The Rutherford County School Board is considering upping the ante for how much the district pays its special education teachers and faculty.During budget preparation in last week’s meeting, board members discussed the pay hike to maintain competition with other school districts.Board member Frances Rosales also suggested giving an incentive to education assistants (EA) for students learning English as a second language.

Members of the Sumner County School Board voted to keep the book “Hey, Kiddo” on library shelves Tuesday after its own author sent a video message to support it."Hey, Kiddo” is the graphic memoir detailing author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s life growing up in a family grappling with addiction.An Ellis Middle School parent filed a request to have the book taken off the library shelves after their sixth-grade child checked out the book. The parent filed the challenge claiming “Hey, Kiddo” contained inappropriate language and depictions of mature content.

The Williamson County Board of Education voted Monday night to approve a nearly $1 billion updated five-year capital improvement plan which includes construction projects to accommodate the district’s growing student population.The new plan is a significant increase from last year’s total of $700 million. That money would fund 9 new buildings along with major renovations to 9 existing schools along with other renovations and maintenance.

State Senators Jon Lundbeg, R-Brisol, and Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, and Representative William Slater, R-Hendersonville, utilized their downtime in between federal education funding hearings Tuesday afternoon to learn more about a unique public charter school that’s about to expand into the suburbs.The three lawmakers toured the campus of the Nashville Collegiate Prep on Bell Road.

Nashville State Community College (NCC), the Tennessee College of Applied Technologies (TCAT) Dickson,  TriStar Horizon Medical Center, and The Jackson Foundation jointly announced a $35 million investment Wednesday to create a new place for students to earn a college degree, technical and career certificate, or certification in workforce programs.The Dickson County Higher Education Center will stand on TriStar Horizon’s Natchez campus off Highway 46, just south of Interstate 40. It will be the permanent Dickson campus for Nashville State and provide TCAT Dickson with a new location for academic programming.

Sumner County parents urged school board members last week to follow through on promised athletic facility improvements.

The Sumner County School Board approved moving $15.5 million out of reserves to fund the first wave of rebuilds, facility updates, and stadium renovations in the district last month.

Members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to push for harsher consequences for students who threaten their school.The resolution calls for the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation allowing for the revocation of the driver’s license of students who make false bomb threats or other threats against their school.“Many of the punishments for such actions are not sufficient deterrents to some students. The revocation of a student’s driver license may be a more effective deterrent for some students,” said Director of Schools James Sullivan.Board member Tammy Sharp proposed the resolution after working in collaboration with Representative Robert Stevens, R-Smyrna.

Williamson County students say they faced intimidation following last month’s discussion on whether pride flags should be allowed in classrooms.Amy Duncan with LQBTQIA+ group Wilco Iris told board members at Monday’s meeting that some members of the crowd opposing the flags purposely intimidated students after the previous meeting.Duncan says she came to the board meeting to speak on behalf of those students who were advised not to attend the meeting by the adult volunteers at Wilco Iris who also feel the students’ safety is in danger.

Murfreesboro parents Amber and Scott Mitchell are currently looking for a school that will not only meet their special needs daughter’s academic requirements, but also one that meets her social emotional development needs.They believe the social emotional learning that’s woven into the fabric of Springs Public Schools’ Empower Academy’s self-driven curriculum may be the perfect fit. Their daughter is currently thriving in a self-paced Montessori model at kindergarten and Empower Academy would offer the option of continuing that in a Montessori-aligned approach.“What really drew us to Montessori to begin with was the individual teaching and catering the education to the individual rather than teaching one way to the group,” said Scott Mitchell.

Rutherford County Director of Schools James Sullivan wants to change the narrative around mental health in the district to provide additional resources to students who need them.Sullivan invited the nonprofit Volunteer Behavioral Health Care System to talk with the board about potentially expanding its Project BASIC (Better Attitudes and Skills in Children) program into Rutherford County Schools.

Springs Empower Academy students now have a picture of what their future school will look like.School leaders unveiled renderings Monday for the new K-8 public charter school that will open in fall of 2024 and serve up to 480 students in Smyrna. Rutherford County School Board members approved the K-8 public charter school last year and Springs Empower Academy is now in the process of purchasing land on Enon Springs road to build the school.

Members of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission unanimously overturned a decision by the Jackson-Madison County School Board Thursday and questioned how “serious” district leaders were taking the process.Those comments came during Thursday’s successful appeal by American Classical Education to open the first public charter school in Madison County. School board members initially rejected ACE’s application to open American Classical Academy – Jackson-Madison (ACAJM) in July citing 74 deficiencies.The district didn’t send anyone to attend Thursday’s appeal hearing in Nashville and Commissioner Alan Levine criticized that decision, saying it makes it look as though the district isn’t taking the process seriously.

Four proposed public charter schools in Memphis, Nashville, and Jackson are all receiving new support from a key state board leader.Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Executive Director Tess Stovall recommended commissioners approve those schools’ appeals at two meetings later this week.

Dozens of parents are lending their support to American Classical Education (ACE)’s appeal to open the first public charter school in Madison County.The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission received 80 written comments from the public related to ACE’s appeal and nearly 50 of them came from parents like Linda Lipford who are offering their support.

American Classical Education’s (ACE) appeal to open the first public charter school in Maury County faced a new criticism at Thursday’s public hearing with the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.Maury County resident Jackie Marshall accused the organization of essentially trying to start a religious school on taxpayer dollars through its connections to Michigan-based Hillsdale college.“Hillsdale College is about theology. Considering Hillsdale’s Middle Tennessee Board, which is made up of conservative evangelicals, it worries me that this charter school will become similar to the religious private schools that Maury County has so many of. Keep religion, politics, and a false curriculum out of Maury County Public Schools,” said Marshall.

The Sumner County Board of Education voted to move $15.5 million out of reserves to fund the first wave of stadium renovations, rebuilds, and facility updates in the district.The need for renovations arose following the collapse of Beech High School’s bleachers last month. A portion of the visitors’ bleachers at Beech High School’s Shackle Island Stadium collapsed overnight following days of heavy wind and rain.

The most controversial issue at Monday’s Williamson County School Board meeting wasn’t even on the agenda.Nearly three dozen parents and students came to the meeting to express their opinions on whether pride flags should be allowed in district classrooms.The issue has gained attention across the country in recent years and the Williamson Herald reported the local Moms for Liberty chapter encouraged parents come to Monday’s meeting and urge the school board to adopt a policy that only allow the state and American flags in public schools.

Six Tennessee schools have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools for their academic performance or their work to close achievement gaps between student groups

Shelbyville parents and educators gave the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) a lot to consider as it fine tunes the new system to provide an A through F grade to each public school.TDOE plans to unveil the School Letter Grades to the public in November and the department has spent the last few weeks hosting public events across the state to gather input.Thursday night’s meeting in Shelbyville provided a number of concerns from both parents and school leaders who don’t want the school grading system to devalue student growth in favor of student achievement.Bedford County Superintendent Tammy Garrett was among them, saying increasing the importance of student achievement on School Letter Grades won’t help with the teacher shortage poorer counties like hers are facing.