Multiple Williamson County Schools students and community members continued to urge the Williamson County Board of Education to support raises for arts teachers at Monday’s meeting.

The Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education approved budget amendments to fund pay raises for school resource officers (SROs) at Tuesday’s special call meeting and work session.

IOTA Community Schools, formerly Green Dot Public Schools, has partnered with Reading Horizons to boost literacy instruction in four Memphis middle and high schools. The partnership brings the Reading Horizons Elevate program, which focuses on foundational reading skills for older learners, to schools like Hillcrest High, Kirby Middle, Wooddale Middle, and Bluff City High. IOTA's Chief Academic Officer, Christina Austin, emphasized the program's goal of better preparing students for college and careers through enhanced reading instruction.

The Hamilton County school board updated its policy to allow school nurses to provide emergency care to students without parental consent, in response to a new Tennessee law requiring parental permission for non-emergency treatment. The law was initially aimed at restricting gender-affirming care but has broader implications, such as needing consent for basic medical care. The board unanimously passed the update to ensure emergency situations are addressed promptly. Additionally, the board approved funding for a new staff position to manage legislative updates and advocate for school funding, despite some opposition.

According to current guidelines available on the board’s website, students and staff should only use AI programs that are approved by district leadership for instruction or completing student work approved AI programs may be utilized in student instruction or in completing student work.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has made significant progress in recent efforts to address teacher vacancies in the district, according to a back-to-school update given by Director Adrienne Battle at Tuesday’s regular board meeting.

Last month school board members in Nashville and Rutherford County voted down six proposed new public charter schools.Next month supporters from all of them will make their case to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission for why the decision was the wrong one.

Following recent discussions between board members and with parents in the community about their preferences, the board decided to do away with two “early release days” and turn the remaining four into “half days,” which officials say have less instruction time than early release days

Rutherford Collegiate Prep opened its doors for the first time to students last Wednesday while American Classical Academy Rutherford and Springs Empower Academy are both opening today.

The Rutherford County school board unanimously voted to approve revisions to district policy regarding the removal of books with sexual or inappropriate themes from school libraries to align with a new state law that went into effect this year.

Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. called on local officials to work together and figure out how to cover the remaining costs needed to construct a new STEM education lab at Whitehaven High School at Wednesday’s Shelby County Education Committee meeting.

The Rutherford County Board of Education discussed transportation and staffing concerns along with updates on funding for technical education programming at Tuesday’s work session meeting.

Memphis Shelby County School Board officials held a press conference on Tuesday to address community members’ concerns about district infrastructure after students at 12 schools were dismissed early due to issues with HVAC systems on Monday.

The public charter school operator Prep Public Schools is looking to replicate the success of Chattanooga Preparatory School with another all-boys charter school that just opened its doors for its first school year last Thursday.

Knox County Schools officials highlighted new security measures and investments to enhance school safety this school year as part of the district’s ongoing “Safe Schools, Safe Students” initiative.

A viral tweet from the Tennessee Holler claimed that a Wilson County high school library was closed due to a new state law banning books with inappropriate content, sparking reactions from lawmakers. However, Wilson County Schools' Public Information Officer Bart Barker clarified that the library was temporarily being used for Chromebook and textbook checkouts, a normal procedure at the start of the school year. Barker noted that the library would reopen once the process was complete, and the district has had a book challenge system in place for over two years to comply with state legislation.

Monday marked the beginning of the 2024-25 school year for students in the Memphis-Shelby County school district, which will be Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins’ first full school year running the board since her appointment to the role in April.

Thursday's election results are bringing major changes to school boards representing the state's largest school districts.Families with children attending Knox County Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and Memphis-Shelby County Schools will all see new faces on their respective boards.

Metro Nashville Public Schools students recently collaborated to write and record an anthem for the school district, a recent MNPS announcement said.

Members of the Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education voted to approve amended charter applications for both the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls and Journey Northeast Academy at Tuesday’s board meeting.