001e e e that's welcome good evening welcome to the Board of Education July 11th 2024 regular session meeting please stand as we observe a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Miss Christie face the flag pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands One Nation God indivisible withy andice for all I want to take a moment and welcome our new student board rep Miss Elkins to the board and Miss Christie I believe you have some information to share with us on her I do excited thank you madam chair and I'm excited as well I've already um gotten an opportunity to work with Miss Elin some and it's h I'm just really excited to have her on board um as
002announced in May Sophia Elkins AR Rising senior at Hall High School was selected by the student representative selection committee to serve for the 2425 school year as a board member representative on the committee I would like to officially welcome Sophia as a non-voting board member and share a little information about her Sophia is a member of the National Honor Society and has awaited GPA of 4. 46 she is an 865 Academy Ambassador and a member of Hall Student Government Association sopia also participates with Team Board of Knoxville the scholars Bowl FCA FCA leadership and the Knoxville Children's Theater she is a member of the halls High School varsity tennis team and was selected by her peers to serve as team captain she is also a manager for the halls High School wrestling team Sophia is
003part of her church worship team is both a singer and piano player in her other community service and projects projects include Community Theater mission trips where she served at Norwood Elementary School Adrian Adrien Bernett Elementary School and the Western Heights Baptist Center Boo at the Zoo and fantasy of trees one of sopia's references stated that she is mature well spoken determined and just an allaround great young lady she challenges herself in the classroom and represents all of what a Knox County student should another stated that she is honest intelligent and has a desire to help others and without hesitation I give her my highest recommendation and I from what I have already learned about sopia I Echo those sentiments and also would like to add um being on the committee one of the things that
004impressed me uh when Sophia interviewed was you know when we asked how you would get student engage other students you know she didn't give the typical social media answer she I mean that was included but she also said that she works with elementary students and she F feels it's important to hear their voices as well and and that's not a perspective that we always hear uh from our student rep so that that really made an impression on me so love that welcome again Sophia and I know I speak speak for the full board when I say we look forward to serving alongside you this school Year yay welcome we're so excited to have [Applause] you um next on my announcements I want to thank Reverend Butler for bringing it to our attention that we do
005have a conflict for the November 7th meeting uh since tsba is also um it starts that day so I'll work with Dr risewick on some recommendations and bring them to the quarterly um work session on July 25th if that works and I think Miss Cy's going to reach out to individual board members to kind of get your thoughts and ideas on what you guys would like to see for the November meeting uh we do have a couple changes to the agenda um y'all received an email yesterday but I just wanted to announce that the Law Department had provided us with an edited version of theou with CAC for the Foster grandparent program listed as item 6c is it 6 c14 yeah 14 um for our review at Monday's work session following the work session a
006finalized version incorporating the requested edits was received so that attachment has been added uh to the agenda and also after our work session on Monday Mr mcferson noted that the maintenance department vehicle purchase being considered as item 10d would be made with dollars from the fund balance designation approved by the board on June June 6 and not general purpose funds as was indicated so the agenda caption and documentation have both been updated for that item are there any other requested changes all right motion by Miss Horn a second by Mr Watson all those in favor I any opposed okay motion carries all right well we get to start this evening with a student presentation so I'm excited about that Miss Chrissy um and Miss B have been working on it Miss Christie yeah I would
007just like to um before they start first welcome them um I know Miss B and I had had a meeting with them earlier uh and I have been really impressed with um the thought they have put into this project they've been very intentional with working with District staff and um coll been very collaborative and I think it speaks to um a approaching something you see as as a a problem in a positive way and and working to make a positive impact so I am excited to see their presentation tonight welcome hello Celeste I thank you so much board member Christie for introducing us and thank you so much to all of you for letting us speak today my name is a and I was here in March during a public forum meeting to talk to
008you about the same thing I'm speaking to you all about today making period products more accessible throughout the district after speaking to you all in March I ended up getting in contact with board member bike who helped us bring this to you today along with the help of board member Christie Miss cotney Sophia Celeste and many others throughout the district this initiative is very important to me and many other girls because we've had an experience where we or someone we knew could not easily get a period product and had to suffer because of it this is the goal we chose this as our goal because we believe the easiest way to make period products more accessible to students is by putting them where they will need them the bathroom many students in the district do
009not know that the nurses have period products available in their offices and even those who do might feel embarrassed about asking to use them or could be worried about the amount of time it might take out of class to go get them this is why it would be best to have them in the bathrooms our goal is also to have this be a student Le initiative with Representatives at each School helping to make this program possible along with one staff member there are 218 bathrooms in total at all middle school and high schools in the district so we understand that this goal will take time and multiple steps to be achieved there are 28 States who have legislation on period products the majority of states in our country have legislation to make sure students are
010able to access free period products while they are at school well our state is not one of them it shows how it has become more and more common for schools to address the need for period products on campus this is not some outof thebox idea and is projected to continue to grow Across America as of now our school district is paying for period products but most students are not able to easily access them so these are the effects of period poverty on students period poverty is defined as when an individual does not have access to or cannot afford period products 84% of students have missed class due to a lack of period products or no someone who has 23% of us teenagers cannot afford a period products at all 86% report that they have been
011caught in public without period products 90% of girls start their period by age 13 making it essential that the middle schools are also involved in this project 51% of students feel like their school does not care about them if they do not provide period products in their bathroom and 61% of students have worn period products longer than recommended because of a lack of access which is dangerous and can lead to things like toxic shock syndrome which can often even be lethal some benefits of giving access to students for period products would be to increase attendance students would avoid using period products for too long it promotes a safer and more comfortable School environment it reduces stigma stigmas on the idea of periods and reduces feelings of embarrassment and shame additionally by putting these products into
012the bathrooms students would be even less embarrassed because they won't have to seek out nurses or that designated person to get a period product now why Knox County Schools 12.7% of Knox County is under the poverty line and 63 out of the 91 schools in Knox County are part of the national school lunch program meaning that 25% or more of students qualifi for free meals meaning that is highly viable that a a lot of students don't have access to period products additionally 49% of KCs students are female which means that there are a lot of students that would find this helpful for them and from just some personal experience many students at our schools do not have the luxury of being able to afford these products making them feel embarrassed and which is detrimental to
013their learning now there has been legislation CR passed across the country for example in Alabama and in Nebraska school boards have opted to put period products for in the bathrooms at no cost and the Midwest City Dell City public schools in Oklahoma provided 200 dispensers within the school bathrooms which offered free period products to students Fort Worth Texas is a district similar to Knox County as they have around 74,000 students while KCs has 880,000 additionally their voter map is fairly similar to ours so this makes Knox County Schools a great place to implement this project making it where it can be done many places such as Fort Worth mentioned in the last slide you dispensers to make period products available within their District the state of Utah also uses dispensers within many of their schools
014dispensers are an easy way for students to access period products back in June with the help of Miss Denton we applied Miss Denton we applied for a grant from KC KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken that would give us enough money to buy 28 dispensers from the brand shown above that would fit the period products KCs currently uses if we get the money for this grant we would want to to put one of them in each of the 17 high schools in Knox County and then continue to distribute them from there currently at KCs these schools have perod products however this is not done through the school system but made possible at faragate and CMA through the work of their PTO and student committees West High also tries to always have free period products through the work
015of their woman advac club and other students but it is not as consistent as faragate or CMA the fact that faragate career magnet and West are the only ones to have free period products highlights an inequality within our schools both west and faragate do not qualify as part of the national lunch program and thus it can be inferred that many schools who have this program need it even more West has not had any incidence regarding period products being misused and from what I've heard neither have faragate and CMA however the dispensers are a lot of money and we realize that so I have proposed a beta program that we can put into schools by August this beta program will test whether period products would be a positive presence in the school bathrooms this would like
016I said be put into place around August with this plan period products will be put into bins at the various schools like the ones at West and faragate these the supply for these would be used that Knox County has because we talk talked to Miss Denton and Miss Wagner and they said that Knox County has been buying these products for years and we have years worth of Supply so that should not be an issue when it comes to affordability this will allow us to best know how to further improve and install the projects in the future because we have a QR code this QR code will be used in our bathroom um girls can go in scan it with their phones and you can scan it right there in your seats if you want to
017be led to the form and they can say where they used it and how what condition it's in and whether or not we need to refill it these are the baskets that we have proposed they are $6.99 on Amazon and I calculated a budget and if we even wanted to go to two per each high school it's only $80 and I talked to Mr Adams about installation and he said it should be possible um we are asking for just support from you from the board and we need contacts at each school to make sure that this happens and that it's it's not uncontrolled because unlike um unlike faragate Halls has had issues with abuse of period products in the bath boms that aren't even free so we need to implement something that um Implement a
018way to to not discipline but to manage misuse of these products um and then I want to form a group of student students one from each High School preferably to monitor these because as I said it was a student L initiative and I think that this is a prime opportunity for the 865m to work with because many of these places have a health Academy or they have HOSA and this is just part of women's health and it would be a very good opportunity for them to get involved with something that matters in their school okay um where we will start so we want to start with one bathroom having free period products in each high school and Knox County Schools and then continue to um grow the project from there to Middle Schools okay so
019addressing possible issues as Sophia said places like Halls have had incidents with period products so we understand that there could be a fear from both board members and administrators that having perod products in the bathrooms could end up to obstruction to the products or the general School although as I've said from what I've seen at West having it as a student Le initiative lowers these chances West once again hasn't had any incidents however in the case that there are possible issues it will be dealt with on a school by school basis and we'll have student Representatives working with school administrators about how they can stop these incidents from happening in the worst case an example of a possible way that this could be dealt with would be by having period products put in the student
020office where students could access them but a staff member would be present although once again this would only happen if it was needed and as the beta program progresses we will be able to see how different problems arise and the solutions that we can come up for them overall we would like to emphasize the fact that putting period products in schools would make M would make so many girls feel more comfortable there has been research done by multiple organizations that has shown how having period products at school increases female attendance and productivity also Knox County already spends money on period products each year in an email Miss Wagner told me she was planning on ordering a supply of period products for the upcoming school year it is unfair that many students who need these products
021are not able to easily access them by in by implementing this plan we will be improving the experience of so many students across the district what we are asking asking for again what we need the most for this project is your support we are asking for the board to back this Movement by making sure it has the supplies it needs to thrive both period products and the containers to put them in we are asking for those bins to be inst installed by maintenance before the beginning of the year one container at each school we are also asking the school board to make every school administrator aware of this program and how it will work we plan to send a one pager to be given to school administrator ERS before the beginning of the year so
022they understand how the program works we also hope that if we struggle to find Representatives or staff at certain schools then Schoolboard members that have contacts at that school could try to help us if they wish and if after the beta program ends there shows a need for more period products being needed for the program then we hope to discuss with the board about how we can get more once again the thing we need the most is your continued support and then these are some resources about how putting Peri products in schools can positively impact the school Community the first link is not right but the rest of them are so yeah thank you guys so much thank you guys do anybody have any questions for the girls or any discussion I actually girls I
023have a call tomorrow with um a local organization that helps out with this as well um so when I talk to them I would love to bring uh your initiative up and see maybe how how they could partner with you as well because that may be a good resource for you guys too oh yes Miss Spike um I just want to say thank you for bringing this to the board I am so impressed because there is no way at your age that I could have done that um so I'm so impressed thank you for representing Knox County Schools the way you're doing awesome Mr triplet yeah um they did a great job I know this will probably fall under I guess Dr Adams your kind of purview do we have thoughts on what our next
024steps are or you know what we need to do to move that forward Madam chair U Mr triplet uh so we I've been in contact with Sophia um and and certainly uh we are 100% in favor of this I've already spoken to our director of Maintenance Mr ta and so he's aware what we're waiting on is their proposal and their plan uh so she will reach back out out to me respectfully I wanted her to meet with the board so you all could hear the the proposal and give give the necessary input and then moving forward once I received their proposal I didn't know if it was going to be a pilot or the request was going to be for every school of course we'll have to get a timeline um and we'll have to
025wait for orders and uh for the baskets to come in and then we'll move forward awesome anyone else well thank you again for spearheading that and yeah yep um maybe this is for Dr Adams um are we going to have any issues with purchasing those baskets or is it just a part of like figuring out the plan and moving forward I don't think we'll have any issues with purchasing the baskets we'll figure it out I can I can assure you that okay thank you great thanks again all right moving into our regular agenda items Cy thank you madam chair item six consent agenda motion by Miss Horn a second by miss chrisy any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries item 7A approved first reading of knoxx County Board of Education policy
026b200 policy development and adoption as amended motion by Miss Horn a second by Reverend Butler any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 7B approv first reading of Knox County Board of Education policy g320 tuition assistance program as amended motion by Reverend Butler a second by Mr Watson do we have any discussion seeing no discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 7 C approve first R of knots County Board of Education policy i211 selection of instructional materials other than textbooks as amended motion by Mr tret second by Miss christiny discussion Miss Horn yes I'd like to make a substitute motion that we wave second reading on policy i211 and approve it on first reading okay do we need a second for that I'll second okay
027second by Mr triplet for the substitute motion any discussion on that okay all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 7D approved first reading of KN County Board of Education policy i212 reconsideration of instructional materials and text books as amended um yes I'm sorry can I yes speak thank you madam chair I would like to make a motion that we wave second reading and approve policy i212 on first reading substitute motion by Miss Horn second second by Mr triplet any discussion Mr dupler thank you madam chair I just wanted to point out on 212 and it's it's probably not the uh well I mean it's not the the the major focus of of the new amendment to 496 3803 but it but it certainly is an important part which talks about the
02860-day time limit for a decision uh on a reconsideration of a book and uh the way it's written now the board can approve it and it's and it's legally sufficient uh but but but what it provides is that some type of school to level determination is to be made within 60 days and the board will basically sign off on that in essence and then a person has the opportunity to to to appeal it to the state commission again which is fine if that's what the board wants to do uh however if the board wanted to uh to make sure that there was some type of a district level determination or a combination School level determination District level determination um the policy would be the place to to to to have that information in there so
029um so what'll happen is in essence um you know a decision if if things stay as they are a decision at the school level must be made within 60 days if it's not automatic appeal to the state Commission if that decision is made within 60 days then after that decision a person can then appeal to the state commission or they could appeal it on up the chain and that's all provided in the procedure that is attached to this policy so I mean a person could choose to say okay well School determination fine I'm going to appeal it to the district and then if it if unsatisfied at the district level I'm going to appeal it to the board so that's how that breaks down again if that's what the board wants no problem at all
030all it's legally sufficient but if you want something different I would suggest that Now's the Time thank you Mr dupler Miss Owen Miss Owen I knew what I wanted to ask before he said Now's the Time because what I was going to suggest is that since we know we have to have the 60 days in here to meet current law that we go ahead and do that and then leave it on the agenda for policy review so that we can look at what we need to do with that process but is that a problem thank you madam chair Miss Owen yeah when I say that I'm saying you know because you're going ahead and changing these policies now it's probably a good time to do it but to your point you can't adopt this policy
031today and then the board can come back and make make changes you know at policy review that's certainly within the board's perview as well miss thank you madam chair so I just want to make sure I understand so if we leave it like this the Challenger would have to go let the process play out at the local level the other option that we could change it to is that they could go ahead and appeal to the state right away am I understanding that correctly uh and it's confusing it is I apologize but you but the way it is now the school a committee at the school has to make a determination within 60 days if that's not done automatic appeal after that 60 days determination is made let's say that they make a determination School
032makes a determination within 60 days let's say St 45 days well at that point again the person is able to appeal to the state Commission because they've gotten their local answer exactly okay exactly the way it's worded is you've gotten your local answer okay as an alternative that person can still appeal it up to the district and the board but they don't have to so okay I what you're saying so my point was and you don't have to do it today I mean I mean I don't mean to imply that you have to do it today but I mean you know if you want to change this at some point you know another option would be either accelerate the appeals which I think would be unwieldy or uh you know look at some other type
033of review that maybe is a combination of reviews instead of just the one school level so okay okay I think I think I would probably agree with Miss Owen I would say I think we should probably pass this now and then come back to it after we've kind of have a little more clarification I feel like we need to pass something now and it sounds like we're not quite ready to do that in any other form today y I agree Miss Owen thank you madam chair um I think we we want to think about it's also possible that the State Board could could hand down some rules that we haven't considered and we may have to just change the whole thing again any more discussion okay we seeing no more discussion we'll go ahead and
034vote on this item all those in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries 7 e approve first reading of knots County Board of Education policy I 241 School libraries as amended Miss I make a motion to um wave second reading and approve board policy I 241 on first reading motion by Miss Horn second by Mr triplet any discussion Miss bike thank you madam chair I just have a few questions um for I'm not sure which of our departments but I've read through this and um I'm curious what our process for abiding by this um by the start of the school year is going to look like um since this will likely affect every single one of our libraries and all of our schools and also um this might be for Mr dupler if
035um this is applying from K through 12 so if or is it it or is the age appropriateness for each School sorry these are literally just things that I thought about before the meeting that I didn't think to ask on Monday Dr wi I'll jump first and we'll let the rest of the team jump in um so I I want to say this because um this was a conversation I actually had with Gary another board member the other day um I think to paint a realistic picture I'll let Keith and Aaron clean this up if they need to uh I think think back when the school libraries uh were the kind of was pass late and they all had to go online we have to we have to submit to the state every year early
036on like a compliance with all state laws that year we told the state this was going to be a process and we weren't going it was impossible unless we had all our teachers just starting to log all their library books for the first three weeks of school that that wasn't going to happen um I think our approach is going to be similar in this one um we you know this will be a process I know I know Keith has the number of books we have in our library we're we won't be compliant with the law the day the kids come into school and I think that you know that's going to be um conversations probably public forum conversations and everything else that are going to happen in that process uh we will we will report
037that to the state that what our process is to get there um I think in talking with Dr Wilson you know we obviously we'll start with obvious ones um there's a whole lot of Gray This is why these kind of laws are difficult to translate I think as Miss Owen said a few minutes ago we will probably start getting some new guidance from the state um I know um some of you all and and um Mr dupler are going to uh the law conference uh coming up soon and I think we there's still a lot of places for that again there be some things that will be real easy that are direct violations um and we'll work on those probably and prioritize those first but I just want to be real clear to you all
038and the public we will not be in compliance with this law when school starts the first day and so what does that mean that means there could there be people trying to check out books and intentionally or not on any sides of this issue probably but that's you know the realistic part is it won't be compliance I just want to make sure everybody understands that and Dr Wilson I don't know if you would add to that no uh Dr R thank you madam chair um you know as typically you've answered most of the question I would have answered it um the only thing I would add I think it's just again as as an addition of that it's important to remember you know this is going to be a large and complex undertaking um and
039it's going to heavily involve our Librarians at the school who aren't even on contract right now and so while I know that Sarah and her team have been working uh and thinking about kind of what what some options and processes and procedures could be um we won't fully have any of that developed until she's had time to work with those teams and to think about you know what this process looks like at the schools you know what you said I think um in the law in places where we have Clarity obviously we we can move and and and can move on certain things um but as we all know there's there's interpretations part of that process over time too and honestly with it being so new you know we are expecting additional guidance I think
040from the state and from uh others in terms of of how to best interpret it I know that um Sarah's also been in touch with a lot of her colleagues across the state in different school districts and trying to again uh have some collective thought around kind of what this process looks like so this is really early uh for us to be able to nail down exactly anything in terms of of what what it will be you know in terms of that I guess kind of a follow-up question after hearing that does that mean um when school starts I know we won't be in compliance but but will all of our libraries be open and available yes I mean we don't have any plans for libraries to to not be open that I that I'm
041aware of um you know again thinking about timeline our first opportunity for for Sarah and her team to even be with that Collective group will be our August um ins service day um in early August and so from from there uh and and from those conversations we'll start um working towards a process and but yeah our plan is to to have our libraries open and functioning um as much as possible thank you Miss Horn thank you madam chair I just wanted to point out um we had an email earlier I think that went to the board just with questions from a teacher so not everybody may be looking at this policy as they're watching our meeting so just so everybody is kind of understanding what we're talking about in policy I 241 the the basically
042the law the the verbiage in our policy mimics state law for the age appropriate materials Act and the school district is um as Dr risewick said we are to be compliant with that and they will be in the process of going through that Pro that um prog process to get there with guidance from um from Sarah s s s and also Dr Phillips I know was involved in that with with Dr Wilson so I appreciate um I appreciate you saying that the um some of those that are obvious offenders will be addressed first as as you guys know those are the ones that I've been the most concerned about um in the first place I think that certainly there are books that are more difficult and more challenging to make a determination on so um
043so I do appreciate you addressing those qu the ones that are blatantly um not in compliance first so thank you for doing that and um and I would ask that um that um that folks are just patient with the process and that we and I'm I'm hopeful that we can get to a point where it's um there are more questions are being able to be answered through the process that they'll come up with thank you for that Miss Horn Miss Owen thank you madam chair um I'll just like to say that I think that if we are looking very carefully at the definitions that are provided in the law I think most of our libraries are very well in compliance right now um I would also hope hope that we will be very careful in
044removal so that we don't um remove things that should not be removed and it's been a while since I've read this so forgive me if I say it very wrong but in interpreting the First Amendment and the right to free speech citizens also have a right to be able to access information and to be able to access a broad range of information and differing views on information so if we are um overreacting to the law and removing too much I think we could be um in a bit of a pickle because we would be um denying a constitutional right so I would I hope we will be very careful there thank you thank you Mr Watson thank you madam chair um I think it's also important to point out to the public that um not
045that this policy is not going to pass tonight but even if this language we weren't choosing to adopt it it's the law right the nas County Schools would have to follow and be in compliance with this whether or not it's um specifically pointed out in our um policy or not so my point in saying that is if you are in the public and you have concerns about this particular law the place to address that is with your state legislators um I'm not saying you shouldn't talk to the school board about it but we don't have um any ability to be in compliance or not in compliance with the law we have to follow the law regardless of whether or not it's reflected in our policy I know a lot of what's being talked about in
046the media is the fact that we're proposing to add this to policy but even if we didn't it's still the state law and so that's the the place to handle those concerns and also would Echo what Miss Owens is saying and I appreciate that you're saying it's going to be a process it should be a process we have a large Library we have a lot of books there's a lot of interpretation that has to be done there's some very specific definitions and probably more guidance that's coming and it should be slow and thoughtful and I'm confident in Miss ears and our Librarians and our um Team here to be able to do that and do that well they've been doing this for years with another with another um set of parameters right this is not
047new it's just adjusting to a different set of parameters so they're very skilled in doing that and I'm confident they'll continue to do that so any more discussion on this item oh Mr D thank you madam chair I was just going to respond to miss bike's question Miss bike this is a K through2 law so it only applies to of course all KCs libraries are K through2 but but would not for instance apply to college libraries thank you Mr deepler for that all right seeing there's no more discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 8 a approved Tennessee Department of Education Consolidated application for FIS schol year 2025 idea Part B Grant in the amount of 15,41 14,5 3 and idea preschool Grant in the amount of $472,500 motion by
048Mr Watson a second by Reverend Butler do we have any discussion seeing no discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 8B approved Grant contract with the governor's early literacy foundation and receed of Grant funds in the amount of $112,000 for the book bus program motion by Reverend Butler second by Miss Christie any discussion I am so excited for this bus book program all right seeing no other discussion all those in favor say I I any oppos motion carries 8C approv Grant contract with the Tennessee Arts commission for the term of July 1 2024 through June 30th 2025 for an Arts 360 Grant in the amount of $10,000 for bont magnet Academy's art program motion by Reverend Butler is seconden by Miss Owen any discussion seeing no discussion all those in
049favor say I I any opposed motion carries 8D approved Dollar General literacy Foundation Grant and the total amount of $4,000 for career Magnet Academy and West Haven Elementary School motion by Reverend Butler a second by Miss Christie any discussion seeing no discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries nine a approved contract with industrial boiler and mechanical Company Incorporated for provision of commercial boiler hydronic services at an annual cost up to $200,000 for the term of August 1 2024 through July 31st 2025 which may be extended for four additional years motion by Miss Owen a second by Mr triplet any discussion seeing none all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries nineb approved contract with system Integrations LLC for provision of video surveillance systems at an annual cost
050up to $750,000 for the term of August 1 2024 through July 31st 2025 which may be extended for four additional years a motion by Miss Owen a second by Mr Watson any discussion seeing none all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 10 a consideration of nomination of Elston Turner for naming of Austin East Magnet High School Jim floor motion by Reverend Butler second by Mr triplet I know we do have a um public public forum speaker on this thank you madam chair we do have one public forum speaker Pastor Miller and if you will state your names we're glad you're here thank you for coming and if you'll state your name and County residence you'll have uh three minutes welcome Madam chair thank you Mr triplet uh school board members uh
051my name is a pastor S Miller I'm a pastor New Salem Baptist Church here in Knox for Knox County also I work at U Foundation as a sports director I see I'm on the clock for a pastor so it's going to be difficult but I I come today on behalf of uh Elson turn Turner and the proposal named the Florida the Elon Turner Flor Clifford Ross gymnasium El Turner floor Elon Turner uh was a proud member of the 1977 state championship Al uh first state championship team he went from Al into om Miss where he sted uh LED them to the SEC championship against Dominic Wilkins was drafted in the second round went to the Dallas Mavericks played eight years in the NBA 15 years professionally his first job coaching was with the Portland Trailblazers
052and up to this day he's coaching right now with the Min Minnesota Timberwolves they made it to the Western Conference Championship this year uh he continues well since he was in the NBA he comes and he has a camp each year for kids to where all of the proceeds from the camp go to Austin these high school scholarships so he doesn't keep a penny in his pocket he gives everything back to the school he has supported track he has supported football helmets he has supported several churches here in the city just had a a street recently named in his honor a couple of years ago down by a Vine Junior High School it's called the Elson Turner Street uh he's in the Knoxville Hall of Fame uh is going to be nominated this year for
053the Tennessee hall Hall of Fame so he's made many many uh contributions to Knoxville as you can see you know he's he's done a lot continues do a lot he's having a camp at two weeks at ausy high school if you want to come and stick your head in and see exactly what he does we have about 120 kids that signed up right now for that camp so you will be impressed uh not only with the camp but what he does each and every year so I hope you really U just uh vote in his favor you know to have the floor named in his honor uh you know I think uh you wouldn't go wrong but thank you for your time I did good I got 50 seconds left as a pastor but but
054just thank you uh Madam chair and each of the school board member just for your time thank you that's awesome thank you sir Reverend Butler I just like to piggyback and say that uh from a number of people around our community uh this is not because of his Fame but this is because of his service and he's touched thousands of lives over the years of young men and families so we thank him for his service and I think this is well deserved that's well said Reverend Butler any other discussion all right seeing none all those in favor say I I any oppose motion carries yeah 10 B consideration of nomination of Eddie Courtney for naming a far at High School stadium motion by Miss Horn a second by Mr triet any disc question Miss Horn
055thank you madam chair you guys know I gave a Glu recommendation for Eddie Courtney on Monday night and I just wanted to I wasn't going to mention this but since the gentleman before mentioned about the street being named I think we're we have the opportunity to honor two great men this evening with these uh nominations and Eddie Courtney also had a street name for him this week so yesterday the road that runs to um faragate High School from Campbell Station is actually a town of faragate Road so it is now Eddie Courtney I think it's Lane but it's Eddie Courtney Lane so that was a great time of celebration yesterday yesterday was also um Eddie Courtney day as um by the town of faragate and the um there was a resolution by the state legislature
056to honor Eddie Courtney I can't remember exactly what the what the phrasing was but anyway it was a great day of Celebration I saw all those celebrations yesterday was awesome yeah it was really a great and fun day um and so so now we also have Eddie courtne Lane um and it's it's just wonderful to be able to honor two great men I think tonight we're truly blessed by by people who serve our community any more discussion on this item all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 10 C approved commercial lot land purchase and sale agreement with Sherry McAdoo for approximately 25. 298 Acres of real property located on kimberland Heights Road at a cost of $821,000 one Ford pickup truck at a cost not to exceed $300,000 you using a
057fund balance designation approved by the board on June 6 2024 motion by Miss Owen a second by Miss Horn any discussion seeing there's no discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 10 e approve staff referral bonus program that was short um motion by Mr Watson a second second by Miss Horn any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 10 F approve an increase of $2 to the cost of tickets for football games and basketball games and an increase of $1 to the cost of tickets for all other athletic events motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie any discussion Reverend Butler uh just for clarification is this for both high school and middle school we just because we what we have is to increase
058that's a good coach Brown It's a good question Coach Brown you can correct me I think on the on the memorandum it talks about that that the middle it will apply to a dollar increase for Middle School basketball correct okay so it's $2 for high school and $1 for Middle School $2 for football and basketball $1 for all other sports it would be $1 for Middle School basketball okay any other questions thank you coach Brown all right seeing there's no more discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed no that's me opposing so motion carries TG approve instructional materials waiver for Emerald Academy to allow use of wit and wisdom K through2 English language arts curriculum motion by Mr Mr Watson a second by Miss Horn any discussion seeing there's no discussion all
059those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries all right I believe we have some public forum speakers we do um Mr Johnson y Mr Johnson if you'll state your name and County residence you'll have three minutes minutes okay my name is Mr Johnson sure some of Y all know me or you've heard of me or think you know me got a theme song for everybody why did I do that song I did it for the rest of your days to remember that when you hear that song Or you see this s symbol that it is the first letter of my name which is Charles and all of my children now remember these three minutes as some of you have left a lasting memory in my children I wanted to leave some memories with
060you in other words I'm going to regift it to you now hopefully these three minutes many will see why some of you won't even have a conversation with me for any length of time our principals Mrs sers Mr Bala Mr Bartlett Mr Claxton Mr Davis and Mr Neely has never had that problem now let's begin now I've seen some depravity that has been present within Knox County's Law Department Knox County school board feckless superintendent risovich and the chief of insecurity Jason period and to me it's sickening now we've met other people who have shared our stories with us happened before we moved here and even after we got here now what I've seen is that you have weaponized sexuality you've used those snares and arrows to cancel conversations about racism and with my family you
061upped that arrogance not understanding that my Bible says that no weapon formed against me shall prosper I'm still standing and speaking you see the reason I can do this is because there's a brown skinned immigrant whose name is Jesus he is the lifter of my head he is the one that walks beside me and he whispers I will repay I've come to understand that my mere presence it irritates the demons the principalities the strongholds hello and anybody else and I can't say it's the majority of you because I will leave those broad stroke of bias to many of you who follow gossip now you will sit submissive as this servant as a servant while I speak in silence knowing that this dad is in front of you did you notice how loud silence can be
062families in Knox County where I reside have lived with this for days weeks months and years your in intentional generational silence over addressing the evil of racism bigotry and Prejudice along with the disdain for the family has my cultural emotional and spiritual ears ringing I am Mr Johnson dad of cheyen shakaya Shak shantasia who's here with me Charles II shael Shamar and Shakora Charles out thank you Alexis rhods is Alexis in the building we do have one more so if somebody steps this way we'll we can go back Candace banister Candace if you'll state your name in county of Resident you'll have three minutes sure thank you Candace banister hi Knox County resident whose job is it board policy j210 harassment of students says that Knox County Schools does not tolerate harassment but in some
063cases it's not only tolerated it's rewarded when an administrator is the one who harasses a student whose job is it to do something about it is it the responsibility of students staff members law uh Schoolboard members parents or even the deputy law director if people in these roles have brought forth concerns for years whose job is it to take an action ultimately where does the responsibility lie for an administrator who has served in six different schools in nine years with numerous concerns and reports if action had been taken at West Bearden Fulton Austin East or Carter anywhere along the way this admin would have not made it to a sixth school where three students died by suicide in his first year the second of which was our 16-year-old son will I know two School staffs
064put together folders of their concerns and gave them to central office I still have my copy from one of these schools my husband and I met with KCs leadership in the summer of 2017 to report our concerns following the suicide death of our son based on our concerns a state mandated investigation took place we asked to see the report of the investigation and we were told there was not a written report the staff at faragate met with leadership and other others in the school system on the Summers of 2017 2018 and again in 2019 to express their concerns there are only two board members here who will have knowledge of this time in the summer of 2019 an awkward Late July move downtown to HR on the Friday before students return which means staff had
065already been in school for a week was not documented as a corrective measure so still nothing in his file I went to Dr riswick last month with my concerns regarding a recent appointment involving this staff member I gave him detailed Reasons from our personal experience why this wasn't a good placement as those who would harass students and staff should not be in prominent leadership positions he listened attentively and was very generous to give me his time he said he was unaware of any of this history so I provided him a list of people who would like to share their experiences at this time he has not reached out to any of them since Dr riswick has no knowledge of this issue and because the district always makes informed decisions why doesn't he want to at
066least hear from these people I'm baffled will cannot tell you his story so I'm here in his place as a former employee and as a parent I want to know whose responsibility it is to take action regarding all of these concerns why has nothing been done how can someone with a history like his have a clean record I find it irresponsible the result of systemic failure on the part of not following policies and not taking action is disgraceful and disrespectful to everyone who suffered at the hands of this person for there to be nothing documented in his file thank you I have copies of those files if any of you would like to have them thank you no Alexis very good Madam chair that concludes public forum thank you Mr triplet Miss Owen thank you
067madam chair um I I would like to share some information with the board regarding um Miss bannister's discussion in 2018 well first we all know how hard it is to get a large group of people together for a meeting or even a small group of people just to have a group of people and get them to show up for a meeting it's very difficult in 2018 I got a phone call asking if I could meet with some teachers 24 hours later someone had provided a home and 20 teachers came to meet with me about issues that were going on at one of our schools they had compiled very careful documentation and it was provided to our Administration I think it was also provided to most of our board members at that time I also found
068out that something similar had happened at the prior school that administrator had been at and that staff had compiled 23 pages of information and documentation of incidents that had happened with staff at that prior school and when I went to find that what I found out is that it no longer existed so that information no longer existed and this information that we know was there no longer exists that is concerning to me that we have a pattern of very serious complaints and concerns being brought to the administration and that those are somehow disappearing from existing I would really like to have us take a very long look at our procedures and processes in HR to find out why those things no longer exist and how someone could be promoted without anyone seeming to know that
069any of those things were problems in the past I know that I sent multiple emails I know that the entire executive team was copied on those emails so I know that there was knowledge and I'm very curious to find out why that knowledge no longer exists thank you thank you Miss Owen well with that we are Jour oh I'm so sorry I did not gavel out so Reverend Butler you work thank you I just wanted to let the board know that I will not be present for the corly workshop i' be at our general conference that each every four years for the am church so I will miss you all immensely enjoy right well with that we are adjourned