Knox County Schools will consider a virtual learning contract with outside provider

Knox County Schools will consider a contract with Florida Virtual School at next week's school board meeting, superintendent Bob Thomas announced at the board work session Wednesday evening.

FLVS is the same curriculum Metro Nashville Schools will be using.

The program will cost the district $1.5 million a semester. Thomas said the program offers 190 courses, including Advanced Placement and honors classes.

Thomas said the district wants to make good on its commitment to provide quality virtual learning to students, but the district has teacher vacancies that need to be addressed. 

He said the district will hire new teachers, but FLVS would fill vacancies with no applicants.

Thomas said there are 159 vacancies including certified and non-certified positions. He said the new program will be the equivalent of having 55-65 teaching positions but don't directly translate to vacancies. That estimate is based off calculating students and class sections.

"Any time we are talking about outsourcing, that should be a big red flag to everyone in this room," school board member Jennifer Owen said. "I'm concerned that we have no applicants for these 65 positions." 

Thomas said there is a financial incentive for district teachers to teach during their planning period and that he does not want to outsource teacher jobs. 

"Outsourcing is not what I feel works best at all," Thomas said. 

Deputy Law Director Gary Dupler said the district is not looking to make a long term contract, it would be for a year maximum. 

Board member Evetty Satterfield said while she doesn't like outsourcing, she thinks FLVS will provide additional learning opportunities for some students who may not otherwise get a diverse range of course offerings. 

Director of human resources Scott Bolton said the district will reach out to teachers who had chosen the administrative leave option. 

If the district doesn't accept the contract, Thomas said he estimates there are about 1,400 students who wouldn't get the virtual programming they enrolled in. That's about 7.8% of the students currently enrolled in virtual learning.

School starts Aug. 24, after the district delayed the start by two weeks. 

Red Zone

If the district is operating in the red zone, teachers will be able to work from home unless there's an extenuating circumstance, Thomas said.

Thomas said the district will not list a specific case count threshold to shut down the schools, but he walked through conversations he and others have had with the health department. He said he will provide board numbers with more information.

Internet Access

Chief operating officer Russ Oaks said there have been about 150-160 calls to the customer service line provided to families, a line that helps families get low-cost internet options.

The district is also waiting on an order of about 800 internet hot spots. Oaks said the district has about 200 hot spots on hand.

Oaks said no matter what day school starts, there will still be some connectivity issues.

Extra Supplies

Oaks said the district has distributed 75,000 masks to schools and that there are 2,100 handheld thermometers with additional walk-through thermometers ordered.

State Testing

Board members also discussed a resolution that would encourage the state to end mandatory testing for the 2020-2021 school year.

"Our teachers have a different job at all times and they rise to the occasion again and again," Thomas said.

But Thomas said teachers are under new challenges including teaching with masks, performing temperature checks, assessing learning loss and creating new virtual content.

"Our teachers have told me they need some relief, and I agree."

The draft resolution "urges the State of Tennessee to suspend all state required student assessments, including, but not limited to, TNReady testing, and suspend the student growth measure and/or any other portion of teacher evaluations directly related to students assessments for school year 2020-2021 in order for educators to focus instead on student safety, health protocols, remediation, and recouping lost instruction time from the prior school year."

The resolution will be voted on at next Wednesday's school board meeting. Even if passed, the district will not have suspended state testing. That is up to the state and the federal government. 

In March, lawmakers approved a bill to cancel TNReady testing for the school year due to COVID-19. The U.S. Department of Education suspended all federal testing requirements for the 2019-20 school year amid the pandemic. Earlier this month, one neighboring state, Georgia, became the first state to apply to waive testing for the upcoming school year.

Board members Virginia Babb and Kristi Kristy said they would support this resolution but there needs to be a way to measure student's progress. 

The school board is not the first to suggest this school year should be without standardized testing. All the mayors in Shelby County municipalities formally requested a pause in state testing in a letter to state education commissioner Penny Schwinn, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Shelby County Schools superintendent Joris Ray previously announced he would petition the state for a waiver for the upcoming school year, according to Chalkbeat Tennessee. The non-partisan teacher association, Professional Educators of Tennessee, echoed Ray's plea, according to the Tennessean. 

Knox County Education Association president Tanya Coats told the board she supports the resolution and the district needs to focus on supporting students, not training them to take a test. 

"We have a big lift coming on Aug. 24, if and when we get there," Coats said. "Our students need to get back on track academically, socially, emotionally."

"Trust the educators, trust your superintendent, we will get this job done." 

Reporter Meghan Mangrum contributed to this story.