School board amends calendar
By Ken Leinart
The Knox County Schools 2024-2025 calendar was changed during the Thursday night, Aug. 8, Knox County Board of Education meeting.
Rather than have two early release days the board chose to install four half days.
The early release days were scheduled for Aug. 14 and Jan. 22, 2025. The board had considered two early release days during its work session Monday night, Aug. 5, as well as two full days off for students, and four half days for students during the school year.
The early release days were meant as a way to give educators more planning time for their classes.
The discussion was brought up by District 4’s Katherine Bike. Bike said she had no objections to the current plan of two early release days, but wanted more information and input from her fellow board members.
District 2’s Jennifer Owen noted teachers have to plan for 6-½ hours of instruction per day and the state requires teachers have 30 minutes of plan time per day, but that 30 minute time frame is often not enough.
“We should look at the time of preparation teachers have,” She said. “Teachers only get 30 minutes per day.”
Board member (Distrct 9) Kristi Kristy agreed.
“I haven’t heard from a lot of people,” she said. “I know this has already been planned for this year, already on the calendar.”
But, she added, if the board changed the early release days to four half-days she was confident “staff would work around it.”
“There is a lack of planning time overall (for teachers),” Kristy said. “Lack of planning time and collaboration with peers.” She said she would “very much” like to see the changes.
“Meetings about things that may not be very relevant to their classes that isn’t helpful and they really need that time for planning,” she said.
District 5 board member Susan Horn questioned the timing of the scheduled early release days as well.
“I noticed the timing,” she said. “Early in August and in January? When school is just starting and the second semester is just starting?
“It’s practical sense to adjust those (days).”
Horne also said it would be “cleaner” to have two full days off, but she sided with teachers who have voiced a preference for four half days.
“It is more advantageous for them,” she said.
Bike made a motion to change the calendar to allow for four half days in the 2024-2025 school year and for the board to “assess” its options for the 2025-2026 school year in January or February in 2025.
The motion passed unanimously.
