001Welcome to the board of education's July 7th, 2025 work session. Please stand as we observe a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance led by Miss Spike. The flag 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. Can't believe we're halfway through the summer. All right. I know I speak for the whole board when I say I hope all of our students, families, and staff had a blessed July 4th holiday and got to spend lots of quality time with loved ones celebrating America's independence. We also encourage you to take as much time as your schedule allows to rest and recharge before students report back to school on Thursday, August 7th for the 2526 school
002year. It's funny, my daughter said this morning, "We only have one more month before school starts," which is crazy. I feel like summer I know. I feel like summer just began. Yeah. Are there any requested changes to the meeting agenda? Move to approve. Motion by Mr. Triplet, second by Miss Christie. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Miss Bike, I believe you have you're going to introduce our new student rep. Yes. Um, thank you, Madam Chair. Um, as announced in May, the student representative selection committee made their selection of the 2025 2026 board student representative after a very competitive application and interview process. As the board's representative on the selection committee, I am honored to introduce Albert Lou of Farragut High School and welcome him to his first official
003board meeting since his term began on July 1st. Welcome, Albert. Um, Albert is a member of the National Honor Society and a member of the Civic Leaders of America serving as the national director of development. He is the director of treasury and convention for the Farragut High School chapter of the junior state of America, co-president of the Farragut High School chapter of youth and government, and the director of outreach for the Farragut High School Astronomy Club. Albert also served as a political campaign secretary and field intern for Gloria Johnson's US Senate campaign. Albert was selected as one of 54 youth representatives of the youth leadership Knoxville program and selected to attend Junior State of America Montazuma National Leadership Conference. He is an all-state member of the Tennessee Music Educators Association, first trombonist in the sorry
004Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and an All East member of the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association. He also participates with the Farragut High School competitive marching band, Mocktrial, Mu Alpha, Theta, Science Club, Engineering Club, Asian Culture Club, and the Varsity Tennis Team. In his spare time, um Albert is a trombone tutor at the Joy of Music School where he provides free tutoring for to three students per week. Per week, is that correct? Three before. Okay. And has obtained his um Tech Plus certification. I think one of Albert's references stated it best when they state that Albert's political literacy and determination to continue to inspire me to also do my best as a student and as a citizen. His dedication to informing and empowering students makes him the ideal candidate to represent us on the
005Knox County Board of Education. Please join me once again as we welcome Albert. I know that I speak for the full board when I say that we look forward to serving alongside you this year and just also want to emphasize um how many wonderful applications we had and what a difficult process this was. Um but obviously we can see your qualifications. So welcome. [Applause] Thank you Miss Spike. Welcome Albert. We're excited to have you. Dr. Risewick, do you have a superintendent report? I do. Thank you, Madam Chair. Members of the board, uh, actually, I think this one's going to be fairly short, right? It's summer, so we'll try to keep it short. Uh, yeah, I don't I don't think we really stopped yet this year, but, uh, we'll keep it short. Um, I just want
006to start by thanking all of you all first for, uh, the action last month to adopt a strategic plan. Every student future ready. Uh the 2030 strategic plan isn't just a document for us. It's also a bold commitment to enhance our work over the next five years in some incredibly meaningful areas. Uh so we're really excited about that. I know that's there was a lot of work that went into that. Some of the work that I'm most excited about is taking a closer look at how we define middle school, the middle school experience. Uh over the last couple years, we've reimagined the high school experience and strengthen foundational skills in elementary school. we have uh haven't yet clearly defined middle to middle school years which are critical bridge uh connecting learning uh and future readiness
007from both the uh elementary and high. So a lot of excitement early on from principles uh and conversations that we've been having there. Uh we're analyzing our our alternative school programs also to ensure every student in every setting has the support and resources to be successful reintegrating into general education classrooms. uh we have lots of different programs and lots of different schools that do some alternative things and we just want to make sure that we're uh up to date with our best practices and making sure we're not leaving anything out. We're aligning well. We're providing more choice as also as part of this uh for families by expanding innovative school options including STEMS and art focused models, early college pathways and advanced coursework. One of the ways we'll be doing that is our expansion of
008the international baloria IB feeder pattern in region five at e at Austin East Vine and Camore green. Uh so all those are very exciting uh that we have to look forward to in the work ahead. Uh last month we shared a survey with our families of students with disabilities and all of our KCS staff to support the next phase of our special education planning efforts. This work follows a comprehensive review conducted by with PCG uh that identified several key recommendations to help strengthen our services uh and our next steps. We're now moving into action action planning stage and seeking input from families as we prioritize these recommendations. Engaging families and staff from the start was central to our approach. Uh and this survey is just one part of our ongoing commitment to listening, learning, and
009working together as we carry out our new strategic plan for special education. In closing, I just want to say how excited I am and looking forward to the school year ahead. I know it's a month out, but it doesn't feel like it uh for us either. The the first day of school is, as Miss Henderson said, uh is August the 7th, but there's a lot happening between now and then. Uh next week on July 14th and 15th, we'll bring more than 300 KCS principles and assistant principles to Bearden High School for our annual principal institute. It's always a great time as we kick off the year. Uh it's an important opportunity for planning, alignment, and preparation that equips our school uh leaders with strategies and resources that will move the needle for students and help
010them reach the goals that we've set together. On Thursday, July 24th, we'll celebrate the graduation of a new cohort of officers from our school safety department. The ceremony, uh the first under our new Chief Carlo Geneo is at 5:30 at South Pole Middle School. Excited for that. Uh, as you know, our school safety department is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the state. Uh, and very few districts have anything like this. So, I'm looking forward to honoring these new officers who have answered the call to protect our students, staff, and schools. Uh, thanks to our strong retention efforts, we've been able to take a more competitive approach to hiring, intentionally uh, focused to bring the very best candidates in to support our schools and students. On July 29th, we'll officially become, excuse me,
011we'll officially welcome 200 new teachers to the KCS team at the new teacher celebration. And of course, uh we'll welcome all teachers uh new and returning back to their schools and classrooms at the end of this month, which is crazy. Uh it will be a busy few weeks. Uh but this is always one of the most exciting, energizing times of the year. And madam chair with that concludes my report for tonight. Thank you doc Dr. Riswick. Appreciate that Mr. Triplet. Thank you madam chair. We do have a legislative update. Uh as announced last month, uh several board members, KCS staff and law department representatives will be attending the Tennessee School Board Association Summer Law Institute July 17th through 19th in Gatlinburg. Lots of information on uh how uh legislation is going to affect the school
012district uh will be provided there and we will, I'm assuming, discuss much of that on August 22nd in our policy review um at 10 a.m. So that concludes call report. Thank you. All right. Well, we will go into our regular session agenda. I guess that screen's not working, huh? That's okay. Um, all right. Items 5C, one or two, three or four, five or six. Seven or eight. Nine or 10? 11 or 12? 13 or 14? 15 or 16? All right, moving on. 17 or 18. Mr. Triplet, is this um may go to I don't know Miss Loner or or Dr. Wilson. I'm not sure who who gets this, but I had a couple questions about the Ford NextG. I know we're on phase five. That's the memorandum of understanding we've got is phase five and
013I think that's the end, right? That's the end of what Ford NGL is is helping us with. Is there a next step for us in that? I know that this will complete the co first cohort will get through. Like do we have plans to measure results on the back side of this or how does that all work? Yeah. And and I'll maybe potentially have Miss Jackson talk a little bit about those different phases. So phase five is the the last part of it, but you don't necessarily spend just a year in that. I think we were technically in phase five last year. Um there are kind of a battery of services that they continue to provide things from like uh coaching that comes from some of their u industry coaches and community coaches that they
014they provide um different services and working directly with principles, working with our team. Uh there are a couple of events that are sort of built into the contracting for that. We have one for the kind of on the ground team every year and then a superintendent's council that we participate in. And so um there is a uh I I think Miss Jackson again I'll let her speak to that uh kind of worked with them to sort of package the right things we needed we felt like at this time rather than kind of taking all of the all of those. Um, but no, the long term is is once you kind of get into a sustaining place, I think it backs down to around 25,000. But Shannon, if you want to come and speak to that,
015you can. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Um, so phase five, Dr. Wilson is correct. Phase five is a a phase that communities who've been engaged in the process and have fully developed out their plan are able to continue to work with other communities to refine that plan. Um, a place where we're focused this year is on looking at our portrait of a graduate. Um, right now it is a nice picture on the wall. We want it to be something where our employers know that our students actually do have those skills and that we have some data and evidence and portfolios for our students to share to show that they are lifelong learners um or that they are community-minded citizens or that they have creative problem solving skills. And so taking that from
016these ideas that came out of our community partners, our post-secondary partners, um, telling us those were the skills that our students needed to have and be able to turn that into something that's very tangible um, and measurable is the work that we're working on right now. And the benefit of being in phase 5 is that we get to work with um, like Christian County, Kentucky, and some other school districts who've done really good work around that. Um, and we're able to now partner with them and connect with them. So, we have teachers that started working on that this summer and they'll support us with that throughout this school year. Great. Thank you. And just to add, Mr. Trwood, I make sure I didn't like gloss over your question, just in terms of like um continuing
017to look at measures and things. The the contract with Ford is really more about support and thinking about the buildout of those systems. our our measures on the backside really come more through like our strategic plan, our operational plans, looking at things like those guaranteed experiences that we have for students as they move through uh engagement, early post-secondary opportunities, na nationally recognized industry certifications, all of those sorts of things which we do track and look at and certainly has been a driver in our work with our counseling teams and as we'll continue to look at those counseling experiences and where they layer in. So that's that happens. It's not necessarily all the forward work, but it is part of that part of it. Perfect. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Great question,
018Mr. Triplet. Thank you, Dr. Wilson and Miss Jackson. All right, moving on. Items 19 or 20, 21 or 22, 23 or 24, 25 or 26, or 27. Okay. 28 or 29. 30 or 31. 32 or 33. All right. Moving on then to board policies. A or B, C or D, E, F or G, H or I, J or K, L. This bike. Yeah. Sorry. Um, this is I think maybe my question is on a couple different ones, but is to go with the um athletics insurance changes. Um, so I think it's a a little bit of a couple, but is there anyone here that could explain kind of what the what these changes mean? Is that Dupler? Yeah, I think I think Dr. Brown Coach Brown is here. Yeah, here he Yeah. Hey, Coach Brown.
019Did you hear my question? I did. No, that's okay. That's fine. Um, so I'm curious if you could explain um the the changes that are being made, potential implications, and then also kind of about um the insurance because I've I've had a lot of people that have been curious about this kind of which athletic programs fall under this. So, in the past, our sanctioned athletic teams um have all been required, all members, to participate in the athletic insurance program. Um and that cost has gone from $25 when I started here in Knox County to re most recently $60 per um student. Um we collect that money as as a board. It has been paid upfront. That number was $449,000 last year and then we collect from the families as they pay to repay that amount.
020Um this year for example um we were $146,000 short of being able to collect the full amount for that uh number. um that number has gone up significantly uh over the last few years and there are a few board policies that um are in conflict with the board paying for individual insurance for a student. Um so that's why the change in these policies are all connected so that we can become aligned with policy and our practice. Um the amount has changed from what was been covered for the shortfall to this amount this year which is actually um more than we had budgeted in that line item to cover the shortfall. So, um, to make us in line with other similarsized districts in the state who do not either require or do not offer supplemental insurance,
021um, the idea is to go uh with the same as the other school districts that are similar to ours. So this insurance is um additional insurance that would cover injuries during it is a supplemental insurance policy that covers above and beyond what their personal policies cover and depending on what their personal policy is that is different for each family and each student. If they do not have a personal policy, does that prevent them from playing sports? Well, everyone is supposed to have a personal insurance policy. We have never turned anybody away. Um, they've been covered under this policy in the past. We are offering a supplemental policy that is has been for years offered to every student, not just athletes in the county, um, through K&K insurance. And that ranges from $30 to $38 I
022believe for most things and it is from $170 to 240 for football alone. All the other sports and everything combined is that that lesser range. Um we do get many calls every year um from families asking why they have to pay insurance when they already have insurance. Um, as someone that's been involved in athletics, for those that use it, it is a good policy, but we end up not having um a lot that use it and those that do, it ends up helping them quite a bit. Mhm. Um, from things that I've seen that could be changing and insurance coverage um, for kids in the state of Tennessee, is there anything that we have in place for students that may have a drop in insurance during the school year? So, Tenare is available to those
023people who do not have insurance. Um, we do have a number of our families at a number of our schools that already do that. They were not allowed to use this supplemental insurance because Tenare is their primary insurance and they were not allowed to use that. So, we were acquiring families that couldn't use this $60 supplemental insurance to buy a policy to fall in line with our practice. Mhm. Um I would I I don't know how readily available that is to somebody say in October or February or March to get on that, but we can obviously find that out as well. Yeah, I would love to know because I'm definitely concerned about Tenare potentially dropping some people or there being barriers or any sort of forms and I wouldn't want any of our student athletes
024to be not be able to participate in things that are valuable to their education and participating in camaraderie within the school because of insurance. So, I would love to know that if they could I guess enroll mid year um and what kind of our plan would be for that. Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Miss Templeton. Um thank you, Miss Spike. Um and also want to thank um Dr. Risewick for your update um last week. Um that was very helpful in explaining kind of the purpose behind these changes. Um because we have three policies here. They're all kind of interconnected and I understand the need to make sure that they all say the same thing. Um that makes sense to me. Um they're kind of and I'm sorry for not putting my light on before because they're
025kind of all over the place in this list. Um so Miss Bike, thank you for starting the conversation. Um and my initial question was about kids. I well I understand that technically kids should have insurance and ten care is available but that is not always the case. Is there a safeguard for all students to be able to play sports if it is financially not an option for them to pay play pay upwards of $200 for them to play football or are we eliminating that today Thursday? Well, those same people, some of them did not pay the $60 insurance that the board paid for that went against policy and I think against And correct me if I'm gone, Gary, but state law for a board to pay for an individual policy for a student. Um, and
026we have not done that in the past. Um, these other policies are available and I I would guess we work with them to try to purchase those policies. So, we have we have avenues for them, people that they can talk to to purchase or to figure out a sum that they can pay or I'm just truthfully insurance whether or not we're going to be telling some football players they can't play next year. I mean, I'm really concerned about that. Okay. Um these this policy is an agreement with that family and that insurance company. So that is what brings us in line with policy because it is against policy for us to take out insurance for an individual person. So that that agreement would still be with them and that insurance company uh to be able
027to do that. Now, how they come up with those funds would be um I guess we would have to work through those details with that because I don't believe a school support organization is any different than the school board in purchasing insurance for athletes. Okay. Yeah, I could speak on on that just briefly. I mean, I I think there is some some confusion, Coach Brown, because I mean, what what the Tennessee code and what the state board rules say is that students and their families um can be required by U. Eleas, boards to uh to pay fees, which would include insurance for extracurricular activities, right? uh which is which is certainly distinct and apart from school fees which are optional um you know according to the same rules. So um so what the law says
028is that you know that that these fees can certainly be charged and can be required. Uh, you know, I I'm I'm struggling to find anything that's, you know, that outright says that the district uh can't provide an overall policy. Uh, but but but certainly what what the law and the rules say is it is that the students and the and the and the parents and the guardians are supposed to be paying for it. Yeah. Correct. I have one more question. Um, I had several parents call um and had a question about the insurance carrier. Uh, they were unfamiliar with K&K, but I know that um, the way I read the update last week was that it was a continued service with K&K. And so, is BMI going away or So, K&K has been available to
029our students for a number of years. I don't know how many going back, but it's been a long time. Um, and it's a school insurance program that's available in all 50 states. Um, the BMI insurance is the policy that Knox County government risk management has secured for us to do as a whole. So, it would go away because they would not take us as a thousand football players versus the 7,000 athletes that we have total in the district. Okay, that makes sense. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Templeton. Miss Christie. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that kind of is the disconnect. Brian, I think that when we talk about buying individual policies, we have to keep in mind BMI was a blanket coverage for everyone. So, which is very different from the the
030K&K, right? I mean it was well it was except that we we paid for it up front and then the families had to do it. So it really was individual policies. That's where it went against policies because we were paying for an individual policy for those students to have that insurance to be able to but that's why it looks different though because they give us a single quote and that quote is based on every athlete we have in Knox County schools. Correct. In our sanctioned sports. Right. So, and that that was one of the areas where I guess I was struggling to understand the difference between the two. And after talking to you, it sounds like that quote may have or there was potential for it to go up even higher because we brought on
031two new sanctioned sports, right? Yes. The number that I was quoted for this year was upwards of $489,000, right? So, I that was that was just where I was kind of struggling with with that disconnect as opposed to the K&K. Um, you know, I do appreciate you talking to me today. I also had um a really good conversation with Mr. Pearson from KOC who had reached out. Um, if I I will say this, if this policy passes, and I'm struggling with the financial aspect of it now, especially with the uh news we got last week with the freeze to federal funding, and I know everybody's trying to scramble to figure out a plan for that money. So, that kind of changed my perspective a little bit on this. Um, if this policy does pass, I
032would like to ask that we revisit it in the spring ahead of budget just to discuss any maybe unintended negative consequences or where we landed or, you know, how it worked or didn't work. Um, but I'm just I'm struggling with this one a little bit for probably some of the same reasons everyone else is struggling, but also at the same time, I know that from a budget standpoint, we're in a very difficult place right now. So, thank you, Miss Fonta Ridley. Thank you. I just am wondering if there have been any incidences where um because I know when I get hurt on the job, the first thing the first thing I check is was this was this an injury on the job, which implies that my insurance company is going to deny my my um
033coverage. Is there a instance where that could happen if they don't have um private insurance and they didn't or they have private insurance but they didn't buy a policy that who would be responsible for payment of that treatment? I don't believe so because the policy only was above and beyond their personal policies anyway. Okay. It was a supplemental policy. So that you don't know of any instances where they didn't they didn't the their personal policy covered so much or didn't cover any of it and it fell to the supplemental policy. I don't know any specific examples to that. Gary, did you have something to add to that? Well, I was just going to say I mean I can't talk in specifics either, but I mean there's certainly been instances where a primary policy paid but
034up to a certain amount and then the secondary policy kicked in. I've certainly seen that happen. But to your question about workers compensation, that would be different. Workers compensation would not apply in this case. It would strictly be whatever health insurance. I was just saying that as a kind of a reference of of insurance or what forms I fill out, you know, they they asked did this happen at a as a result of a sporting injury or something like that. I wasn't actually going for workman's comp. But yeah, I just want to make sure that they get the best care. And if we don't know who's paying for their care um or who it's who it would fall back on, I think we would may have some gaps in treatment. I don't know. Maybe. Thanks.
035Thank you, Miss Vik. Thank you. Um, I know it was just mentioned about support organizations paying for this supplemental insurance. Is that something that will have to be investigated or is that something that could be answered now as to whether like a foundation or a band booster or like a sports booster club or whatever could pay these fees? Is that a question? I think so. Okay. All right. Uh thank you. Uh so in the law it talks about again students and parents and guardians paying. It does not say anything about you know teams or booster clubs or anything else paying. I think in reality um you know you see that happen uh because because uh you know coaches and booster clubs like to help students participate and you see fundraising and things of that nature,
036but it's not mandatory. And what the law says is that that an LEA or can require uh payment for for extracurricular activities, but it's specific to the student. So if we're not requiring so in part this is not requiring supplemental insurance but if the families if we have this option and families wanted to opt into it but were unable to afford it would it be permissible to for an organization outside of Knox County Schools to pay the fee? One can always make a a donation. I mean I I don't see anything legally barring one to voluntarily pay a fee. Okay. Yeah. Last last question. Next question. Um do we track um whether how how many student athletes are potentially uninsured? They all say they are insured when they fill out their paperwork. Okay. So that's
037that's the information that we have. Um so that so when they participate this coming year they will have checked that box. If they do not check that box or if they say no they're uninsured then what? Then we would encourage them to purchase this K&K policy. Mhm. And so then that leads me to my next question is um this policy is this something that because it's been referenced as supplemental, is this something to where if they are completely uninsured that it will cover it? I would have to find out more details of that coverage. I do know that in the case of BMI when they did not have insurance, it became their primary insurance, but I can't speak to whether it covered everything fully for those people because I know that it did not cover
038fully some of the additional costs even as a supplemental insurance policy. Do you think that that is uh an answer that you might be able to have before Thursday? I can I can work towards that. Yes, that would be great. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Templeton. I wanted to walk through it like that. I needed to see the linear progression. So, thank you for that. Um, and so I was recollecting my thoughts. Um because when I understand that level of coverage um you when you're asking about um would default into the primary um that probably depends on the scale um from I 170 to 240 for a football player um 30 to 35 for everybody else. I'm assuming that the scale would depend would impact that possibly. I don't know. Um I will also state
039as members of the TWAA for all these programs, they have catastrophic insurance that kicks in when any bill is over $25,000. So, our policy that we previously had covered the amount above their personal insurance up to 25,000 for most things, but it did not include all things in that. Okay. Um I was actually going back also to um Dr. Pearson's note. Um you he said you know with his numbers he said you know they treated 479 student athletes um 1,800 some odd office visits 139 had no other form of medical insurance and that's just the kids that went to KOC obviously others would um go elsewhere you know most of our referrals go to KOC because that's our trainers okay they provide our trainers which I want to state publicly we are very thankful for
040and love our partnership with KOC in providing those trainers to us. Yeah, they are a dedicated They are selfless crew. Um, absolutely. Um, definitely appreciate them and all that they do. I think I'm going to Mr. Triplet. Yeah. I I think one of the things we're I'm trying to do I understand the concern around students not being able to play. I understand why we're making the change in the policy, but I think we're trying to legislate something that people most communities will figure out how to do on their own, you know, and and not in every situation, not in every case, but you know, where there's an athlete that doesn't have the ability to pay for their insurance. A lot of times you'll find a coach who loves a student or a family, another family
041that's on the team or, you know, that reaches out and says, "Hey, I'll cover the cost for you. Let me let you play." I mean, I think we're trying to legislate and cover every single gap. And I don't know that that's really possible um to do that. And so to me, this I understand why we're making this change. And I think it makes sense, but I don't know that we can. I feel like we're diving so deep trying to overthink it to the point where everything's covered perfectly. And I just don't know that that's possible. We just have to trust people to be good and and do good when they have the opportunity to do so. Anyone miss Templeton? Respectfully, I I feel like that um we have to think about all kids. Um and
042we can't assume that all communities can pick that up because they simply can't. And um we need to do our due diligence on this board to make sure that every child from Farragate to Gibbs, Harden, Harden Valley to Gibbs um has the opportunity to um play sports and um learn all the lessons that are gained on the court, the field, the pitch, whatever it happens to be. Um, so I feel like this conversation is valuable and um making sure that kids have this opportunity whether it's through a school support organization um and maybe it's a situation that you know the SSO is able to give grants to kids m and so I I don't know but not every school has an active SSO organization either um that has a bank account that can do that.
043So, uh, anyway, I just think it's a worthwhile piece of the conversation, right? Anyone else? Okay. Thank you, Coach Brown. Appreciate you. All right. Moving on then to policy L, Miss Bike. um policy L and for confirmation this is the use of personal wireless cell phone. Yes. Okay. Because I had clicked onto it and didn't want to move my screen. Yeah. Um I appreciate the work that our central office and everyone has put into this. I know we had an lengthy discussion in policy review about this which I also really appreciated. I also appreciate that version two was renamed restricted access during the school day. Um, just because I I don't want to call this a ban. Like no matter what we do in regards to uh wireless communication devices, I don't think we're moving
044in a way of like a total ban. Um and so I want people on both sides to understand that it is that I think it's perfectly named restricted access. So you know it's we are not completely getting rid of them. There will be opportunities for use in appropriate times and outside of you know the um regular school day. Um but then also on the other side, you know, I think that covers both. You know, there are a lot of parents that um want parents and guardians that want their students and to be able to have, you know, a lifeline to them in case of an emergency or in case of logistical things. Um so I really appreciate version two of this. Um, but I definitely also understand the purple version, which I think is version
045three, which is the elementary and middle school restricted access, though I would be more in favor of version two, which is just a complete restricted access. Thanks. I agree. I'm also in favor of version two that restricts access during the entire school day, but students still have access to their device in case of an emergency and they can get in touch with parents. Who was next? Ann, Miss Templeton. Yes. Um I had a lot of conversations about this that were great. Um I spoke with all of the principles um in my high schools and middle schools um and middle school both principles for said version two um version two and um and every principal said just make it clear. Whatever you do just make it clear. Let us be able to point to something. We
046need it clear. Um both high school principles said we are raising adults and they have jobs and need to have access to their phones. They are managing their calendars. Um and both high school principles were in favor of a minimum of at least during lunch. Um absolutely none during the school like like sorry school day. That is not what I was going to say. Um during class time. So not instructional time for the sake of argument um uh bellto bell if you will for the actual period. So it's gone when they're inside the classroom but then in between classes they have access and then gone but inside the classroom and then between classes. So um both of them were in favor of having access in class change and lunch also simply because they are adults
047and we need to be able to help them navigate their lives outside of school as well because they're managing more. That was their feedback. So, I would be in favor of actually the third option and with between classes added for high school. Reverend Butler. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um my question is for clarification uh on the um description of the three uh version three. Uh at the end of that it says and would limit high school access to before and after school and lunch periods. So the way it's reading, I'm I'm thinking I understand uh because when you say limit access that means in a sense restrict access but really what we're saying is limiting the restriction or is allowing students to have access to their phones on campus. is before and after school and
048during lunch periods that what it's saying is that yes okay because the way it reads it I read it three times and read it three different ways. Yeah. Uh I think that can be a little bit clearer and um that was my only issue. Miss Spike, thanks. Um yeah, I guess bringing that up. Um I'm curious and I did read through all them, but it's it's a lot of words and a lot of pages. Um so version two in version two the green version restricted access all day for elementary, middle, high school, all of our schools. are students still they can have them on campus with them and they can use it before school hours and after school hours like if school hours like for middle school would be 8:30 to 3:30 previous to 8:30
049in the morning and after 3:30 but still on campus they would have use of their wireless communication device or no Miss Lner Um, so Mr. Dupler, correct me if I'm wrong, but looking at the green version, yes, that interpretation is correct. Students would still have access outside of the, you know, first bell and last bell of the day. I do want to add a caveat that, you know, especially as we're thinking about athletics that students who are involved in structured activities either before or after school, those structured activities that are supervised by adults may still come with some restrictions from those adults. But this policy would kick in at the bell and after the bell. Um, and I also want to go back just a moment to Reverend Butler. I think the language you were
050referring to, and you're not wrong, it probably could be a little bit clearer. I think it's on the cover sheet, but if you scroll down in version three, um, if you look at the language under high school usage, I believe it might be a little bit clearer. So, it would probably be worth taking a look at that to see if that's still language you'd feel comfortable with or not. But I can see what you're talking about on the cover sheet. Uh yes, thank you. Uh I did look at the uh at the detailed and I didn't have problem with the detailed, but since you know I read the front of the book first. I saw that and then I'm thinking, okay, this does not uh I'm used to what I was this does not jive
051with what what I read down below. The other thing is what I've just heard is that version two students have access to their phones before and after school in version two. But then it says in version three that only the high school students have access before and after school in version three as I'm reading it like on the cover sheet on the cover sheet. But what what so in if that's the case, what I'm hearing is reality is version three is different between version two and version three is that high school have theirs during lunch period. The way I read it is the only difference is high school has it during lunch where other all the other grades are restricted throughout 8:30 to 3:30. That was my next question is to like clarify if is
052that the only difference between version two and version three? That's how I read it. Is that correct, Miss Lner? So, we need to cut change the cover sheet. Once again, that's front of the page. The front of the book is a It's wrong. Yeah. So, something worth noting on the cover sheet is that it doesn't explicitly detail all of the red lines. It's just telling you the difference between kind of the blue and the green and the purple. So, you're picking up some of those differences, but those red line changes also um are going to add some context. you may want to look at those as well. So, under the change in the law, the one thing that I will say is that the law stops short of time beyond the bell of the school
053day. And so, in that opening uh section on all three policies where it describes the school day um and it limits this policy to the school day, you'll see that that really kicks in with morning arrival and it ends with afternoon dismissal. And so, you all are absolutely correct. You're reading it correctly. in that um that before and after school time because that the law didn't go that far. The policy does not go that far in any of those circumstances. That added language, that added clarity under the high school usage in the purple section is really just a reinforcement. But you're right in that I think that's probably the only place that that added reinforcement is picked up. So just to make sure that we all are clear the the difference between version two and
054version three is lunchtime is available for the high school for high school. Yes. Yes. Correct. Yes. And I want to clarify too because my mind also just goes to cell phones but we're also talking about smartwatches any kind of wireless glasses which I did not know that was even a thing. I learned something new. Who knew there were smart glasses? Um, so yes, we're talking about all wireless devices. Miss Templeton. Yeah, I have one more question. U, Miss Lner, um, I am honed in on three. It's just where I am. Uh, and I I may I I would like to see in between classes class change added to this and we can discuss that as well. And I hope that we will. Um, one other thing that, um, the principles did request um, was the
055ability to, um, they want a clear policy. Um, but this there was a line in here. Where did I see it? I moved in my uh, where it gets given back to the um, guardian or parent. Um, I think that can be at the principal's discretion whether it goes back to the parent, guardian or the student themselves because that may be very difficult. Is that in I'm sorry. Is that version that's I'm I'm looking at version three. That may be across all three. I'm I'm honestly unsure. What line is that? Uh I'm sorry. Oh, Mr. Dupler. Oh, here it is. line eight in pa on page three of version three. Okay. I think Mr. Dupler, you said you can address that. Well, let me look at Okay. line eight. On page three, you said I
056was trying to make sure that principles can No, I mean what they need to do. I mean I mean to your point, Miss Templeton, I I mean I was going to bring this up. You know, as has already been discussed, the only real difference in three and two is lunchtime for high school. But since I've heard that principles want very clear, you know, parameters, taking out at the discretion of the principal, which is actually on line 48 of page two on version three, uh would then give very clear direction that again, high schoolers could have theirs during lunch, but that's the only change. If you put at the discretion of the principal, then you could have different schools with with not with no lunch, right? No devices at lunch as opposed to devices at lunch,
057which is inconsistent. I think she's talking about I see what you're talking about. I'm actually returning of the device like where I'm probably I have a child that may break this I'm be I'll be honest 20 times like and I'm going to have to come to the school 20 times and pick up my kids's phone. You're saying I'm saying it's up to that change to release to the either the high school student at the end of the day or Yeah. Yeah. At the end of the day, they can return to the student. Yeah. And not Right. So add student or legal guardian or whatever. Right. Yeah. Do you see what she's saying? So on page three, line eight, it says that the a confiscated device will be returned to the legal guardian, which means like
058I'd have to walk into school 20 times and pick up my kid's phone versus at the end of the day giving that phone back to the student, right? Does that make sense? Yes. That's what it says. that says if it's been confiscated uh for whatever reason then then it would be returned to the parent or legal guardian and you're saying you would rather have possibly the student as an option. I just want the principal to be able to use their best judgment. Yeah. On their campus. That's that's a that's a policy decision. Miss Lutner, if I'm recalling, and you brought this up, um, Miss Templeton, if I recall correctly, during policy review, and so thank you for lifting it back up. One of the conversations we had at policy review was that under this language,
059and it is worth noting because it's the same in all three policies. So, no matter what the board decides, this language is the same across the board. So, we are probably looking at um across the board changes if the board wants to go in that direction. This language here, and Mr. Dupler, correct me if I'm wrong, does say that um confiscation or use inappropriate usage may result in confiscation that requires that parent or guardian to pick up. Part of the conversation uh that we had had at policy review is that while it may result in confiscation that requires the parent or guardian to pick up, it also may not. And so leaving that door open um to principles there that that's just escalated discipline at that point um and notifying parents in a policy form
060that this might end in a call to you all um to come pick up the device. But hopefully, you know, that is something that's a little bit further down the line. Teacher hands it back at the end of class if they pick it up. Principal hands it back at the end of the school day. Um if we're changing the language, and I would look at Mr. Dupler to ask this question. We may want to change the language in such a way that it's clear that the principal would be uh the discretion as to whether or not to return to the student or the parent would rely on the principal um because there may be a circumstance in which depending on the inappropriate usage the principal wants to withhold the device until the parent comes to
061pick up. Yeah, that makes sense. I think Dr. Brown, did you want to chime in? I just Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, I just want to say as a principal of 17 years, I've taken up thousands of cell phones and this policy was in place and it said that you may confiscate and and require a parent to come. Um, I I think the spirit of that is that conversation is had with the parent. Um, I don't know that I ever required a parent to come and get the cell phone, but quite often that would necessitate me having a conversation with them and they would say, "I understand they shouldn't have done that. do you care to just give them back to him at the end of the day? To which I replied, absolutely and gave
062it back. So, um, that makes Okay. Yeah. And I don't think we have any principal that, you know, would talk to a parent and they say, "Hey, I don't have transportation. I can't get to school." Or or whatever the reason is, it wouldn't give the phone back. I think, you know, the the the purpose of this is to not disturb instructional time. And that makes sense. Um, not to prevent to cause a hardship on the parents part. Thank you for clarifying that. That makes sense, M. Okay, Miss Bike. Oh, thank you. Um, so I mean that that because I had a question about that as well and I understand it. So do we feel like that compensation needs to be defined or a different word needs to be used or it's good how it is
063that even though this is in here principles can opt to have autonomy within what they their what they do. Is that a legal question? I think Miss Lner I think she legal answer I would defer that to Mr. I would say from a policy standpoint I think a good way to look at policy is that policy is what is bounding the principal's autonomy. So anything that's not called out is where principal autonomy picks up. Okay. So it may be a slippery slope to start outlining all of um the principal actions that are permissible. it is a lot easier to identify like where those um those authority lines lie. Does that make sense? Yep. Okay. So, next question is rolling back to that other one that is on version three page two lines 32 and 33
064where it says at the discretion of the principal the devices may be used before and after school. So does So that looks like it says the permiss the principal can grant permission for it to be used before and after school. If the principal does nothing and says nothing, can the devices still be used before and after school or do they have to explicitly give permission? Looks like something would be like in the student handbook. As has been stated, the the the new law deals with the school day. So if you were silent on anything else, then a student could use it before and after school school day. Okay. Um, it perhaps then this this line could be rewarded because as I read it and as I think other people may read it, it looks like
065the principal has to say something for it to be available. And I don't want to get in a situation where a principal reads it that way and then something happens, there's a thing and then it's like, no, the principal didn't have to give permission. you know, is there some rewarding of that? We're talking through that right now. Okay, cool. Well, while while you guys are doing that, I have another question. So, I will I'll weigh in real quick to say that um if the board has an appetite for going in this direction, I think you know, Dr. Butler, you were on to something in calling out um the fact that it's duplicative language here that we do state before and after school. That's leftover language from the prior policy. So that language was in the
066previous policy. Now that you have those red lines at the top that do say, "Hey, we're not talking about before school and we're not talking about after school." I think that language would be very easy to drop here unless Mr. Dubler felt differently. Um what Dr. Dr. Wilson and I were just discussing um is you know what that sentence would read like if we were to drop that parameter and it would just be at the discretion of the principal that students may uh use their devices during the lunch period. Um and we could go a step further to Mr. Dupller's point and potentially drop at the discretion of the principal if we wanted to remove that autonomy from the principal as well at the high school space. Um, if we're going to go with the
067purple version, version three, I I would like to give the principal the option of not having of restricting the lunchtime access because there could be a situation, I could imagine, where the principles would like the choice to do that, but don't necessarily have to do that. So, I would like to see that change. Um or if not that change just removing that line at the discretion of the principal. The devices may be used before and after because then nothing said the kids can use it before and after. Um my next question is and I went through this totally could have missed it. Um was there any language that addressed any sort of liability for now? Liability for what? like when when if these devices are confiscated um that the it would be the liability always
068falls on the family and the student of said devices that these families know that they are sending potentially expensive devices to school and that we are not going to reimburse for anything that could come up page page page two in this bike. Um I mean I'm I'm looking at version three, but it should be in all of them. It's middle of page two. Starts with Knox County Schools not liable, etc. Where? Oh, totally missed it. Totally missed it. Yeah. Line 18. Okay. Knox County Schools campuses. Okay, I'm good. Thank you, Mr. Brother. I'd like to go back to Mr. Dupler's uh line item uh version, the purple version. U I guess that's the second page, line 48. And that was made mentioned would that be line 48? Yeah. So if you take out at the
069discretion of the principal, we talked about that. One of the things that I remember that was an issue for principles that was lifted up by someone is that they wanted all the schools to be the same. That was one of the issues. And so if you if you put at discretion the principal then they won't all be the same. And so and and um and once again when I think about rewriting a policy is to is to address what the law says or fix a need that we feel like has not been f not been done by the current policy. And that was one of those issues. So with that said, I would I would suggest that we we take out if we want to go to with the perfect version, we take that out
070so that all of the schools would have the same the same uh requirement. Now for those principles say, well, I want to have the discretion then, but that's not what I think I heard from board members earlier was that they all wanted it the same. They wanted to be as simple as it could be. and part of that would be the same. Thank you, Miss Morgan. Thank you. Uh this is such a big issue I know and uh there's a lot strong feelings on both sides and I think about the benefits that we could have if we did restrict access more. Um but as for my district, the thing that I have heard uh very strongly from our administrators and um from any parents that I have heard from so far has been that they
071want our administrators have said they like the status quo. Um obviously there are changes that have to be made in line with state law. Um and we will be doing those in this version one policy. Uh but our administrators have it down in a way that's working well. Um the way that it's done at Farragate High School is kind of like you talked about Miss Templeton. Uh you know, they can access it in between classes and um and can have access at lunch and before and after school and it's working well. Um the way that it's done at the middle school is working well there too. And so they feel very strongly about that. uh can parents that I've heard from, constituents that I've heard from um want their children to have access to their
072phones at some point. And so that's been the overwhelming message I've heard out of my district. I totally understand that that may not be the same across uh the county, but because that's what everybody in my area has been saying, I am leaning towards version one and doing a policy that's more in line with our status quo and obviously abiding by the changes that need to be made bring to the law. Mr. Triplet. All right. So just to sum this up, what are we bringing to Thursday to That's a good procedural question. I mean, if we're just bringing one, two, and three, that's fine. When we make a motion, somebody says, you know, I'm move to approve number version two, three, whatever the version is. But if we're going to do more red lines, then
073or are we going to just do that in discussion because there's been some changes suggested. So if we're in agreement with some of those changes, then we can go ahead and bring that so we have a clear policy to vote on. Otherwise, we're going to be just rehash the same discussion and we're going to get I think nowhere. So, do we have anything that everybody kind of agreed that wanted to change? Well, Mr. Tripley can't you can't take a vote tonight. Uh because this is a work session, but I mean, I would say this, any board member can say, "Hey, I like version three, for instance, but but but when I bring the motion, I'm going to exclude this language or add this bit of language." And then and then once that motion's on the
074floor, then you then you all can discuss it and decide, you know, are you gonna vote that up or down or I mean, but but at least at this point you have these three uh distinct versions and you know, hopefully y'all can narrow it down from there. I mean, if you if you do need to make some tweaks to one of them. So, what I'm hearing is we're going to have the same discussion. Yeah, it sounds like good to know. At least I Miss Templeton to aid in that and um maybe not having that happen. Um when we were talking about some of the changes on three, we talked about the discretion of the principal piece. Um and you know that my principles would like to have um that the high school would like to
075have the ability between classes. Um so were I'll just ask were there other changes that were requested of the third I had the of the third the page two lines 32 and 33. I think that was my of version three that I had kind of requested to be rewarded that at the discretion of the principal these devices may be before and after school may be used before and after school. That that was my big request. If we're going to go with the purple version, you would prefer to not have the that at discretion of the principal and just have it start with the devices maybe used before and after school. Um, I would be okay with either removing that so that it's because at the discretion of the principal is also down there on lines
07648. Um, so it seems a little redundant um, but also confusing. Um, or for it to just be rewarded to say that something of the like that a principal could choose to restrict it at their discretion, but I'd be fine with just removing it. Were there other thoughts for the third version? That was it for version three. Anyone else? All right. Was a good discussion. A lot a lot of a lot to think on. All right, moving on then to grants A or B, C or D or E. All right, moving on then to contracts A or B. C or D. All right. Moving on then to regular agenda items. A or B. All right. Moving on then to public forum. Mr. Triplet. Yes. Pete Pearson. Pete, if you'll state your name and county resident,
077you'll have three minutes. Thank you. Pete Pearson, Knox County. Um, good evening. I appreciate the discussion that's already been had, but just wanted to add to that. Um, I serve as the chief executive officer of Knoxville Orthopedic Clinic. I'm also a longtime resident of the county and the father of two sons who graduated from West High School, both of whom were scholar athletes. So, I come to you tonight not just as a healthc care leader, but as a parent who deeply values the role athletics plays in our students lives. For more than 30 years, KOC has proudly partnered with Knox County Schools to provide sports medicine coverage to every public high school in the system. We currently invest more than $800,000 annually to support certified athletic trainers at 13 schools and to ensure student athletes
078have access to timely orthopedic care. From August through December of last year alone, our providers treated 479 student athletes who use school provided BMI insurance for more than 1,800 office visits. Of those, 139 students had no other form of medical insurance. That's roughly 30% of the total. I'm here tonight to express concern about the proposed policy that you discussed. um and to to make accident insurance optional and a transi and and the transition from BMI to K&K. While the board has not yet formally adopted this policy, it appears to be moving forward operationally. Student athletes are already receiving insurance coverage statement forms asking for private health insurance information, but with no mention of accident insurance options through either KK or or BMI. This is concerning on multiple levels. First, verifying private insurance for every athlete
079introduces a real administrative burden for athletic departments. Even when a student submits an an insurance card, there's no guarantee the policy will be active when a claim is needed, especially in families with changing employment or financial circumstances. Second, the proposed KK plan introduces more complexity and costs, particularly for football athletes. K&K requires a separate writer for football and a student could easily enroll in base coverage, submit that information on their form and unknowingly be left uncovered for football injur injuries. For families who do not uh who do try to do the right thing, premiums for football players could jump from 60 to as much as 277 under this model. that would potentially create financial hardships for student athletes, parents, especially when coverage use um used to be simpler and more affordable. We understand the district
080is trying to address the fact that it spent close to $200,000 last year covering students whose families didn't submit payment for the required BMI policy, but we believe that there are better ways to manage that concern, ways that don't place the burden on families or put students at risk of falling through the cracks. For these reasons, we respectfully request that the district continue to require student accident insurance and return to the BMI policy until a more thorough analysis can be completed. Collecting a $60 fee from each student is far simpler and more consistent than trying to verify and rely on private insurance that may not be there when it's needed most. Thank you. Uh Dr. Matthew Repe. Okay. I didn't want to th Sorry about that, but thank you. If you'll state your name, county
081resident, you'll also have three minutes. Matt Rupe, Knox County. Thank you for the opportunity to address the board this evening. Thank you for the hard work you put in daily to improve the lives of student athletes in Knox County. So, my name is Matt Rupe. I'm a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon uh in my 19th year of practice. I attended public schools in Middle Tennessee where I played multiple sports prior to attending University of Tennessee. But I'm also the son of two parents who ran a landscape contracting business who at times were unable to carry health insurance for my family when I was growing up. So this issue is important to me. Um especially I have two sons at West High School that play uh football and soccer and but proud just as Pete stated to
082to state that we've my practice Knox Orthopedic Clinic has a longstanding tradition of taking care of student athletes here in Knox County. um those athletic trainers that we provide to the county um provide year- round coverage for our student athletes. Every Friday night, my partners and I stand the sidelines of the football fields throughout the county. We sponsor the the Jambburye that we have every year. And with the monies that are collected from that, those monies have gone to pay for the supplemental student insurance policy. As Pete shared, this past year we had 139 folks that we saw in our office that did not have insurance other than the supplemental policy. Um, for reference, each of the surrounding counties around our region, uh, they actually carry a plan similar to this. Making health insurance optional
083as opposed to mandatory will lead to many student athletes who have significant difficulty finding care. Now I can see and treat an athlete and not charge for my services. But should they need surgical services, there's no option for them without requiring the lowcost supplemental insurance will have many students who cannot participate in high school athletics. Often sports are the reason why students stay in school. I know times are hard. Uh the the the funding for programs was very difficult. Frankly, the $800,000 that Pete mentioned, that used to be $450,000 internally in our practice. This is a hard thing for me to justify to my partners to continue to invest in this, but we do it because it's the right thing to do. Um, a high school athlete not being able to play high school sports
084because a $60 policy wasn't available them frankly makes me sad. I could give you examples of folks that didn't have two nickels as a family who who tore their ACL that with this supplemental policy was able to have surgery. And then I could give you examples of patients whose family made $50,000 a year but had a high deductible plan of $5,000 where they had a supplemental plan and it was 60 bucks and they got their coverage whether it was the surgery or the physical therapy that they needed. Um, everyone in this room would agree we all want to provide what's best for our student athletes within the county. In our current format and as I have practiced for the last 19 years, I've never had to tell a mom or a dad that I couldn't
085care for them. Um, I I urge this body to consider as you consider not making insurance optional to make it as it has been for the past 19 years. Thank you. Thank you, Keith Britt. Keith, you'll state your name and county residents. You'll have three minutes. Hi, Keith Brit, 506 Milton Drive. Uh, different issue, but I there's the same common thread flowing through all all of this. the more complex you make these policies, the worse results you're going to get. Um, that's that's not only true to school policy, it's true to life. Um, I am the parent of three KCS students. And as their parent, my job is to serve as their role model. So, yes, at dinnertime, I do have to resist taking my phone out of my pocket to check the weather. And
086yes, when it's late at night and all I want to do is turn my brain off, I do have to choose to pick up a book instead and let my kids see me reading that instead of looking at my phone. What you ha have as this school systems leadership is the opportunity to create a structure that helps me uh parent effectively. You have the opportunity to help my kids concentrate on schoolwork. You have the opportunity to help my kids form worthwhile friendships. And you have the opportunity to do that in an unambiguous way that is easy for students and teachers and parents. I really hope you will reconsider and adopt version two of this wireless device policy. Um, a lot of us here tonight are here because we read the anxious generation, which clearly shows
087just how devastating phone use can be for young people, particularly those in high school, teenagers, um, who are comparing their real world struggles to the pretend realities they see on their phone. Um, some of us are here because we watch the Netflix series Adolescence, which shows just the horrific kid-on-kid violence um that can occur from the use of social media and unaltered or uninterrupted use of phones. So, please support version two of this policy. Uh to your point, Miss Templeton, I do think there is some ambiguous language there uh concerning storage. I would probably remove all uh references to J191. I don't think anything more than a um rest of the day confiscation is necessary here for the kids to learn their lessons. That will be pretty devastating to them. Um, but our kids are
088in danger and it's we've seen this work, this version two work in neighboring school systems in Hamlin County. We've seen it work nationwide and it can work here. Let's make it easy for our kids. Let's make it easy for our teachers and our principles. Um, thank you and Godspeed. Thank you, Margot Kern. If you'll state your name and county residence, you'll have three minutes. Hi, my name is Margot Kern, 936 Windgate Street. Um, I'm a mom of uh three young boys who are in KCS. Um, I run a group in Knoxville called Knox in Real Life. Um, our goal is to change the culture around smartphones and kids in Knoxville. We provide support for parents who want to delay smartphones and for parents who kid whose kids have smartphones and are trying to help them
089navigate an often fraught digital world. Um many of our members support stricter smartphone policies for KCS. Um several have spoken previously at board meetings. Um and a couple of us are here tonight. More wanted to speak, but it appears everyone in Knoxville is on vacation this week. Um but we really appreciate the leadership the board is taking on this issue. Um, I've spoken previously about what's at stake when we let smartphones degrade our kids learning environment, magnified bullying, exposure to elicit content, combative relationships between uh teachers and students, and of course, distracted learning. Um, instead of rehashing this, I I want to speak specifically about the proposed policies. Um, we need a simple policy that can be easily executed. Um so um as such I encourage you to adopt proposal uh number two um which
090is essentially an away for the day policy. So kids are allowed to have their phones before school and they're allowed to have it after but there is protected time for the entire school day. Um it is simply too difficult for teachers to have to determine whether a student's phone is off or on silent mode if they're actually checking it or they're not. When we allow um checking in between classes, it makes it more difficult for our students and our teachers. Uh when our kids check their phones in between classes, it keeps their heads in the digital space. So, they're they're continuing to think about the next uh group text. Um they're still able to take photos, which contribute contributes a lot to bullying um and uh amplifying fights. So, um, a lot of the the
091issues that we're trying to negate, um, sorry, that we're trying to correct will be negated, um, I think if we allow our kids to use their phones in between classes. And it will also be difficult for our teachers. Um, one thing I wanted to draw attention to is in uh, the proposal number three, it does say that um, phones must be stored out of sight and in the silent mode. Um, which essentially means in your pocket. Um, and I don't think that there's really any difference between um that and prohibiting um allow excuse me, allowing phones in between classes. Essentially, if you have a kid walking around with a phone in their pocket on silent mode, they're allowed to check it in between classes. So, that's something I wanted to draw your attention to. Um,
092finally, I want to speak to the board as a parent. I know many of you have tween or teenagers and you're seeing firsthand the harmful effects of these devices on our kids' well-being. It may seem impossible to go against the current culture. Um but parents in Knoxville are banding together to change it and we are rejecting the idea that kids have to choose between um having friends and having phones. Thank you very much. We need your help to change the culture. Thank you, Christa McB. She had to go. Okay. All right. Uh board members, the next two uh speakers um are wanting to speak on something that is not on the agenda. Um board policy B180 limits public comments at the work session to items that are on the agenda. They've requested to speak uh
093related to the West High School football program because uh there is a meeting scheduled at at on July 10th at the same time as our board meeting when they could speak on this topic. Uh, and so for them to speak, uh, we would have to have a motion, a second, and then vote on that. I'd like to make a motion to allow them to speak. A second. Okay. Any discussion? And all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. George Uert. George, if you'll state your name and county residents, you'll have three minutes. Yeah. My name is George Uert. I live in Knox County, Tennessee. I want to thank uh each of the board members for your service and appreciate the opportunity to address you tonight regarding Lamar Brown. Let me read you a
094direct quote that appears on the superintendent's web page. I believe our community can work together to achieve great things. On numerous occasion, the West community has reached out to meet with him only to be met with no response. My emails are still unanswered from him. There is a letter there was a letter sent to him asking to meet with six community leaders and Lamar Brown and his attorney. He said no. Then we requested Lamar and his attorney and he said no. And then another one sent that just asked Lamar Brown to meet with the superintendent and he said no. But he goes on a local te uh talk radio show and speaks about how he's repairing this community. This is not working with the community. Please listen to some of the absurdity of superintendent's leadership
095as I read you another one of his quotes that he stays a lot. Above all is the safety of our students. Coach Brown is going to be assigned to another school. Does that mean the students are not safe at West, but they are at another school? The Harden Valley Harden Valley had a baseball coach sending illicit sexual pictures to students as punishment. his direct supervisor and the person who hired the coach is now the athletic director of Knox County Schools and he will be supervising the West Coast West coaches for their two-year training period. A principal at Harden Valley was exposed exposed 2100 students and most likely double that around the surrounding area with not addressing a gas leak. Today he's the principal at Austin East. I'm sure you're familiar with Parent Square. On May
09619th, a message was delivered stating that co coach Brown had been suspended. No message was sent out on April 3rd, the day Chad Brooks was arrested, or May 23rd, the day Scott Shaver was arrested. I ask you as parents, which would you rather know? that Coach Brown was suspended or alleged sexual predators were roaming the halls where your child went to school. With everything I mentioned, I ask you to resend Lamar Brown's suspension and meet with the public before a final decision is made. I request also that you suspend Dr. John Risewick effective immediately until an in-depth investigation is carried out regarding the way he keeps our children safe. Thank you for your time and I'll be glad to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you. Robert Peace, if you'll state your name and county
097resident, you'll have three minutes. My name is Robert Peace. I'm a parent of a student athlete at West High School. I first want to appreciate you for allowing me and George to speak today. Uh, but I have to be honest, the way the district handled the sit situation involving Lamar Brown has been nothing short of disgraceful. Let me be clear, the process you followed to investigate Coach Brown and the way you removed him from his role and reassigned him to another school was awful. It was messy. It was secretive and completely lack transparency. There was no communication with the parents, no plan of action presented to the students, the staff, or this community. You made a bad situation worse. And let's get something straight. No one, not me, no other parents, nor Coach Brown, condones
098or excuses the actions or the alleged actions by Chad Brooks and Scott Shaver. Those allegations are deeply disturbing and the safety of our children and always should be the top priority. By the way, I heard the superintendent mention he has a daughter. I have a daughter as well. She'll be a West High. She elected to leave private school this year to go to West High School mainly because of Lamar Brown. My daughter would be safe around Lamar Brown. But you made it sound like he's being investigated and he is not. He was not investigated. He was cleared by the police department. Coach Brown was devastated by what happened and he was blindsided and heartbroken as the rest of us. To imply that he knew or allowed any of this is not only a fair, it's
099false. And instead of giving him support, you treated him like a scapegoat. This was a moment our school needed to come together. A moment when leadership should have showed up and not hidden behind vague statements and quiet reassignments. These kids needed guidance. They need a healing and they need a unity. And instead, you ripped the one very person that could give them that. And you took them away with no explanation and never stepping foot into West High School to see if the kids are okay. It's time to prioritize the kids and make sure they are safe. That starts with stepping in the schools. Coach Brown's the heartbeat of that school. He's more than a football coach. He's a mentor. He's a father figure to many and a man with a heart of gold. He's in
100this prof profession for the kids. You talk about the school insurance. We have many kids at West High School that can't afford the team fees or the insurance. Lamar Brown makes sure their fees are paid. He makes sure they're eligible to play. He makes sure they go to class. You have no idea how many football players at West High School, 10% of the population get their degree, get their high school diploma because they are part of the football team. You took that away. Lamar Brown's a strong leader. Arguably one of the best you have in the entire district. Somebody else is going to get him. And you made a big mistake because you lost the best man you have in high school football. Madam Madam Chair, that concludes public forum. Thank you. Thank you. Moving
101on to board forum. Albert, do you have anything you'd like to And I'm not trying to put you on the spot. If you want to say something, great. If not, that's totally fine, too. Okay. Can y'all hear me? Yeah. Okay. Um, since this is my first meeting and I know y'all have a lot to go through, I'd like to sit back and listen more than I talk. But um I do want to say it's very interesting what you all have been talking about and I'm so glad to be a part of this. Um and I think I'll try to speak more next meeting, try to get some more information collected from the student body on some of the topics. But um other than that, just thank you for the opportunity for letting listen today. Awesome.
102Well, we're happy you're here, Reverend Butler. Miss Templeton, I would just like to reiterate a welcome to you. I am glad that you are here. Um, also just thank you um to the board for some really good healthy conversation today and I appreciate that. Miss Fner Ridley, I do want to welcome you to the board. Congratulations. Um, I'm sure that you will give us some very important input about the students and what they are thinking. And um, with that done, Mr. triplet miss. Thank you. Mostly echoing what others said. Welcome Albert. Um it's such a privilege to have so many qualified students and to go through the process. This was my first time so it was really interesting. But I'm so glad that we have Albert. I think that he's going to be a great
103contributor. obviously by his resume was very impressive and um I mean just so impressive. Um so welcome. Thank you, Miss Morgan. Welcome, Albert. We're thrilled to have a Farragate High School representative on the board this year. Really excited to get to work alongside of you. Um you're off to a great start. Way to way to survive your first meeting. uh wanted to thank all of the staff for uh and everybody who worked hard for summer learning camp. I got to see uh through as a parent and through the eyes of one of my kids the summer learning camp experience and it was fantastic and so thank you to everybody for making that uh summer school experience fun and uh successful. Awesome. Mr. Wright, Miss Christie. All right. Well, with that we are adjourned. and I'll
104see y'all Thursday.