001it's 504 good evening thank you for being here and with nine members of the board present nine of nine we'll go ahead and call this meeting to order and tonight our pledge is led in the moment of silence is led by miss Dandridge if you'll stand we have three announcements tonight just a reminder that our schools are currently in the midst of the annual North County Schools coupon book campaign which will end on September the 27th please support our children by purchasing one or more of the coupon books second the Knox County Schools Fall Break is Monday October night through Friday October 13th with the central offices being closed on Thursday October 12th and Friday October 13th we hope all of our families and teachers will enjoy this well deserved holiday tonight we'd like to
002recognize our public officials and seated in the back there is state representative Harry Brooks that will be honoring a little later and also we have chairman Dave Wright from County Commission here so thank you both for being here are there any that I've missed okay if not are there any changes to the agenda okay miss Owen which is policy J 2:10 and policy item 9 e which is policy G 220 from the agenda and send those back to the community do I have a second okay second by mr. norman mr. macmillan ask a question and mrs. lee near originally asked that those be placed on the consent for am i incorrect from the Policy Committee I did make that list of those that were on consent but J 2:10 is similar to G 220 and
003so if we're going to consider that language it would be good to consider those together okay thank you okay we have a motion and a second all in favor of making that change to our agenda say aye aye all opposed motion carries that we have next our special recognition of state representative Harry Brooks and for that one we return to superintendent Thomas thank you madam chair members of the board mr. Brooks if you would have approached the electrum there thank you for being here this evening Hey as you may recall the board approved the acceptance of several very large donations at the August 2nd regular session those donations included over $19,000 for Carter high school over $25,000 for Gibbs high school and over $10,000 each for halls and South door high schools for a total
004of 66 thousand four hundred and ninety three dollars those donations came from state representative Harry Brooks when each when he chose to use his remaining campaign funds for the benefit of the high schools located in his district since he will not be seeking re-election we wanted to take this opportunity to recognize representative Brooks for his incredible generosity those of you who know representative book Brooks knows he is no stranger to public education as a former teacher counselor administrator he served on this school board from 1992 to 1996 he was elected to the state legislature in 2001 and has served as one of Knox County's representatives since 2002 as a state representative mr. Brooks is a member of the House calendar and Rules Committee a member of the House Education instruction and programs committee and a
005member of the House Education and planning subcommittees representative Brooks also chairs services chair of the House Education administration and planning committee the list of Harry's accomplishments and accolades is long so we just wanted to take a moment just to say thank you and express our deepest appreciation by recognizing you this evening and we want you to say a few words if you if you if you if you would like to but before you do we would like to take a picture with if the board would join me down the front and you and we could take a picture and then give you an opportunity to say say a few words thank you just thank you for the recognition he did not need to do that I was not seeking or searching for that but I
006some years ago I made a commitment to myself that whenever I chose not to run again or got beat or whatever the occasion may be with him the remaining the bulk of the meaning of remaining funds to be distributed to the to the schools in my district so I worked with the Election Commission and they have to be developed proportions in reference to the district and the school zones and came up with those particular percentages and then just did the multiplication came out from that standpoint but I appreciate what you do very much this school system is the best metropolitan system in this state sometimes we don't know how well we've got it but if you're in my position and you see their reports from around the state and you see the results of of
007our evaluations then I'm very proud of what you do and proud to be a part of the education team that impacts not only this district but the state of Tennessee it's been a good 15 soon be 16 years have enjoyed it have very fond memories be looking forward to some new dreams and some new plans and some new ideas that we're working on and for the first time except for a cruise that my wife does ever so often this is the first time in over ten years that Mary and I have sat down and planned a vacation in advance so we're looking forward to that as well but we're going to be around we're always going to be supportive any way that we can with our education programs but again thank you want to thank
008the teachers want to thank our students for providing the state of Tennessee a great model you all have done well thank you very much [Applause] we have another recognition tonight and this is the special recognition of our school security officers of the year for 2016 and 2017 and chief of security guests produces is coming forward to announce those letters thank you very much for your time this evening and four years ago we started an officer recognition program because as you know it's as you raise the expectation and you raise the bar you have to recognize your employees that that are part of that and make that elevated sense of capacity and elevated sense of competency reality so part of our strategy is every year for the last four years we have recognized a school security
009officer of the year and so our first two years we recognized one each year and then last year we just had so many officers do such a great job we recognized too and again this year we would like to recognize too as well and so it's it's my pleasure to announce that the 2016-2017 school security officers of the year is officer Kinney Bowles and officer scott manning and we have a plaque for each and then they wear a commendation bar on their uniform so that's a wonderful question now we we typically have not released that information I don't I don't present it as a secret but that aren't the typically we haven't released it so I hate to tell you that the good news is I do know the flip side is is we typically
010protect the assignments of the officers but I'll be glad to tell you when we're done all right if that's okay [Applause] Adam seven reorganization of the board for 2017-2018 okay we'll open the floor for nominations for chairman of the Knox County School Board for the next coming year mr. McMillan I'm sorry Thank You Madame chair no lengthy speech here we're just grateful I think most all of us are grateful though for the fact that you're willing to serve again and we appreciate your service in this past year you've handled this board and some significant issues for us very well very capably and we appreciate the way you've served us in this school system so I'm proud to nominate you as bound for chair mr. Norman second by mr. Autry other nominations for chairman of Knox
011County School Board at this time miss you move approval by acclamation okay we have a motion by miss you get seconded by mr. Owen to move acclamation on favor say aye okay next I'll do okay I can so next open the nominations for Vice Chair of Knox County Board of Education I see no lights I will nominate mr. Roundtree if she will accept that nomination for the coming year do I hear a motion for a second second mr. Orman sick of it mr. fish I'm sorry okay Susan Hornets been nominated to do I hear a second on Susan horn for this horn we accept that I think I decline this love scuse me declined the nomination thank you well I don't see it I don't see everybody jumping up to to join so with that
012with that I would gladly continue to serve as vice chair thank you do I hear well I guess we can just okay listen babe I if you get second to done this Owen all in favor say aye all opposed okay moving on item 8 consent agenda with the removal of item 81 which has been deferred to the policy review committee motion made by miss Owens seconded by mr. Roundtree all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries item 9 a approve second reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy G 180 personnel files as amended motion made by mr. norman seconded by mr. owen all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries item 9b approve ii radium knox county board of education policy j 190 code of behavior and discipline as amended most of
013a mr. norman second mr. McMillan all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 9c a pre first reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy be 160 school board meetings as amended motion by mr. norman seconded by mrs. Owen all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 90 approved first reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy b210 school board records as amended motion by mr. Newman seconded by Miss Ellen all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries item 9 Eve's been deferred to the policy review committee 9f approve first reading of not skinny Board of Education Policy G 290 hiring personnel as amended motion by mr. northern seconded by Miss Ella is there any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 9 g approve first reading
014of Knox County Board of Education Policy J 122 compulsory attendance ages as amended motion by mr. Norman center did I miss Owen any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 9 H a pre first reading who Knox County Board of Education Policy J 140 homeless students as amended motion by mr. Norman seconded by Ms Owen any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 9 I approve first reading Knox County Board of Education Policy J 151 student assignment as amended motion by mr. norman seconded by Ms Owen new discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 9j approved first reading him Knox County Board of Education Policy J 170 released during school hours as amended motion by mr. Norman seconded by Miss Owen any discussion all in favor
015say aye aye all opposed motion carries 9k approved first reading Knox County Board of Education Policy J 196 admission and suspended or expelled students as amended motion by mr. Norman seconded by Ms Owen any discussion all in favor all opposed motion carries 9l a pre first reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy J 201 random searches for dangerous weapons as amended motion but mr. Norman seconded by miss Owen any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 9m a proof first reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy J 280 alternative school programs as amended motion by mr. norman seconded by miss owen any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 10a approved gift agreement with the Haslam Family Foundation incorporated for acceptance of charitable contributions in the
016amount of $50,000 213 high schools for a total donation of 650 thousand dollars for academic purposes motion by mr. norman seconded by Ms Fugate any discussion on this all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries ten be approved gift agreement with pilot corporation for acceptance of charitable contributions in the amount of $50,000 to thirteen high schools for a total donation of 650 thousand dollars for support of each school's band program motion by Miss Ellen seven did I miss horn any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 10c approve application and receipt of funds for a Safe Schools grant from the Tennessee Department of Education in the amount of two hundred and thirty thousand six hundred and seventeen dollars and two cents with required in-kind local matching services in the amount
017of one hundred and twenty thousand five hundred and seventy dollars those Shabo dollars roantree seconded by mr. Norman is there any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries ten d approve application receipt of funds from a Tennessee Department of Education grant in the amount of one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars designated for the purchase of Career and Technical Education equipment for the advanced manufacturing electromechanical program of study motion by mr. Autry seconded by mr. Norman any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries ten he approve receipt of donation from the East Tennessee cardiovascular Research Foundation in the amount of $40,000 for supportive after-school cardiac clubs at Knox County elementary schools most of them mr. Norman seconded by Ms roantree any discussion all in favor say aye
018aye all opposed motion carries cf approved grant agreement with Elgin Children's Foundation for receipt of funds not to exceed twenty four thousand five hundred and forty dollars and agreement with Elgin Children's Foundation provision of an elementary school dental program to provide free dental care and treatment to qualify children at selected schools but motion by mr. Norman second of a miss death regeni discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries tenjy approve receipt of funds from a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Health Foundation naloxone kits grant for two hundred and fifty two naloxone kits with an approximate value of twenty-one thousand dollars for the school security division motion by mr. entry seconded by mr. Norman any discussion on this all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 10h approve application and
019receipt of funds from an office of pathways tennessee new schools for youth grant in the amount of $20,000 to be used for the salary of a work based learning coordinator motion made the mr. entry seconded by mr. norman any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries ten I approve donation from West Valley Middle School Foundation and the amount of $18,000 designated for the purchase of miscellaneous equipment and other needed funding at the school motion made bonus you get second to them is horn any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 10j approved statement of assurances with the Tennessee Department of Education for a read to be ready coaching network grant in the amount of $10,000 and they stipend and up to eighteen hundred dollars in travel cost
020for each Knox County Schools participant most of the vendors Jerry seconded by mr. Norman any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries ten K proof receipt of funds from Farmers Insurance for to thank America's teachers grants in the amount of $2,500 each for a total amount of $5,000 for flexible seating environments in a kindergarten classroom and a first grade classroom at Beaumont magnetic atom II motion Boca Vista through seconded by mr. Owen any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 10 L approve application receipt of funds from a National Wildlife Federal Green Schools grants in the amount of $1,000 for South to middle school designated to raising awareness of paper recycling and a garden project after school most of mine is round three seconds of them is Owen
021any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 10 am a prepayment two cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for extension of the Garrett a Morgan technology and transportation education program through December 18 2017 using no-cost extension funding motion by mr. Rowntree seconded by mr. norman any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries ten in approve grant agreement to allow the kcs security division to file an online application for a Walmart community grant to provide bicycles for a bicycle patrol unit motion but mr. norman seconded by mr. ridge any discussion all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries ten Oh approved donation from Gibbs high school football Booster Club in the amount of twenty four thousand four hundred and fifty two dollars and forty cents for
022the purchase and installation of a new school board and play clocks for the football soccer field that gives high school motion made by mr. McMillan seconded by Ms Fugate any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries ten P approve application and receipt of funds from a Tennessee Department of Education diversity innovation grant in the amount of five thousand four hundred fifty dollars for teacher recruitment planning most of them is roantree seconded by mr. norman any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 11a approved contract with Hanley roofing company in the amount of five hundred and sixty four thousand six hundred and seventy dollars for their partial roof replacement at the halls High School and Shannon Dale elementary school per bid to five seven six motion by miss Owens seconded
023by mr. norman any discussion all in favor say aye aye opposed motion carries 11 be approved contract between Knox County Schools maintenance and operations department and Gallaher & Associates incorporated to provide fire alarm inspection and repair services for up to so you have two hundred thousand dollars annually as needed motion by mr. Normandy seconded by mr. McMillan any discussion all in favor say aye aye opposed motion carries 11 C approved contract with frontline technologies group LLC doing business as frontline education for provision of a professional learning management system for the term of October 1 2017 through September 30th 2018 which may be extended for an additional four years one year at a time for a total of five years up to seven seventy thousand dollars annually motion by mr. norman seconded by Miss Owen any
024discussion all in favor say aye opposed motion carries 11 d approve renovations at corn high school for the culinary arts program constructed by Shelton General Contractors in the amount of three hundred and ninety seven thousand four hundred and forty six dollars motion by Miss Hill seconded by mr. Norman miss Fugate discussion I'm sorry mr. Matt Miller thank you madam chair I apologize for not being here Monday night I was out and I just want to say that I am not opposed to students having a special program I am very opposed to how this happened and but it is what it is and we are legally obligated my real question that I need somebody at central office to answer for me is when will Austin East get what they were promised since they since cars got
025a brand-new program before Austin East got what they were supposed to get I just think it looks bad and I think the community deserves an answer [Applause] somebody tell me that I mean I will support this I just want to know what are we gonna do about Oz nice that is which was the first culinary arts program in the district that needs a new equipment okay dr. Isley thank you madam chair thank you miss Fugate in looking at that I know dr. Odom has has looked actually at all three South Doyle also has a program Karnes has a program so it was Austin East and she has been continuing to work with those and then his look since Monday at the and spoken to all of those to see what what potential things are missing
026or still need to happen to make that kind of be a full program or from that and there's very few things that have it I think there's one item that is a is something that we haven't done in any of the three programs for a safety issue other than I think most of those things are in place but as we've looked at that so I think if there are specifics I think she is touch base with Austin these in the administration there to try to see if there are other things that are missing follow-up could we have a full report at our next board meeting about what everybody requested what they got and what is still outstanding I just think the whole way this happened has a cloud over it and the community deserves some
027transparency because it doesn't look good I'm not saying the students don't deserve the program I'm just saying the way this all came about is egg on the face of the Knox County school system so we need some definitive answers and I request superintendent that you have a report for us next month okay thank you mr. McMillan thank you ma'am - I just have a question asked this Monday night we were talking about other things I know it was it was maintained but I guess not to my satisfaction do we have we're spending $4,000 heater or the board is being asked to approve the expenditure of $400,000 do we have a single source for that or is it being pulled from multiple sources or is there any money available mr. Spencer or dr. oz what who
028would want to take that one so we are currently searching for money to pay for it that's pretty much for so we since money now we've we've not located any any money to go toward the project okay in light of that how things do responsible I was quoting the papers saying that I would would vote for it and I'm not happy with the project I sort of tend to agree with what mr. pukey said I don't have a problem with special programs but we will have to pay for it but at some point because work has been done but I don't think that that we see that we as a board should approve it until we can find the money in light of that I would like to exercise personal privilege and put it off
02930 days and see if we can come up with someone or if you can find somebody okay personal privilege has been asked for and granted so I guess miss Hill that limits your ability to speak to the situation I'm sorry okay Adam 12a approved Memorandum of Understanding with Knox County Education Association as recommended by the collaborative conferencing team Matt we we have a seat we have one speaker for this item madam chair sorry but it has been motions we can let's see mister Tanya Coates had signed up to speak to this they get two tone accounts present a Knox County Education Association thank you madam chair for giving me this opportunity so before the meeting today I gave you a copy of a very valid concern that mr. just brought up at the school board
030meeting on Monday so our conversation around this four percent that seems to be hoovering over a school board that can be challenging so our conversation came from those six points that you see on there where we stand and that was about two and a half years ago why this conversation came up and where we stand in the state and then on the back of that document you also see where we were compared to like-minded counties across the state so it wasn't to some of our native neighboring counties but how we fare and we are in the red as you can see where we started where we compared to the rest of them so I wanted you to have that information to know that per if you decide which we're hoping that you will approve this
031recommendation from our teams that we work together that we will continue to have this conversation to figure out that it is not incumbent on you but it would be something that we would work together continue to work together to make sure that we're strengthening this piece with us and trying to get County Commission in the community behind us in this this is a challenge for us and and we don't want it to be said on your backs but if we don't do something about it we're going to continue to lose great people in our district to some of those counties that on the back or if not some of our surrounding County so again asked you to consider to let us continue to have this conversation together so that we can work on this and
032make sure that we're doing what's best for the students of Knox County and in particular if we do what's best for the students we will do what's the best for the teachers again thank you thank you miss Coates we have a motion on the floor by Jennifer Owens seconded by Tony Norman and discussion we'll start with its Fugate thank you madam chair when you're sick and you you just put your like first thank you um I was just gonna say miss Coates um you know I've been on the board for seven years now and every year we talk about we need to increase teachers pay and I don't think there's a board member in the world that doesn't think we don't need to do that my only concern with the way this document is written
033is that I do not want the same misunderstanding that has happened every year based on the previous MOU that did not say we would give four percent to happen again we see our previous MOU said we would try and every time if we couldn't get it the board was told we were not living up to our agreement this document says we will give it and it's always said with budgetary if the budget allows I would just ask that if we go down this path and I assume this is going to pass that you would commit as the president of kc EA to help teachers understand this is not a guarantee this is a good-faith effort on the part of this board to increase compensation if money allows the way our budget looks right now based
034on opening to new schools I don't know that we'll get to four percent unless there's some miraculous new revenue growth so I don't want us to be sitting here in April after having scientists and agreed to it tonight and have a lot of teachers angry and upset with the Board of Education that we did not honor our MOU that's you know so I would I know you I've worked with you when I was board chair I trust fully that you will help us make this understandable but but I agree with you I mean the board only can work with the money it has and our County does have capacity and so it's going to take more than this board thinking teachers deserve a 4% raise and so miss bounds with your permission can I explain
035to her what happened Monday yeah it was just a reiteration that we did we did say that we would that what you just stayed it and it's been recorded that they've heard it right that we've known that this is part of that language in there but you have done the very best that you could in the last two and a half years and I stated on Monday that the first time this went around we only received a percent and a half the second year we received 2% and this year we're grateful enough to receive 3% so we know that you're doing the very best we can but it's not incumbent on you it's uncommon on our County right so we you need help thank you that's all thank you miss Coates okay next was Miss
036death row just like yes thank you madam chair and I guess I'm gonna reiterate what I did on Monday we know we're not gonna be able to give 4% because we're building two new schools been in the profession I write contracts and I don't like writing contracts with things I know that's not realistic and I'm not trying to be funny because we would love to do this we have an MoU that says we can't ask any money between unto 2020 and we agreed to that because we want you build two schools and give teachers 2% and at that time is a two percent one-time out late of funds everybody was happy but everybody who realized that was just one time so we said we would not ask for money for five years and I think
037in order to get to four percent well how much is that would that be mr. Carey if we did for persister Spencer mr. Spencer I'm sorry based on this year's budget an additional percentage point would be roughly 2.5 2.6 million dollars and and I'm just saying that I just with us building tunes cuz I just don't think we're gonna be able to do that and if for our hands are tied onto 220 this is gonna be something that we're gonna face every year and I would love to do this I would like I don't I think the problem is a minimum of 4% I would love if it said maximum but minimum kind of kind of makes me think it's not gonna be something that we're gonna be able to really get to unless we
038have all this input and all this all this help and support from everybody from the state and the community and the commissioners and everybody else and I'm just don't think we need to put something in there that we know that may not be realistic until our hands are untied at 20/20 and so I I just feel like this is something we really need to consider it sounds good it looks good but I want something that's really realistic that we're gonna really really achieve and I just don't think for a minimum of four percent it's gonna be something that we can achieve in the next couple years and it doesn't sound good I'm sorry but I'm just looking at it from what I perceive as having two new schools and yes the mayor helped build a
039school but we still haven't the fund that schooling is costing us how many millions of dollars mr. Spencer a year to fund those schools extra in addition somewhere between three and five million dollars per school our school so I'm just saying it's just a lot of money mr. Coates and I'm not trying to be I'm you know discouraging to anyone I just want us to be realistic about what we're facing here as a board okay mr. Roundtree thank you madam chair um I do I mean I I get some other concerns I think I missed a thread raises a valid point looking at our hands being tied by County Commission but I just had a question for you miss Coates um I appreciate the data and the information that was provided on the double-sided handout
040and I just I didn't know if you all had available provide at some point a comparison between the tax rate of these places because while this is all valid and useful information I do think it's a little bit disingenuous to compare us to Davidson County Hamilton County Shelby rone whatever the counties is without showing what their tax rate is and I and I echo your sentiment it's gonna take County Commission in our community one big push to get to the percentage that we want to get our teacher salaries to you as former educator myself I fully support pushing us forward there but it's gonna have to be a team effort I mean you know we don't have all the players on the baseball field to make it a winning game right now so I just
041want that on their record that as mrs. death or said our hands are tied by the MOU and I really at some point would like to see a comparison if you have the information if not I'm glad to go search for a comparison by Counting with their tax rate compared to our tax rate we can always get that but I would also without in coming of me do not speak me speaking for the team is the chairs here met mcquarters here sometimes if those questions like that sometimes I'm not the person that's the chair of the committee so I think that's one of those questions that I would ask to send back to them because I don't personally have that from our organization but I know that they as a collective team the boards team
042the boards team and our team we have that I bet you that they can get that information pretty quickly okay oh and see dr. Drummond said she has it awesome thanks Kelly okay thank you mr. Aiman okay miss Ellen wanted to speak to this issue I don't recall exactly the numbers that that I'm about to very loosely quote here and maybe matt has these but four or five years ago when we first started looking at at the goal of being competitive with surrounding counties we were talking about a 5% race over five or six years some like that before it would come into line with surrounding counties so thinking about that information that it would take us five or more years at 5% to even be competitive with surrounding counties 4% is not close so
043our goal of investing in our people we're not really meeting so I think having having language in the MOU that says this is what we want to do and this is what we would do had we the money I think is an important statement to make to our to our employees that this is our goal and if we can come up with that money this is what we would do with it thank you okay thank you Miss Roundtree and then this Fugate thank you madam chair and I just want it echo again and make sure I'm crystal clear about this that I do support giving a raise to our teachers if we can make that happen but I think it's incumbent upon everyone involved with the MOU to also bring this same conversation to the
044table to County Commission I see mr. Wright back there he's you know he's welcome to chat with you I'm sure at some time about this but I think that the reality is mr. Spencer said a one percent raise runs two and a half million dollars and we have our MOU in place till 2020 I just I mean to come up with that percentage what are we gonna cut what programs are we gonna cut I mean if there's a if there's a proposal to make that happen something has to give and I don't know what our revenues are looking like for the upcoming year but I can't imagine that they're gonna jump up that high mr. Spencer may have a better idea that but I think that's just something that we need to to keep in
045mind yes I think the board needs to say we are committed to this but we have to do so in partnership to make that happen thank you 4% again I know our teachers are underpaid I've been here since 2010 we've been we've been trying and I know we compete with a lot of city schools and next to us that also have city tax revenue we've got to do better my real concern is that this language says a minimum of 4% if the budget will support it I think that ties our hands in that if we get any increases as a board I'm just asking as a board does that mean we have no choice but to give 4 percent raises instead of a 3% raise and a new program for students that's my concern with
046the word minimum if money allows it basically means this board has no discretion to add any programs or do anything other than a 4% raise if the money is there and we know I mean anyway it's a moot point we got to come up with about 10 million dollars for two new schools this coming year and I don't think our revenue may grow that much but I'm just asking somebody on the committee can you clarify for me what minimum if the budget allows means mr. McWhirter do you want to address that since that's a good-ass for thank you very much the opportunity to speak the provision about salary is mostly a carryover from the same language of the previous MOU and the way it turned out with the previous MOU was that although it said
047essentially the same thing as far as 4% increase as you know we didn't get that we brought the same language in not trying to tie anybody's hands it didn't tie anybody's hands this past time because the mou that you're referring to as far as building the new schools was something that was passed after the nearly expiring MOU that also called for four percent increases was already adopted so our previous MOU which is still currently in effect did not prevent that from happening and we do not we did not adopt the language and the proposed MOU in an attempt to try to prevent the operation of the schools from happening we continued the language and it's aspirational goals for the purpose of trying to continue to make the statement both jointly between teachers and the board
048that this is what we think we would like to see happen the language was never intended in order I think it it should be read as this ties our hands with four percent because the key part of it is if funds are available and they haven't been available for 4% raise for the last three years we know that but we wanted to continue the language in hopes that we could continue to get close to that goal I don't know if that addresses just again you've looked at this document and the old MOU much more recently than I have I did not recall the old MOU saying that you would be guaranteed a minimum of 4% I thought the language was we would aspire to 4% raises if the budget allows that's my only question about
049the semantics of that and and I and I agree with you I mean the board has discretion you've answered my question you don't expect us to do nothing other than teacher raises and that wouldn't hold us I the the new MOU does not say guarantee okay and actually that part of the language carries over yeah okay thank you okay thank you seeing no other Lots we have a motion on the floor by Miss Ellen a seconded by mr. Norman all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries 12 be approved special courses for high school curriculum Americans at war astronomy botany zoology film studies global religious studies introduction to law marine ecology musical theatre vist or variation inheritance selection and time and wildlife principles motion by mr. Norman's second by mr. Roundtree any discussion
050all in favor say aye I'll opposed motion carries 12 C approved 2018 health insurance premium rates mr. Norman second by miss Fugate any discussion okay all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries item 12 D approved freeze of current 403 B plans mr. Norman and we have a public speaker miss Roundtree thank you madam chair we have several speakers signed up for this agenda item so our first speaker if you would please when I call your name state your name and your county of residence at the podium please the first speaker is Nelson Britton Nelson Britton County of residences Knox County first of all I'd like to thank the board for allowing me to speak on this tonight I'm here to an full disclosure I actually as a resident Knox County I also
051am also a representative of one of the 403 B plan providers for the Knox County school teachers I'm here tonight to just present an alternate viewpoint to what I believe has been presented up to this point regarding the 403 B and in particular I think it's important whom to examine more than one aspect of this discussion it seems as though only one aspect of it has been discussed so far and is that of cost a particular kind of cost and I think it's very important not to confuse costs with value just to illustrate in the plainest of terms there is a huge difference in the costs of you know a burger that you can go to Costco and get some frozen patties and put one together and the difference in cost between that and a
052Kobe beef burger that you take time on and season and custom make to your own specifications on your backyard grill I would argue there's a big difference in cost between those two things a very significant cost there's also a big difference in value and how that translates to the 403b are to enter the retirement community is this in Knox County alone with just one of the 403 B plan providers there are four advisors just focused on Knox County teachers ready and willing to give plan level financial advice in the 401k plan there is one represent the one that represents Knox County is in Morristown that that individual has eight counties to cover now in Knox County alone I think there's what 90 schools and two more coming average staff of a hundred teachers per school
053am i overstating it to say that there's about 9,000 teachers in one County alone not to mention the other eight there're seven they're under consideration I don't I think it's plain to see that the amount of face time with a financial adviser that teachers are going to get with leaving the current plan in place is starkly different than what they're going to get if we go ahead and freeze the 403 and make the only choice that teachers have for their retirement planning be one choice alone and that's a state-run program so I think it's very important when we're talking about the last the last thing we were discussing in detail had to do with teacher salaries and are the way that our hands are tied in being able to really compensate them in the way
054that we would wish to in light of that scenario in that environment where that's very difficult to really improve on that standpoint why then would we turn around and limit their benefits in the human resources world when you know you can't offer a higher salary you always turn to benefits what other benefits can I offer you certainly don't look to take those benefits way or those choices away and my biggest concern is that for our teachers that are we all know what teachers go through and all that they do for us and for our students and we want to make sure that they have the best planning and the best resources and the best income and everything available to that available to them because we want to keep the best teachers then why would we
055go and limit their choices if indeed that plan that we wonder tricked it to is the best plan then so be it let the teacher decide let it be their choice instead of one that is made for them and other choices being taken off the table that's it thank you thank you our next speaker on this agenda item is Heather Britton good evening my name is Heather Fowler Britton and I reside in Knox County I am a former teacher and so I'm coming to you in regards to the 403 B as a teacher who has walked out of teaching in 1996 I graduated college on a Saturday and started my first job on a Monday morning since then I have been in the classroom the entire time I've taught grades 3 through 8 I have
056been highly qualified in multiple areas I have a former principal actually here who hopefully could attest to the fact that I was a good teacher when I moved to Knox County I ended up I had five every single year I was in Knox County and I walked away and part of it is because of the finances part of it is because we here as teachers all the time how much were appreciated by the community how much people wish they could give raises how much people know that teachers are worth and yet things can't get done I mean we've had a long conversation tonight about your hands being tied and it's not on you for more money but it happens to the teachers listening tonight has been very interesting because it's the same things I've heard
057for the last 20 years which is we want to appreciate the teachers we know the teachers give so much if you have never been a teacher or being married to a teacher then you have no idea how much goes on behind the scenes even the teachers who aren't scoring fives every time you're talking hours of planning and grading and working and worrying about students faculty meetings you have all sorts of things that compete for your time tonight alone we've talked about flexible seating for students as a matter of fact one of the business items that got passed a few minutes ago was a $5,000 grant from farmers insurance for flexible seating classrooms that's a huge thing about allowing children the choices within parameters to have certain seating arrangements that would help them to learn we
058talked about differentiation of choices in professional development we talk about layered curriculum we've talked tonight about having specialty programs at multiple high schools we have STEM academies we have magnet academies our county has been very big in making sure that choices are there for our students so I don't understand why the choices will not be there for the teachers if we push how important choices are for the students and we're celebrating that in the last few years TC RS has changed the 457 was limited on providers from multiple providers and now the 403 B is wanting to be frozen we had a teacher yesterday that contacted our contacted valack and wanted to set up a 403b it is not something that is antiquated or that is not current but not allowing the teachers to have
059those choices I feel as a disregard and speaking on a personal level this obviously happened after I left in May but speaking on a personal level you're not losing teachers just to retirement or just to families you are losing teachers who are good teachers who are leaving the careers thank you for the chance to speak thank you we have one more speaker for this item madam chair Josh Hundley and is there a matter when you come up please state your name and county of residence hello thank you everyone for your time my name is Josh honey I'm district vice president with VALIC and I'm from Davidson County sir if you'll wait just a moment please move approval to let him speak okay we have the word policies required for now from Knox County the board
060must allow you to speak so I move approval we have a second family so in emotion so it requires the majority we checked the board policy today and it requires the majority of the board to allow someone from out of County to speak so we have a motion and a second on the floor if your life so miss oh okay if there's no discussion we'll take a vote all in favor of allowing him to speak since he's traveled here from Davidson County say aye aye all opposed your trip is not anything in the right thank you it's gonna be a trip back in the rain too I imagine well once again thank you for allowing me the time to speak I just want to bring up a couple points Valek started their first 403b here
061in 1973 so my quick math it's 44 years that we've we've been a partner here with Knox County and you know we do things we have licensed financial advisors as mentioned previously there's four of them that specifically worked with Knox County I I'm the district vice president I manage all of our financial advisors across the state of Tennessee and so this this conversation has come up numerous times and we've we've we've gone through this and most often if it gets to this point we have a decision that if everybody has the ability to see both sides of the story that you know there is a lot of value that's being added we do a lot of things differently than the state would you know state ran programs Social Security welfare I mean they're they're all
062great programs that have a specific purpose but they're there's something that you could do above and beyond and with the financial literacy of the state of Tennessee and the nation in particular I think we have a lot of improvement so too we have a lot of improvement here that we can make and that's what we're here to do and we as a company work with all 50 states and four or three P's we actually started the first one in Dade County in 1955 we we do financial plans for the teachers so that they know exactly how their state grant program works I changed in July of 2014 which I'm sure all of you are aware if I ask the question I'm not going to but does you know we asked this and our staff meetings
063how many people know exactly how much you're going to make in retirement from this the pension plan or the hybrid plan and how many people know how that works and you would be stunned by the amount of responses that no one has an idea of how it works so we run those numbers what the state is providing what they were going to get from Social Security and then we give an outcome and then they decide whether they are happy with that or not and then they choose to to add more to that we go over fees which I have brought up fees specifically because I've actually came to Knox County in the hopes of reducing the cost of our plan just to find out that it was not possible for some legal term even though
064we weren't changing the contract we were just reducing the cost so if I was your paper distributor and I said I don't want to charge you the same amount for paper you say we're going to we're going to keep you know paying more for it I think those types of things and we've also presented a communication and education plan that I've implemented all across the state that will provide more education to the employees of Knox County not just teachers but all the employees and and we've also presented that to mr. Scott Bolton who is sitting here behind me so I think the more important thing is to not reduce the options available and to completely understand you know who we are and and we're here to partner with you I will I have a lot
065of passion for what I do you know I was a victim poor financial planning in my own family and I've vowed to not let that happen to anybody that I come across and the reason that I'm in this career so that I can have more of an impact to help people and there's a lot of people who need help and so I would just ask that you look at this thoroughly and you know I have the numbers and I would be willing to go through the financial planning process with any of you it's free for all Knox County employees and and that's all that I have thank you that concludes the speakers on this item madam chair okay open for discussion is few getting in this horn thank you madam chair um I don't plan
066to support freezing the the plan as a financial professional for almost 30 years I think more choice is better I also think the ability do you have financial planners sit down with employees one-on-one and help them plan is very worthwhile we are not forcing employees to go into the 403 B are we so I mean again it's a it's a choice so I apologize for not being here on Monday but I don't know why we decide is it too burdensome for us to deal with different vendors is that why we don't want to do this that that's my question okay I think mr. Bolton's in the audience and he's thank you oh those are good questions let me let me first say that we've given a lot of deliberation over the 403 B plan and
067speaking with a person who added the school books back as far as 1993 he had an issue with the way that we administered the 403 B a few things that I want to talk about we when we talk about TC RS we know the TC RS is one of the most stable public pension programs in the union if you compare that our neighbors to the north and Kentucky they're on the verge of bankruptcy so I commend the the state and being forward and false so that when we walk away from this profession were guaranteed a benefit for life I also want to mention that there's been an initiative across the state of Tennessee directed by the governor for a retire ready Tennessee it's an initiative that we as state and local ed employee employees have
068the opportunity to be educated on our retirement and they've done a great job with that as a matter of fact my office has partnered with several retirement seminars as a matter of fact since we came on board we've almost doubled those seminars and we do almost a daily basis daily basis question and answer sessions which will look at the retirement options that are available to all of our folks no I will say this retire already the state office is no longer just in Nashville or just there's there's I'm not aware of one in Moorestown but there is a state office where empower representatives which is our state 401k and Northshore available a call to sit down and to to speak with here's a couple of concerns that and as a miss Fugate as a as
069a financial person here's a couple concerns that bothers me I'm not saying the 401k is a bad idea why do we want to take away the 403 B option well we've got some folks in a 403 B like for example our classified folks are on the asset plan and and being in my office I have seen situations where people are contributing to the 403 B and not taking advantage of the match across the street which is not being a good fiduciary of what's you know what what should be what should be done we do not match 403 that's a reason yes what makes the 401 K better why would we want to take away a 403 B option I understand so cost participants significantly less and we're talking about here's the thing I want to
070make sure that it's clear to all that are in office and that all this does not affect anybody that currently has a 403b this doesn't affect them at all they can they can increase or decrease so the book of business stays the same and but in terms of that there's no adverse effects in easiness but it does help us with our administrative efficiencies significantly yes at one time we had 36 403b providers after that audit in 93 we cut it down to roughly now we have about 6 providers is that we have never properly procured one provider that we can have a relationship with and partner with because if we did that we would show favoritism to one vendor over the other if that makes sense so in freezing this plan we can have that
071partnership with in power and we can't offer that because it's been procured by the state thank you these are the questions I'm sorry yes and so it's not necessarily that we may never offer a 403 great but freezing the plan that's kind of what I'm trying to figure out why is it better for Notts County Administration and then we can procure like we do everything else from one provider I mean I run an organization we have a retirement plan and we deal with one person and it's hassle enough with one so I get that that would be and freezing it does not close the door on it it just allows us to kind of put administrative measures in place where we could do it more effectively and to the benefit of our employees so and
072then it also helps us in reducing our legal compliance and our overall cost okay thank you those are the questions like why did we want to do this how do we even get here okay thank you and you've changed my mind okay I'm sorry yes miss horn thank you madam chair many of my questions for the same that miss Keenan had so let me make sure I understand in order to bid in order to send this to procurement the current 403 B plans would have to be frozen is that accurate I think that would probably the be the best way so we could start with a clean slate and get appropriate administrative procedures in place if that would be the pleasure of this board to do so I would like to have feedback from other
073people but I am not in favor of limiting the choices of our employees I think that that they ought to have if they choose to enroll in the 403 B that's their choice and they should have that choice however what I heard from the speaker from Davidson County earlier was that they're willing to give us a better price with a different contract so I think that we need to we certainly need to pursue that so I guess I would like feedback from whoever has it on what what that process needs to look like okay miss Owen was next oh I'm sorry miss Hill okay Scott so if I'm a teacher and I have a I have a hundred dollars a month that I decide I want to invest and I look at the four a
074one that is it's currently going to be available what does that cost me to put my money in there the with the state of Tennessee the basis points that's the way that they processes is from about 48 basis points up to if you're you're getting an actively managed plan it could be around 127 basis points so that's the range it's a significantly discounted rate okay that means nothing to me that's that's true that's right if I am a teacher and I have $100 that I want to invest every month then and I put it in and and my choices would be a 401 or the 403 B what does it cost me out of my pocket to put it in one plan versus another yeah there's a lot of choices and I'll say it this
075it'll range anywhere from about 48 cents to about a dollar 20 an estate plan Mordred yes something like that I could be off so I'm not a financial planner or anything like that so but an example of most of our 403 B's will range anywhere from 124 to some of them up to close to 200 basis points so 200 is that's $2 per hundred 100 okay so it could be anywhere from roughly a dollar fifty to two dollars for me to invest my hundred dollars in a 403b yes all right what would it cost in a 401 in the 401 K that was the that would be the 48 cents to 48 cents all right and that is direct cost out of my pocket that's fees that's charge that's correct you won't feel it it
076will come off your balance right right I understand that but that still is it's a feed of you if we're talking about a hundred thousand dollars it becomes significant I understand hmm so so I hear you saying that it it makes at this point from what we know it just makes financial sense to go to a 401 K and I get that but I am struggling a little bit with with why we would say if if someone else has has the 403 plan for 403 B plan and wants to participate for whatever reason we would tell them that they couldn't I mean you couldn't I do that anyway I just call up a 403b provider good as a teacher and say I want to do this in Ana you could but it would cost more
077money it would and also a lot of our 403 bees are kinda like they're driven by commissions and and and that that may and sometimes could be and not not are valid they're they're great folks I'm not speaking about them particularly but I'm saying theoretically we ran on ERISA plan which means that those Department of Labor requirements that are on most of them don't exist in our area so it is conceivable I'm not saying anybody that we have but it is conceivable that that could come back to roost on us if we've got people who are offering plans that give them money in their pocket that may not be in the best interest of our participants because we as a school system are sponsoring yes sponsoring it yes okay what is is there some difference
078between us sponsoring it or not as far as the freedom that an employee has not necessarily because by us allowing the 403b to be in place we are sponsoring it okay but as far as any kind of a match goes there's no matching through us or the stay or with the state there are some plans and that blend well you know we talked about those points there are some some plans that if you put money in the state is going to give Bunny and excess of the fees that are there and that additional balance will Rowlands the participants account and that is something available to our teachers through the 401 K that is not available to a 403 B it's available to everybody the 401 K and the 403 B are currently available to everybody
079with the benefit you talking about this birthday okay essentially you could do the same exact thing with a 403b that you can with the 401k okay maybe we can answer them all together you mentioned a reduction of overall costs but we don't have any fiscal note for that so that leads me to be concerned about an actual reduction of costs if administrative hassle is part of that cost that that is being changed by a freeze then I would expect that administrative costs to be in a fiscal note to show me exactly what the difference would be part of the problem that I'm hearing is not as much cost as it is our own failure to inform employees that we have a matching 401k and I'm not sure that our own failure to educate our employees
080is a reason to to give up choice for employees or to to end a forty four year relationship that we've had with this company the procurement question I'm not sure has been answered yet so if either you or mr. Diller could answer whether there is a specific legal reason that we have to freeze our 403 B before sending a request to procurement I think that's something we need to be clear on ok thank you and I think miss Horne wanted to address this again unless you get miss horn or did you have another question I really did not have another question I would like to as Miss Ellen just said I would like to know what that process needs to look like and I think the same thought crossed my mind that we need to
081make sure that employees understand the difference between all of these plans that are offered and another question is this is there any difference between the classified and the certified can you explain that again quickly I'm sorry I think you did absolutely well the fact that we're talking about it too is great because I hope there are people that are listening to it and we're bringing in this I always say the best time think about retirement was yesterday so today's we can start the the classified folks are on the county asset plan so they're honest a full asset where they get a mandatory six percent match after five years they can participate in a 457 which will match 2% topping out at a 12% match after 15 years of service on the teacher side there's the
082legacy folks and I see several folks are a benefactor to that legacy plan that is a guaranteed benefit for life with the CRS if you retire as a teacher the teachers that were hired after July 1st they are in a hybrid plan which is a DB plan a guaranteed benefit for life and an asset plan so that's that's kind of the difference between the certified and the classified folks okay so the so certified they're the only ones that we're talking about that can choose between the 401 3 the 401 K and the 403 B the classified folks can also choose the four currently classified or certified can do a 403 B or the 401 K and that that that is also available to our classified folks as well I'm just not sure that till we
083have an answer on the question about whether or not we can do a procurement without having to freeze this I feel comfortable making that decision tonight I don't know about anybody else but I'm sort of thinking that we might need to wait 30 days and let the law department give us the legal reasoning or a legal opinion about could we I mean I hear what we're saying about it would be great to have one 403b provider I just would like to feel very confident that the only way we can start that procurement process is by freezing the current ones because I'm afraid if we freeze them and we find out that that it doesn't have to work that way it may not be a good idea I don't so I make a motion that we
084were that we postpone this for 30 days okay motion has been made on this you get seconded by mr. macmillan there's already a motion on the floor sorry we want to do substitute motion yes I make a substitute motion that we defer this for 30 days okay so it will be a substitute motion which will take the place of the motion that's already on the floor mr. macmillan has seconded it and will vote on the substitute motion all in favor say aye aye all opposed okay the motion for the substitute motion carries and we'll defer this for 30 days you may need to work item 12 II approve resolution to surplus property known as Auckland school motion by Miss oh and seconded by mr. Norman Oh any discussion all in favor say aye aye all
085opposed motion carries item 12 F approve resolution to surplus property known as the happy homes family center motion by mr. Norman seconded by Miss Ellen any discussion all in favor say aye all opposed motion carries 12 G approved resolution requesting a waiver of scoring for portfolio assessments in pre-k and kindergarten for school year 2017 2018 second motion by mr. Norman I'm not sure who's second it miss Hill did you miss Hill second did that motion any discussion here we have one one speaker signed up to speak to this agenda item Natasha patching Natasha Patchen Knox County on August 1st kindergarten teachers were blindsided with the news that the portfolio system that we had successfully used for the past two years had been changed the data storage platform that we had been using and understand was
086discontinued the new data storage system would not be up and ready until the middle of October at that point we would have to be trained to use it on our personal time not only will over a quarter of the school year pass without us even being able to access our new method of storage but the rigor of the portfolio has been ramped up to new heights of developmentally unacceptable levels of course I mean concerned at what this poorly designed and implemented portfolio will do to me but even more alarming isn't the expectations placed on five and six year old children my first concern is always my students quoting from the portfolio resource guide kindergarten teachers received on August 1st to be considered on grade level of five-year-old must be able to quote write words with
087accurate one-to-one correspondence with the most frequent song for each consonant and right vowel consonant words such as act and it and consonant vowel consonant words such as Pat and mud and consonant vowel words with long vowel sounds such as B and go also with prompting and support rights words and pictures to identify at least two characters with at least one trait for each and a setting with the time and a place in three major events beginning middle and end of a narrative text and with prompting and support rights words and pictures through a combination of drawing dictating inner writing to narrate a single event in a correct sequence and provide a reaction to what happened in the texts and quote all three of these standards have been combined into one assessment using a narrative text
088in addition a separate assessment requires children of kindergarten age to also successfully meet these three combined standards with an informational text in math our State Department's planned to standards together doubling our data collection time once again the rigor has been ramped up to be on grade level our little friends must be able to and I quote decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into add in pairs in more than one way for example five equals two plus three and five equals four plus one by using objects drawings and drawings and records each decomposition using a drawing or writing and an equation in quote another standard states and I quote students fluently add and subtract within ten using mental strategies with 90 to 100 percent accuracy within three seconds end quote is it any wonder
089we have crying kindergarten students and teachers I ask you to think back when you were in kindergarten could you have done these things how many kindergarten children do you know personally who could do these things I know that I did not do these things in kindergarten with miss Rudolph's gentle guidance I created with blocks paint crayons and clay I explored letters and the sounds that they made I counted to ten and was given a solid foundation in number sense I measured with my feet and little cubes I problem soft as I worked puzzles and I sang and made music I visited the market to learn about foods and I made the most delicious apple sauce that I've ever eaten yes times have changed however the way a child develops is not babies still walk at
090about age one toddlers still utter simple sentences at about age two the ability to think concretely does not develop until age seven an abstract thinking develops sometime around age 11 we are asking children to do things they are developmentally not able to do and then we say there are below grade level I'm tired of developmentally inappropriate curriculum requirements being placed on five and six-year-olds what next quantum physics I am weary of unrealistic demands placed on teachers we are expected to use this new portfolio but it takes our state a quarter of the year to get it ready for us to use then by the time we are trained in it nearly half the year will be gone it seems like they want us to fail I am weary of the words rigorous and robust and
091I would like to introduce two new words relevant and realistic our children deserve a developmentally appropriate curriculum and teachers deserve a well-thought-out teacher growth measurement tool thank you for your time and consideration [Applause] here's the motion in a second on the floor on this so we will start our discussion with mr. Norman and then mr. death rich and then miss Roundtree thank you madam chair I've been the crabbiest one up here I guess in terms of evaluation system everybody knows my feeling about the the current system and you know just frankly I'd summarize it with a phrase like fake science gobbledygook that's what I'm going to start calling it because that's what it truly is it's absolutely it when you get into it and I do I go back and I look at things like
092the teacher advisory council report and I greatly appreciate people who dug into this and started to try to do the best they could which we've made steps at least we're not requiring everybody to go through that the team evaluation model we've gotten we've given an option and I think we've had some very grateful teachers to be able to choose a lesser version of this that's much less burdensome so the tiger seems to be but it still is based on completely fallacious false premises and it's just a big lie that's all it is it's a big lie that's supported by a huge amount of money an administrative cost all over so you know we're grouching about it I'm grouching about it and the only way that we can and I'm glad Harry went home the way
093because you know Harry was part he was part of this he was a big part of it and but that's not to put the blame on him or any particular legislator but the legislative that's where our work is our work is with the legislative branch we've got to be able to speak to them they've got to be able to understand the positions of people that take you know take abject objection to this and so I just like to you know I just like to move this into our next October meeting and us really have a good discussion about the strategy that we're going to use to confront this system it's being challenged all over the United States and it's being found faulty I mean court cases are saying no to tea vats and all of
094its premises so it's time for our legislature to to hear it I think our system is one that as Harry said we're we're listening to we're a leader in a lot of ways educationally so I just like to move this and put it on our agenda next next month as a discussion item and let's see what we can do to come up with a strategy so move the resolution to next month is that your soon you know just the whole discussion okay I guess the young lady but teacher that just spoke gave me a lot of insight to what's really happening in the classroom because I'm going and I heard and understood I think that some of the teachers portfolio they did very well and some of them didn't but it sounds like they changed
095it so I would just like to ask mister we've got the Reisman would you explain to me where you doing with the state as far as waivers and what is going on and were we at this moment as far as those discussions are going dr. Ravitch his Rodney Russell here he's not see okay go ahead thank you madam chair thank you miss debtors so where we where we stand right now is again from the outcome of this resolution miss bounds to talk to mr. Duke Warren on to take a look at you know what options we might have for the state so we've got a few things drafted again waiting to see the kind of the will of the board at that point one would be a waiver form that would come from the from
096the district from the superintendent to to the commissioner you know one ought one idea would be to kind of do a suspension kind of with the first grade first grade and and the fine arts are not required it's an opt-in if they want to and so the district we made a decision this year to because of the changes not just to spin that for a year as the dust kind of settles and see you know if it's a worthwhile thing or not because you know the other side of story is portfolio does give individual scores to teachers as opposed for you know if you guys remember for years they were kind of had to pick a school-wide growth score and and kind of felt that was unfair part of the part of this issue again
097the changes of happen so totally understand what we would one use portfolio now but that was kind of rigidly how it happened so one of those would be the ROI asking for the waiver to suspend just like our pre our first grade and Fine Arts teachers had but those wouldn't count against them this year and you know in return I guess we're just resort back to picking the school-wide measure we played with another one - that is a possibility that would growth as a 35% measure and it could count 10% for teachers if they were to do well and it helped their evaluation potentially it could count up to 35% you know again neither one's perfect but right now those are the two options as we as we were drafting something that might be worthwhile
098in the waiver so you're asking then for the waiver form to give the teachers options would be where to go I mean it's what I don't looking at the resolution and that not a part of this resolution though is it what that is not a part of the resolution it's two separate things but what dr. oz week has said they can do which would send us our resolution just puts the Department of Ed on notice that we do not agree with this to my knowledge resolutions are not binding we could combine it with a waiver if I understand dr. Isley correctly asking the board approve if the board approves this that's our statement as a board and then dr. rossik and superintendent Thomas could ask for a waiver to suspend for kindergarten and pre-k the
099harm against them this year so it would be like a no harm near while they learned the system figured it out piloted at whatever so when I spoke with the kindergarten teachers they were in favor of that asking our resolution plus dr. Thomas and mr. I support K dr. rossik working on a wafer so those could be independent or done together okay because I guess my concern is for those teachers that could benefit from it they will not be able to so I would like to have the option if they do well can we get them some type of benefit but if they don't it doesn't count against the same thing we kind of did with evaluation the way the way I understand that our waiver would not impact that it would now it could
100send a double signal if they sent a waiver asking that it not it count ten percent or whatever but my sentiment from the kindergarten teachers I've spoken to while it could benefit son they feel like it's so poorly designed and so unfair to not have it ready to go that they just want the whole thing suspended for the year to give the state a chance to figure it out so dr. Izak is that I think that's accurate I think the a little bit of history that might help with that is is that the pre-k and K portfolio portfolio requirement is in actually in legislation based on if districts receive funding for pre-k program so that's that's kind of where we are with that you know we're kind of under the law to do that so
101but that's accurate what you're saying this bans that if we did the suspension for a year or two held them harmless for a year to practice that then you know wouldn't effect again commissioner would have to agree the waiver of the state law for us for that year though so we're gonna practice it I just guess I'm trying to figure out how we get some teachers well I want them to get credit I mean I know we're practicing but if they can get some kind of credit for that practice it'd be great if there it's gonna hurt them I would say no I mean so I don't know if this waiver I mean we have some other people that want to discuss but from what miss Patrick shared with us the kindergarten teachers I believe
102feel that the they've been told multiple things the standards don't really line up with they don't match and there's just so there's more problems it's not just all about practicing they did a pilot for two years that they were happy with and it was my understanding and representative Smith's understanding that the Department of Ed said they were going to go with a format like North County and when it came back from the State Department of Ed it was totally different than what the Knox County Teachers had piloted for two years they piloted it they liked it and they were willing to go with it what they have in front of them now that has no ability to upload their data they're not but see what I'm talking kindergarten we're talking first grade oh you're talking
103pre-k and kindergarten first grade and Fine Arts have already been suspended okay which is what our concern was was that for it obviously it didn't feel right for first grade and Fine Arts so why is it okay for kindergarten and pre-k okay I'm sorry I lost track okay cuz I'm very passionate about this so okay okay okay we did kind of get off-track there and I think I lost my train of thought but I'm thinking - Tasha for coming this week and I see some other kindergarten teacher friends and the audience out there as as a current dog student studying literacy I'm extremely concerned by what Natasha read out that the expectation now is for our kindergartners to most frequently be able to accurately spell CVC words is that am i understanding that correctly and
104write CVC words I guess I'm gonna die on this hill and I will I'll be right there with Toni - oh and long vowels excellent um I can't tell you how developmentally inappropriate that is for our children but I just want to add Tony mentioned we need to get our legislature on board with this I really think we also need to look closely at what's happening at the Department of Ed and with the State Board I mean there's enough blame to go around I don't think it's just you know the ledge gets to take all the blame but we talk a lot about we want to grow our kids and there are ways to do that that are not developmentally inappropriate and so I of course plan to support this but I just want to
105leave some folks with a thought from the National Association for the education of young children and they talking specifically about why assessment is important and why it should be developmentally appropriate and they say in their position statement that there should be a system in place to collect make sense of and use the assessment information to guide what goes on in the classroom teachers should use this information in planning curriculum and learning experience and moment to moment interactions with children that is teachers continually engage in assessment for the purpose of improving teaching and learning additionally those methods of assessment should be appropriate to the developmental status and experiences of young children and they recognize individual variation in learners and allow children to demonstrate competence in different ways from all that I've seen of this it doesn't
106do that and we need to be prepared for the kindergarten assessment that's coming down the pipeline from the Department of Ed if y'all think this is bad that's even worse I don't disagree with what folks have said I would like to kind of flip this discussion a little back to I would like Knox County not only to I just concur with mr. Norman that I think we need to talk about this and be a leader I don't want us to always be seen as against what the state is doing it is so easy to say don't do we need to come with some solutions and I say that if you as teachers are frustrated imagine what it's like to be a parent I could cry when I hear educators disagreeing because what is a parent
107supposed to think I hear from educators that some of this is good and then I hear from educators this is bad and all a parent wants to know is is my child learning like they're supposed to learn and are they come to compete fairly with everybody else in the country and all this started back from when we weren't able to do that and I'm just saying here as the parent voice on the board that's when I ran I came all the way through as a PTA mom and as a businesswoman and as a parent all I've ever wanted was to know is my child getting an adequate excellent education where they can compete with any other student in any other school in this country and I will also say teach parents want to know whether
108their child's teacher is good or not and I will say as the daughter of a teacher I never had a bad teacher because teachers children don't get teachers but there are some teachers that aren't as good and we need to figure out a way to help recognize that and coach that and that is what the evaluation tool is supposed to be rather than punitive so I just encourage us as we have these conversations I agree with mr. Norman but we need to come with some solutions that get to what started this in the first place was parents wanting to know that their children were getting a really outstanding education thank you madam chair I just we certainly need a strong evaluation system I agree but I just wanted to and this is really not the
109topic that we're on but to address what the teacher said and what miss Roundtree said earlier I just had a conversation a long conversation last week with a second grade math teacher who has very developmentally inappropriate concepts that are she's supposed to teach to her students and I'm very concerned about I'm very concerned about that and as parents I think parents are very concerned about that and so I think we do have a couple of different conversations going on here but that's we have things coming out of the Department of it Department of Education that teachers who have been trained and taken classes on what is developmentally appropriate I can't think of what term I'm trying to climb in my brain right now but what is developmentally appropriate for children a lot of this does
110not align with that and so we have we have two big problems that we're talking about here and so I certainly certainly think that we need to have more conversation on this problem as well as the evaluation thank you thank you soin I did the portfolio evaluation as a pilot as a music teacher and when we started that pilot project in Knox County it was ready to go it had already been tested we were well trained and there were still tears because it was it was very new and we were still learning I can't imagine expecting any educator to begin that process three months into the school year that just seems completely ridiculous to me so I think we need to do whatever we can to put it off but also to speak with our
111legislate legislature and as we do that I would like to ask if this board will reach out to Jim RI and we don't have to reach far because he's in the audience he is the government relations person with te a and I think he could help us with speaking with our legislators thank you thank you okay if there's no further discussion we have a motion and a second on the floor and we've had discussion so all in favor of this resolution say aye all opposed motion carries [Applause] but at the request of several board members and I apologize to the audience but we need to take a small recess so we will reconvene at 7 o'clock for public forum okay we are back from our recess and we are going to move on to public
112forum and just a reminder to state your name and county when you come up to the podium and we do have quite a few people sign up tonight so just be aware of your time for the next person behind you our first speaker is an LOI my name is an LOI I'm a retired elementary teacher and principal from both Knoxville City and Knox County Schools I retired in 2001 I live in Knox County and I'm currently president of the Knoxville affiliate of AAUW AAUW began in 1881 to promote higher education for women our Knoxville branch was established in 1903 the earliest affiliate in Tennessee two years ago all AAUW members in the u.s. were asked to contact Hyder nine coordinators so that the new governmental resource guide could be given to them I call Scott
113Bolton who may a UW had identified from Knox County's website to ask who and the schools were appointed as the title nine coordinators he said the principals but I'm just now getting around to getting this guide distributed often people don't realize that the law includes activities of classrooms and not just athletics we want to be sure that our school officials have the training and authority to oversee compliance with title 9 law already the Department of Education is trying to lessen the benefits of it just last Thursday AAUW sent an email to us saying Secretary of Education Betty T vos announced that she's taking the first steps towards dismantling protection for survivors of campus sexual assault claiming that existing guidelines have failed according to this logic the secretary sees evidence that failing to adequately adequately protect
114students as a reason to weaken title 9 protections not enforce them we want to remain committed to protecting and defending title 9 so officially 45 years ago the President signed title 9 of the education amendments of 1972 into law which even AAUW helped craft its a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity I have recently met with Knox County's current title 9 coordinator miss Jennifer Hamel Garn and I've provided your secretary miss coutny with copies of the resource guide and letter to school level coordinators to distribute to you before this meeting and I will be scheduled for the agendas of both groups of principals November's meetings to speak with them and provide the internet link to obtain the resource guide the guide shows
115that the law is very detailed and I hope you've had a chance to look over it I'm mostly quoting from it title 9 protects students employees applicants for admission and employment and other persons from all forms of sex discrimination including discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity all students as well as other persons that recipient institutions that is places that receive federal funds are protected in all aspects of a recipients educational programs and activities it also talks about parenting and pregnant students I just want to be sure that everyone concerned with safety in our schools knows about this I have a little story to tell about sex harassment in the elementary school at my last school the 5th grade teachers asked me to come speak to
116their classes the boys were calling each other at cafe in the cafeteria well I thought they may not know what that meant exactly but they had some kind of idea it was a bullying kind of turn I took a policy sheet that I said there shouldn't be such sexual harassment to students and talked to the classes and said some of the main calling that's going on has a sexual meaning and whether it's boy to boy girl to boy boy girl or girl to girl it's against the school rules and I held up the paper it's also against the law and if you do this and get caught you have to come see me and take this paper home and have your parents sign it and bring it back and if it happens again you might
117have to get suspended well I had one student that had just had the paper signed then the fourth grade teachers asked me to come talk to their classes which I did I appreciate being able to speak to you and I hope you can tell I'm still passionate about schools and kids thank you our next speaker is skipped Overstreet thank you my name is skip Overstreet and I live in Knox County I spent 31 years in the education industry as a teacher a coach assistant principal an athletic director in the last 12 years as a principal in 2008 I was selected the East Tennessee principal of the year and a finalist for the Tennessee principal of the year I am currently semi-retired and after listening to all of this tonight I am glad on August 7th
118I went by Farragut primary school after dismissal to introduce a neighbor a friend of mine who had just started to work there too one of my former teachers who I will not name who happened to be one of my best teachers at Lenoir City elementary school when I was principal a lady told me in the office that she was down the hall another lady looked up and saw me and said no she's already gone for the day I went back the next day after school and I approached an officer and a teacher and was told that she did not work there I pulled over on the other side of the property towards the exit to get out of the way and to receive a phone call from my book publisher I did ask a lady
119for permission and she said that was fine I saw an officer approaching my vehicle and I got out and he told me the principal said I need to leave the property I left and later I received a phone call from an officer who said I was banned from all Knox County property I later called back and asked for an administrator at the school I did receive a phone call from the assistant principal and explained to him what happened he said he would check into it and for me to call him back the next day I called back and asked for him and a policeman answered the phone I was surprised that I asked for an administrator and a policeman answered the phone he asked who I was calling the school and I told him he
120got upset with me and told me he wasn't going to argue with me and told me to shut up and listen after he spoke he hung up the next day I called an SRO officer at Farragut high school who happens to be a friend of mine and he said he would meet me about the situation as we were talking he handed me a letter that I did not read until I got home I was shocked by the content of the letter the letter accused me of stalking a teacher and that I had no reason for being there and was banned from all Knox County school property to this date I have never received this certified letter that I was told was going to be sent to me I talked to several employees at the school
121board and by the way everybody I talked to has been very professional I just want to say that Carl board member called miss Horne she advised me to call the superintendent and request a meeting I called but I got no response the next day k good from central office call me confirming the decision to uphold a no trespassing ban and that's the reason I'm here tonight I have developed many friends in this school system after I retired I worked for Reno sporting goods and had a great business with Knox County Schools I now tutor kids prepare kids for a CT and have a lifetime pass for Farragut high school athletics I have lived here since 2008 and I love this community I have been stripped of my reputation and what I do best and that
122is help kids and develop relationships the Farragut primary school administration should have handled whatever concern they felt they had directly with me they did not do that I asked that mr. Thomas and the school board reconsider your ruling in this matter and as I said I talked I talked to several people in Knox County Schools and they were all very professional I just wish the administrators that fair your primary would have been fair No thank you for taking my time our next speaker is Kim Craddock hi I think we had asked that the three of us are speaking on the same topic so while we all signed up three of us but we'd like to do it in a different order the parent then the student and then me is that okay when I talk
123to miss coutny yeah so Gabriela Albert Kim that's fine so just whoever speaking first make sure you state your name and your County please Gabrielle amici Knox County good evening everybody I'm here to speak about the inclusion and this is my son Albert Medici he's in high school now we've been 11 years mislead by the Knox County school so now when he's in a high school inclusion come in victory for us he's happy that's the most important thing and he's learning that's the second thing like maybe we should go with the learning first segregation it's important and then waste of time it's very important to it's been a long long years of home time that we just wasted also I want to tell you that keeps like him don't need to be warehousing in labeled
124there is a questionary that we took up probably a year ago some time that was very outdated one of the question was did Albert use a public phone if you know where they are now anyway just one thing that I remember also about the special education education wonderful teachers we have wonderful teachers there but I don't think I would be wanted the special education I learned that he went to school bags of rice and beans I don't think that's very educational either so if you see a kid with potential we need to make him learn not go to community service and the things that I'll teach him how to do that so very happy very happy because we find advocate that actually have a voice for me or maybe voice for Albert that's that's the
125thing if if the kids are labeled it's really hard to get out of there so it is a good thing that somehow it works it works good for us and for our bit the most the most important thing is to learn yes thank you thank you so much hi my name is Albin and Jackie monks County I like high school because it cheats meaning good math engineering English oh and chorus oh and don't watch him I like it I don't eat in a classroom like in middle school I go and hang out with my friends have a good time and I like that Thanks Kim credits Knox County well you've seen me up here before and it's uh I don't ever ask parents to come in and speak to you but this family actually asked
126what they could do to help and as you know I've I've helped advocate for about 15 students on alternate assessment who are now being fully or almost fully included got them out of the CDC a program where as you heard I mean an Albert somebody with reliable communication as you can hear and he was complaining that he was going to Walmart and scooping rice and beans and he was not eating lunch with his peers he was eating lunch in a classroom he was maybe writing at his address over and over and over again so I hear this over and over and over again in fact I've gotten 15 calls from parents since I last came and talked to you and I've been to numerous IEP meetings and I'm focusing on students on alternate assessment I
127hope you all know what that is we had 387 students take alternate assessment last year in Knox County and 4040 1997 take the regular T cap EOC so this is the and it's meant to be one percent of the population who has significant disabilities Albert my friend here works about the first and second grade level and when somebody's placed on an alternative assessment the school team has an IEP team statement of assurance and that includes that his/her academic instruction will be based on the CCC's linked to the CCSS do you all know what the CCC's are okay well their core content connectors and everybody's signing this but when I'm at IEP meetings nobody know most people don't know what they are certainly the regular ed teachers don't know what they are most of the special
128ed teachers some special ed supervisors principals and yet this is what T do e says this is the way to include students on alternate assessment so when I look at your policy which you recently tweaked which is fine when you say that all students with disabilities will be educated in their least restrictive environment and you actually say the board shall develop and periodically update a local plan for providing special education services for students with disabilities specifically the board assures that a student will be educated in the least restrictive environment you're not assuring that I'm actually assuring that and I'm tired of it as I said I would love nothing more than to not go to another IEP meeting I don't enjoy it I'm good at it I can't say no to parents who call me
129because I see lives change albert is at Hardin Valley Academy and it was the most glorious IEP meeting s where birds were singing and the clouds parted and everybody was on board they were getting leveled readers for English one to his level that's how you do it they were using core content connectors they were accommodating modifying everything it was fantastic but the fact that we had to scrape and claw and and I hates they threatened due process but the parent was ready to go to due process when we'd asked for 15 minutes of inclusion in math and so they relented relented and this is his right and was his right since he was three years old so if we can't figure out how to include a student like Albert who has reliable communication but no
130behaviour doesn't even need an aide get some peer tutors in there how are we gonna do that for anybody else right now you are not fulfilling your policy I can guarantee you that I've always tried to help you fulfill it but I don't think I should have to be the one to to fulfill this there have been some some good things going on recently you adopted the five-digit course code I'm assuming t do we've said you must do that but last week or when the high school progression plan was published I saw that there were five digit course codes so now we're actually acknowledging that students like Albert can be included in the regular ed program in classes through the course codes so in conclusion and I want to thank Albert and his mother Gabriella
131for coming and speaking to you if we can figure this out it would really make this isn't about me this is about the lives of all of your students and we should be supporting the ones who who are who will benefit the most from inclusion such as Albert thank you [Applause] speaker is Louis I'll try not to butcher the last name prison offski did I get it hi I'm dr. Louis Frish lossky close enough Louis is fine and I'm from Knox County I'm a psychologist and I own a local practice where we get to work with hundreds of Knox County students and employees and I'm also happily and finally legally married not to a fantastic woman I'm also parent to a 17 year old senior in high school who chairman of the board miss Hattie
132bounds helped to launch as his beloved kindergarten teacher she allowed me to do Pease physical education and silliness on Tuesdays at bricky and the bricky administration also allowed me to volunteer teach the third fourth and fifth grade gifted and talented classes so that it would continue to be robust despite budget cuts so like you and with you we all work hard to let our children know that human excellence comes in all packages this is only the second time I've been to one of your board meetings the other was Monday night you see because early on Monday morning I learned that this board was considering eliminating actual or perceived gender and sexual orientation from the school districts employee non-discrimination policy I knew the right thing to do was to act and to add my voice to
133those hundreds of emails and those impassioned passionate people who presented to you in person on Monday they all opposed this this policy on moral grounds as do I we find it unjust discriminatory and hurtful now democracy needs an educated and healthy populace your proposed discriminatory policy against LGBT employees is hurtful and harms the physical and mental health and educational opportunities for everyone involved students teachers administrators support personnel and our entire community since the truly wise and I think we're all striving for then the truly wise understand they know only a part of the truth and are enthusiastic to learn more I would like to share my remaining time to hear why the board thinks that policy change helps maybe we do that miss bounce that's typically not the way public forum works with the board
134responding to questions as such so you've got about 2 minutes and 17 seconds now if you would like to use that for the remainder of the time fair enough miss Hill did email be back promptly with her understanding of why the change was needed and it did not sound helpful it sounded bureaucratic and trying to align with our new Justice Department terminologies and intentions that I do not find helpful miss pounds I always appreciated your support Eli senses I texted him a picture of your position here he sent back enthusiastic love and congratulations for your position we are your teachers we're your coaches and you don't want to wipe the scent of that a lot of us are really crazy good at sports where your community and as a psychologist practicing every day I literally
135left and rearranged clients Knox County school clients who are going to be directly and negatively affected by this legislation to be here tonight to help I'm good I'm fifty you know we've taken the knocks we don't need to go backwards so while I understand miss Hill's response it was her truthful intent that it was not to be discriminatory please know that vulnerable populations do not believe this deceitful administration so for the board who is trying to do the right thing and being true is kind true is kind I know that your integrity field and want to help I do not trust that is the case with this administration nor this Justice Department Jeff Sessions has quite clearly presented that my time is up that for changing the terminology is not how he perceives it thank
136you so much Louise poplin Louise Pavan Knox County I'm here to discuss a decidedly less emotional topic of rezoning I'm here to speak with the potential rezoning of several neighborhoods in the Northwest sector of the town of Farragut from Hardin Valley Academy to the Farragut high school last night I was made aware of a community meeting scheduled for the evening of September 21st to discuss this matter I had already signed up to speak today and decided to press on I have addressed this issue before in this forum so I will keep it brief currently Hardin Valley Academy has an enrollment of approximately 2100 students 100 students over its maximum capacity Farragut High School has an enrollment of approximately 1,900 students three hundred students under its maximum capacity the overcrowding issue in Hardin Valley Academy is
137a sufficient reason in and of itself to approve a rezoning which would return these neighborhoods to Farragut high school utilizing last year's enrollment numbers approximately half of the students in this area have already voluntarily transferred back to Farragut high school when you consider the recent rezoning of the middle schools to accommodate Hardin Valley middle school and these transfers the students in this area of Farragut will be further isolated from the many relationships they have made throughout their kindergarten through eighth grade experiences these relationships matter in high school in addition rezoning this area is an opportunity to clean up the feeder school pattern and simplify the transportation system I would like to make this much this much clearer my point of view should not be taken as a commentary on the education offered at Hardin Valley
138Academy it is excellent or the teachers or administration at Hardin Valley they are excellent and incredibly supportive Hardin Valley Academy offers a high caliber education and prepares students for college my oldest son is a 2015 graduate of Hardin Valley Academy and currently a computer science major at the University of Tennessee where he is thriving with this in mind do you have one request if this board does decide to rezone this group of neighborhoods back to Farragut high school I strongly urge you to allow the current families who wish to remain at Hardin Valley Academy to do so by grandfathering them in there are several parents who have dedicated their time talents and energy but by participating supporting and holding leadership roles in the Education Foundation the PT SA and the athletic council and have done
139so since Hardin Valley's doors opened these families deserve to remain with a school that they have dedicated so much of their time to in closing I would like to thank you for your consideration in this matter further I would like to thank you for your service to our community being in the public service can be a thankless job and very stressful getting educated on the issues we face is time-consuming trying to make the right decisions to support our children and our teachers is difficult particularly when considering requirements handed down by the state and federal governments it can be downright discouraging when you know those requirements are negatively impacting our students and teachers I remain confident that Knox County has a school board and leadership that value public education and are working diligently to provide a
140supportive and productive environment in which our student students can turn can learn and our teachers can teach and I think my next email to my state legislators will have the subject line of realistic and relevant I think those are good terms to be using thank you thank you our next speaker is Persephone Webb good evening everyone my name is Persephone Webb and I reside in rocks rocks County Knox County over the last several days this board has heard from teachers students parents Knox County residents and the local LGBT community on a proposal to remove gender and sexual orientation from the kcs employee anti-harassment policy G 220 this change would weaken harassment protections for women and LGBT employees and send a message that these individuals are not valued or respected in Knox County Schools the Knox
141County community does not support revoking harassment protections for our teachers removing gender and sexual orientation from kcs harassment policy is not required by any state or federal law and replacing gender and sexual orientation with sex does not preserve adequate protections for women and the LGBT community the Department of Justice under the current administration has taken the position that discrimination based on sexual orientation does not constitute sex discrimination under Title 7 despite decades of judicial precedent to the contrary and this is why local employee protections are more important than ever inclusive policies that go above and beyond state and federal baseline protections allow us to protect our own community when the state and federal government will not removing gender and sexual orientation from the kcs employment anti-harassment policy puts good teachers at risk and hurts the
142ability of Knox County Schools to attract retain and retain talented teachers many private employers in the area as well as Metro Nashville Public Schools Tennessee Board of Regents schools the University of Tennessee the city of Knoxville and Knox County all proudly include gender identity and sexual orientation and our Employment non-discrimination policies kcs teachers deserve the same policy but let's take that a step further anti LGBT sentiment harassment and hate crimes are happening more and more frequently transgender people across the u.s. frequently discriminated against in public accommodations health care and employment transgender Americans are physically assaulted raped and murdered at alarming rates instead of weakening protections for at-risk teachers and students this board should be strengthening protections you have all received an amendment proposal for policy G 220 and a revised amendment proposal for policy J
143210 these policies prohibit harassment on the basis of gender however as they are currently worded the term gender is open to the being differently interpreted according to each teacher our administrators own personal definition of gender this makes it impossible for kcs anti-harassment policies to be understood and enforced consistently and effectively and leaves transgender and gender non-conforming students and teachers and students largely unprotected from gender-based harassment we're proposing to amend policies G to 20 + J 210 by replacing the word gender with gender identity and gender expression and by including definitions of gender identity and gender expression so that there can be no confusion regarding the meanings of these terms terms the revisions would clarify policies G 2 xx + J - 10 so that they cannot be misinterpreted to exclude transgender and gender non-conforming individuals
144we also propose to add sex to both policies as first state and federal sex discrimination laws the final version of both policies would provide explicit protections against harassment on the basis of real or perceived gender identity gender expression sex and sexual orientation thank you for your interest in making Knox County Schools safer and more supportive for women and girls LGBTQ teachers and students thank you very much our next speaker is Kieran Harman good evening my name is Kieran Harman and I attend Bearden High School in Knox County protection for transgender students is desperately needed in Knox County Schools I and other transgender students face ridicule and bullying from our peers not only have I been called an it and a but I've also had to face this harassment alone because the teachers who see it
145happen won't help me some teachers call me is she even though they know my pronouns are he/him and then they don't even bother to correct themselves while I don't mind an occasional slip-up we all make mistakes don't get me wrong here constantly refusing to call people by their proper pronouns our identity should not be allowed in our schools if we truly want to make everyone feel accepted furthermore to address the bathroom and locker room situation school should have a private space for individuals who want it however there should not be a forced policy and people should have the option of choosing what bathroom they want to use forcing transgender students to use segregated facilities instead of the gendered student bathroom creates many problems transgender students are forced to use the staff restroom at our school
146which constantly has janitors and teachers questioning us as we go in on multiple occasions I have been stopped I have been told that I shouldn't go in there I have been asked and forced to out myself and my identity there should be training put in place for teachers to learn about transgender people and how we should be treated otherwise these incidents will be repeated time and time again because of their lack of knowledge on the subject lastly I want to say that I am against the school board taking gender and sexual orientation out of the teacher anti-harassment policy if you won't even support LGBT teachers how our LGBT students supposed to feel safe in school we are here teachers we are your children we are everyone in this community and yet you treat us like
147we are nothing please public forum we adjourn every motion to adjourn do I have a second all in favor aye meeting is adjourned