Knox County Schools has taken the first step to fundamentally change its approach to special education with the public rollout of its new strategic plan. The change follows years of community requests for administrators to go beyond compliance minimums.
On Sept. 10, district leaders laid out their vision for the next five years to increase reading and math proficiency, audit individualized education plans, increase the graduation rate, develop more community engagement opportunities and add accountability measures.
They're calling it Enhancing Performance, Accountability, Collaboration and Transitions through Individualized Education Plans, or The PACT.
Years of community ire and lawsuits have shaped the narrative around special education in KCS.
Leaders resigned, families left KCS and teacher shortages added to what parents said was an inconsistent and unsatisfactory experience for students.
KCS has already begun implementing the plan with the start of the 2026-27 school year.
Knox County Schools wants to improve reading and math
One of the pillars of the new plan is increased proficiency in reading and math, as well as better IEPs for students, the federally mandated plans for those who need extra help or learn differently.
Special education students are not improving in annual statewide testing at the same rate as their general education peers − who have seen year-over-year improvement over five years − district leaders said.
A way to make that happen is aligning instruction across the board and supporting students starting in kindergarten. Brad Carr, who leads the special education education department, said KCS has started this already.
"If we really want (teachers) to be an expert in content, they cannot learn five or six grade levels worth of content," Carr explained to the board. "We are walking our special education teachers along with them to make sure we don't develop gaps."
The goal is for the new strategy to increase proficiency to 13% in English and 12.7% in math in 2027, according to district leaders.
"It's ambitious," Superintendent Jon Rysewyk told the board. "Carr was like, 'We can do this. I know we can.' But it is really ambitious."
Knox County Schools will launch an 'innovative' platform
In an effort to continue hearing from the community, KCS will launch an "Innovation Portal" to constantly solicit ideas on improving special education.
Carr said the district wants to leverage parent expertise in keeping KCS on the cutting edge.
"If they are saying, 'Hey, we're aware of something going on in Washington state or D.C.,' we need to know that and jump on the ball and be able to research that ourselves," Carr said.
He noted this was a push for KCS to be proactive internally to improve upon its services and approach to special education, even without community input.
The new platform will work alongside the PACT Council, which will work directly with KCS staff to deliver quarterly updates to the school board. Carr said the council will monitor progress and provide input on the strategic plan as it is implemented.
Those interested in serving on the PACT Council can indicate their interest at surveymonkey.com/r/79VYCQP.
Teachers in Knox County will have additional training opportunities
Teachers now have the opportunity to receive the special education endorsement and Intellectually Gifted certification at no cost thanks to KCS.
By the end of this school year, Carr's goal is for 125 more teachers to receive the special education endorsement and 100 more with the gifted certification. These are both additional credentials on top of a traditional teaching license.
KCS has started this with the Teach Knox Fellows program at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which supports 30 special education teachers annually at no cost to the students.
School board Vice Chair Anne Templeton noted a lot of this can cost money, and KCS is already in a precarious position after the countyand statecut nearly $8 million from its budget.
"Can we do what we are setting out to do?" Templeton asked KCS leaders. "Do we feel confident that we could do this with the resources that exist in our schools today?"
Rysewyk said this plan will cause the district to shift money around in future budgets to prioritize the goals Carr laid out.
"We don't have the dollars to bring in 100 more people," he said. "Eyes wide open, that's not going to be part of this. There's always other things in the budget that we're not going to do because of this. But this is a commitment."
District leaders are expected to provide the first progress report to the board in December.
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: Knox County Schools lays out new vision for special ed: 'This is a commitment'
