Members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education discussed the district’s progress in efforts to improve student performance under Director Dr. Adrienne Battle’s leadership at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Knox County Schools says the district has reduced teacher vacancies to near-zero levels through a “cultural shift” in the hiring process that simplifies the process for potential candidates.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins said during a Tuesday press conference that the district is currently working with school resource officers (SROs) and other security personnel to improve their job conditions moving forward.

Teacher of the year Bryan Kerns established a unique career and technical education (CTE) program geared toward preparing students for future careers in fire management.

The Rutherford County Schools Board of Education is expected to decide if it will ban seven books next month to comply with a new state law instructing school libraries to remove books with sexual or otherwise inappropriate content.

Sumner County Schools Director Scott Langford told board officials and community members that the district has made significant strides in expanding of advanced placement (AP) programming.

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.