Declining enrollment and a pay raise could force some employees at Knox County Schools (KCS) to search for new jobs this summer.¶
The Knox County Board of Education approved a nearly $718 million budget for the 2027 fiscal year during its meeting on Thursday night that will require cutting more than 100 employees, including 57 teachers across the district. The teacher cuts will include 35 high school teachers, 11 middle school teachers, and 11 elementary school teachers.¶
The district is also expected to cut seven educational assistants, four assistant principals, two full-time clerks, and one counselor. The budget includes $17 million in new revenues, offset by $22 million in employee salaries, which must also account for the state’s requirement that all districts raise minimum teacher salaries to $50,000 beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.¶
Budget Addresses Cuts
In the fiscal budget document, a section addresses the cuts head-on, stating, “Any time the district is faced with a downturn in enrollment, it is important to note that:¶
• School staff are allocated according to consistent, stable formulas established and maintained by the KCS Staffing Committee… This process ensures that staffing resources follow students. By maintaining school staffing formulas year-over-year, schools can better plan and prepare for changes in student enrollment.¶
• KCS has seen an increase in teacher retention over the last three years to roughly 92 percent. This means that even in a year where the total number of teaching positions decreases, the district still anticipates hiring more than enough positions to accommodate reassigning impacted staff in alignment with enrollment.¶
• While many schools are projected to lose students next year, a number of schools are also projected to gain students. Just as schools losing students can anticipate a decline in teaching positions, those that are gaining students can anticipate an increase.”¶
Public Comment
Before the board began its discussion, members heard one public comment from a woman expressing disappointment about the lack of transparency regarding the cuts and questioning the timing of the announcement.¶
“The cuts to Central Office were addressed and covered as necessary to invest in the classroom and in teachers’ raises, and I understand it's never popular to cut staff or teachers, but neglecting to address the cuts at the community meeting when feedback and community engagement and opportunity for questions were available, it feels intentional,” She said.¶
Superintendent’s Explanation
Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said the cuts were necessary to provide a pay raise for teachers and to keep the student-to-teacher ratio the same in the classroom. He emphasized that the ratios have not changed.¶
“Part of this is (we) stay true to the staffing ratios,” Rysewyk said. “If you're one (teacher) to 20 (students) in a classroom, it's just the only variable is how many kids are in the school, and then you adjust back to those ratios… The difference is, if you left it in there and enrollment dropped, you might have one to 18, one to 17, (or) one to 16. That's hard to afford over time.”¶
