001It's so funny. I couldn't find the gavvel, but it was hiding behind the computer. Welcome to the board of education September 8th, 2025 special called meeting for the purpose of our annual board reorganization. This meeting is now called to order. Are there any requested changes to the agenda? >> Move to approve. >> Okay. Motion by Mr. Triplet, second by Miss Christie. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. All right. Mr. Dupler, since this is a special meeting to reorganize, can you kind of go over how we will run this meeting, some of the rules about how to nominate, second, all that? >> Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just the basics. Um board members, you will uh nominate someone um that uh then that person must be seconded. Uh if you you'll
002start with the board chair and uh once once the the floor has been open and all nominations have been received, the floor will then be closed. You all will then be able to vote on on if there's just one. I mean, you could ask by acclamation, but if there's more than one, you'll vote on the nominees. Uh the nominees will be given a chance to say a few words uh before the vote. Uh same thing for vice chair. U it sounds good. >> Pretty basic. >> Yeah. And if there's any questions throughout the process, we can walk through those. All right. With that, I will open it up to nominations for a chair. Lauren, >> I would like to nominate Christy Christie for chair. >> Do we have a second for that? Second. Okay. >>
003All right. Any other nominations? Miss Mike? >> Uh, I would like to nominate uh Reverend Butler, please. >> All right. >> A second. >> Okay. So, we have two nominations. Christy Christie and Reverend Butler. Both are seconded. Any other nominations, Miss Cody? >> Oh. Oh, sorry. I thought you had something to say, Miss Con. I apologize. >> Cat, did you have anything else or did you leave your line on? Okay. >> All right. Does any of our nomination nominees have anything to say? >> Okay. I just wanted to give you all the chance. All right. Miss Cody, >> Dr. Butler. >> So, state the last name of the person that you're voting for. >> I apologize. Yeah, we are stating who we are voting for by name. [Laughter] Butler, >> Miss Templeton, >> Miss Montel
004Ridley, >> Butler, >> Miss Pike, >> Miss Morgan, >> Mr. Triplet, >> Mr. Wright, >> Miss Christie, Miss Henderson >> Christie. >> That's four votes for Dr. Butler and five votes for Miss Christie. >> All right. Congratulations, Miss Christie. Be our new board chair. >> Oh, okay. We will now open the floor up for nominations for vice chair. Miss Fner Ridley. >> I'd like to nominate Cat Bike for vice chair. >> I'll second. >> All right. Seconded by Miss Templeton. Miss Christie. I would like to nominate Travis Wright for vice chair. >> All right. Any other nominations for vice chair? Does anybody have anything to say? Any of our nominees? >> I think that's a new one for me. All right. Miss Cody, Dr. Batler, >> Miss Templeton, >> Miss Font Ridley, >> Miss Bike,
005>> Miss Morgan, >> Mr. triplet. >> Right. >> Mr. Wright, Miss Christie, >> Miss Henderson, >> right? >> That's four votes for Miss Bike and five votes for Mr. Right. >> All right. Congratulations, Mr. Wright, on being our new vice chair. All right. And then you will resume your duties on Thursday at that meeting. And I just want to thank everybody for the last two years. It's been great being chair. I appreciate the opportunity and I'm excited for the next year coming up. And with that, we are adjourned and we will resume at 5:00 pm with our workshop Welcome to the board of education September 8th, 2025 work session. Please stand as we observe a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance led by Mr. Wright. To the flag of the United States
006of America and to the stands nationy for all. We just have a few dates to remember board members. Wednesday, September 17th is Constitution Day and also a half day for our students. I know my kids are excited about having that half day. A policy review meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 26 at 10:00 a.m. in this boardroom. And also due to fall break, which is October 6th through the 10th, next month's board work session will be held on Monday, September 29th with the regular I know that sounds with the regular session to follow on Thursday, October 2nd. So that's a little little different this month. Are there any other requested changes or are there any requested changes to this agenda? Motion by Miss Christie, second by Mr. Triplet. All those in favor say I. I.
007Okay. Any opposed? All right. Dr. Riceley, do you have a superintendent report? >> I do. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. Uh, school started just over a month ago. Ain't that crazy? Like, we keep thinking I keep saying the older I get, I think the faster time goes, but definitely uh it's only been it's been it's been a great few weeks that we've had so far. I've had the privilege of visiting eight schools in this time, and I can certainly say that school is in full swing. Uh, it also feels different. We've talked about this lots of times, too. feels very different to me than it has in past years. I could remember being at B Morris on the third day and it was like everybody was in their right places. All the
008the um people who were getting the kids out of the cars and I remember talking to two of the teachers and I was like it feels like we're three weeks in and they're like no we think so too. So something about the start this year really really made a difference. So um I think that we're seeing a real focus on helping all our students start strong and we're seeing that across the schools we've been at. So expectations are very clear, supports are in place, and every classroom uh feels purposeful. Our best strategy for improving outcomes for students, I've said this once and we'll continue to say it, is high as a highqualified educator in every classroom. And our work on retention and recruitment is paying off. I think that's really the main reason why things
009have been so smooth is people haven't had to reenter their staff this year. I mean, most people had two or three openings if they had any. So that makes a big difference. Um our best Okay. Uh this year we opened school with only seven certified vacancies out of roughly 4,700 teachers. Uh that's a 91% increase over or decrease over two years ago from where we were. We've also made real progress on stability across schools. 83 of our 91 schools were fully staffed on day one. And that's more uh than 90% of our schools compared to less than half of those schools just two years ago. In short, vacancies are down, retention is on the rise, and we're building a stronger, more stable workforce that's better positioned to serve our students. These results are a testament
010to Jennifer Himmler and her uh business and talent division who's worked extremely hard. I can remember having a conversation, we had we had six last year, and I can remember talking to Alex Mosman, who's our director of talent acquisition, and he said, "We had six this year." And I said, "Well, great. Were we lucky or is there can you do it again?" And he said, "Oh, we can do it again." And they did. So, two years in a row. So that tells us we've kind of got a system to be able to make that happen. Now the staffing stability is showing where showing up where it matters most in our student outcomes. Uh at re at at a recent press conference we celebrated a growth of our students and launched the next phase of choice
011and innovation across the district. As you know each year the Tennessee Department of Education releases TBOS results uh which measure how much students have grown compared to their their academic peers across the state. Whether that student is currently at expectations, below expectations, or exceeding expectations. This year, Knox County earned a level five, the highest possible rating in every tested subject, as well as a level five in its composite score. This is the first time we've reached this milestone in more than a decade. I think 201213 was the last year we did this. I'm incredibly proud of our students and our staff. Our schools performed strongly as well. 79% of our schools earn a T-Boss composite of a three, four, five. So if you're not used to T- Boss, a level three means uh a year's
012worth of growth for the students in that building. So fours and fives are only better than that, right? So 79% uh of our schools earned a TV score of three, four, five with nearly half at a level four or five. So that's takes a lot of work. I know you guys have been around for a while to see that too to make that happen. This matters because behind every number is a student. Every level three, four, and five growth and every gain in achievement means more students are ready for life after graduation. It also reflects consistent effective work by teachers, staff, and leaders. One example we're spotlighting is Austin East Magnet High School led by Dr. Rob Spees. In 2022 and 23, AE earned a level one composite for their growth. Last year they jumped
013to a level three and this year they reached level five alongside a doubledigit gain in several of their subject areas. I think these were the highest achievement scores they've had since 2017. So uh it was great to be there for the press conference. I know some of you were there as well uh to be able to hear Dr. Spees kind of talk about that and give his staff the credit for the work they've done. Uh so this momentum is not just happening there, but it's really happening across the entire district. Uh we ended last year with the adoption of the 2030 strategic plan, a five-year roadmap built with input from students, families, educators, and the community. And less than six months later, we've kicked off our first major initiative from that plan, innovative schools. And
014I want to give our team credit for that. Sometimes it's easy to get the work done and and pass a strategic plan and it sits on the shelf for a year or two and then you go, "Wait, what did we say we were going to do?" So the fact that six months in we've already lifted a major initiative is good. Uh we've already seen innovative schools uh what they can do in schools like Ellen and STEM Academy and our career magnet academy and families across the district are eager for more choices. We're now asking community members across all five regions which models they want the most. We launched a district-wide survey available on our website and sent to our families and staff via parent square seeking input on options such as either limiting or expanding
015technology use in the classroom. uh learning through things like debate, an outdoor learning or arts integrated learning environment, and language immersion. That feedback will help guide where and how we expand innovative programming across the district, including work already underway for our new K8 school on the former rural high school site serving Mechanicsville, Lndale, and Bulmont. Later this fall, we'll be re-engaging in uh families in those uh areas uh through a series of in-person community meetings to help identify which innovative programming options are of most interest to the school. Some of you remember we've already had one round of that on the initial, but we will uh come back this fall uh because we'll soon be in those decision-makings for uh architecture design and those sorts of things. I truly believe this is the start of
016something special for Knox County Schools. Our traditional schools are thriving and our data show it. uh that's the the perfect time for us now to start looking at some innovative options that can come alongside those traditional schools. We intend to be the first choice for families and the best choice for students not just in Knox County but across the region. We're already well on our way to making that a reality and the initiatives like innovative schools will be instrumental in taking us the rest of the way. One last thing before I close. We kicked off our 37th annual coupon book campaign on September the 4th. The campaign runs through September 24th, and this year's book features many returning favorites, plus nearly 50 new vendors and some great new prizes. This is our largest and longest
017running fundraising campaign to support students, teachers, and schools. And I know it'll be another successful year. And with that, Madam Chair, that concludes my report. >> Awesome. Thank you. I'm excited for this year and the future of our schools. All right, we will dive right into our agenda. So, we'll start with 7C. one or two. I do want to say for number one, if you haven't been to the nutrition food show, it really is it really is really a cool thing. I know I tell kids to go too when they want to talk about the lunch um items that are offered. I'm like, you need to go to the food show. It's it's really cool. All right, moving on then. Three or four Five or six. Seven or eight. 9 or 10. 11 or 12.
01813 or 14. 15 or 16. 17 or 18, 19 or 20. 21 or 22. 23 or 24. 25. 26 or 27. 28 or 29. Moving on then to board policies 8 A or B, C or D, E. All right, then moving on to grants. A or B, C, D or E, F or G, H or I. All right. Contracts A. Then moving on to regular agenda items A or B, C, or D. Oh my goodness, this may be a record, y'all. All right, moving on to public forum then. And I don't think we have anybody signed up. All right, then we will move on then to board forum. Reverend Butler, Miss Templeton, >> I know, right? >> What is even happening? >> I know. >> Usually have more time to think about board forum. Um,
019so I have been to about six schools um so far, so I'm not quite as good with my time as Dr. But I'm working on it. There will be a month that I will make it the same number that you do. There will be sometime. Um, but I've been to six and have been so impressed with the work that's being done. Um, I've hit elementary schools this month and um, there are new gardens going in that are just um, being embraced by students and um, new murals that I have seen and um, partnerships with organizations. Um, ins has a phenomenal partnership coming up to do a parade with Cattywampus. If you are familiar with Cattywampus, it's giant puppets. So, these kids have been working on these puppets and they're going to be parading down in
020Skip. It's going to be fantastic. It's later on in September. I should know the date. I don't. I'll look it up, but I'll send it to you. Um, because they are they're huge and they're just fun and it's community building and it's a wonderful beautiful thing. Um, so thank you to all the hardworking teachers and the principles who lead them. Um, it's really a privilege to see the really good work that's being done. So, thank you. >> That's cool. Thank you, Miss Fner Ridley. I just want to give a shout out to my fellow district 3 county commissioner Gina Oster for stepping up in every way that she can and helping um bring the deal together with the new turf and playground area. It was kind of through her connections that they were able to
021get that done. So really appreciate the work that Gina has done on that. >> Awesome. Thank you Mr. Mr. Triplet, Miss Bike, Miss Morgan, Mr. Wright, Miss Christie. Yes, I would just like to thank you and Mr. Triplet. Um, board organiz reorganization can sometimes be awkward and but you know it it is a um a job at times and often a thankless one. So, thank you both for serving in that capacity for the last year. >> I appreciate that. And I want to congratulate we did have our reorg meeting before this and I want to congratulate Miss Christie who will be our new board chair and Mr. Wright who will be our new vice chair. Um, I've loved this role over the past two years and so I just appreciate the opportunity. It's been a
022pleasure to serve and I'm excited for the next year and to watch you guys lead our board. So, with that, we are adjourned. Oh my goodness.