With Democrats now in control of the Knox County school board, the dynamics will shift considerably starting in September.
The primary election in May showed voters in both parties wanted more active voices to join the board when they ousted incumbent Democrat John Butler in District 1 and Republican Kristi Kristy in District 9. General election voters rewarded Democrats in both districts, and the Democratic win in District 9 gave the party an unexpected 5-4 majority on the board.
Two high-profile controversies shook up the election after the primaries. In mid-May, it surfaced that Knox County Schools had banned the renowned historical fiction novel "Roots" and in mid-June county and state decision-makers unexpectedly pulled $8 million from the 2026-27
KCS budget.
Both issues galvanized voters.
"People are tired of the same old, same old," Democratic Party Chair Domonica Bryan told Knox News on Election Night. "People want to know: How is my child going to be educated, and is my child's school going to be fully funded? Or are we going to have to worry about the voucher program taking resources?"
The first signs about how this new board will function will be revealed when three new members are sworn in Sept. 1. With a new 5-4 Democratic majority, it's almost certain a Democrat will be voted as chair.
South Knox County voters were the deciding factor in the Democratic flip.
Brandy Jenkins won the long-held Republican seat in District 9 after GOP primary voters bounced Kristy in favor of first-time candidate and self-described "conservative Republican" Bill Sofield. Kristy's approach has been to steer the board gently away from partisan politics to remain focused on students' needs.
Jenkins will join three seasoned Democrats on the board: Katherine Bike, Patricia Fontenot-Ridley and Anne Templeton, as well as Holloway, a graduate of Knox County Schools and mother of KCS students.
Why did the Knox County school board flip?
The "Roots" controversy this spring certainly changed voters' perspective of what the board should look like and how it should manage big issues facing the district. Even though the decision to ban the book was not the board's, the issue highlighted how much oversight the school board should exercise.
After the district banned the historically significant novel from a writer with deep East Tennessee ties, Democrats and Republicans alike took a hard look at who was making decisions about how students learn and what materials shape their worldview.
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When $8 million was suddenly stripped from the KCS budget, the district was forced to scramble to find new jobs for the 29 teachers whose classroom positions were eliminated to close the budget gap.
The book banning and the budget scramble were unifying across party lines – the board voted unanimously to bring more oversight to the book banning process and to approve the new budget forced by the funding cuts.
Republicans lost ground with schools-focused voters
Republican primary voters went all-in on trying to shift the school board's orientation rightward when they dumped Kristy, an experienced board member in a leadership role who represents a traditionally solid GOP district.
The gamble failed, however, when Jenkins' focus on support for public schools, teacher retention and keeping partisan politics out of the schools prevailed with the more centrist voters who turn out for general elections. Sofield's emphasis on removing obscene content from school libraries hit a different note after the "Roots" controversy.
"With a majority of people sending their children to public school," Bryan said, "we have to make sure it's strong. And that's what people were tapped into."
The shift in District 9 is consequential in two ways: It handed Democrats control of the school board and demonstrated the party could win in a district that used to appear impregnable.
Republicans, though, look untouchable in other strongholds.
In District 6, which includes the northwest part of the county and shares borders with Anderson, Loudon and Roane counties, Lee Ann Eaves cruised past Democratic candidate Cadence Collins by 16 points in the race to replace outgoing school board member and Knox County Mayor-elect Betsy Henderson.
In District 7, which represents the north central part of the county and includes the Halls, Heiskell and Powell communities, Republican incumbent Steve Triplett had an even easier election, defeating Democratic challenger Amy Fenner by 40 points.
The stakes for both parties will be sky-high in the next school board election in 2028. Four districts will be on the ballot, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.
Caitlyn Meisner is the K-12 education reporter for Knox News. Email tips and story ideas to caitlyn.meisner@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Democrats parlay controversies into control of KCS board | Exclusive
