's I hear the cheers at home, right? Uh hopefully everyone has time to get to the polls before they close. For staff, it's a systemwide school-based inservice day. So, our staff will be at their schools and hopefully if they live in that uh district, they can vote right there at their school in lots of cases. That brings us to graduation season. As you know, graduations begin next Thursday, May 14th, and run through Thursday, May the 21st. We don't get any fewer graduations, but they keep shrinking the days. So, this
007is seven days. We've done it in 10. We're going to do it in seven this time. Um, this year is particularly exciting in that we're celebrating the first graduating class from the 865mmies. Each student has their own story, their own path, and a future full of possibility. Every cap and gown represents years of instruction and support from a network of teachers from preschool to the teachers they have now. And this is why we do what we do. It's always one of my favorite times of year. We have a lot of the high schools that go back to the elementary schools kind of walk through the halls and let them see what they get to be uh at some point. But it really is a 13-year sometimes 13-year plus uh right we have Fort Sanders teacher
008in the in the crowd. sometimes it's 13 years plus uh that our students have uh and and it's just a it's a great chance for us to celebrate while we're here. Uh I look forward to seeing board members. I look forward to seeing you there as well. This year all ceremonies will take place within a single week. We're hoping for sunshine especially on Saturday. We have five. So hopefully there is no rain on Saturday. Um but if indeed we'll make every effort to reschedule weather related cancellations within 48 hours. That's something we realized uh instead of having a rain date, it was better to kind of move when we could. Sometimes we'll shift uh to daytime uh to get some of them in. So, we'll do that within 48 hours. Uh and that was advertised
009for families at the beginning. While graduation marks an important milestone for our seniors, there will be many field days, award ceremonies, and celebrations for students across the district leading up to this last day of school, which is Thursday, May the 21st. This is crazy that we're in May. Um this will be a half day. The 21st will be a half day and a well-earned one. I want to again thank our educators and staff who work who do the hard work who that has brought us to this point. Your efforts have made a real difference in setting a strong foundation for what's to come next year. I hope everyone has a great summer with plenty of time to rest, reflect, and recharge. Uh before I close, I also want to say thank you to Mayor Jacobs
010uh for recently recognizing Knox County School's commitment to supporting our armed forces. It was great to see several of you last week at Farragate High School where the district was honored with the salute to service award. Uh we're very proud to serve veterans, active duty service members, and students pursuing military paths across our district. From our strong JOTC programs to dedicated staff support and meaningful career exploration opportunities, we remain committed to ensuring military enlistment is a respected and wellsupported path for our students. Uh and I think we'll say this too that uh this Wednesday we'll we'll show that again for our uh celebration of our our seniors who are going to be enlisted for that lunchon and I know a lot of you will be able to attend that too. So uh great for the
011the mayor and the county to recognize us as an organization for the work you all do to support our military. Madam Chair, that concludes my report. All right. Thank you Dr. Ricewick. Next we have an announcement of our 2627 board of education student representative Mr. Triplet. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate I had the opportunity this year to serve on the board student representative committee. I served alongside assistant superintendent Cory Lner and current board student repres representative Albert. I appreciate you being on that. Parent community member Tanya Williams of region three, chief of schools Ryan CB of region 4 and principal Kandendrick Jones of region five. And uh we met received applications. I think there are 20some applications. Uh that process all starts sometime in March um where they get information. We got applications in
012April and had some really good ones, very very well written. Uh the young people did a did an outstanding job. Uh we score all those. It's they're redacted applications. We don't know who's giving them. It's just words and information on a page and we we judge off of that and u selected the top three to come in for interviews. We met last Thursday, April 30th for the interviews and uh again well spoken, just did a really incredible job. Just really great. Uh actually um some tough discussion around who we land on, what's the best one. Uh kind of wanted to do a rotating three. That would have been great. But uh there were some just some good folks that um that um that spoke. They they each had an opportunity to share a three-minute speech
013and then they just answered questions which can be tough. You know, they just sat there and whatever came they had to respond to and uh did really really well. And I'm pleased to announce that the committee has selected Dominic Palea uh as from LNN STEM Academy as our 2627 student board representative. On behalf of the selection committee and the board, I just want to welcome you and say we're excited to get to know you, work alongside you. I think you'll be joining Albert next month or in July. Unfortunately, I don't think Mr. Leo can be here next month. So, probably in July if he can work and they'll join each other and and then we'll we'll hand that transition off starting officially just as him in in September. So, appreciate it. Appreciate the work you
014did. You did a great job and we're looking forward to to serving alongside you and congratulations again. And you do not have to stay for the entire meeting unless you want to. I know you will have a plenty of that moving forward, but completely up to you. All right. So, moving on to our legislative update. Mr. Thank you, Madam Chair. Obviously, everybody knows that the 114th uh general assembly adjourned on April the 23rd. There were lots of bills that were passed and obviously lots for probably Mr. Dupler to figure out and sift through. So, uh, I know that I do have a legislative liaison meeting with TSBA coming up week after next, I believe. So, they're going to kind of talk to us about all the things that we need to look at at that
015point. Um, and then obviously we'll get kind of a big briefing when we attend the summer law institute. uh for those who are going in June or I'm sorry in July. So if you have any questions about those bills, you know, obviously you can find everything online right now with the uh what passed and what didn't pass and what we need to look at and what we're going to have to change. You have anything to add? Thank you, Mr. Wright. So, and I would just caution board members, I mean, be careful about what you're looking at online right now. there's a lot of news stories, things like that that don't that don't tell the whole story. Uh, so I mean that's why it takes a little time to un to unpack all the new legislation.
016Um, and like like like Mr. Wright said, I mean there's the TSBA's got got something coming up soon. I know uh the county attorneys have a seminar coming up uh into this week and then of course summer law in July is where we really can take a consensus and then start bringing policies before the board. So, but with that, thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wright and Mr. Dupler. Um, we also have a strategic plan committee update. Um board members, you were given copies of the strategic plan committee's proposed new superintendent evaluation instrument along with the current instrument in the 2030 strategic plan at our March 2nd work session. There are some proposed changes to the superintendent's employment contract to ensure alignment with the strategic plan and the new evaluation instrument timelines. The date the
017annual action plan will be received by the board each year will need to be updated to November. Since we were already considering changes to the contract, I asked Mr. Dupller to review it for other potential needed updates. A redline copy of the contract is attached to the agenda, but I wanted to summarize some of the proposed changes. And Mr. Dupor if you have anything to add after that. Um the annual plan adoption date would be changed from October 15th to November 30th. The effective dates of the contract would be updated to June 1st, 2026 to May 31st, 2030 to align with the strategic plan. A section has been added requiring the board to maintain liability insurance coverage on the superintendent. A statement of further asurances clarifying that the superintendent is required to do all things
018as may be required by law has been added. And a statement no third party beneficiaries clarifying that there are no other beneficiaries of the contract except the superintendent has been added. And I think this was just to add some layers of protection there. Is that right, Mr. Dubler? as far as um the district, the board and the superintendent as well if you want to speak to that. Yes. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, um when I mean when it became clear that that there was going to be a need for a new contract and and just so the board's clear, this is a new contract because the existing contract by law was not able to be extended. Uh uh so this is a new contract and and some more provisions were needed and u as
019as madam chair stated uh the you know the liability provision was something that uh became more apparent here recently that that was not apparent when the original contract went into place. Uh and then frankly uh these other two provisions about further assurances and no third part third third party beneficiaries appe those provisions appear in a lot of Knox County schools contracts regardless. So uh this this was obviously an excellent time to be able to to add those uh the further asurances simply u you know states that the director of schools will uh will follow through with all the provisions in law. Uh so that's more of a protection for the board frankly. And then uh the no thirdparty beneficiaries protects both the board and the director of schools uh because it it basically uh states
020in writing that the only two parties are the board and the director of schools. So so so there's no outside influences on uh the contract itself. So thank you. All right. Thank you Mr. Duporn. All right. So with that we will have so much here. Sorry. We will move into our discussion of the regular agenda. Um, so is there any discussion on item six, which would be what we just updated on the superintendent contract? All right. Item seven. Oh, Mr. Mr. Triplet, I had a question. I I I emailed Miss Lner and Dr. Riswick and got a good response from them and you were the chair. Is that am I right, Miss Chris? Yes. And I just wanted to ask one of the things is I read the the evaluation instrument was it was all
021about aligning strategies and resources with obviously the intent of increasing third grade proficiency in math and all that. Those are the goals. But I I wondered if our the objective really should just be to increase third grade reading proficiency, not just I mean part of that is aligning strategies and resources. There are methods to make that happen. But I wondered if it would be better stated to like the objective is actually to increase third grade proficiencies, not just align strategies because you may align strategies, but they if they don't succeed, they were the wrong strategies. That's the problem, you know, then something needs to change. Same thing. it does that all throughout the the the objectives sort of seem to indicate you know just about aligning the strategies and the resources and the you know
022systems but not so much about the end result which is kind of what we're looking at and maybe I'm just too much like data driven and numbers guy but I just feel like the goal is to increase those particular areas not just align the strategies I I don't know if there are any thoughts from you know from the strategic plan committee I know m Miss Lner she's I got a good email back and I appreciate both of you saying replying to that but all right and and Miss Lauder if you want to speak to that I know we had a lot of discussions about that and how you know part of it's recognizing if a strategy doesn't work you know you don't want to be overly committed to something that doesn't work so if you
023want to speak more absolutely madam chair Mr. triplet members of the board. I apologize in advance. I uh just put a peppermint in my mouth. Um so I'm going to try to talk around it. Uh that was poor timing on my part. Uh but yes, so part of the the exchange that we'd had um both in the committee and then uh some of the download that I provided to Mr. Triplet earlier today that's probably just germanine to the public conversation was how we had arrived at the proposed language and that was really twofold. I think some of that was the historicity and wanting to honor a what was working from the prior evaluation tool. So while I was not on the evaluation committee that established that last tool, um I believe there were members and
024Miss Christie, you may have been one of them uh who were who were able to carry some of that knowledge forward. And the last committee had pulled from ex some exemplars across the state. They had also consulted with TSBA just around best practice where those evaluations are concerned and one of the kind of overarching themes was to focus in on um actions that fall within the purview of the superintendent. And so that really is the establishment of strategies and the alignment of resources to those strategies. And that's not to say that those objectives and those student outcomes aren't the goal. They absolutely are. Uh but that you want to focus in on the evaluation of the tactic. um less than the outcome, but you want to take the outcome into consideration when evaluating the tactic.
025So to your point, Mr. Triplet, the idea that you may uh align resources to a strategy that does not bear fruit. Um and that's something that in the delivery of the annual action plan report that was a new addition to some of the preamble language in the proposed uh evaluation tool. In doing that, um what we would be providing from a staff standpoint, um what the superintendent would be providing as well through that tool would be the annual action plan report and narrative. So each year when the board establishes that annual action plan, there's some objective measurable um goals that are established that are priority aligned. We would be reporting out on the progress made toward each of those objectives. So that quantifiable progress and then also providing that uh year-over-year snapshot of an analysis
026of what worked and what didn't in a strategy sense so that the results of you know any board member's evaluation was not absent of the data. The data should in theory inform the evaluation on the strategies and the resources um that were aligned. It was really just to be specific on what's the action here that's being taken that a superintendent would be evaluated on. So again twofold. one just to preserve as much of the working language as possible and then two also just recognizing kind of that best practice across the state and honoring that. So just to sum it up we'll get the data more than just the list of strategy you use. We'll get the data to see if the strategies actually worked and get to evaluate that. Absolutely. And I do want to
027be clear that the data that would be provided would be aligned to whatever objectives the board approves that year in its annual action plan. And there was some some flexibility too that was intentionally built in in that regard. So you're not looking at the same objectives year-over-year if the board does decide to make a change. Very good. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. So, anything else on that item? All right. So, moving on to item eight. And Mr. Dupler, just for transparency, do you want to speak to just a little bit about the the state law involving the school security? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, so this is a particular contract that's that uh has been disseminated to the board members and you all have had a chance to review it. Uh and uh
028so in this process it it's not specifically named in the public meeting because it is related to school security and safety and and under under the uh the public records act and the public meetings act when when something is directly related to school safety and security. Um it does not have to be public. Now in this case obviously there is there is a uh there's a marker here and so that you know the public can see that you all have either voted it up or down uh but but if there's any discussion to be had uh that would that would be had you know outside the meeting. So that but that's why that's there and that's why it's listed as such. Thank you Mr. Dupor. So moving on 9 A or B C 1 2
029or three, four or five. Mr. Triplet, I had a question about number four. We're just approving this form. do these uh it lists in the kind of the fiscal note these facilities certain facilities will sign theou does that mean we already have anou with those folks maybe that's a Mr. Duper question or I don't know who was that you miss yes madam chair Mr. triple. Yes. Um the board last approved anou that was largely the same um absent some updates to background check language in 2018 and this allows to pass the funding we receive um on to these schools as well. So we're just updating the form just to include new language that we need. Correct. And and to update the dates so the other one expires. Okay. Okay. Gotcha. Thank you. Items five or
030six, seven or eight, nine or 10, 11 or 12. 13 or 14. or 15. All right, moving on to board policies 10 a doc Dr. Betler. Uh thank you madame chair. I uh offered an amendment to um J190 and I wanted to share the rationale behind it and also uh ask Miss Lner if she would talk about the changes and I think everyone has a copy. Uh, the proposed revision maintains the intent of due process language while removing terms that may unintentionally criminalize students. The word offender labels the student rather than identifying behavior being addressed. Similarly, offense and minor offenses clarify carry rather legalistic connotations that may not align with trauma-informed restorative discipline framework. Using such terms as student invol student involved, behavior lower level behavior violations and corrective action. keeps the focus on accountability,
031learning, repair, and appropriate adult response. The language also is more consistent with J 191, which organizes conduct by levels of behavior and corresponding intervention proposal responses rather than referring to students as offenders. This amendment would strengthen alignment between the board's stated commitment to traumainformed and restorative discipline and the actual language used in the policy. Miss Flner, did you want to Yes, Madam Chair, Mr. Butler, members of the board, um I would just direct your attention uh board members to the document on your desk. If you look at page two, you can see some blue lined uh language amid the redlinined language and that is reflective of the new proposed uh revisions to this policy. We've talked with um the law department. From a staff perspective, we have no reservations uh to the proposed language. Um
032and to Reverend Butler's point, I do think the proposed changes um really reflect that intentionality around learning um and the fact that, you know, everyone may make mistakes. Um but the the goal is to to restore and to educate um on the back end um and throughout the process. So we have no reservations um to the proposed language. I will say for anybody listening from a public standpoint uh that the revisions have already been uploaded to the board's agenda as well as a version two and so that is already accessible as well. Thank you Miss Spy. Thank you Madam Chair. um with all of the movement in these policies, I'm curious if there's anything with this um that really benefits the communication between our student supports department and our general education department as far as
033behaviors and misbehaviors, discipline, and such like that. Miss Lner, Miss Bike, members of the board, I'm going uh I'll take first pass, but then I'll look at um probably Dr. Brown and and Dr. Wilson as well. I'll say just from a a language standpoint, the intent behind these moves was to migrate existing language um to the extent possible into J190 and then prepare for that migration of language into procedure. And so what I wouldn't necessarily anticipate and I think we would be overpromising if we did would be a change in practice as a result of that shift in language. That wasn't the intent of this policy move. Um but I do think that if there's something that uh feels like it is missing in that regard from a policy standpoint, I think that's definitely something
034we could take to policy review and look at future revisions as well. I'll look to Dr. Brown and Dr. Wilson to see if there's anything else they could think of that might speak to that. But it seems like that might be the case. Uh, thank you, Miss Lawler, or Miss Bike. Madam Chair, um, my only comment to that would be we, um, in my world, we oversee discipline. Um, and from a student support, school culture framework, uh, we provide behavioral supports and those kind of things to teachers, uh, trainings. Um, but I guess I'd ask a little more, I guess, clarity about your question and really what you're asking. Sure. Yeah. Um well in the general education setting I think that it seems that there are enough teachers and administrators that may not have the
035as deep of an understanding as your department do and that sometimes discipline looks different for students that have IEPs and 504s. And of course, I would never want anything bad to happen to anyone, but sometimes when students aren't getting the support they need, we see a lot of discipline and behavior issues. Uh, and so I would rather and incentive like incentivize those students and incentivize incentivize those teachers to provide supports so that we don't have students that are having a lot of discipline issues just because their needs aren't being met. Okay. Um, I think I understand what you're asking now. Um, so I will say this, we obviously positive behavior incentives are are something that we do support. We do trainings with schools on. Um, you know, ultimately the administration of all of our policies
036at the building level is the discretion of the principal. There are, uh, you and I have had conversations before. There are some allowances within the law. Specifically, you're talking about IDA with students with IEPs. Um, like it or not, there are some allowances for days of exclusion. So there could be a situation where a student with a disability has some kind of behavior. Um we all know that behavior uh is is attention-seeking in some way. So there's a there's a a cause for that behavior. There's a function to the behavior. Um behaviors aren't just random. So we try to in that world always look at doing functional behavior assessments, determining what the function is and then putting those supports in place. Um, in the meantime, there could be situations where a principal administrator at the
037building level chooses to use a day of suspension and IDA does allow for up to 10 days of exclusion from those supports in a school year. Again, to your point, there may be um some discrepancies. Different principles will handle situations differently. And and again, just like an IEP uh is individualized for that student, I think sometimes responses at the school level are individualized based on how a principal decides to handle that situation at that day and time. I guess I I'll be interested to learn um how giving students time out of school and elementary school benefits them. I I would agree to that and fundamentally at you know at the at at at my core you know that's a thing that I think we all at the elementary level and Dr. Dr. Wilson may want
038to speak to that, but obviously our our intent and our purpose at the elementary level is to teach. We teach reading, we teach math. Sometimes we have to teach behavior and and that's typically um our approach at that level. Um I would also argue that largely suspension doesn't solve a behavior problem. Um the the purpose of a suspension typically is to develop time and space between an incident and changing that behavior and moving forward. Um so there there's um again depending on that situation would depend on why an administrator decides on that. I know very often we use packed classrooms, we use RLC classrooms, places where we can go and hopefully change that behavior. That still allows for separation of time and space without having to remove that child from the school building. Uh so
039the supports that they have can still be uh administered in that setting. Uh but again it just depends on on the incident and the school and the child and the principal. There there are lots of factors there. Um ideally I agree with you we would like to address behaviors and come up with plans. Uh sometimes that that does require a removal from school even though that may not be ideally what any of us want. Um, and then I guess I'm curious if discipline lives in student support and all of these are generally in that. Um, and that would also be bullying. But then how is the general education department um also working with bullying? Is that through your department? So yes, we provide bullying as one of the annual required trainings that we're required to
040hold. And Miss Simgard may want to speak to this or Dr. Wilson, but I've got the mic down, so I'll keep talking. Um, but yes, our our division has created the bullying um trainings along with the law department to make sure that we're meeting the requirement of the law and those things each and every year. every single staff and I can tell you as a former principal that was one of the things the first things we did when teachers came back in August is we did those required trainings bullying and harassment specifically has to be done to make sure every employee in that building is familiar with what is the difference in bullying and harassment um you know what do you do how do you respond there are time frames uh once that's reported that
041has to be an investigation has to be open within 48 hours and then that has to come to conclusion within 20 days so there are there are pieces of the law that we have to follow. Uh we provide those trainings, but it is then administered by principles in the school building each and every single school year so that we have hopefully consistent application of those laws. Does your department um track bullying and kind of data points on that and how many are filed and if they're at a certain school, things like that? Yes, we absolutely do. Those are things that our school culture department looks at. They track the data. uh Jeff Wright who's over behavioral supports. Uh I know he's he's always bringing me data and looking at things that he's seen this is
042happening here or there and you know they then uh deploy their teams to go and support in cases whether it be you know we're seeing all kinds of reports at this school. What's going on there? Is there a is there something you know do we need to support students? Do we need to support the teachers? Um do we need to have conversation with the principal and get a better idea? You know data is just numbers and there's always a story behind those numbers. And so I I know our school culture department digs into that data quite frequently. We have lots of uh proactive approaches we take to that, trying to do things on the front end, but also throughout the year, continuing to monitor that data and support schools and making sure our students can
043all be in an environment where they can learn. Is there a specific way that people have to report the bullying? There's not. No. I mean, you you we tell our kids, you know, if you see something that's not fair, not right, you tell a trusted adult in the building. Uh parents sometimes send emails. Um you know, sometimes students tell teachers about other students being mistreated. Uh sometimes students themselves speak up on their own behalf. Uh but know that we don't we don't limit that. is, you know, like any kind of injustice that happens in our building, a title N, a sexual harassment, bullying, any of those things, we take seriously and we investigate each and every one of those. Yeah. I guess I would just be worried that sometimes it doesn't make it out of
044the school, the report. Um, thank you so much. Sure. Anytime. Yeah, Miss Tolton. Yeah. Just real quick, I just want to follow up on the conversation that we had last month regarding the change in the procedure. And I wanted a verbal verification that we are moving forward. I I'm I'm very concerned. I want to make sure that as we move much of these policies into procedure that we are being as transparent as possible with our entire community. So if anything changes regarding these procedures, the board will be informed. Miss Templeton, uh, Miss Christie, members of the board. Uh, yes. So, thank you for the opportunity um to just put this on the record. But we have the administrative procedure ready to go should the board vote to approve the proposed changes on a second reading.
045That will be uploaded. And at that point in time, any subsequent changes to administrative procedure J190 would then necessitate a communication to the board. Yes. All right. So, any more on that one? So moving on to 10 B or C or D, E or F, G or H, I or J, K or L. Right. So, moving on. 11 grants. A Mr. Triplet. Yes. I had a question. I don't even know who who manages this or who that works with. I think I sent you an email today, but maybe I didn't. Maybe I sent to the wrong person. But I had a question about the kind of the way that budget reads. Um, you know, we obviously provide pretty detailed budgets of where, you know, money spent, but like I was just curious like office of
046the principal 605,000. It seems like just a weird place for that to land and does that land something more than I mean obviously it's not like principles are getting an extra 100 grand a piece, but I'm just curious how that how that plays out. Mr. Mr. Triplet, Miss Christie, members of the board. I may uh ask Miss Hoggard to to help me out here as well. But that is um really where any of your school personnel expenditures are going to live. So, um where you see schools using those dollars for an extra AA or an AP, um I believe an instructional coach, it's really just going to be couched within that budget. Uh they are not stipens for principles. As much as we wish that uh we could do that, um that is not how
047that uh that is playing out in this grant. Perfect. Thanks. I was just curious. It just seemed a little just a weird phraseiology to mean much bigger than just that one position. So, thanks. All right. So, the next item is also labeled A, but we're going to change it to B. Apparently, there's a glitch in the system, which would be the East Tennessee Foundation grant. All right. Nothing there. And the next one B will change to C. Yeah, they caught me off guard. Um 12 contracts A or B or A or C. See that one's doing that, too. Okay. A or B. We're changing C to B and D to C. So, the three items under contracts. Let's just say anybody want to discuss those. All right. Moving on. These all look right. Um, regular
048agenda items A or B. C or D or E. No. All right. So, moving on to public forum. Mr. Right. Thank you, Madam Chair. We have one public forum speaker for item 13D. Uh Daria Turner, if you would just state your name. County of residents. You'll have three minutes. Thank you. All right. All right. Good evening everyone. Madame Chair, Superintendent Risewick, and members of the board. On behalf of the Knox County Education Association, I want to express our deep appreciation for the opportunity to collaborate with Knox County Schools through the PEKA process. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to strengthening our schools and supporting the educators who serve our students every day. KCA firmly believes that when educators and district leaders come together with mutual respect and a common purpose, we can build the kind
049of school system every student deserves. Through PEKA, we have a meaningful space to engage in thoughtful dialogue, address challenges headon, and work collaborative collaboratively to create lasting solutions. At the heart of this effort is a shared go shared goal ensuring that Knox County educators have the supports, resources, and professional conditions they need to meet the academic and social emotional needs of all students. Whether we're talking about planning time, professional development, or classroom supports, we know that when educators are well supported, students benefit. KCA approached this process with both enthusiasm and commitment. We were eager to listen, to learn, and to contribute. Pekkco was not just a chance to solve problems. It is an opportunity to build trust, foster innovation, and model the kind of respectful collaboration we want to see throughout our communities. We appreciated
050this opportunity, and continue looking forward to the work ahead. Thank you. Thank you. includes public forum. Right. Thank you, Mr. Wright. So, moving on to board forum, starting with our student rep. Thanks, Miss Christie. Um, not much from me. Just wanted to firstly congratulate all the students who are moving into their finals for this year. Um, and wish them the best of luck. And I wanted to congratulate our senior class um, as they move to graduation. And, um, just wanted to congratulate them for all their hard work. and um yeah, just hoping everyone finishes this school year off strong and um is looking forward to summer break. Thank you, Dr. Butler. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just wanted to say thank you to all of the uh schools, principles and administrative staff, teachers and support staff,
051all the stu parents, and then of course the students for all their their celebration. I really want to um look at 865 graduates for this is the first class that's graduating and uh just looking forward to all the things that they will do as we they're ready now to go to the next level. Miss Templeton. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um there is so much happening right now. We're about to enter the we are in the month of May. Um, so I wish all the parents the best of luck. I want to say congratulations to the graduates. This is a huge deal and we are all very very proud of you. Um, teacher appreciation week. Thank you. You all take my breath away every single day. So, thank you. Um, and as someone who is
052not running for election, I want to encourage everyone to go out and vote tomorrow. It is your civic duty and I hope everyone will do that. Thank you, Miss Fonta Ridley. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I agree with everything that you just said, Ann. Um, and I have a special place in my heart for the teacher appreciation week. I miss it quite a bit. Um, because it was always one of my favorite weeks of the year besides field day week. Um, I also want to send a shout out to Beardarden Elementary, which is not one of my schools, but they had a dance program on their black top last Thursday that made my teacher and my granny heart happy. Um, two of our granddaughters were um in a couple of the dances and they were
053just precious. So, um, I understand the work it took for them to put that together and for it to be the first year of their PE teachers career. He stepped up and did a fantastic job with the whole program. So, shout out to them. And um I also want to um say thank you for the Beardarden High School Foundation for letting me volunteer at their golf um their yearly golf tournament. You call it a tournament. Okay. At Willow Creek Golf Course. I had a great time. Thanks. Thank you, Miss Morgan. Thank you, Madam Chair. It was good to see everybody who was able to come out to Farragate uh make the long drive out to our side of town last week and uh appreciate the mayor and the recognition and Dr. Risewick and your team
054for all the incredible things that the district does to earn that salute to service award. And I wanted to highlight our um staff and students at the high school at Fairgate High School who have done phenomenal work in the CTE space. As you guys got to see that space that was totally transformed into the incredible work that it is now and uh students who have incredibly bright futures ahead of them thanks to all that investment and the meaningful work that's been done there. Thank you, Miss Henderson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to echo what everybody else has really said. We are in Mayber now. All the all the things I saw field day happening at Harden Valley Elementary School this morning and I missed my elementary school days with my kids. Um, but
055I just want to wish all the students good luck as they go into finals, all the teachers appreciation as we are in teacher appreciation week and a big congratulations to the senior class of 2026 as they embark on this next chapter in their lives. Thank you, Mr. Triplet, Mr. Wright. All right. And just to echo um what everybody else has said, I know my kids were blessed with many amazing teachers as they went through Knox County Schools. So, thank you to all of our teachers out there. And happy teacher appreciation week. And with that, we are ajourned.