by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

In an act of resistance, at the April 14 meeting the Franklin County School Board passed as resolution affirming willingness to accept a $2,000 bonus for teachers while insisting accepting the funds in no way indicated approval of the Education Freedom Act passed by the Tennessee Legislature in January. Also on the financial front, the board learned about the district’s loss of $100,000 in federal funding.

Explaining the language in the resolution she presented for board approval, board member Sarah Marhevsky said, “I took what the TSBA [Tennessee School Board Association] sent us and worked in part of what was included in the resolution we passed before.” In December 2023, the board passed a resolution declaring opposition to the proposed Freedom Scholarship Act, a voucher-like program. Renamed the Education Freedom Act, the Tennessee Legislature voted to adopt the program in January 2025, adding a provision granting a $2,000 bonus to all certified public school teachers, provided the school district pass a resolution declaring the district “would like to participate in Section 4 of the Education Freedom Act of 2025,” the section providing for the bonuses.

The resolution passed by the board April 14 reiterated the board disapproved of the Education Freedom Act “diverting students and state funds to private actors, disrupting local control of education, and doing more to enhance private schools than public schools.” Under the provisions of the act, private schools will receive more money from the state per student than public schools. Taking a stand of continued opposition to the act, the resolution states, “the Franklin County Board of Education affirms its intention to participate in Section four (4) of the Education Freedom Act of 2025, relative to bonuses for teachers, only because we must for the benefit of our teachers, whom we do support, and not because we support the Education Freedom Act of 2025.”

Marhevsky also called the board’s attention to proposed legislation (HB0662/SB0714) which would allow the state to take over a school district if more than 30 percent of students received a grade of D or F; more than 25 percent were chronically absent; or the local legislative body expressed lack of confidence in the local board of education. Marhevsky cited Tennessee House member Gloria Johnson who observed, “We [the state] want A+ education on an F budget.” “Tennessee is still in the bottom five states for student funding,” Marhevsky said.

Updating the board on finances, Deputy Director of Finances Jenny Phillips said, “The federal government pulled all COVID funding. Many districts had rollover funds they asked to keep. We were fortunate. We paid some local funds back with COVID funds and didn’t ask for an extension. They’ve [the federal government] taken all those [rollover] funds away. But we did have about $100,000 they gave us about three days before they said, ‘Give it back.’”

Director of Schools Cary Holman reported, “The window for state testing opened today. Immediately upon opening, there were a couple schools that had gotten started, and the internet went down.” One school managed to finish the portion of the test begun. At another school students had signed in, but the school decided not to proceed. For elementary level students, the test is paper-and-pencil, so the lower grades were not impacted.

Taking up policy revisions recommended by the Tennessee School Board Association, the board approved amending the policy addressing head lice infestation to include bed bug infestation. “Bed bugs have started to become a problem. Kids are bringing them into school from home. We researched other school board policies. This policy is modeled after that,” said Human Resources Supervisor Roger Alsup. The district also consulted school nurses in drafting the policy. The district procedures have related information to assist school principals.