Knox County Schools Board of Education approves sweeping changes to special education services

Members of the Knox County Schools Board of Education unanimously voted to approve board chair Betsy Henderson’s resolution to follow all five recommendations made by the Knox County Schools (KCS) special education task force.The task force made recommendations last month to address what it felt are concerning cultural problems with special education in the district. Henderson proposed a resolution to approve the recommendations last week.“I enthusiastically support and encourage passage of (Chair) Henderson’s resolution to make Knox County Schools a model district for excellence and special education, and implement the task force’s recommendations,” said task force member Cortney Piper. “Reimagining Knox County Schools’ special education is the right thing to do and it’s the legal thing to do. It’s hard work and there’s no question about that. Consider me and hundreds of other special education parents your partners in this hard work.”Board member Katherine Bike said she would like to see other gaps in special education be addressed as well, such as parents who’ve been wrongfully informed their children don’t qualify for additional services like individualized education programs (IEP).“I hope that, we can, after this, also tackle some of the stuff, and I know that some of the work we’re doing is in accordance with that but I would like to also see that gap arear be worked on because I’ve helped so many parents over the last few years who have been told that their children don’t qualify for an IEP or a 504 (federal law that prohibits discrimination based upon disability) and after I’ve helped them and met with them, it turned out that they did qualify. And I’m not sure where the gaps were there but that’s what I think we also really need to focus on,” said Bike.Board members supported the resolution and the work the task force has done.Henderson additionally included an action item in her resolution to include outside help to support the district and craft the best practices. Task force member Shannon Efteland applauded the move as another step in the right direction.“The resolution needs to be clear in its directive that an outside inclusion expert is imperative. A good inclusion expert will be able to address the other concerns like lawsuits and proper modifications and they will be able to guide the creation of a child-first approach that takes it direct from those closest to the child,” said Efteland. “This action, this resolution right here is hope for many students and many, many families.”Board member Daniel Watson reassured the public that the resolution is not the total sum of everything the district is doing to improve special education and he expressed disappointment that it’s taken them this long to address an ongoing issue.“I think it’s specific enough but also doesn’t tie the district down and I think it honored the intent of what we’ve been discussing over these last few months and really years,” said Watson. “It takes something to step up and say we’re going to do a different way.”Over the next few months, work will go into making concrete plans to implement the resolution and recommendations. The district also hired a contractor to fill more than 60 special education vacancies.“I hate that it’s taken this long to get to this place, but I do think that this resolution captures the spirit of the task force,” said Henderson. “I’m excited that there’s so much energy behind it, but this is just the first step. The real work begins after this resolution is passed and making sure that it’s implemented and making sure that we all continue to work together to make sure our kids are getting what they need in the classroom.”