001welcome to the board of education's March 7 2024 regular session meeting please stand as we observe a moment of silence followed by The Pledge led by Mr Watson to the flag of the United States of America to repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for I'm excited I want to take a moment and welcome our newest board member Mr Travis right welcome Travis won the primary election as District 8 board member two days ago so it was a very quick turnaround so March 5th and he was appointed by Knox County Commission at a special session yesterday to fulfill Mr McMillan's remaining term I know I speak for the entire board when I say we look forward to working alongside you is there anything you'd like to say Mr
002Wright oh yeah you can also learn how to turn your microphone on I just want to say I'm grateful to be here I appreciate the folks in the eth district putting me here ready to get to work and excited about it and uh it was a quick turnaround and this has kind of been a whirlwind but I'm happy to be here thank you we're happy you're here to welcome again thank you to everyone who's in attendance tonight we would just ask that you be respectful and cardus at all times and please be mindful that the sound does carry very easily in this room so if you need to speak to your neighbor neighbor take a call uh just step outside to do so finally I want to wish all of our our students families and
003staff a well-deserved restful spring break next week I know it's much deserved uh board members we have a few changes to our agenda first as a result of discussion at the work session on Monday night you did receive an email yesterday explaining that the attachment on item s C6 has been updated and attached with Mr dupler signature approving it in legal form also a second version of policy d140 being considered as as item 8m with some clarifying changes in line 12 has also been attached so just keep in mind that any motion on that item we'll just need to identify whether it's version one or version two Additionally you received an email today regarding the addition of a uh memorandum of agreement for Shor Foundation which is one of our 21st century Community Learning Center
004Partners that's a mouthful serving some of our region five schools they made a late request to be added to the list of Partners in agenda item 9A for their Grant application and since that item is time sensitive superintendent risewick and I agree to that addition so if you have any questions we can certainly discuss that when it comes to the agenda item are there any other requested changes to the agenda motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie all those in favor I you opposed all right motion carries and then I'm going to kick it off to Dr risewick I think we have a few special recognitions tonight all right uh thank you madam chair uh we do uh we're going to begin I'm I think I'm going to go to Dr Wilson all
005right perfect he's going to go to the podium to to recognize our reward schools we had 24 of those so he's going to he's going to uh speak to that tonight thank you all right thank you Dr rwi members of the board um we're all always excited to get to recognize great achievements and obviously we really got some uh exciting news tonight I think when we we think about the work we do here in the district in February the State Department of Education announced the latest group of reward schools based on the data that came from last school year the 2022 2023 School uh year this is the uh the reward school is the state's highest designation given to a school and it recognizes schools that are making gains in terms of both their achievement
006and their growth for all students and student groups only nine schools from our district received the reward designation in the last cycle um but that number Rose to 24 schools for last year so we were really excited about that significant increase uh we're extremely proud of the hard work by our teachers our principes and students and the school staff that made this possible um we're also encouraged that uh this is momentum that really uh is being reflected in other assessments as well as you know TCAP scores uh that were released for last year we showed a gain of nearly 5% in third grade reading proficiency which was the highest level in this the district's history is what we we reached last year and the math proficiency for grade 6 through eight Rose by 4.4% over
007the last two years our district has made the Excellence and foundational skills priority uh a huge uh piece of our work and a huge piece of the work at the school level and these results show that the hard work in our schools is paying off we'll continue to work to make sure our school more schools join this list and in the meantime uh we want to take a moment to celebrate this great milestone that we have um before I close I do want to give a shout out to each of this year's reward schools and we're going to ask them to be able to come up and uh receive a a poster banner and and take a picture um so we're going to ask that uh we'll begin with region one yep and they're right
008here ready to go um so they are here tonight with the region one supervisor Miss Shell Maddox um and so we're going to begin by recognizing Al Lots Elementary you don't mind step right up here what's that yeah yes we are going to do individual and we invite board members to come up and stand with their schools for the pictures as well yeah what's I think we'll be yeah no I think we'll be hidden I think they have like a big board I've never seen anyway so be fine I was all right congratulations to a lots Elementary all right next we're going to recognize Bearden Elementary all right congratulations Bearden Elementary next up Bluegrass [Applause] Elementry he just for you congratulations to Bluegrass faragate [Applause] intermediate fa good intermediate congratulations to Fair good intermediate next
009is Northshore [Applause] Elementary congratulations to norshore sequa [Applause] Elementary congratulations to seoa West View [Applause] Elementary another world congratulations to Westview next up faragate High School congratulations to fary good H all right we're now going to shift to our region two schools and they are here tonight maybe making their way in they are all right our region to uh director Nate Langlois our Region 2 supervisor Christy da will be joining their principles up front and first we're going to recognize Amherst Elementary congratulations to Amhurst next up is Ball Camp congratulations to Ball Camp Harden Valley Elementary School congratulations to harden Valley next up our KCs virtual Middle [Applause] School congratulations to our virtual Middle [Music] School all right next we will recognize our schools from Region Three and see who's representing them tonight they're going
010to be joined by our Region Three director Megan Odell and we'll begin with Bonnie Kate Elementary there he is sorry I didn't give you time to get in you congratulations to Bonnie [Music] K next up Gap Creek congratulations to Gap Creek next up Mount Olive Elementary no say congratulations to Mount Olive next up new Hopewell Elementary congratulations to New Hope well next up South Knox Elementary congratulations South Knox career Magnet Academy he's on wheels congratulations to Career magnet academy and our last school from Region 3 Lenn STEM Academy congratulations Ellen n next we will move on to region four our region director Cindy White and supervisor Adam Parker will be joining their schools tonight all right we'll get started with Copper Ridge Elementary congratulations Copper Ridge next up Gibbs Elementary School F job thanks sir
011congratulation gibes Elementary R Elementary School congratulations r Shannondale Elementary congratulations Shannondale all right next up we're going to recognize we have one school from region five Dr Brown I know Dexter and S couldn't be here tonight so we'll have have him come up and step in with them so our school from region five is christenberry Elementary School congratulations christenberry please join me and congratulating all these schools one more [Music] time that took us about 20 minutes to go through but we're going to hope it's like 45 minutes next year that takes us to get through that presentation that's a good problem to have right um I do want to add Miss Henderson one one last thing I think our next presentation we were uh our next recognition that we were to make um actually I
012think there's been a little scheduling issue we're that's going to be kicked to April okay just yeah I was informed of that I'm passing that along yeah no worries no worries and I agree that's a good problem to have congratulations I love celebrating these moments at our board meetings all right Miss cotney I guess we'll get into the regular agenda items thank you madam chair thank you item seven consent agenda motion by Mr triplet second by Miss Horn any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 8 a approve first reading of knots County Board of Education policy a100 School District school-based School Board legal status and Authority as amended do we have a motion motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie is there any discussion all those in
013favor say I I any opposed motion carries 8B approve first reading of kns County Board of Education policy a120 School attendance areas as amended a motion by Miss Owen a second by Mr triplet do we have any any discussion all those in favor say I I any oppos motion carries 8 C approv first reading of kns County Board of Education policy b110 method of election of officers as amended motion by Mr triplet second by Miss Horn do we have any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 8 D approve first reading to resend Knox County Board of Education policy b112 duties of board members a motion by Miss Owen a second by Mr triplet any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries eight approv first
014reading of not County Board of Education policy b60 school board meetings as amended motion by Miss Owen a second by Miss Horn any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 8f approved first reading of KN County Board of Education policy b171 complaints and appeals to the board as amended a motion by Reverend Butler a second by Mr triplet do we have any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 8 G approved first reading of knots County Board of Education policy b180 public forum as amended motion by Miss Owen a second by Mr triplet any [Music] discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 8 H approve from first reading of KN County Board of Education policy b230 civility code AS amended motion by Miss Horn second by
015Mr tripet any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 8 I approve first read of KN County Board of Education policy c180 advertising and solicitation in schools as amended motion by Mr Triplet a second by Miss Christie any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries eight J approved first reading of kns County Board of Education policy c231 surveillance photography video retention and viewing as amended motion by Miss Horn a second by Mr Watson any discussion all those in favor I any the opposed motion carries 8 K approved first read of County Board of Education policy c260 sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination as amended a motion by Reverend Butler a second by Miss Horn any discussion all those in favor I any oppos motion carries 8 L approve first read
016of knots County Board of Education policy D 130 donations gifts and bequests as amended motion by Miss Christie second by Mr triplet any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 8m approved first read of kns County Board of Education policy d140 receipt of funds at school level as amended okay yeah I was gonna thank you Miss Horn motion by Miss Horn second by Mr triplet any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 8 n approved first read of knots County Board of Education policy d230 purchasing as amended motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 9A approve memoranda of agreement with A1 learning connections Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Tennessee Incorporated Boys and Girls Clubs of
017the Tennessee Valley McNab Center shades of development shora foundation Wesley House Community Center and YMCA of East Tennessee in support of their Tennessee Department of Education 21st century Community Learning Centers program applications a motion by Reverend Butler a second by Miss Owen any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 9B approv Knox County Education Foundation fiscal year 20 24 priority based grants up to $150,000 motion by Miss Horn second by Miss Christie any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 9 C approv Patel education Tennessee stem Innovation Network Grant in the amount of $8,700 for faragate high school motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie do we have any discussion all those in favor say I any opposed motion carries 9d approved Grant agreement with
018National Environmental Education Foundation and receipt of nef Greening stem Grant in the amount of $110,000 for South door Middle School motion by Miss Christie is second by Reverend Butler any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carried 10 a approved contract with Porter Roofing Contractors Incorporated in the amount of 2,629 1112 for roof replacement at faragate high school motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie do we have any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 10B approve contracts with botel etn company LLC and dig digal Group LLC for provision of internet connectivity at a cost up to $3 million for the term of April 1 2024 to March 31 2025 which may be extended for an additional four years a motion by Miss oen a second by Miss
019Horn any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 10c approved Construction contract with skilled Services Quality Construction LLC for Innovative School models projects at Bearden Middle School Cedar Bluff Middle School Central High School faragate Middle School Halls Middle School Harden Valley Academy Harden Valley Middle School KS high school and KS Middle School at a cost of 2,394 450 using Innovative School models Grant motion by Mr Watson and second by Mr triplet any discussion all those in favor I any osed motion carries 11a approved fiscal year 2024 general purpose budget line item transfers for July 1 2023 through December 31 2023 in the amount of $ 36726 a motion by Miss wh and a second by Miss Christie any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 11b approv special courses
020for High School curriculum including renewal of animation and simulation of motion and Graphics introductory level advanced level and practicum Capstone level and renewal of humanities level one motion by Miss horen a second by Mr Watson any discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 11c approve released time education agreement for elective credit with anchor Learning Center for the term of July 1 2024 through June 30th 2029 a motion by Miss Horn a second by Miss Christie do we have any discussion rever Butler yes I have a question thank you madam chair I have a question so this is a state law that increased the time from 30 minutes to an an hour credit or half credit to to a full credit and so basically our job is to make sure that
021they're following the state law okay yeah Mr D you want to speak on that that's my understanding yes thank you madam chair Riv Butler so uh this this uh provision was in state law previously but but but as you alluded to Reverend Butler I mean it it was at one time the half credit and then this uh last year the legislature extended it to a to a full credit uh but the the door was open for this uh through the uh release time law which which which has been in effect for several years yeah do we have any more discussion okay that motion was made by Miss Horn and seconded by Miss Christie want to do yeah why don't we do a roll call vote please thank you Dr Butler I yes Miss Owen yes
022Mr Watson yes Miss B I'm Sorry Miss B had to leave Miss Horn yes Mr triplet yes Mr Wright yes Miss chrisy Miss Henderson yes Dr Butler would you like to change your pass vote thank you that is seven yes yes votes and one pass vote Miss H all right motion carries 11 D 11 d approve amended Charter School agreement with knil Preparatory School motion made by Mr Watson second by Mr triplet or many people um any discussion see no discussion all those in favor I any the opposed motion carries 11e approve memorandum of understanding with prep Public Schools as operator of Knoxville preparatory school regarding the participation of the teachers and employees of Knoxville Preparatory School in the Tennessee Consolidated retirement system motion by Mr triplet second by Miss Christie do we have any
023discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries 11f discussion and possible action on recommendation of strategic plan committee to use external vendors for the community engagement and strategic planning processes for development of the 2025 5 through 2029 strategic plan second motion by Reverend Butler second by Mr triplet do we have any discussion Mr Watson thank you madam chair I think the item is just for discussion and possible action so I think we need to determine what action we want to take and make another motion if that's correct um and if and if that's the case I'm happy to offer a motion to accept the recommendation of the Strategic plan committee to use uh two external vendors one for uh the listening sessions and one for the um strategic planning exercise all right so
024new motion made by Mr Watson second by Miss Horn any more discussion on that all those in favor oh miss lner is it okay I apologize for the interruption Madam chair I don't think I use the specific terms that you use I I would um if you would not mind considering my motion that's okay expanding from listening sessions to stakeholder engagement we may also be looking at survey tools and other forms of Engagement yes exactly what she said Thank that's good that works all right any more discussion I will not miss anybody all right all those in favor I any opposed motion carries he Mr triplet all right we do have some public form speakers thank you madam chair a aguel and I may have said her name wrong if I did I apologize but
025if you'll state your name in County residence and then you'll have three minutes I'm a Gail Knox County and I'm a sophomore at West High School I'm here today to tell you a story that has repeated itself time and time again around our County last year I was in geometry class when my best friend's face suddenly dropped she leaned over and asked me in our other friends do you guys have any pads all of us quickly shook our heads because none of us had thought to bring any that that day I remember how quickly my best friend's mood shifted she started biting her lips and her hand started to shake what was she going to do none of her friends had anything and the only teacher in the room was a guy I told her
026that the nurse sometimes has pads in her office but it wasn't a guarantee another girl said she could try to see if someone in another class could meet her in the bathroom but that's technically class cutting and you could get in trouble for that with no easy option my friend decided to just go to the bathroom and see what she could do when she came back in her shoulders were hunted over an embarrassment she told us that she had called her parents but they were both at work she ended up leaving early because someone saw red on the back of her jeans I wish I could say that this was a rare occurrence but it's not since then countless girls have left early because they didn't have period products and even more have had to
027suffer and discomfort hoping they could just disappear now you might be thinking to yourself that this seems like a problem for us girls to figure out we should be better prepared for these situations but not every girl can afford these products almost 133% of our County lives under the poverty any line our schools are able to give us toilet paper soap and even computers but they can't give us a basic necessity period products now you might be thinking to yourself that this seems like a oh the mission of Knox County is to promote education but by not having easy access to the basic necessity of these products in the bathroom half of half of the student population is being ignored I understand that lately the school board has been trying to bridge inequalities between different
028schools so I would also like to let you know that there are certain schools who have free period products in their bathrooms already they have PTO committees who can but not always pay for this initiative but other schools don't have the same opportunities to afford to pay for this themselves no County seeks to be a beacon of change and Innovation we can see this through the implementation of the 865 cies but nothing would show change in leadership more than putting these products in our school bathrooms 25 states have implemented legislation for free period products in their school bathrooms 25 States but our state is not one of them this initiative would be costly and it is understandable to beware of it but I urge you to consider it as a movement for it grows there's
029a petition in our schools that already has over 500 signatures thank you so much for your time thank you a Warren [Applause] Smith Warren Smith overflow yeah they're checking but at the moment to see if anybody's in overflow I'll move on the next one and then we can go back to that one if that's okay any objection to that Tiffany Matthews is there a Tiffany Matthews all right I we'll move on and if they come in we will we'll happily go back to them Courtney Piper is Courtney here very good I apologize I know it's a little difficult getting from overflow Tiffany Matthews Tiffany if you'll state your name and County residence you'll have three minutes okay thank you sir I put Tiffany Matthews knot County okay I'm a proud parent of four children two
030of whom have IEPs for autism I want to express my gratitude for the excellent work done by the special education teacher teachers AIDS and the rest of the staff at new Hotwell however I wish they had more support from the central office I wish they had more support from the central office to truly achieve the superintendent's fourth stated priority of success for every student and uphold my son's Le legal educational rights under idea it is unfair for my sons teachers and special education teachers to spend time outside of their regular planning hours preparing modified content which takes hours a day to complete they should be fairly compensated for this extra time or have someone from the central office or anyone to help prepare modified content they deserve more support during last Summer's Board of Education
031meeting Jason Myers claimed that there is a bank of modifications available for teachers to use however this was a complete lie there is no Bank of modifications but there are 64 exemplars available for grades 3-8 in the four core content areas of for an imaginary child after attending an I meeting with a friend and the general education teacher responsible for modifying content I discovered that the teacher had not seen the exemplars or the presentation of dos and don'ts of modified content created by case ACS employees this is a significant concern because they have only received training on Alternate assessment which is insufficient in teaching them how to modify content excuse me then in January Jason Meers presented a presentation to the Board of Education that outlin outlined the beginnings of special education the KCs way
032it outlined KCs progress towards chairwoman Henderson's resolution to make Knox County Schools a model district for ex and special education he outlined several action items specifically requested in the resolution and labeled them special education the KCs way that included an RFP for technical assistance partner to access the state special education inform the development of a 5-year strategic plan for special education and provide program programmatic I'm sorry I'm out breath support and other items like modified content during his remarks Meyer stated those rfps for special education technical assistance will be out the week of January 8th 2024 however it's March and the RFP is not out and the public has yet to receive a progress report on this item or any item from his presentation so today chairwoman Henderson I ask you to commit to a
033special education the KCs way progress report as part of every monthly board work session agenda until all items from your resolution and Jason Meers January 8th presentation to the Board of Education are completed thank you thank you Tiffany I'll ask if Warren Smith did we find him is he here and while we wait on him I think I saw Courtney I'll have Courtney Piper come on up then after Courtney just so people can move this way is Melanie flury flury Courtney if you'll state your name kind of resident sh 3 minutes thank you thank you uh Court raise that mic it's okay I can project uh uh Courtney Piper I live in Knox County I'm here today to talk about the private practitioners policy and hopefully resolve a lingering issue that issue is KCs stating
034it has a policy against something when no such policy exists last month I had a few email exchanges with KCs about allowing remote access supervision from a BCB a to the RBT providing ABA therapy to students with autism in the school the RBT spends the most time with the student in the classroom and is required to be supervised directly by a bcba for a certain number of hours a week for a number of reasons sometimes this supervision needs to happen remotely and I think it's important to emphasize this is not video recording and it is not recorded on February 22nd the KCF KCs Health Services Supervisor sent an email to all approved ABA providers stating KCs does not allow remote access anywhere on school property and attached the private practitioners policy for reference prior to
035that I had email exchanges with KCs employees who stated the private practitioners policy does not allow remote access supervision and private practitioners must adhere to school handbooks and rules unique to each school as well as privacy laws well I read the private practitioners policy again and a sample of school handbooks nothing in these documents prohibits remote access supervision or what is more it is more commonly referred to as telea health and about privacy concerns the private practitioners policy states that practitioners must sign a confidentiality agreement and adhere to to all applicable privacy laws like Hippa remote access supervision does comply with HIPPA and furpa ask the providers how and they will walk you through the protocols additionally I find it odd that KCs told ABA providers that remote access is not allowed but the school
036board executed contracts with McNab and harmony for teleah health services for in-person and virtual students both during class time and outside of class time clearly there is some existing KCs guidance on this matter that ABA providers can certify they meet I'm told the policy will go to Board review but meanwhile services for some are in limbo so here we are again KCs says it has a policy against something when no such policy exists at one point that was kcs's position with ABA prior to that it was a do not resuscitate order then on the compass points podcast I heard commissioner Larson J say he had been told KCs had a policy against paying for playground equip equipment and there was no such policy so superintendent risewick I'm asking you today to initiate a zero tolerance
037campaign at KCs for this practice if your staff cannot locate a policy on paper that prohibits something that should be a cue to collaborate with parents on a solution instead of resisting thank you thank you Courtney Melanie Melanie if you'll state your name and County residence you'll have three minutes thank you Melanie flurry Knox County as many of you may recall this is my son Elijah and to remind you he is in the third grade in district 6 his IEP was well built and includes placement in the general education classroom with support from a one to one Aid I'm so nervous um I am here today because Elijah needs help his teachers need help it's been six months since the board passed Madame chair's resolution to make Knox County Schools a model district for excellence
038in special educ ation this resolution was supposed to bring much needed res uh solutions to a long-standing culture of resistance once the resolution was passed I along with other special ed parents breathed a hopeful sigh of relief but after all these months we have not seen these changes you all publicly promised we are still hearing teachers voice feelings of not being supported or saying during IEP meetings that they have not been trained in specific techniques or given certain materials we have not seen any outside expert come in to assess our District's approach to inclusion and we have not seen the culture of resistance soften whatsoever on September 7th the board also publicly approved a contract for special education position backfills what is the status on this I am continually told that my son's team is
039extremely understaffed in fact they either take my son out of his gened classroom and group them together with specialed students in just one classroom or he Le he misses out on recess or Encore because they are underst staffed that is a direct violation of his IEP um but let me ask you if an ICU nurse doesn't complete his or her job and then says sorry I was under staffed that's no consolation and a teacher's job is just as important they need help it has been two months since Jason Myers gave a passionate speech with a detailed presentation on special education the KCs way which included an RFP for a partner to assess the state of special education um Meers stated that that RFP would be coming out however it's March and it still has not
040come out not only that but the public has not received a progress report on this item or anything that was mentioned in that that presentation so today Madame chair Henderson I ask you to commit to a progress report that will be listed on every month board work session agenda so that not only the special ed parents but the public can hear um a progress report on the resolution that you have proposed and publicly approved we need help my son needs help thank you very much thank you melody Alexis rhods [Applause] Alexis Alexis rhods and if not Alexis Michelle Mian Michelle Michelle if you state your name and County residence you'll have three minutes good evening my name is Michelle Mian and I'm a resident of Knox County my son Max is a second grader who
041receives special education services I'm here tonight to comment on Miss Henderson's resolution to make Knox County Schools a model district for excellence in special education that was voted unanimously to adopt last September by the board I was truly excited when the Boe members committed to miss Henderson's resolution along with Dr riswick and his staff's commitment Miss Henderson clarified that line item two of the resolution was written broadly with the intent to bring in an outside inclusion expert in November Jason Meyers said the request for proposal would be disclosed by January possibly as late as February on January 8th Mr Myers also gave a presentation the case s way special education that included a request for a proposal to partner with an outside inclusion expert it is March 7th and we are still waiting for the
042the RFP to be disclosed many parents and special needs children have said this is the number one item that is truly necessary to make KCs a model district for excellence in special education which I hope everyone would agree that the resolution inherently means to follow the board's own special education policy following federal and state special education laws also I would like to touch on teacher support currently KCs has a handful of students on modified content who spend the majority of their day in the general education setting when the district brings in an outside expert just like with the Blended preschool program the district will flip from a handful of kids in their true l lead restrictive environment to hundreds and hundreds of the kids the Gen Ed setting with modified content is a tsunami coming
043your way um in August Board of Education work session miss christe mentioned one of the most significant deficit areas identified by both teachers and parents is the availability of resources to create modified content that allows students to access the curriculum after that comment Mr Meer shared that his team created a bank of resources the examplars there's 64 examples of modified standards for grades 3 through 8 which KCs spent $14,400 to create last summer there is also a presentation about dos and dones of modified content I have been in several friends I meetings where general education teachers are responsible for modifying they have not seen the examplars nor have they been offered any training on how to modify it takes two and a half hours per subject per week per kit to modify proplate for an
044experience kcs's current practice is teachers do it on their planning time that's not enough time we have Solutions curricular materials prep time which comes with additional funding a modification support team similar to autism and support and vision services and eventually a large Bank of modified content that will reduce the need for curricular PR time thank you thank you Michelle Roberta Dennis hi Roberto if you'll state your name and County residence you'll have three minutes I'm kind of nervous hello my name is Roberta Dennis and I have been a custodian at knot County schools for 11 years on the behalf of my fellow custodians I want to first thank the board and Dr roswick for the resolution supporting our rights as employees to speak on issues like our pay and working conditions many of my co-workers
045have been afraid to voice their concerns because they are worried about retaliation and and I hope this resolution will give them confidence to speak up today I want to talk about the important matter the need the need for a fair and just wage increase for school custodians we are the backbone of our organization we work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure a clean and safe and comfortable environment for for everyone it is time to to recognize our cont contributions by proving um by providing us with a well-deserved pay increase custodians play a a vital role in keeping our schools clean and orderly we we keep the schools I mean the schools and offices the common areas the classrooms and other facilities in topnotch conditions uh our e efforts allow teachers staff and students to to
046focus on teaching and learning without having to worry about clean and hygiene in their surroundings despite the crucial nature of this work it is disheartening to rec realize that our current pay does not reflect the tour True Value many of us face Financial hardships as we strive to make ends meet on wages that may not be S sufficient to cover the rising cost of living especially in today's economy we are hardworking individuals we take pride in our work and deserve to be rewarded for our our commitment to everyone's well-being thank you Roberta thank you Joe Joe Maddox I'm Joe Maddox I'm from KN County I'm pastor of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and I'm also the co-president of the Justice Knox Ministry we represent nearly 10,000 people citizens in Knoxville and we come from
047all nine districts we're really here to applaud you so when I finish the applaud is going to be for you it's not going to be for my presentation uh because my colleagues and I have come tonight to applaud you Dr roswick and Miss Henderson we appreciate your request for a report about data following the public forum last month and we appreciate Dr Butler and Mr Watson uh we appreciate your request to include the data that we were seeking Dr roswick and Miss lner we especially appreciate the report that you did on Monday evening it was an outstanding report and we have actually distributed that information throughout our Network we've distributed the meeting video and highlighted uh your report as well as slides and conditions uh additional data that you provided we agree with your stated
048philosophy of discipline it requires both High accountability and high respect High support we ALS o agreed that the ultimate goal is Student Success and I don't know of anyone who's not interested in the progress of our children we support the strategies that you have in place especially through the control of the school culture Department directed by Miss uh Janice Cook and we really appreciate that you what you shared with us about uh the work at Fon we actually excuse me we actually investigated Fulton's work in our research and we have highlighted it in our campaign to change the pitch of school discipline and ultimately Student Success so we ask you again Dr rise wiwi to meet with us we would like to share our thoughts about the consistent regular data reporting on this subject and
049to discuss a potential addition of points that can give Community confidence that you're serious about the change of the picture that the current data present we believe that most of you are serious about changing the picture and we have uh the capacity to support to build support through the community so meeting with us would help us to build that support Dr rise we want to help you and the board to continue this critical work we applaud you thank you Joe I'm told that Alexis rhs is here Alexis rhs came in very good did we get a hold of Warren Smith and none of that okay very good Alexis if you will state your name and County residence and you will have three minutes Alexus roads Knox County thank you traffic was awful so nearly 6
050months ago I found myself standing here telling you all about how my six-year-old son only received 6 minutes of my time that day I talked about how the special education task force clearly outlined a cultural resistance within Knox County Schools and I told you that this culture runs deep and it's like a cancer infiltrating nearly every KCs central office employee I've interacted with let's just say that it's a good thing that you all are not oncologists because it has been six months and you can continue to let that cancer spread there is a difference though it would be unfair if I didn't point out that cancer doesn't discriminate but KNX County Schools does KS continues to demonstrate that they prefer to allow a double standard to exist one in which they care to ensure the
051lives of parents of non-disabled children are minimally inconvenience but cannot exp extend the simple respect to the parents of disabled students and those on their support team sorry I'm bed by this how so examples of this double standard are plentiful at the music program I attended at Al Lots last week hundreds of what I'm hoping are the parents and families of students though no one could be sure because not a single ID was checked at the door any other point recorded as our first graders sang along to Dolly some again what I'm hoping her fames even took the time to set up a tripod and to get the perfect recording nobody raised any concerns there were no concerns during the school's Veterans Day Parade when the man walking behind my son and husband smiled and
052recorded the event and the hundreds of students lining the hallways there was no concern when the onlookers recorded my son and countless other students at the annual leopard fund run today no concerns yet when my son's ABA provider utilized remote access to observe and view in livetime not record his session KCs is suddenly concerned for students privacy and safety may I remind you that the hundreds of recording on lers within my son's school have never entered into an agreement with KCs to maintain student privacy however bcba is not only contractually obligated by KCs to maintain not just my son's but every student's privacy she is also Bound by far more strict ethical guidelines set forth by her licensing board as well as state and federal laws so what's the difference the difference is that my
053son's services are not as cute and fun as a bunch of six and seven-year-olds singing N9 to5 a Rocky Top the difference is that my son and his services aren't supported as much as our veterans and by the way my husband's 10 years on a submarine walk in the park comp compared to having a Disabled Student within Knox County Schools and the difference is that my son Services don't run around the parking lot to raise $40,000 for new playground in equipment the difference is is that there's a way to safely meet all students needs and then there is the KCs way which still includes the culture of resistance not much has changed in 6 months I was tired 6 months ago and I'm still tired now but until my son's rights get prior prioritized over
054Knox County School Employees Egos and budgets I'll keep finding the energy and I'm not asking for the moon I'm simply asking that KCs offer the private practitioners they screen and approve a fraction of the latitude that KCs already offers the strangers that they allowed to record my son thank you Alexis thank you so our our next two speakers are here to uh speak about some graphic images that were found in several of our books um all of you on the board actually were sent an email about the topic that contains some of those images that are found uh in some of our KCs middle and high schools uh but that email was actually filtered and quarantined by kcs's email system uh which is a bit concerning um Dr riswick and I have spoken about it
055and the folks that are here would rather actually find a solution than create a stir which I I appreciate that very much uh and so Dr riswick has some steps he is taking to address some of that that issue uh so rather than uh them speak they're willing to listen to his uh his concern I think he's also going to speak to something about the special ed in the RFP um but I will turn that over to to miss Henderson and Dr Riley thank you Mr triplet I just wanted to take a moment as the board chair to address some of the comments um that were brought to my attention this evening in addition to numerous messages I've received received over the past week I want to be clear that I firmly believe in academic
056freedom and texts that challenge us however the books that have been brought to our attention this week are not challenging texts parents have come to us with books that contain sexually explicit imagery and that's not academic freedom that's inappropriate content for minors I don't think anyone up here would be for sexually explicit imagery prior of this meeting I independently verified that the books that were brought to our attention are indeed in our libraries for students to check out and these books are paid for by taxpayer dollars Dr risewick I truly appreciated your presentation um on data this week and your staff did a phenomenal job as chair I'm requesting a similar presentation from you and your staff to present to us the current process to challenge a book the process of book selection and any
057recommended changes you you have going forward to avoid sexually explicit imagery in our schools uh thank you madam chair um and and I would agree um I think you know under I I understand too as a person the concerns in our community around uh some of the materials in some of those books um it's always difficult to Define when you look at at materials and and and media to Define obscene and profane I know we've had long conversations with that even with the law Department you know and that's not an easy definition uh so it is a complex subject um you know as a father I mean I don't want my daughter to have access to that either she's an ox County student uh you know but as an educator as you've stated I mean
058I think part of uh exposure to diverse ideas and viewpoints is part of the education and what we grow but uh we do need to make sure that it's age appropriate um the things that they're exposed to uh I also agree as an organization you know using taxpayer dollars to buy profane or or obscene materials is not what those dollars are given to us for um I do want to point out though that that um our Librarians under SAR Sarah sur's uh leadership who does an incredible job uh do a tremendous job every day and and they really work hard in that gray area that we're talking about to try to find books of interest to students uh and really to try to build that love of reading for them so uh I want to
059be clear that you know we applaud the work that they do to try to to kind of walk that line and make sure that happens um and I would say you know and we've talked a lot about uh spirit of continuous Improvement uh in in lots of areas uh we heard some of those tonight and I would like to say something about the special ed and just second um but uh we I have Dr Wilson and I have had some conversations today I know he's talked with Miss Sur as well uh and we would like to uh to your point bring something in in April U I think th those are the two areas I think that we're most vulnerable to and need to look at to make sure we're tight on our selection process
060how how that happens uh making sure that we uh can bring uh and if there's places we can improve that that we can bring that to you all in April uh and then also how do we review our current uh process there you know there's things in place for that but um how do we make sure how can we be to your point transparent about that process so that folks understand that um so we'll we'll make sure again you you guys who know Miss SS know she's she's pretty incredible uh and we want to get better uh you know and we want to be good at that so thank you for that request we'll be ready in April apprciate that thank you uh there Sherry and Sherry do either of you want to speak or
061you're good you just wait and see what the okay very good that uh concludes public man chair oh yeah he wanted to speak to the sorry the Special Ed I apologize I interrupted that no no no you're good thank you uh no I do I I appreciate uh and and again this has been a great process for us with the task force uh working with that and this is why uh we wanted to have an ongoing uh task force and I think that was part of the resolution that the board passed to have that um you know I know a lot of you all know Dr Brown inherited or was forced into no I'm kidding no he's he's actually excited about it uh the position and and I think that did that did delay us
062a little bit on the time uh we did talk about this month being a month to do updates uh for that I know Monday was a long night of updates um so he is prepared for next month to bring that um and uh great questions too about the RFP uh that is something that that he and Dr ly have been working on and they'll be able to update on that as far as uh as where that is too and as well as some other pieces to that so I don't know if you want to add anything to that Dr Brown but I want to say that is coming in April uh yes thank you Dr roswick Madam chair um yeah so we discovered as as was shared with you all tonight that the RFP has
063not been released um I've actually been working with Dr ly and Cheryl Martin who's in charge of federal programs who works on many of those rfps with County procurement uh to get that going uh I will also say I've also asked her to see if there's an existing state contract so that we can expedite that process because as you all know the RFP process can drag that out uh we do want to get a third party in here as soon as possible uh and continue that Spirit of continuous Improvement and making Mak sure that we offer our students the best special education programs possible I appreciate that and I guess since we're done with public forum we are adjourned everybody have a great spring break